The Collins family arrived in New South Wales at the end of May 1833. The family of five was Robert, a painter and glazier, his wife Eliza, and their children Robert junior aged fourteen, William who was twelve, Edward aged seven, and four-year-old Julia, who is my 3x great-grandmother. Originally from Ireland, they travelled as unassisted immigrants on the Eliza, stopping at Hobart before they reached Sydney.

Six months after arriving, the Collins were poverty stricken. The hope of a prosperous future would have led them to a new land. Robert must have expected to find work. However, he struggled to provide for his family, especially after the theft of his case of musical instruments, which he also used to earn money as a musician. Soon after the theft he killed himself in what was described as “a temporary fit of insanity”.

Within months of Robert’s death, Eliza took up with Adam Rainey, perhaps as a means of protection and financial support for herself and her children.

Robert Collins junior was of an age to look for work, and eventually moved to Victoria where he married Catherine Foran. He drowned at Warrnambool three months after his daughter’s birth. He was only 36.

William Collins moved north of Sydney to Maitland where he worked as a saddler, married Betsy Hughes, and had five daughters.

Edward Collins is yet to be traced.

As for Julia Collins, she is believed to have been with her mother and Adam Rainey when they were held up at Myrtle Creek. This 1839 incident was covered by newspapers of the time (and was discussed on an Australian episode of Who Do You Think You Are? with comedian Peter Rowsthorn).

In 1843 Julia gave birth to her first child, aged just fourteen. The following year she married Primeiron Grant, who was recorded as the child’s father. Her mother’s name is recorded as giving consent because she was underage. Julia seems to have spent the rest of her life in the Araluen and Braidwood region. She died in 1905 aged 75, and was buried in the Majors Creek cemetery.

Eliza went on to have a difficult life. No record has been found that she ever married Adam Rainey, although she clearly had a relationship with him and used his surname. After his death she married Robert Clark, who deserted her approximately four months into the marriage. The following year she was involved in a court case when she claimed non-payment of wages under the Master and Servants’ Act, and was awarded partial compensation of eight pounds and five shillings for six months’ work.

Three years later, Eliza claimed to have been robbed and assaulted by two female neighbours. They were found guilty, despite saying Eliza was drunk and they saved her from being burned in a fire.

Eliza was eventually admitted to Sydney’s Hyde Park Asylum, a place which provided shelter for destitute and invalid women (the first institution of its kind created by the NSW Government). She died there in 1873.

Selected references

New South Wales, Australia, Unassisted Immigrant Passenger Lists, 1826-1922, Ancestry.com, accessed 28 December 2023.

‘Coroner’s Inquest’, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 9 November 1833, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2214752.

‘Coroner’s Inquest’, The Sydney Monitor, 9 November 1833, p. 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32144970.

‘Criminal Side. – Friday, November 1’, The Sydney Monitor and Commercial Advertiser, 4 November 1839, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article32166142.

‘Supreme Court. Friday, November 1.’, The Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser, 7 November 1839, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2550012.

‘Peter Rowsthorn’, Season 7, Episode 6, Who Do You Think You Are?, SBS On Demand, 2015, https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-series/who-do-you-think-you-are/season-7/who-do-you-think-you-are-s7-ep6/512918083850.

‘Braidwood’, Goulburn Evening Penny Post, 1 July 1905, p. 5, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article98728439.

‘Friday, Oct. 24. Before the Police Magistrate.’, The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser, 25 October 1856, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118313062.

‘Tuesday, Oct. 28. Master and Servants Act.’, The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser, 1 November 1856, p. 4, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118307526.

‘Local Intelligence.’, The Goulburn Herald and County of Argyle Advertiser, 21 December 1859, p. 2, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118243515.