Petition of Mary Burne, Ruskey, County Roscommon, requesting a passage to New South Wales, Australia, for herself and children

Petition of Mary [née White] Burne, Ruskey [Roosky], parish of Kilglass, County Roscommon, to Richard Wellesley, 1st Marquis Wellesley, Lord Lieutenant, Dublin Castle, requesting permission and aid to enable her daughter, Margret [Margaret] Burne, to accompany her and sons to New South Wales, in Australia. Remarks some time ago she and her two sons were ready to disembark from the harbour of Cork, County Cork, for New South Wales, where her husband, Thomas Burne, a convict was previously deported. But at the point of departure, her daughter, who was to be left behind, was seized by a fit; expresses her anxiety over the welfare of her daughter in a ‘Wicked World’ where she might be induced to enter a life of crime. Claims to be without financial means and asks for a response in hope of travelling to Cork with her daughter on Sunday next. Also certificate from Reverend Bernard McDermott, parish priest of Kilglass, emphasising that Burne is ‘a very sober, honest, well conducted woman’. Adds she entered a legal marriage union with her husband in the Roman Catholic Church under the guidance of Reverend Noon, curate, in the year 1803, and together they had a family of 5, of which just 3 children survive. 2 items; 3pp