John O'Toole
- Born
- 1790-01-01 12:00:00
- Died
- 1879-05-05 12:00:00
- Gender
- Male
On board were 183 Scottish and Irish immigrants John O'Toole was my great-great-great grandfather. He was born circa 1790 in County Wicklow. In 1839 he and his sons Dennis, John Thomas and James applied for an assisted passage to South Australia. Their application was approved in January 1840. Their address on their application was given as Kimmage, Co. Dublin
On 2 April 1840 a small ship of 400 tons, the William Nicol, set sail from Dublin on the long journey to South Australia. It was the first ship to sail directly from Ireland for South Australia.
On board were 183 Scottish and Irish immigrants, including John O'Toole and his wife Catherine (whose name could be O'Brien or O'Byrne), Dennis, John Thomas and his wife Ellen Murphy (my great great grandparents), son James and daughter Mary.
The Biographical Index of South Australians states that John Toole was born in Wicklow, Ireland in 1790. When John O’Toole was admitted to Adelaide Hospital on 4 July 1864 suffering scorbutus (scurvy) his place of birth was given as Wicklow, Ireland and his age was given as 74 years, confirming his year of birth as 1790.
I have not yet discovered which parish or townland in County Wicklow they came from.
John's wife and my 3X great grandmother Catherine died near Gawler in South Australia on 5 February 1855.
John lived a long life. He died on 5 May 1879 near Port Wakefield, South Australia. He was probably living with his daughter Mary.
Dennis, John Thomas and Mary all had large families. There are many descendants of John and Catherine O'Toole in South Australia.
Dymphna Lonergan, ‘G.S. Kingston and other pioneer Irish in South Australia’, in Susan Arthure, Fidelma Breen, Stephanie James, Dymphna Lonergan, eds., Irish South Australia, New histories and insights, Adelaide, Wakefield Press, 2019, p. 9
