There are two Smyth families intertwined with the larger Clarke family. Typical of familial immigration, several members of each family arrived in Sydney from Ireland.
One is the family of Patrick and Ellen Smyth, the other is that of Michael Smyth. The name is spelt Smyth and Smith in newspapers and other records.
Patrick Smyth and Ellen Milligan married and lived in County Monaghan where their children were born – Mary Rose in 1836, Margaret in 1841, Patrick in 1844, Phillip in 1846 and Susan in 1854.
Patrick Smyth died around 1856 and his wife Ellen stayed in Ireland with Phillip and Susan.
In 1858, Mary Rose (Rose) married another Patrick Smyth, who was known as Black Pat. He was born in County Monaghan about 1827. They left Cork in 1860 on the Tudor with Pat’s sister, Ellen bound for Sydney. They stayed with Pat’s brother, Owen Smyth, who was a baker living in Waverley.
Rose and Pat’s first children, Allen was born in 1860 and died in 1862. Their next child, Michael was born in 1862 in Waverley. Rose and Pat moved to the Macleay and first settled at Johnson’s Flat near Aldavilla. In the floods that raged along the Macleay River in 1864, Pat and the farmers between Warneton and Belgrave lost everything but their lives.
Their other children were Margaret, Patrick, Mary, Ellen, John and James Owen. Margaret Smyth married John Purcell in 1885. Patrick Smyth married Agnes Sarah Clarke (daughter of Michael Clarke). John Smyth married Mary Margaret Clarke (daughter of John Clarke). James Owen Smyth married Ann Clare in 1923. Mary and Ellen did not marry.
Rose died at Yarravel in 1902 aged sixty-six years. Pat lived with his unmarried children until he passed away in 1918 aged ninety-two years old.
In 1866, Rose’s brother Patrick Smyth arrived in Sydney on the Racehorse. Rose paid the assisted immigration deposit for him, and Patrick went straight to Rose and Black Pat on the Macleay. Patrick Smyth married Agnes Clarke in 1871 at Sherwood.
Black Pat’s sister Ellen Smyth married Philip Kearns and in 1876, Philip Kearns was a farmer at Yarravel. Philip died in August 1881 and Ellen died in childbirth in November 1881. Their baby son survived and was brought up by family members.