The St Patrick's Day Affair

Indent descriptions used to create a "Mugsheet" of Michael Cotter on his arrival to NSW.

My Third Great Grandfather Michael Cotter was yet another convict in my family tree. He was transported to Australia in 1831 for stealing a sheep. He was assigned to Mr Gibson from “Tirranna” Goulburn Plains where he worked as a servant. During his time there he met Catherine, the daughter of fellow convict Patrick Dodd. After receiving his Ticket of Leave in 1836 he was granted permission to marry Catherine which they did on the 11th October that year.

In 1851 Michael and Catherine had been married 14 years and had seven children. They had left Goulburn and were living near Wheeo a farming hamlet where the “Ashfield Tavern” had had a history of bushranger guests including Frank Gardiner and his gang. The population of the area was small but made up mainly of Irish immigrants.

On St Patrick’s Day Catherine, Michael and his friend  John Carroll went to the “Ashfield Tavern” to celebrate.

It transposes that the group had become very intoxicated by nightfall. The Goulburn Herald Sat 9 August 1851 reported:

Cotter missed his wife and on going to search for her he found her and Carroll in the yard at the back of the kitchen in such a position as to preclude all doubt as to the criminality of their conduct. The prisoner took up a slip-rail which was lying by, and while Carroll was on the ground with his face slightly inclined towards him, he struck him along the back, one end of the rail hitting the back part of his head. He died immediately afterwards, it came out in evidence that an inquest had been held on the body, at which it had been ascertained that a small piece of skull of the deceased had been broken-in, and this proved quite sufficient in the opinion of the medical gentleman who attended to have caused death.

The Goulburn Herald Sat 22 March 1851 claims that Michael had not been aware of who the man was that he struck and on returning to see the body and finding it to be that of Carroll, Michael stooped down and kissed it exclaiming “He would not have hurt him if he had known who it was!”

At his trial Michael said he was sorry that he had sent the unfortunate man before his maker in such a state. His Honour addressed Michael Cotter in a very feeling way, and passed upon him the mitigated sentence of six months imprisonment in Goulburn goal.

Interestingly John Joseph Cotter would have been born a few months after the trial and 8 months after "the fact". Family rumour has it that John was named in honour of John Carroll. 

Catherine and Michael reconcilled after his gaol sentence and after John, there were 5 more daughters.