Sharing the History of the Four Courts, Dublin, Ireland

Tales from the Dublin Police Court: An American Girl in a Fight in Dublin, 1841

A remarkable case from the Dublin Police Court of 1841, involving ‘Ellen Rosalind Holmes,’ an American girl ‘of great beauty, and most elegantly dressed,’ allegedly seduced and brought to Europe by an English titled gentleman before being abandoned by him in Dublin The below clipping recounting her story is from the London Courier and Evening Gazette, 21 December 1841.

I have not been able to find any other references anywhere to ‘Ellen Rosalind Holmes.’ However, an ‘Eleanor Holmes’ turns up in the Dublin Police Court again the following year. Could she be the same person? Eleanor appears to have been subsequently sentenced to seven years transportation to Australia.

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Ruth Cannon
Irish barrister sharing the history of the Four Courts, Dublin, Ireland, and other Irish courts.
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2 responses to “Tales from the Dublin Police Court: An American Girl in a Fight in Dublin, 1841”

  1. avatar
    Anonymous

    I can’t resist a convict puzzle.
    It seems Eleanor/Ellen Holmes convicted in February 1842 is not the American Eleanor Holmes. Ellen Holmes was a 20 year old housemaid from Mayo. She was sent to Van Diemen’s Land on board the convict transport Hope. She had a few charges during her period as a convict – absence without leave, out after hours, drunkenness, disobedience… A girl of spirit perhaps?
    She applied twice to marry a Robert Harvey (1845 and 1846) and was approved on the second try but the marriage didn’t eventuate. She then applied to marry a Francis Lovett in April 1847 and they married the next month. He was a former convict with a Conditional Pardon.
    It gets confusing after that as there was also an Ellen Lovett on the Hope. I suspect that Ellen Holmes may have died of Consumption in 1849 and her husband left the colony in 1853, possibly chasing gold in Victoria.
    I was hoping for a story that ended with a degree of comfort and happiness but, unfortunately, quite a few convict stories do not turn out that way.

    Reply
    1. Ruth Cannon avatar
      Ruth Cannon

      Thanks very much, I really appreciate your research. Ruth

      Reply

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