Welcome to the ‘Briens
of Parramatta’
A family line descending from convicts
Daniel Brien and Ann Parker.
Daniel
Brien was born at Spitalfields East London in 1769. At age 13 Daniel joined the
Marine Society and went to sea; reaching the rank of ‘Purser’ by 1784 assigned
to the ship Porcupine. In 1787 Daniel was indicted and stood trial at the Old
Bailey in London for stealing articles of clothing worth £7.6.0/- (a crime he
strenuously denied) and was initially sentenced to death. In September 1789 Daniel
accepted the King’s pardon on condition of transportation to Australia for 7
years.
In 1807
Daniel purchased thirty acres of land on Vardys Road
at Seven Hills, just north of Parramatta, and over the years expanded his land
holdings through further purchases and land grants.
In 1821
Daniel Brien married Ann Parker; a convict from Bow in Devon England. Ann had
been convicted of stealing two bank notes, one for £5 and the other for £10,
she arrived in Sydney aboard the ship ‘Sydney Cove’ on the 18th June 1807. Together
Daniel and Ann had 11 children. Some of their descendants remained in and
around Parramatta and others spread out across Eastern Australia; many of their
stories are covered on this site.
Daniel and
Ann’s second son Daniel Brien Jr was the progenitor of
our line. This Daniel married Mary Ann Best and he was of the generation
colloquially called the ‘Currency Generation’. This generation played a pivotal
role in Modern Australian History, but their contribution has been largely
ignored by most historians. In response to this, their story has been given
prominence on this web site.
Additionally,
we look back in time at Daniel Brien’s ancestry with amazing clarity using Y
chromosome DNA. Daniel possessed a unique series of Y DNA markers including ‘YFS231286’
and ‘DC310’ which he passed down to all of his male line descendants. By comparing
this DNA with people from all over the world it was found to match with Sir Conor O’Brien the Baron of Inchiquin;
proving Daniel Brien descended from a senior line of the Royal O’Brien family
of Ireland.
The Royal O’Briens gained their name from Brian Boru;
High King of Ireland who died on the field of battle at Clontarf in 1014. The O’Briens continued to hold sway over vast areas of western
Ireland well into the 20th century, and much of their story is also covered.
The aim of this site is to make the
narrative of our ancestors, be they Kings, Convicts or otherwise, more accessible
to our extended family.
The ‘Short History of the Briens of Parramatta’ contains some background family information.
If you want more detail then you will find that in the ‘Kings to Convicts’
document. A series of ‘Brien family tree charts’ dating back to the mid-1500s
as well as a ‘Short History of the Currency Generation’ are also available.
Fáilte agus taitneamh a bhaint as!
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Click here for a Short History of the Briens
of Parramatta Short history of the Briens of
Parramatta Click here for family tree charts Click here for a Short
History of the Currency Generation |
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Click here to download the document Kings
to Convicts which contains an extended history of the Briens
of Parramatta PDF version 60 Mb Click here for YDNA Relationship chart |
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I am very grateful for all the wonderful help received in the course of
this research from many sources - including family and professional historians,
archive resources in Australia, UK & Ireland, the Project Groups at Family
Tree DNA in particular project administrators Dennis O’Brien and Dennis Wright,
Family Historian Hilary Whytock, Sylvia Dibbs of the
Catholic Family History Society in London, Sid Hammell
for providing the Hickey history, Graham Lum for providing the Hamill history, the
libraries of Ireland and County Clare for providing O’Brien family letters
& documents, all those who have written academic research papers etc on
subjects relating to our family as well as my relatives (close and distant) who
have undergone DNA testing, your contribution has validated and in some cases
proven connections in our family tree that otherwise would have remained
unresolved. Sir Conor O’Brien 18th Baron Inchiquin deserves special mention for being one of the
very few Clan Leaders to participate in a DNA Project and most of all thanks to
my wife Ellen for her support and encouragement.
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Me
(R) at the 700th anniversary re-enactment of the battle of Dysert O’Dea, County Clare, Ireland (2018) |
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© Last updated 06th April 2026.