O’LEARY (aka LEARY) Arthur

Following his conviction, Arthur was incarcerated in the Kilmainham Prison in Dublin for three months, then moved to Spike Island in Cork Harbour.

Other skills (convict record): Carver, labourer.

1851: Sentenced to two months hard labour while a ticket-of-leave holder for ‘idling about town, not having any means of subsistence.’ The newspaper report stated he was an engraver.
Ticket of leave man William Wilkinson was a witness. William defended and vouched for Arthur working in Hobart Town. An example of Arthur’s engraving work, a proof impression with East India Tea Company in red lettering and the royal coat of arms, evoked the magistrate to comment, ‘there is no doubt the man could work well, but the question was if the work was not too good!’ Witness Mr John Moore, printer and Guardian newspaper proprietor, testified employing William Wilkinson and claimed he did not know Arthur.

Approx. 1852-1855: Business partnership with William Wilkinson – clockmaking, watchmaking, and associated trades.
Services offered included cresting and lettering of seals, manufacture of desk and bottle stamps, engraving, jewellery manufacture and repair, watchmaking, clockmaking, and goldsmithing.

October 1852: Wilkinson and O’Leary relocated the business from Wellington Street to Elizabeth Street, Launceston, in premises facing Mr Sanderson’s.

Mid-1853: Constable Thomas Riley was ‘dismissed from the Police and ordered out of town’ after committing a burglary at Wilkinson and O’Leary’s shop. Mr Hughes, also of Elizabeth Street, suffered a burglary the same week; the offenders allegedly stole £100 of jewellery.

January 1854: Wilkinson and O’Leary warn the public that they would not be responsible for any debts incurred in their names without written permission.

October 1854: Wilkinson and O’Leary relocated to a more central location in Elizabeth Street, neighbouring the Italian Grocery and Tea Warehouse.

22 June 1854: Free Certificate, Launceston.

By mid-August 1855, Arthur advertised under his name only as a watchmaker, clockmaker, jeweller, and goldsmith, jewellery repairs, hair plaiting, high cash prices paid for gold, Elizabeth Street, Launceston.

November 1855: Marriage record states Arthur was formerly of Peake, Coachford, County Cork.

1857: Offered manufacture and repair of jewellery, and gold electro-plating.

March 1857: Arthur was among the first at the location of gold discovery at the third basin in Launceston. Newspapers reported he washed the most significant piece of gold. Fellow watchmakers John Tozer and Gustavus Boudry were also part of the group.

1859: Arthur announced he would repair jewellery for half price.

August 1869: Following Arthur’s death, his widow Mary, left in a state of poverty, petitioned for water to be connected to her home on Cataract Hill so she could do washing to make a living.

Arthur and Mary had two children; son Olan Arthur, born in 1867, and daughter Mary Gertrude in 1870 after her father’s death.
Mary O’Leary outlived both her children and died in 1925, aged 88.

SEE July 2023 BLOG
https://handsoftime.com.au/an-irishman-and-an-englishman-convicts-business-partners-and-friends/

Inquest: Death from the visitation of God.
Death record: Disease of the heart.