Robert McAllister who had also been known as Robin was born in Dundalk, County Louth in Ireland in the 1760s. There are some inconsistencies regarding the date of his birth on some documents including the Australian burial certificate issued through Births, Deaths & Marriages which record his age at death as 71 years in 1832, putting his birth year circa 1761.[1] Conflicting with this information are other records like the New South Wales Convict Indents which have his estimated birth year of 1770 and 29 years of age at the time of his conviction in 1798.[2]
Robert McAllister was a weaver in his birth county of Dundalk when he was convicted and tried in the Louth Assizes on the 24th of August 1798, for what is believed to be for associating with/as a participant in the Irish Rebellion uprising of 1798.[3] A petition found in the Irish State Papers[4] written by John Ogle, a gentleman neighbour on behalf of Robert McAllister and a boy of 16 named Bernard Daly, wrote in defence that Robert’s only crime was pledging his United Irishmen’s Oath, which eventually ended up incriminating him and received a life sentence.
Information regarding the Rebellion from an Irish history website summed up by John Dorney: “The 1798 rebellion was an insurrection launched by the United Irishmen, an underground republican society, aimed at overthrowing the Kingdom of Ireland, severing the connection with Great Britain and establishing an Irish Republic based on the principles of the French Revolution.”[5]
The convict ship Minerva set sail from Cork, Ireland, on the 24th of August 1799 in a convoy with other ships such as the Friendship. The Minerva, a 440-ton ship, carried 165 male and 26 female convicts and 3 children belonging to convicts on that voyage. One notable passenger on board the Minerva that trip was Joseph Holt, a general for the United Irishmen. Joseph documented his journey and had recorded that being a slightly faster ship, the Minerva felt like she was being held back and left the convoy and went on ahead. Two weeks after setting out alone on the 30th of September, The Minerva was set upon by two Spanish ships which fired of two shots, luck was on Minerva’s side and sailing off leaving the two slower ships behind. She docked in Rio De Janeiro on October 1799[6].[7] John Washington Price was a young man of 21 years when appointed Ship Surgeon and kept a journal on the Minerva’s voyage to Van Diemen’s Land. It is here he notes that of the 3 deaths on board the ship, that “At 11pm Bernard Daly a convict departed this life. This man had been ill of a Typhus fever for some time and was in a state of convalescence….”[8] It was this young man who was mentioned in the petition written by John Ogle who was sentenced along with Robert whose journey was cut short way to soon.[9] Arriving in Port Jackson on the 18th of January 1800 Robert embarked and so began his new life in Australia. A stark contrast to his old life back home in Ireland. There is not much information found directly after his arrival
but the convict muster for 1806 recorded that Robert was employed at the Orphan School and was an emancipated convict.[10] Later that year, Robert was granted an absolute pardon[11] and by December 1810, he was appointed as a constable in the Sydney police department.[12]
Robert had met a young English woman by the name of Elizabeth Voller sometime between her arrival[13] in the colony in June 1801 as a convict, and the birth of their first child, Mary Ann in 1803.[14] There is no record of a marriage, so its assumed they had a common law marriage. The couple had a total of 7 children before they separated, and Elizabeth married John Burke in March 1815.[15]
Records indicated that Robert had difficulty maintaining his position in this career as he was temporarily suspended for neglect of duty and on another occasion, causing intoxication of prisoners and then he was dismissed from his charge for beating two prisoners.[16] It is believed that alcohol may have played a part in the separation of Elizabeth and Robert but this is drawing conclusions from These reports of unacceptable behaviour.
A document of land leased to Robert from the Crown[17] in June 1823 on Castlereagh Street Sydney eventually was gifted to his first-born daughter, Mary in November of 1830 after her marriage to George Ibbotson. The couple had been living with Robert since they had been married and several of their children had been born in the Castlereagh street house.[18]
On the 10th of February 1832, Robert had taken a horse and cart to gather wood and had not been seen until 3pm[19] that same afternoon when he was found with the cart upside down laying on top of him, he was found deceased. It was his long absence from home which had worried the family enough to send out a messenger.[20]
Robert was buried at the Devonshire street cemetery on the 12th of February 1832 and has since had his headstone damaged in the move to Botany Pioneer park.[21] Then 2 months after his death, Robert’s grandchild John Ibbotson was buried with him, he was aged just 7 years old. Elizabeth Burke (nee Vollor) was also buried there 7 years earlier.
Robert and his children’s mother Elizabeth Burke (nee Vollor) have been mentioned in several published items including a book that starts with Robert’s conviction in Ireland written by a descendant of Robert and Elizabeth.[22] A photograph (figure 1) was published in the Adelong and Tumut express of Robert McAllister and the newspaper headline was titled “The Pioneers”. This appeared in the paper on the 7th of November 1924 and appearing on the same page was Robert George Ibbotson, Roberts grandson who was born two years after his death in 1832.[23]