Meet Our Family

One man, Thomas McConachy, took unto himself a wife, Margaret McComb in 1813. 

That one man’s family now consists of a family of over 30,000, including descendants and their spouses.

Both Thomas and Margaret were honoured by having descendants name after them. Of their grandchildren, five were named Thomas and eight were named Margaret. It is little wonder that they were often known by a descriptive term prefixing their name, life Big Tom, Tall Tom, Skinny Tom, and Old Tom.

Four places bear the McConachy name. There is McConachy Street in Winchelsea, Victoria, McConachy’s Road at Patho, Victoria, McConachy Road at Three Bridges, Victoria and McConachy’s Road at Henty, Victoria.

The name Pearse in widespread throughout Southern England. Pearse is an old French form of Peter and became popular during medieval times, a period of French influence. Thus, we have Pierre, Piers, Pearse, and other derivations including Pearson, son of Pearse or Peter.

Other Pearse families in Victoria have also come from Devonshire or other southern English counties.  Asa Pearse, his wife and children migrated from Devon on the vessel Priam, arriving in Australia on 25 August 1852.  However, descendants of another Thomas Pearse from Cornwall probably belong to the largest Pearse family.  His son, William, wife, Jane, and seven children migrated during the period 1852-1857.  Any direct relationship with these families seems unlikely and would almost certainly be very difficult to trace.

Our family is descended from two sons of Thomas and Mary Pearse from Cheriton Fitzpaine, Devonshire: Thomas Butson Pearse, who came to Australia in 1841, and his elder brother, William Butson Pearse, who arrived in Australia in 1855.

James was given a conditional pardon. He was to be transported for life to Botany Bay. Born around 1819 in Stepney, London, he was the son of William McConachy, a mariner, and Ann Holmes. 

From the Principal Superintendent of Convict’s Repot, we find that James had been a lady’s Shoemakers Apprentice for five years. He was a Protestant of sallow complexion with light brown hair and grey eyes. There was a raised mole on the lower part of the right side of the throat, one inside the lower left arm and four blue dots on the back of the left hand and wrist. He was five feet four and one half tall and could read and write.

On the 28th March 1938, the “Bengal Merchant”, a ship of 350 tons made in Calcutta in 1812, waited for the departure from Sheerness, England. She was bound for Port Jackson, via Teneriffe.  Aboard was the Master William Campbell. The surgeon Isaac Noot and 270 male convicts, including James McConachy. The journey took 115 days and of the 270 convicts, 3 died. She arrived in Port Jackson, Sydney on the 21st July 1838.