On this day: Irish girl arrives in New York

15th July 1850. Bridget Cannon arrived in New York. She was 10 years old. An Irish emigrant, she had voyaged from Liverpool on the ship ‘St George’ with her sister Mary (12) and brothers Barney (14) and Patt (16, described as a farmer). Their parents were not travelling with them.

It is likely that the Cannon siblings emigrated due to the Great Famine, as did many other Irish people during the 1840s and 50s. What happened to the Cannon parents is open to conjecture. They might have succumbed to the famine. They might have stayed in Ireland while sending their children on to better situations. Maybe they were even in New York already, where the family would be reunited.


Previous posts about ordinary people:

Norris marries her English man, 14-year-old girl avoids prison sentence.

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