Catherine Ferris, ex Panama
Catherine Ferris was aged 18 and from Ballinrobe. Her parents, Henry and Hannah, were both dead.
The Irish Famine Memorial Database has no record of Catherine's immediate employment after arrival, however her obituary records that she went to Wollongong two years after arriving in Sydney. In 1853, Catherine married William Croft in Wollongong. About the same time, William established a tailoring business. William's business was located on Crown Street, the main street of Wollongong, and it was also where the family lived. Catherine and William Croft had seven children, and the Crofts were a highly respected family in the Illawarra community. William Croft died in 1909, and Catherine died, aged 84, in 1915. Her obituary notes that she was "never blessed with robust health" - perhaps a consequence of her formative years during the Famine? |
© Barbara Barclay (2015)