Ann Byrne arrived with her convict mother Mary from Carlow, Ireland, in December 1845 and was admitted to the Orphan Schools soon after arrival with several other children who arrived on the 'Tasmania' (2). Ann was only two years and three months old. She died at the Orphan Schools in May 1849. A younger half-brother James McCann was admitted to the Orphan Schools in 1859 when he was nearly 11. He was born while his mother was under sentence and she was punished with six months hard labour in the Cascades Female Factory. Mary Byrne married Thomas Cann 'Maria Somes' in 1851. They had a son Henry (1852); Ann (b.1854 & d.1858); and Charlotte (b.1856). Mary died as Mary Cann in 1858. Thomas then married Jane Allen in 1860; they had several children.
Two detailed articles,
published online by the Irish journal, Carlow Past and Present, are
Oonagh
Warke's 'The Law Must Take its Course' and
Dianne Snowden's 'These Unfortunate Females'. Both focus on convicts Esther
Burgess and her daughter Mary; Margaret Butler; Mary Griffin; and Mary Byrne.
All but Mary Burgess brought children with them; the children were admitted to
the Orphan Schools shortly after arrival.