Ellen Walsh, ex Inchinnan
The story of Ellen Walsh paints an interesting picture of a confident but perhaps unruly girl, unabashed by being in court.
Ellen Walsh, from Ballina, arrived in Sydney on the Inchinnan. Her parents, John and Maria, were both dead. She was about 17 years old when she was described by the Sydney Morning Herald (18 January 1850) as appearing: “before the Court, dressed in the latest fashions, her face was encircled with artificial flowers of the most choice selection, and her general appearance was certainly not that of a servant” She was apprenticed to George Wentworth, of Greendale, near Penrith. George Wentworth was the brother of D'arcy Wentworth, the Assistant Surgeon in Sydney and Chief Police Magistrate under Governor Macquarie, and the uncle of explorer William Charles Wentworth. George Wentworth said Ellen Walsh “was insolent, refused to do her work, and attempted to assault her mistress”. Wentworth alleged that in the most recent incident, Ellen Walsh had "rushed into the parlour in the greatest fury, and going towards her mistress threatened to tear her guts out". As a result, "Mr Wentworth said he could not keep her". In answer to the charge, Ellen Walsh “informed [Judge] Mr Hardy that she should call on him to-morrow, and have a long conversation with him about the matter”. Unsurprisingly, the indentures were cancelled and she was returned to the Barracks. |
© Barbara Barclay (2015)