Oakman ^of Ireland

Born:	abt 1797 in Glenavy Parish, Northern Ireland
Parents	John Oakman & Mary McKee
Married:	abt 1824 in Ireland, to Mary McQuillan
Occupation:	Agricultural Labourer, Teacher, Lamplighter
Died:	13 Mar 1861 in Sydney, Australia
Children:	Margaret Louise Oakman (abt 1824 - 16 May 1903) Eneas Oakman (17 Mar 1827 - 4 Nov 1908) John Oakman (abt Aug 1838 - 5 Apr 1897) James Robert Oakman (22 Oct 1842 - 16 Feb 1896) Also two male children - births and deaths unknown Also two female children - births and deaths unknown

John Oakman was the son of John Oakman and Mary McKee (or Magee/McGee), and was born about 1797 in Glenavy Parish of County Antrim, Northern Ireland. His wife, Mary McQuillan, was born two years later (1799) to James McQuillan and Margaret Kerr or Carr in Killead Parish of County Antrim, Northern Ireland.

John and Mary were Roman Catholics and married somewhere between 1823 and 1828, in Glenavy or Killead Parish of County Antrim. Any actual record of their marriage may never be found as no known Roman Catholic Church records exist for these parishes for the time period of their births or marriage. It is possible that parish records for these parishes were destroyed in the 1922 fire which almost destroyed the Public Records Office in Dublin.

Both John and Mary's fathers were farmers. Exactly where these farms were located is not yet known for certain, though from Ireland's 1824-34 Index to Tithe Applotment Books we can find the following farms owned or rented by John Oakmans.

Name	County	Year	Parish	Townland
Oakman, Jno	Antrim	1826	Glenavy	Aghadalgon
Oakman, John	Antrim	1833	Ballinderry	Lurgantinelle
Oakman, John	Antrim	1833	Ballinderry	Templecormack
Oakman, John	Antrim	1826	Camlin	Ballydonaghey
Oakman, John	Antrim	1827	Killead	Ballymacmary

Which John was ours? We may never know for certain but presumably the first and last listed above. The first could be John senior, and the last could be John junior's own farm before he emigrated. Or the farm in Killead could even be John senior's and John junior lived and worked there with him.

For Mary's father, the following was found in the 1824-34 Index to Tithe Applotment Books:

Name	County	Year	Parish	Townland
McQuillan, James	Antrim	1833	Antrim	Antrim Town Parks
McQuillan, James	Antrim	1833	Antrim	Gawleyhill (Gally Hill?)
McQuillan, James	Antrim	1833	Antrim	Irishtown

James McQuillan's farm is likely to have been either the first or last of those listed above. Both were very close to what is now the town of Antrim and thus within the Killead Parish.

In 1840 John was recruited by A B Smith & Co to come to Australia as an agricultural labourer. A B Smith & Co imported labourers, domestic servants, and tradesmen to Sydney and Melbourne, offering emigrants free passage for themselves and their families in return for providing their services to those already in the colonies for a particular period of time. Those who employed these immigrants paid A B Smith & Co the cost of passage to Australia. This was known as "assisted immigration". The length of time to be served depended upon the cost of their passage to Australia. For instance, a single young person might only be required to work for 3-6 months, whereas a family might be required to work for a year or more.

John and Mary and three children sailed to Australia on the "United Kingdom" which arrived in Sydney on 7 September 1841. This ship was, at the time, the largest merchant ship ever to come to the Colony, with 482 emigrants.

Shipping records indicate they could read and write, were Roman Catholics, and were in very good health. John's stated place of birth was "Glenavy". His certificate of character was provided by Mr E Mooney. Parish Priest certifying his baptism was J Tierney.

The three children who came with them were Margaret Louise, Eneas, and baby John. Though John and Mary had eight children in all (3 daughters and 5 sons) only four lived to adulthood. Two daughters and two sons died young, possibly in Ireland before the family left there.

Our John Oakman was the first Oakman to settle in Australia. Other Oakman families arrived here in 1853 but they were from England. In 1820 there was a John Oakman of County Armagh who sailed from England with the 48th Regiment of Foot. He served as Private (Regimental #601) until the regiment moved on to India in 1824. A young woman by the name of Sarah Oakman died in Sydney in March 1821 - this might have been this soldier's wife.

John and Mary were members of St Mary's Catholic Church, built in the 1820s, destroyed by fire in 1865, and rebuilt as St Mary's Cathedral. In October 1842 Mary gave birth to their youngest child, James Robert Oakman. They were living in Harrington St, in The Rocks area, at the time.

Nothing is known of John's occupation after completing his allotted time with A B Smith & Co. Two of his children (Margaret and James) stated their father was a Teacher when providing family details for their marriage certificates. John's death certificate states he was a Lamplighter in Sydney.

In 1850, while John and Mary were living in Parramatta Street, Sydney, John sponsored an Irish orphan to Australia. Seventeen year old Bridget Robins, of Lochrea, County Clare, arrived on 3 Feb 1850 on the "Thomas Arbuthnot" with many other orphans. John sponsored her for a period of one year at a cost of £8. I believe, but could be wrong here, that Bridget would have lived with John and Mary as a domestic servant until the year was up and she had, in effect, repaid her passage to Australia.

By 1858, John and Mary were living in Kensington Street where Mary died on 9 May from "Decay". Her death certificate states she had been "decaying" for twelve months! In the 1850s Kensington Street housed workers from the nearby brewery (possibly Tooth & Co Brewery where Carlton United Brewery now stands) and contained a mixture of houses - most of only 2 rooms. Several butchers who worked at Swamp Abattoirs across Parramatta Road also lived in this street. An 1858 report by Dr Graham, Sydney's City Health Officer, stated that homes in Kensington Street were "in a most wretched condition, so far as ventilation and cleanliness are concerned". Perhaps this tells us something of John and Mary's financial status.

Sands & McDougall Post Office Directory of Sydney, 1860, lists John Oakman as living at 21 Kensington St, Chippendale, NSW.

On 13 March 1861 John suffered a heart attack (Dropsy) and died. An inquest was held into John's death, which tells us he probably died alone and an autopsy was called for to determine the cause of death. This would have made for interesting reading and provided us with a description of John, but sadly the inquest records from this period no longer exist.

John and Mary were both buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery in Sydney by the Undertaker Richard Hanslow - the brother of Peter Hanslow who was married to John and Mary's daughter Margaret. Though no burial records have been found to prove it, it is believed John and Mary were buried in the old Devonshire Street Cemetery which is today under Central Railway Station. Although the NSW Government attempted to contact relatives of those buried in this cemetery prior to the construction of Central Railway Station, only about a third of the headstones and remains of those buried there were moved to other cemeteries. It is not known whether John and Mary's bodies were exhumed or whether they remain there today, under one of the worlds busiest railway stations! Copies of letters and reports of grave restorations are available for public access at the State Records Office of NSW, where I hope to visit one day to see if I can learn the fate of John and Mary's bones!