My family's Phelan bloodline in Australia dates back to 1855, the year my 2x great-grandfather Jeremiah Phelan arrived in Sydney. Jeremiah was an Irishman from Queens County (modern day Laois), born in Abbeyleix in about 1821 and living nearby in Clonenagh. I have yet to uncover much about his life in Ireland but what we do know that is that on the 21st of April 1855, aged 34, he left Liverpool as one of 98 policemen on board the Exodus . Why were there so many policemen on board this ship? Just four years earlier, significant gold finds in the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria had led to enormous rushes of men eager to make their fortune. The population in these colonies boomed with overseas arrivals, while whole towns and cities were almost emptied of professional men. The police forces were not spared, and the government's ability to maintain law and order was seriously tested as a result of such a loss in numbers. The New South Wales government needed to attract me...