I'm still on the track of Francis Cavanagh, my 3 x great uncle, who disappeared from records in London due to the fact that he was transported to Australia in 1838. I've been able to track him through convict records and newspaper articles in Australia but was left with a conundrum when I found that he was issued with a Ticket of Leave in 1854 and also sent to Cockatoo Island to perform labour in the same year. Did one cancel out the other?
Cockatoo Island was established as a penal station for reoffending male convicts in 1839. It was in Sydney Harbour. Using convict labour, buildings were begun at that time to house the prisoners, those who were to guard them and also for the officials to run the site. Convict labour was also used to build Fitzroy Dock on the island in a project that began in 1847. As the dockyard wasn't finished until 1857, Francis Cavanagh may have worked on that project. The penal station on Cockatoo Island closed in 1869.
Trawling online, I found the answer to the conundrum about Francis Cavanagh with his Ticket of Leave and his assignment to Cockatoo Island in an article in Epoch Magazine. The article explained that European prisoners who had conditions on their freedom such as being tied to a certain district, were often sent to Cockatoo Island. This fits with the Ticket of Leave awarded to Francis Cavanagh in 1854 as there was a district included, that of Yass. So his freedom was indeed conditional. But the record from Darlinghurst had indicated that his period of labour on Cockatoo Island was to last for 4 years. Was he then unconditionally free and will I be able to find out what happened to him after 1858?
Sources:
Cockatoo Island information https://www.cockatooisland.gov.au/en/learn/island-history/convict-penal-establishment/
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