Hi Marie,
Yes I believe Bridget is a child from the family I'm researching. I believe she was born at Emu Bay in 1854, though I haven't been able to find her actual birth date. Her parents were John Swain (on some records as Swaine) and Bridget Burke. John and Bridget came from the Baltinglass area of County Wicklow in Ireland and were indentured servants to the VDL company - ie the VDL paid their passage and they had to work for them for a number of years. They arrived on the "Thomas Laurie" in 1839. They eventually purchased a farm which was located at the site of the current Burnie Park.
I haven't been able to find out who the parents of John Swaine and Bridget Burke were as the Irish records are patchy ( A fire in their National Archives in the 1820s destroyed all civil records and,,to date, I haven't had any luck finding if the parish records for Baltinglass survived).
They had three children in Ireland, though one died en route to Australia. They had a further 8 children in Tasmania (including my great X2 grand mother, Annie).
I'm excited to hear from you as I had come to a dead end with Bridget Junior's descendants. As you know, she married WIlliam Lennard but she died in Mar 1875. I have her giving birth to two children - Mary Challenger Lennard (b Emu Bay 28 Jun 1873) and an unnamed female (b Emu Bay 23 Mar 1875). I have a mistake with my dates which I will have to sort out as I have Bridget dying on 7 March 1875, but her second daughter not being born until 23 March -that's obviously not possible.
I don't have anything more on either of her daughters, though I know William remarried. He wed Catherine Nolan at Port Sorell on 29 May 1878 and they had several more children.
I'd love to hear from you to workout how you fit in. My direct email is
meghelentom@yahoo.com.auRegards
Meg