R: Remembrance & Memorials AtoZChallenge
Earl Grey OrphanScheme
The Blogging from A to Z April Challenge is an annual challenge put out to bloggers, to publish a post from A-Z, every day in April, except for Sundays. April 1 is A, April 2 is B……….and so on throughout the month. Participants can post on a chosen theme or publish random posts with no theme at all.
Theme
My theme for 2025 is The Earl Grey Orphan Scheme, which saw young destitute girls of about 15-16 years old sent to Australia between 1848 and 1850, to start their lives over. I became interested in this scheme when my research showed that my great great grandmother was an Earl Grey Orphan Girl. I don’t pretend at all an expert on this topic, The posts in my A to Z Challenge come from information that I have come across over many years of research and reading.
Remembrance and Memorials
Each year there are Earl Grey Orphan Girl remembrance ceremonies held around Australia and Ireland. Following are just a few memorials that can be found in both countries.
Sydney
There is a commemoration ceremony held at Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney each year. The barracks are where the girls were taken on arrival at Sydney. The names of 400 Irish orphan girls are inscribed on the glass memorial.
Victoria
Over 25 years ago, funds were raised to erect a stone monument in memory of the Irish Orphans who came to Australia with the Earl Grey scheme, at the height of the Irish famine.
An event to commemorate the arrival of the Earl Grey Orphans to Victoria, is held at Williamstown each year at the site of the arrival of the first orphan ship. Descendants are given the opportunity to lay flowers in memory of the Earl Grey Orphan in their family.
The ceremony usually includes local dignitaries and a descendant as guest speakers, along with live Irish Music. The opportunity is also given to descendants to lay a wreath in memory of their ancestor.
I felt very fortunate and honoured to be invited as a guest to the commemoration ceremony held in 2023. I was given the opportunity to tell the story of my 2x great grandmother, Ellen Boyle, and a huge highlight was to meet other descendants of Earl Grey Orphan girls.
The Famine Rock at Williamstown, Melbourne, erected where the Earl Grey girls first stepped onto Australian Soil.
Image: Photograph of damaged painting of Williamstown and Hobson's Bay. Depicts sheep in foreground with houses and trees below and sailing ships on the water - State Library of Victoria
Famine Memorials in Ireland
Murrisk/Muraisc: Sculpture of a 'coffin ship', including skeletons of the dead to memorialise, those that were forced to leave Ireland during the famine.
Geograph.org.uk: Creative Commons - P.L. Chadwick
The Famine Memorial in Dublin, officially titled 'Famine' stands at Customs House Quay - wikipedia.org
Mayo Memorial
Mayo Forgotten Famine Girls Memorial in Ballina, Co. Mayo, Irelan d - Mayo Famine Girls Facebook Page
In memory of 138 Mayo orphan famine girls sent to Australia 1848-50
from Ballina (187), Ballinrobe (2610), Castlebar (15) and Westport (10) Workhouses
and all victims of The Great Hunger
Scattered by the ravages of famine
Nation Builders in Australia
