29/05/1859 - 19/08/1859

From Bicentenary Dictionary of West Australians by R Erikson: REILLY. John, b. 1820, d. 16.9.1902 (Guildford), arr. 19.8.1859 per Sultana as an Enrolled Pensioner Guard, married Anne STAFFORD b. ( Ireland) d. (Guildford). Children. John. Edward. William. Mary Anne, Hargaret, Catherine b. 1870 (Guildford) d. 1940, E1iza Jane. Formerly CarpI. 57th Regt. Perth Barracks. Retired to Guildford. Employed 7 Ticket of Leave men there on occasions 1867- 1873. (Roman Catholic)

The Convict Ship Sultana 1859; Registration #25241 The Ship Sultana was built at Pallion, Sunderland in 1854 and registered in London. She was 775 tons built of oak, a ‘late frigate’ hull design with three masts, deck + poop. Her dimensions were length 154.5, breadth 31.5 ft., depth 21.5 ft. with a draught of 16 ft. [1]. Official #25241, Commercial Code Signal P.F.D.R. [2]. She was still sailing in 1883 with a Liverpool registration, after which I can find no record of her. [3]. Sultana Arrival [Inquirer 24 Aug 1859] The Voyage Sultana was employed as a convict transport for Western Australia. After her fitting out at Deptford in April/May, she picked up convicts in Sheerness, Portsmouth, Portland and Plymouth, leaving on May 28, 1859 bound for the Swan River Colony [4]. The voyage took 82 days and the Sultana arrived in Fremantle on August 19, 1859 [5]. She took on a cargo of jarrah timber at the Vasse and then returned to Fremantle from whence she sailed for Colombo in November [6]. Pensioner Guards and Families Lt. Col. Bruce in his return of enrolled pensioners and their families recorded 50 pensioners, 31 wives and 40 children arriving on the Sultana [14]. These numbers were confirmed in the newspaper reports of the time [6]. The DPS website records only seven pensioner guards, three wives and seven children.