Following a conviction of larceny at Bridlington, Yorkshire, on 15 October 1850, Thomas Delaney (or Delany) was sentenced to ten years’ transportation.[1]
York Herald, 19 October 1850.
Delaney arrived in Western Australia onboard the Sea Park on 15 April 1854. He was described as a shoemaker, single, aged 26, height 5’5”, with brown hair, grey eyes, an oval face, dark complexion, was of stout build and had a burn on his left cheek. He could read and write and was the son of William Delaney and Mary Dalton, born in Dublin, Ireland.[2]
Thomas received his Ticket of Leave on 5 April 1854.[3]
In 1855 he was sent to Bunbury, where he was employed at Australind by MW Clifton, who recorded as follows —
4 October 1855 – Sent Hassell & the native to Pearce’s, with the remains of 2 Sheep for Delaney, the Dogs having eaten the forequarter.
3 March 1859 – Liepschitz (sic, Leipschitz) came up & I settled Account with him. Delaney also.[4]
Thomas received his Conditional Pardon on 24 September 1859 and began work as a shoemaker in Bunbury. He employed four Ticket-of-Leave men between 1870 and 1872, one a tanner and another a shoemaker.[5] He married Bridget Whiligan at Bunbury in 1857. They had six children, two sons and four daughters, all born in Bunbury —
John, born 1857.
Mary Jane, born 1859, married Henry Offer in 1882.
Thomas, born 1861.
Elizabeth, born 1863, married Joseph Hough in 1895.
Margaret, born 1865.
Catherine, born 1869.[6]
Late in 1860 a former convict Thomas Clancy[7], the schoolmaster at the Dardanup Catholic School, was taken into custody for criminal assault against a girl aged seven years. His friend Thomas Delaney was arrested soon afterwards for trying to bribe a witness over the matter. The two men stood trial separately on 2 January 1861 at the Quarter Sessions.
Clancy was found guilty and a sentence of death was passed upon him. When asked whether he had anything to say, Clancy stated that he was not guilty of the crime, ‘but that he must suffer the penalty, and that if the Almighty considered his punishment to be an atonement for the other sins he had committed he should be contented.’ [8]
Thomas Delany (sic) was then charged with inciting Mary Kelly to commit perjury. He was accused of offering her five pounds if she would make a certain statement under oath. Following discussion in the Court over whether inciting a person to make a false oath was punishable by law, the judge ruled that Delaney was guilty of a punishable offence and sentenced him to 18 months in gaol.[9]
[Delaney’s former employer Marshall Waller Clifton of Australind briefly recorded the Court’s decision in his journal on 5 January 1861 – ‘Clancy & Delaney convicted.’[10]]
Thomas Clancy was hanged for his crime on 15 January 1861.[11]
His friend Thomas Delaney was received at Fremantle Prison on 15 January 1861, and after serving his 18-month sentence was discharged on 1 July 1862.[12] While in prison Delaney had the following notice posted in a newspaper regarding money owed to him —
CAUTION,
ALL persons are hereby cautioned not to pay to Mr James Hislop of Bunbury any monies due from them to Thomas Delaney. And if those who have since 27th December, 1860, paid any sum of money on Delaney’s account to Mr Hislop, will send particulars thereof to Mr N. Howell, Solicitor, Perth, they will oblige.[13]
In 1867 Delaney was in trouble again, this time charged with a bizarre crime against a young woman, while impersonating a respectable settler. The local newspaper correspondent described the circumstances with great gusto —
Bunbury. From our own Correspondent.
A case is now being investigated by the police which, I believe, for daring effrontery, is without parallel, and has caused a considerable amount of public indignation. The facts, as nearly as I can learn, are as follows: — ‘A short time since, a stranger presented himself one night at the kitchen of Mr. W. P. Clifton’s residence, and introduced himself to one of the servant girls as Mr. ——, naming a respectable settler residing at the Blackwood. He stated that she had become the object of his affection, and as his intentions were matrimonial, hoped he might be allowed to call occasionally and improve in intimacy, which he felt sure must result in their future mutual happiness. But there was one thing he wished to stipulate, viz, that the matter was to be kept very quiet, as in the event of his courtship coming to the knowledge of friends and relations, his plans of happiness might be frustrated, their ideas on the subject of matrimonial connexions being very strict. The poor girl had never seen the gentleman before, but thought Mr. ——, of the Blackwood, would make a very suitable and respectable husband.
Night after night did this gay cavalier present himself, with long boots and flowing turban, pressing his suit with tenderest words, expatiating on the happiness which was in store for them in that pretty cottage on the Blackwood, which contained every variety of comfort and luxury, and specially mentioned was a sweet-toned piano, but, strange to say, he never allowed his beloved to see more of his face than was absolutely necessary — invariably seeking the shady side of the kitchen, in the more romantic and uncertain light of the stars; but with all his caution the young woman managed to take a most accurate description of his dress and personal appearance, also of his general manner and tone of voice, which unfortunately did not improve in acquaintance, and her suspicions were aroused, alas too soon to be confirmed by a most ruffianly and improper assault on the part of her pretended lover, but he had evidently reckoned without his hostess, for she, with strong arms and a stout heart, sent him sprawling into the starlight, of which he had ever professed to be so fond. The police were at once communicated with, and so accurately did the girl describe her assailant, that a man named Delaney was at once arrested, and is now under remand, so as to enable them to collect the materials of the case, including the disguise which was adopted for the occasion.[14]
Further details of this strange case were revealed a week later by the same newspaper —
Bunbury.
From our own Correspondent.
On the 12th instant Thomas Delaney, a shoemaker, living in the vicinity of Bunbury, was brought before the Bench of Magistrates, and charged with having, on the 2nd of March, violently and indecently assaulted Margaret Armstrong — a single girl residing at Leschenault, and in the employ of Mr. W. P. Clifton. From the evidence adduced during the examination, I am able to confirm the main facts of the case, an outline of which I gave you last week. The circumstance of the person charged being a married man, with a large family, together with the gross nature of the case, caused much public excitement, and the Court was crowded during the examination of the witnesses, which lasted about five hours, at the termination of which the prisoner was committed to take his trial at the Supreme Court on the charge brought against him. I can easily understand that the gentleman whose name has been so scandalously used in this disgraceful matter will feel anything but pleased when he learns the details of the case; at the same time it is an unfortunate chance that might happen to any person in any part of a convict colony.[15]
A finding of guilty was the result of the case in the Supreme Court —
Thomas Delaney was charged with an indecent assault on Margaret Armstrong at Australind. In this case the prisoner paid his addresses to the prosecutrix to whom he represented himself as a single man, the son of a respectable settler, and he ultimately committed the offence complained, when he then turned out to be a married man living at Bunbury. Guilty – 12 month’s with hard labor.[16]
The reported details of Delaney’s case must have caused much embarrassment for his family.
Thomas Delaney, (Re-convicted Prisoner No. 1538), aged 37, was received at the Convict Establishment on 9 April 1867.[17] After serving his full term, he was discharged on 3 April 1868.[18]
By 1876 his wife Bridget had left the family home. Thomas advertised that he would no longer be responsible for the debts of his wife and daughter Mary.[19]
In 1899 Thomas Delaney decided to stand for the South Bunbury Ward at the Municipal Council Elections. He lost against local businessman John McKernan.[20]
In 1903 he and his wife Bridget were living in Picton Street, Bunbury.[21]
Thomas Delaney died in 1904. His obituary reads as follows —
Death. — We have to record the death of Mr Thomas Delaney, of South Bunbury, a very old settler, who arrived here in the early fifties. Mr Delaney, who was just over 80 years of age, has been in failing health for some time, and yesterday afternoon passed quietly away. The deceased gentleman was well known and deservedly esteemed. The funeral took place this afternoon.[22]
He was buried in the old Bunbury Catholic Cemetery —
DELANEY, Thomas, 2 February 1904. Aged 76 years. Father: William. Mother: Mary Dalton. Born Dublin, Ireland.[23]
PROBATES. Thomas Delaney, the elder, late of South Bunbury, boot and shoes maker, to Henry Offer, jun., and William George Tomkinson, £160.[24]
A 1913 obituary shows that his wife Bridget passed away nine years after her husband —
Personal.
We regret to announce the death, at the ripe old age of 81 years, of Mrs Thos Delaney, who has been a resident of this town for some 60 years and was well-known in the district.
The deceased, who was a widow, leaves two sons and four daughters, Mr J. Delaney of Bunbury and Mr Thomas Delaney of the Goldfields, and the daughters Mrs Offer and Mrs J. Hough of this district and Misses Margaret and Kate Delaney, of the Goldfields.
The funeral took place yesterday afternoon in the Roman Catholic Cemetery, where the ceremony was conducted by Dean Smythe. The funeral arrangements were in the hands of Mr W. Brittain.[25]
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[1] Australian Transportation Registers, 1853 – 1863, at https://www.ancestry.com.au
[2] Oz Burials website.
[3] WA Convicts Index at https://fremantleprison.com.au
[4] P Barnes, JM Cameron, HA Willis, The Australind Journals of Marshall Waller Clifton 1840-1861, Hesperian
Press, Carlyle, WA, 2010, pp.483, 582.
[5] Rica Erickson, Bicentennial Dictionary of West Australians, p.806.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Note: See details of Thomas Clancy (Convict No. 2293) on this website.
[8] Inquirer, 9 January 1861.
[9] Ibid.
[10] P Barnes, JM Cameron, HA Willis, The Australind Journals of Marshall Waller Clifton 1840-1861, p. 646.
[11] Inquirer, 16 January 1861.
[12] Convict Establishment, Miscellaneous, Local Prisoner Register, (V16)
[13] Perth Gazette, 20 December 1861.
[14] Inquirer, 20 March 1867.
[15] Ibid, 27 March 1867.
[16] Perth Gazette, 5 April 1867.
[17] Convict Establishment, Miscellaneous, Local Prisoners’ Register, (V17)
[18] Convict Establishment, Miscellaneous, Record of Court Cases, (V23)
[19] Inquirer, 7 June 1876.
[20] Bunbury Herald, 19 December 1899.
[21] Australian Electoral Rolls, 1903.
[22] Bunbury Herald, 3 February 1904.
[23] Oz Burials website,
[24] Daily News, 12 May 1904.
[25] Bunbury Herald, 8 May 1913.