Daniel Doyle

What became of Daniel Doyle?

In 'Bremer Echoes' of November 2014, John Rossiter wrote the following:

Daniel Doyle was one of 200 male convicts who were transported from Ireland on the barque "Blenheim", which left Kingstown in Ireland on 19 May and arrived in Sydney on 28 September 1839. Daniel was 23, single, and was born in County Kildare. He could read and write and his occupation was a tailor.

At the Court Hearing on 11 February 1839, in Dublin City, he was found guilty of receiving stolen property, for which he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. He had a previous conviction for which he had spent six months in gaol.

In August 1847, the Moreton Bay Courier reported that Daniel Doyle had obtained a ticket-of-leave for the district.

What became of Daniel Doyle after that? This is  not known as there are a number of Daniel Doyle's mentioned in marriages, newspapers etc around that time, which makes it impossible to be sure a correct match has been found.

The marriage of a Daniel Doyle to an Ellen Snell in Maitland NSW on 21 April 1855 was a possibility. A connecting advertisement was found in the Maitland Mercury in August 1855 which looked promising.

Whereas my husband Daniel Doyle, has run away from me, this is to give notice to Constables and others, that they will receive the above reward and much oblige the undersigned by lodging the said Daniel Doyle in any of Her Majesty’s Gaols, as there is a warrant already out against him, granted by the Tamworth Bench at my instance, on the charge of ill-treating me” “Description – Black hair, 5ft 3ins in height, small scar on the right cheek; had on when left, corduroy trousers and plaid coat, and brown felt hat. Ellen Doyle – West Maitland, 17 August 1855”.

As Ellen’s description of her Daniel did not match that of the convict records, this connection has been dismissed.

However, another possible scenario to this story is that he was the Daniel Doyle who boarded the “Una” in Sydney in April 1850, and sailed to California – maybe to make his fortune in the goldfields. We may never know.