7 min read
This week I examine the life of another Earl Grey Irish famine orphan girl who lived in Sydney in the mid-19th century. Anyone who has ever been to The Rocks in Sydney will know it is one of the oldest and most historic areas of Sydney with lovely sandstone buildings, shops and of course the famous market. But back when Margaret Driver lived there, it was a place that attracted a mix of immigrants and poorer workers. The quaint streets we admire today were the scene of many a neighbourhood dispute with people living in extreme proximity to each other, often dealing with the difficulties that arose from poor sanitation and overcrowding. I hope that if you get the chance to walk through The Rocks in the future, you will have a better sense of the history of the place, through this story of one of its most controversial residents. There are walking tours of the area that I highly recommend doing as well, particularly ones at night, that give a spooky atmosphere to the whole experience.
Margaret’s story begins in Westmeath, Ireland where she was living in a workhouse, prior to being approved to come to New South Wales under the Earl Grey scheme. Margaret Higgins arrived in Sydney in 1850 onboard the Tippoo Saib, alongside her sister Mary (AKA Maria). Margaret had been a nursemaid prior to her arrival and perhaps she was employed in this capacity, or maybe as a domestic servant, to Mr John Rayner of Emu Plains. Her time with her employer did not last long however, as by 1852 Margaret had married William Driver. He was more than likely the ex-convict William Driver, who arrived in NSW as a 14-year-old, convicted of larceny. He appears to have cleaned up his act once in the colony, with no further offences recorded against his name. It was a different story for the woman he married. Margaret Higgins’ rap sheet reveals a woman who had a problem getting along with others. I get the impression that in her little patch of the world, you didn’t mess with Margaret Driver! There are newspaper reports of at least eight neighbourhood disputes she was involved with, in the space of ten years; quite an impressive tally.
Four years after their marriage, Margaret first came to the attention of authorities when she assaulted another woman called Catherine Molloy. It is not recorded where Margaret was living at the time but a few days later another article reveals that Catherine Molloy had been charged with disorderly and abusive conduct and that she resided in Cumberland Street, in The Rocks area. Preliminary investigation into Catherine suggests she may be Catherine Lucy from the John Knox, another orphan girl. For her assault on Catherine, Margaret was fined 20 shillings. Four years went by until Margaret was involved with two more disputes whereby both Elizabeth Fenwick and Mary Ann Jones used insulting language towards her. That same year, 1860, Margaret was involved in a dispute with another neighbour called Mary Parker. Whatever the dispute was about, Margaret let her temper get the better of her and threw a bucket of water over Mary. She was bound by the court, to keep the peace for 12 months.
The Rocks was an area that attracted a lot of itinerant workers and being close to the harbour, also people such as sailors and single men. With husband William off to work each day, Margaret looked after the household and took in boarders to supplement their income. With no children forthcoming, Margaret had time to devote herself to building a sideline business in an area with a need for affordable, short term accommodation. In a further sign that Margaret was not someone to be messed with, in 1862, she let a room to a man named John Davis. Following a dispute over unpaid board, Margaret waited out the front of the house for him and when he approached, she abused him and threw a basin at him. She then went inside the house and took a knife, which she then threw at John. It struck his arm as he held it up to protect himself which produced a gash near his wrist. After the police were called and feeling regret at her actions, Margaret later tried to bribe John with the offer of one pound, if he did not testify against her in court. Dismissing her offer, Margaret was forced to front court where she pleaded guilty to causing injury. What followed was her first stint in gaol, a whole month to ponder the way she had handled that situation. Her prison record reveals that Margaret was a diminutive woman of just 5ft neat. With most men probably towering over her, she definitely had some pluck to be throwing items at people who could easily overpower her.
By the following year, William and Margaret were firmly entrenched in The Rocks community and would have been known by all in the immediate area. Perhaps gaol had made Margaret bitter instead of regretful, for she was soon in dispute with other neighbours. In October 1863, Mary Ann Rubey, another Irish-born woman, threw rubbish on Margaret’s doorstep and when Margaret admonished her for it, Mary Ann picked up some rocks and threw those at Margaret as well. So, it was off to court again, where Mary Ann was fined 5 shillings. Mary Ann lived at No. 16 Cambridge St with her husband Henry, on the east side of the street, whereas Margaret and William Driver lived at No. 7 on the west side. A few doors down from Margaret, at No. 24 Cambridge Street, lived John Hong, a Chinese merchant and his wife Sarah. There had been bad blood between some of the women of Cambridge Street for years, according to an 1861 newspaper article which revealed that Sarah Hong had beaten one of her neighbours. Sarah, a white woman, had married a Chinese man, and some of the women had made it known to Sarah that they thought this was in very ‘bad taste’. It appears Margaret Driver was one of those women who thought poorly of Sarah and her choice of husband. Just a week after her dispute with Mary Ann Rubey, Margaret was back in court, defending herself against a charge of using insulting language towards Sarah Hong. Margaret was fined 10 shillings for the offence. In a counter claim, Margaret accused Sarah of assaulting her. Sarah was clearly having none of the abuse heaped upon her and the court found Margaret guilty and fined her 20 shillings. In fact, in looking into Sarah’s life, it was at about this time that her husband John deserted her and their daughter and left her destitute, perhaps sparking enough stress in Sarah’s life to create tension with her neighbours. In court at the same time was Mary Ann Rubey again, who was charged and fined for assaulting one Sophia Lord, who in turn had verbally abused Mary Ann. It seems no-one in Cambridge Street was getting along with each other that year! The following year Margaret recorded her last known neighbourhood dispute offence when she insulted Mary Ann Riley and was fined. It is possible this Mary Ann Riley was also an orphan girl, although further investigation needs to be done to confirm this.
From the mid-1860s, the neighbourhood disputes seem to have settled down, or at least they were not reported on in the newspapers and none of the ‘ladies’ mentioned above went to gaol for similar offences. Perhaps one or more of the antagonistic parties left the area, replaced by people who had no troubled history with Margaret Driver, in particular. Indeed, William and Margaret moved to Harrington street at some point in the years following this spate of disputes. Who should also have moved to Harrington Street by 1870? None other than Mrs Sarah Hong. Perhaps Margaret and Sarah were neighbours once more, for a time and with Sarah now alone, her and Margaret may have patched up their differences. We shall never know for sure.
After a few uneventful years, Margaret’s life started to unravel again. In 1870 and 1871, Margaret spent time in gaol for drunkenness. Her alcoholism really picked up speed though in 1873, when between June and November, she was gaoled five times for drunkenness. She was last released from Darlinghurst gaol on the 25th November 1873. Three days later, Margaret had gone on another drinking binge, left her Harrington Street home and gone out into the streets for something. Upon losing her hat by a gust of wind, she staggered into the street and was hit by a horse-drawn van and was killed. Her husband William gave evidence at the inquest into her death, stating that she had had bouts of intemperance of late. They had been married for 21 years but had not been able to have a family, so Margaret left no descendants to mourn her loss. She was just 38 years of age. It is not known, as yet, what happened to her husband William after this.
In putting together the broader details of Margaret’s life in the last few days and delving into the lives of the characters who she lived near and interacted with, I’ve discovered an intriguing community of people of mixed backgrounds, all endeavouring to survive, albeit with some disputes along the way. It’s fascinating to be able to take a look into the lives of these inner-city women of the 19th century. For more information on the 50 NSW gaoled girls I’ve researched from the Earl Grey scheme, contact me at stories@quirkycharacters.com.au
And if the history of The Rocks interests you further, the following link is a great starting point for more reading: https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/the_rocks