Family background
John Coyle was born about 1804 and died in Sydney on 2 July 1846, aged 42. He was buried at Devonshire Street Cemetery and later transferred to the Pioneer Memorial Park at Botany Cemetery. He was married – his wife attended the Lord Mayor’s ball on 23 August 1844 – but no marriage has been identified. He was a Roman Catholic.
Occupation & interests
Two convicts named John Coyle arrived in Sydney with life sentences, one sentenced at Antrim on the Daphne in 1819, and the other sentenced at Queen’s Co, on the Earl Grey in 1836. By the early 1840s both had received conditional pardons. Coyle was certainly in Sydney by 6 February 1841 when Thomas Connelly’s funeral left from his house in George Street north. By September 1842, he had a shop in George Street. In November 1842, John Coyle announced his retirement from business, presumably to stand for Council, and advertised hats and drapery for sale. In 1844, he was back in business as a cabinet maker and undertaker on Hunter Street.
Community activity
In November 1842, Coyle was chairman of the Australian Branch of the Irish National Repeal Association.
Local government service
In October 1842, John Coyle stood as a Candidate for Gipps Ward but was defeated at the election on 4 November. In October 1843, he was invited to stand for Bourke Ward and was successful, becoming a Foundation Councillor for Brisbane Ward, 1 November 1843 to 15 June 1846.
References
Society of Australian Genealogists: AGCI Index
State Records of NSW: Col Sec re land; convict records