Family:Joseph Collins and Margaret Nevin (1)

Joseph Collins and Margaret Nevin had at least two children and they were in Sydney, NSW, Australia when their daughter was born. This currently places them as the first people in our family to arrive in Australia. Nothing else is known about them so whether they arrived as free settlers, convicts or soldiers is unknown. In 1831 NSW’s population was about 51,000 of whom 21,000 were convicts and 15,000 were formerly convicts. In 1837, the population had increased to about 97,000 with 32,000 convicts. Most of the 65,000 free settlers were either in the military or had been in the military or been convicts.