Andrew DOYLE was born in Dublin in 1774, one of seven children of Bartholomew DOYLE and Bridget NUGENT. Bartholomew may have been a grocer in Dublin, residing at 80 Church Street, a major thoroughfare in north Dublin. He and Bridget had at least five sons and two daughters. Andrew, baptised in 1774, was the fifth of those seven children - he had three older brothers and an older sister. Another brother and a sister were born after Andrew.
All the children were baptised at St. Catherine’s of Alexandria, the Roman Catholic Chapel in Thomas Street in Dublin:
“St. Catherine’s was originally built between 1760 and 1769 to the designs of a great architect of the time, John Smyth. The interior is typical of the period; with an oak panelled gallery carried by encased cast-iron columns and boxed pews on the ground floor. The shallow vaulted ceiling has some fine plasterwork but more elaborate decoration was provided around the chancel. Architects Curdy and Mitchell restored the church in 1877 and during the following decade an interior reordering was undertaken during which the old box pews were replaced with open ones.”
All the children were baptised at St. Catherine’s of Alexandria, the Roman Catholic Chapel in Thomas Street in Dublin:
“St. Catherine’s was originally built between 1760 and 1769 to the designs of a great architect of the time, John Smyth. The interior is typical of the period; with an oak panelled gallery carried by encased cast-iron columns and boxed pews on the ground floor. The shallow vaulted ceiling has some fine plasterwork but more elaborate decoration was provided around the chancel. Architects Curdy and Mitchell restored the church in 1877 and during the following decade an interior reordering was undertaken during which the old box pews were replaced with open ones.”
In 1792, aged only 18, Andrew married Sophia Isabella NORRIS, who was only 17. Sophia’s mothers’ maiden name is thought to have been JOUANIER, and that her antecedents were French Huguenot, and therefore Protestant. The exact date of the marriage and the place at which the event happened has so far not been ascertained. Andrew and Sophia’s marriage may have been somewhat rushed, as Sophia had their first child, Cyrus Mathew, in the same year. Two more children followed – Louisa in 1795, and Edmund in 1799. There may have been a stillborn child in the years between, or a child that died very soon after it was born.
Andrew had become a printer and served some apprenticeship time with one of Dublin’s well known textile printing and calico manufacturing companies, O’Brien, Comerford and Clarke, at their factory in Palmerstown, Dublin. He then traded in his own right as an engraver and calico printer.
Andrew seems to have fallen foul of the law in the late 1790’s, and spent some time in gaol on several occasions, but the crimes he was deemed to have committed are not known. They were not however crimes relating to the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which was an uprising against British rule in Ireland.
In June 1801 Andrew was arrested yet again, and on 3rd December the same year he stood trial before the Recorder:
“Andrew Doyle and Robert Fitzgerald stood indicted for having on the third of June last, forged and feloniously uttered to John Davis, a one guinea note, purporting to be of the Bank of Ireland, with intent to defraud the Governors and Company of said Bank; also with having blank paper with the water-mark of Bank of Ireland incorporated, contrary to the Statute.”
Andrew pleaded “not guilty” to the felony, but “guilty” to having in his possession blank paper with the watermark of the Bank of Ireland. For this he was sentenced to transportation for life. Andrew’s older brother James was also tried and sentenced. From the time of their arrest in June 1801, and eventual transportation they would have been detained in Newgate Prison, Dublin.
Andrew had become a printer and served some apprenticeship time with one of Dublin’s well known textile printing and calico manufacturing companies, O’Brien, Comerford and Clarke, at their factory in Palmerstown, Dublin. He then traded in his own right as an engraver and calico printer.
Andrew seems to have fallen foul of the law in the late 1790’s, and spent some time in gaol on several occasions, but the crimes he was deemed to have committed are not known. They were not however crimes relating to the Irish Rebellion of 1798, which was an uprising against British rule in Ireland.
In June 1801 Andrew was arrested yet again, and on 3rd December the same year he stood trial before the Recorder:
“Andrew Doyle and Robert Fitzgerald stood indicted for having on the third of June last, forged and feloniously uttered to John Davis, a one guinea note, purporting to be of the Bank of Ireland, with intent to defraud the Governors and Company of said Bank; also with having blank paper with the water-mark of Bank of Ireland incorporated, contrary to the Statute.”
Andrew pleaded “not guilty” to the felony, but “guilty” to having in his possession blank paper with the watermark of the Bank of Ireland. For this he was sentenced to transportation for life. Andrew’s older brother James was also tried and sentenced. From the time of their arrest in June 1801, and eventual transportation they would have been detained in Newgate Prison, Dublin.
On 4 November 1802 the Rolla set sail from Cork with 127 male convicts on board, Andrew and James amongst them. Rolla was a sailing ship built in 1800 at South Shields, England. She made only one voyage transporting convicts to New South Wales. Andrew had the extraordinary good fortune to be allowed to have his wife accompany him as a free settler, and their three children also (Cyrus Matthew(i), Louisa, & Edmund). Sophia seems to have had access to funds and paid for a cabin, and Andrew and she were allowed to cohabit with their children. According to Andrew’s own recollection of the voyage a good time was had by all. Presumably his good time wasn’t experienced by eight male convicts who died during the voyage.
His brother James may not have had such a good time either. Family records suggest that James’s wife and daughter failed to arrive at the dock before the ship sailed, turning up the next day. It would seem his wife was not really keen to follow him to the new colony, and she never did. It was another 18 years before his daughter, Mary Bertha Bridget, joined her father in 1820, by which time she was 24 years old.
The Rolla arrived at Rio de Janeiro on 12 January, and spent a month in port, before proceeding to Sydney, arriving early May 1803. In the latter part of the voyage (from Rio de Janeiro) bad weather was experienced, in the course of which the Rolla sprung her main mast and the main yard was carried away.
Sydney was still a raw and small settlement, and though there were opportunities for hard working individuals and for smart operators, an element of luck or good fortune was of great assistance to new arrivals. Andrew seems to have been both good at working the system, and at identifying and using opportunities to improve his circumstances. Presumably he and Sophia had some financial backing, as they were able to buy a house on the Rocks soon after arrival.
On 9 December 1804 the following advertisement appeared in the Sydney Gazette:
HOUSE ON THE ROCKS
"To be sold by Private Contract a small but convenient House, eligibly (sic) situate on the Rocks, the property and in immediate occupation of ANDREW DOYLE, of whom particulars may be had".
Andrew, in a 9-page letter to an unknown Revd. Sir, written January-March 1804, starts:
“I take the earliest opportunity to inform you of our safe arrival here on the 10th May 1803 after a passage of six months and after delaying 1 month in Rio de Janeiro in the continent of South America where Mrs Doyle and myself spent the happiest days we ever spent in our lives and where she and her children would meet with the greatest encouragement by stopping. The liberty I received from Captain Cummings in accepting her as a Cabin passenger was an effectual bar to my attempting an escape.”
The letter goes on to outline their circumstances – Andrew had obtained employment with the Governor compiling and drawing “various natural shrubs of this Colony” for which he was "paid" in household goods and foodstuffs from the government stores.
His brother James may not have had such a good time either. Family records suggest that James’s wife and daughter failed to arrive at the dock before the ship sailed, turning up the next day. It would seem his wife was not really keen to follow him to the new colony, and she never did. It was another 18 years before his daughter, Mary Bertha Bridget, joined her father in 1820, by which time she was 24 years old.
The Rolla arrived at Rio de Janeiro on 12 January, and spent a month in port, before proceeding to Sydney, arriving early May 1803. In the latter part of the voyage (from Rio de Janeiro) bad weather was experienced, in the course of which the Rolla sprung her main mast and the main yard was carried away.
Sydney was still a raw and small settlement, and though there were opportunities for hard working individuals and for smart operators, an element of luck or good fortune was of great assistance to new arrivals. Andrew seems to have been both good at working the system, and at identifying and using opportunities to improve his circumstances. Presumably he and Sophia had some financial backing, as they were able to buy a house on the Rocks soon after arrival.
On 9 December 1804 the following advertisement appeared in the Sydney Gazette:
HOUSE ON THE ROCKS
"To be sold by Private Contract a small but convenient House, eligibly (sic) situate on the Rocks, the property and in immediate occupation of ANDREW DOYLE, of whom particulars may be had".
Andrew, in a 9-page letter to an unknown Revd. Sir, written January-March 1804, starts:
“I take the earliest opportunity to inform you of our safe arrival here on the 10th May 1803 after a passage of six months and after delaying 1 month in Rio de Janeiro in the continent of South America where Mrs Doyle and myself spent the happiest days we ever spent in our lives and where she and her children would meet with the greatest encouragement by stopping. The liberty I received from Captain Cummings in accepting her as a Cabin passenger was an effectual bar to my attempting an escape.”
The letter goes on to outline their circumstances – Andrew had obtained employment with the Governor compiling and drawing “various natural shrubs of this Colony” for which he was "paid" in household goods and foodstuffs from the government stores.
He reports on general conditions, and the prices of basic commodities. He also describes the flora and fauna, and the location of Parramatta and the Hunter Valley, in relation to Sydney. He offered to provide botanical drawings for the Dublin Society, and reported on the fate of a number of named individuals, who presumably were known to the intended recipient of the letter in Dublin.
Andrew also refers to the impending arrival of his and Sophia’s next baby, which turned out to a girl, Emma Maria, born on 10 April 1804, who was baptised at St Phillips church 6 months later, in October 1804.
The letter was to be sent on the HM Calcutta which sailed from Sydney on 16 March 1804.
Presumably the the house on the Rocks was put up for sale because the family were moving to, or had already moved to, the land which Sophia had been granted at Toongabbie (Parramatta). This piece of land, 60 acres, was a long narrow block lying mainly along the course of Quarry Creek, Baulkham Hills. Sophia had also been granted two men (convicts) to work it. The farm is now a public reserve, called the Sophia Doyle Reserve, Baulkham Hills. The Reserve, located between Jasper Road and Seven Hills Road, Baulkham Hills, is part of a continuous corridor of bushland adjoining Upper Toongabbie Creek from Windsor Road through to Old Windsor Road. The Reserve name was gazetted in July 1984. It is most unlikely that current nearby residents have any idea who Sophia Doyle was.
Andrew also refers to the impending arrival of his and Sophia’s next baby, which turned out to a girl, Emma Maria, born on 10 April 1804, who was baptised at St Phillips church 6 months later, in October 1804.
The letter was to be sent on the HM Calcutta which sailed from Sydney on 16 March 1804.
Presumably the the house on the Rocks was put up for sale because the family were moving to, or had already moved to, the land which Sophia had been granted at Toongabbie (Parramatta). This piece of land, 60 acres, was a long narrow block lying mainly along the course of Quarry Creek, Baulkham Hills. Sophia had also been granted two men (convicts) to work it. The farm is now a public reserve, called the Sophia Doyle Reserve, Baulkham Hills. The Reserve, located between Jasper Road and Seven Hills Road, Baulkham Hills, is part of a continuous corridor of bushland adjoining Upper Toongabbie Creek from Windsor Road through to Old Windsor Road. The Reserve name was gazetted in July 1984. It is most unlikely that current nearby residents have any idea who Sophia Doyle was.
In 1806, when the Convict Muster was taken, Andrew was listed as an Emancipated Convict, so his sentence had already been commuted. Although the farm land at Toongabbie was granted to Sophia, the holdings and the produce were of course listed in Andrew’s name – seven acres wheat, seven acres maize, half an acre of potatoes, 45 and a half acres of pasture, six ewes, nine rams and eight female hogs, and 20 bushels of maize in hand. Clearly the land was good quality and producing well within a short period. Andrew was still “on stores” which meant he was entitled to basic commodities provided by the government. The two prisoners working on the farm were named – John Brooks, per Atlas, and William Hill, per Fortune.
Their neighbours were Andrew MCDOUGALL and Matthew PEARCE. In the ensuing years there were to be six marriages between the McDougalls and the Doyles, and in a couple of generations on there were also marriages between Doyle and Pearce descendants.
On 25 September 1806 Andrew and Sophia’s fifth child was born – Sophia Isabella, at the Toongabbie farm. The next child however – John Frederick – was born 18 January 1809 at Ulitedinburra Lodge, Portland Head. This indicates the time frame in which the family seems to have sold the farm at Toongabbie and moved on, perhaps to even greener pastures. There is a record in the Sydney Land Titles Office of a conveyance by Andrew to Simon Kearney and Thomas Farrell of 60 acres at Toongabbie, to be paid for over five years at £18 per year from 25 December 1807, to be paid in March each year. This suggests the farm was sold for £90, or £1.10.0 per acre, which would have provided a small but useful income while setting up elsewhere. Presumably stock etc. were able to be sold separately or taken to the new property.
Their neighbours were Andrew MCDOUGALL and Matthew PEARCE. In the ensuing years there were to be six marriages between the McDougalls and the Doyles, and in a couple of generations on there were also marriages between Doyle and Pearce descendants.
On 25 September 1806 Andrew and Sophia’s fifth child was born – Sophia Isabella, at the Toongabbie farm. The next child however – John Frederick – was born 18 January 1809 at Ulitedinburra Lodge, Portland Head. This indicates the time frame in which the family seems to have sold the farm at Toongabbie and moved on, perhaps to even greener pastures. There is a record in the Sydney Land Titles Office of a conveyance by Andrew to Simon Kearney and Thomas Farrell of 60 acres at Toongabbie, to be paid for over five years at £18 per year from 25 December 1807, to be paid in March each year. This suggests the farm was sold for £90, or £1.10.0 per acre, which would have provided a small but useful income while setting up elsewhere. Presumably stock etc. were able to be sold separately or taken to the new property.
It appears that Andrew and Sophia were in sufficiently robust financial state by 1811 to have purchased 120 acres of a property which had been granted to Bartholomew Morley at Portland Head in the area known as Cambridge Reach on the Hawkesbury River.[ii] Their new location was a mere 35 kilometres to the north of Toongabbie, but at the time this was moving into frontier country, and significantly further from the comforts, such as they were, of Sydney. However, the frontier would also have offered great opportunities for expanding land holdings and setting up a family on their own farms, which is exactly what Andrew set about doing.
Andrew and Sophia had a stone residence built high enough on a slope above the river to be spared from all but the most extreme flood events. This residence, described in 1828 by Andrew, was 54 feet in length and 40 feet deep at two L-shaped wings at one end, and valued (presumably in 1928) at £500. This house was known as Ulitedinburra Lodge. Ulitedinburra may be a transliteration of an Aboriginal name Yulatedjenburra, according to Grace Karskens in her publication People of the River, page 294, Allen & Unwin, 2020. It was here that the last of the Doyle children was also born, James George, on 10 November 1811. It was also here that Andrew and Sophia lived till the end of their lives.
Between 1811 and 1830 Andrew was sufficiently successful to purchase further tracts of land, or existing farms. By 1828 he had 1,220 acres (494 ha), 100 (40 ha) of them cleared and cultivated, 14 horses, and 130 horned cattle. He also settled each of his four sons on pastoral lands, and his daughters married others intent on developing the pastoral capacity of NSW. For example, his eldest daughter Louisa, having married John McDougall, son of Andrew McDougall, their neighbour from Toongabbie, was settled on a farm adjacent to Andrew's original 120 acre purchase. The oldest son Cyrus had also been settled on his own farm, as were eventually all of the children. The original purchase at Cambridge Reach was inherited by his youngest sons, John Frederick and James George, who were also beneficiaries of other property and assets, along with their mother, the older sons having already been settled and provided for during Andrew’s lifetime. Cyrus in particular was a major beneficiary of his Uncle James’s significant estate, and the rest of Andrew’s children were also beneficiaries (of Uncle James) to a lesser extent.
Andrew died of apoplexy at Ulitedinburra Lodge on 2 September 1841, aged 67, and was buried on the property. Sophia lived until the age of 86, dying in 1855, also at Ulitedinburra Lodge, and was interred alongside Andrew. The Lodge eventually fell down after it had been vacant for some years. In 1910 when the property passed out of the ownership of the Doyle family a granddaughter Louisa (10th child of John Frederick) had Andrew and Sophia’s remains exhumed and moved to the burying ground at St Matthews Church, Windsor. Their tomb is an above ground casket, with an incised inscription on the top to Andrew
MEMENTO MORI
HERE LYETH The BODY of ANDREW DOYLE who departed this life Septr. The 2nd 1841 aged 67 years.
Pass a few swiftly fleeting years
And all that now in bodies live
Shall quit like me the vale of tears
Their righteous sentence to receive
But all before they thence remove
May mansions for themselves prepared
Into that eternal house above
And O my God shall I be there
Between 1811 and 1830 Andrew was sufficiently successful to purchase further tracts of land, or existing farms. By 1828 he had 1,220 acres (494 ha), 100 (40 ha) of them cleared and cultivated, 14 horses, and 130 horned cattle. He also settled each of his four sons on pastoral lands, and his daughters married others intent on developing the pastoral capacity of NSW. For example, his eldest daughter Louisa, having married John McDougall, son of Andrew McDougall, their neighbour from Toongabbie, was settled on a farm adjacent to Andrew's original 120 acre purchase. The oldest son Cyrus had also been settled on his own farm, as were eventually all of the children. The original purchase at Cambridge Reach was inherited by his youngest sons, John Frederick and James George, who were also beneficiaries of other property and assets, along with their mother, the older sons having already been settled and provided for during Andrew’s lifetime. Cyrus in particular was a major beneficiary of his Uncle James’s significant estate, and the rest of Andrew’s children were also beneficiaries (of Uncle James) to a lesser extent.
Andrew died of apoplexy at Ulitedinburra Lodge on 2 September 1841, aged 67, and was buried on the property. Sophia lived until the age of 86, dying in 1855, also at Ulitedinburra Lodge, and was interred alongside Andrew. The Lodge eventually fell down after it had been vacant for some years. In 1910 when the property passed out of the ownership of the Doyle family a granddaughter Louisa (10th child of John Frederick) had Andrew and Sophia’s remains exhumed and moved to the burying ground at St Matthews Church, Windsor. Their tomb is an above ground casket, with an incised inscription on the top to Andrew
MEMENTO MORI
HERE LYETH The BODY of ANDREW DOYLE who departed this life Septr. The 2nd 1841 aged 67 years.
Pass a few swiftly fleeting years
And all that now in bodies live
Shall quit like me the vale of tears
Their righteous sentence to receive
But all before they thence remove
May mansions for themselves prepared
Into that eternal house above
And O my God shall I be there
Sophia likewise is memorialised on the end plate of the casket
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
SOHPIA ISABELLA DOYLE
RELICT OF
ANDREW DOYLE
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE
2ND DAY OF MAY 1855
AGED 86 YEARS.
LEAVING A BRIGHT EXAMPLE OF CHRISTIAN
PIETY, AND UNYIELDING FORTITUDE
EVEN TO THE LAST HOUR OF HER LIFE, TO
HER VERY NUMEROUS FAMILY.
The reference to “numerous family” is certainly apt – when Sophia died five of her children were still alive (her oldest child Cyrus had predeceased her by six months), there were 66 grandchildren, and about 17 great grandchildren. By the 1990’s there were 750 descendants who had been identified, and many more not traced. Since then the number of descendants may well have doubled.
St Matthews Anglican church in Windsor, NSW, was "built at Governor Macquarie's direction on a site selected for that specific purpose, It is one of the most beautiful buildings in Australia. The corner stone was laid by Governor Macquarie in October 1817. The church was consecrated in December 1822 with Samuel Marsden conducting the opening service. It is the masterpiece of Francis Greenway, the convict architect, who was retained by Governor Macquarie to rectify the poor standard of building in the colony. It is one of the few early buildings which is (un)cluttered by its modern surroundings. It can be seen from a great many parts of the Hawkesbury, and is the district's famous landmark. In the 1867 flood it was the chief point of safety for flood victims."
http://www.hawkesburyaustralia.com.au/info/things-to-see-and-do/windsor-walk/
SACRED
TO THE MEMORY OF
SOHPIA ISABELLA DOYLE
RELICT OF
ANDREW DOYLE
WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE ON THE
2ND DAY OF MAY 1855
AGED 86 YEARS.
LEAVING A BRIGHT EXAMPLE OF CHRISTIAN
PIETY, AND UNYIELDING FORTITUDE
EVEN TO THE LAST HOUR OF HER LIFE, TO
HER VERY NUMEROUS FAMILY.
The reference to “numerous family” is certainly apt – when Sophia died five of her children were still alive (her oldest child Cyrus had predeceased her by six months), there were 66 grandchildren, and about 17 great grandchildren. By the 1990’s there were 750 descendants who had been identified, and many more not traced. Since then the number of descendants may well have doubled.
St Matthews Anglican church in Windsor, NSW, was "built at Governor Macquarie's direction on a site selected for that specific purpose, It is one of the most beautiful buildings in Australia. The corner stone was laid by Governor Macquarie in October 1817. The church was consecrated in December 1822 with Samuel Marsden conducting the opening service. It is the masterpiece of Francis Greenway, the convict architect, who was retained by Governor Macquarie to rectify the poor standard of building in the colony. It is one of the few early buildings which is (un)cluttered by its modern surroundings. It can be seen from a great many parts of the Hawkesbury, and is the district's famous landmark. In the 1867 flood it was the chief point of safety for flood victims."
http://www.hawkesburyaustralia.com.au/info/things-to-see-and-do/windsor-walk/
There is more information about Andrew and Sophia in http://hardwickfiles.info/Sophia_Isabella_Norris.html
This describes the character of Andrew as somewhat disputatious, and that he was of "uncertain temper and drinking". The photo below is supposedly of Sophia Doyle, painted by Andrew. It has been copied with the permission of the author of the above website. It was originally used on the front of a book about the Doyles by one of the descendants, and has since had the birth and death dates added in the scroll at the bottom.
The accompanying photo is also supposedly of Andrew Doyle and is widely used as an attachment to family trees on all sorts of genealogy websites. However, as Andrew died several years before the first known instance of a photograph being taken in Australia, the likelihood of it being Andrew is slight. The name attached to the photograph is often recorded as "Andrew Hastings Doyle" - there is though no evidence that Andrew Doyle, engraver, forger, utterer, convict, and pastoralist ever had a middle name.
[i] Cyrus Matthew became a large scale pastoralist/grazier, a company director, and a magistrate. The Australian Dictionary of Biography item on him is more or less accurate. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/doyle-cyrus-matthew-1990
[ii]The Hawkesbury River (also Hawkesbury-Nepean River), is a semi–mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary located to the west and north of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The Hawkesbury River and its associated main tributary, the Nepean River, virtually encircle the metropolitan region of Sydney.The Hawkesbury River has its origin at the confluence of the Nepean River and the Grose River, to the north of Penrith and travels for approximately 120 kilometres (75 mi) in a north–easterly and then south–easterly direction to its mouth at Broken Bay, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) from the Tasman Sea.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hawkesbury_River