John Irving met and apparently lived in a defacto relationship with Ann Marsh who also was a convict, Ann arrived on the Second Fleet onboard the Lady Juliana after a 309 day journey no doubt ill and perhaps treated by John. Ann's crime was stealing wheat from Win Welland and for that Ann received seven years transportation on March 19, 1789 according to "The Exeter Flying Post". ( I have a copy of this paper also )

A son was born after John had passed away,( I have just recieved more info on John and Ann, including the deed of land John was given, many thanks to Fourth cousin Judy Williams) he was christened John Hamilton Irving who in turn married Ann Partridge, and together they had five children, all born in Sydney. My family line started with the last born Walter Augustus Irving. ( see this page )

The following are excerpts from the Journal and Proceedings of The Royal Australian Historical Society Vol 40 (1954)

"John Irving: The First Australian Emancipist"

By A. J . Gray, B. A.

(pages 316-331)

This brief account of John Irving, the convict-surgeon who became Australia's first emancipist, is merely a prelude to biography. The general research on First Fleet convicts, from which these notes have been abstracted, is still in progress. Much source material has yet to be examined, and in all probability, from time to time, further details about Irving's life and work will be recovered

He was convicted of larceny at Lincoln on March 6 1784, and sentenced to transportation for seven years. Although in certain contemporary records he appears as Irvine, and in others as Irven, Irwin and Ervin, he was generally known as Irving.

Personal note: (this misspelling of the original name appears to have been prevalent throughout the history of the Irving Family)

Recognition of the fact that he was "bred to surgery" seems to have prompted an official direction, soon after embarkation, that he serve in a professional capacity on one of the First Fleet transports. On March 20, 1787 John Easty, a marine on the Scarborough , wrote in his diary: "I went onbord (sic) the Lady Penhyrn (sic) with Ervin a convict to be a surgioens (sic) mate.

Whether or not he rendered professional service during the voyage, it is certain that he was employed, from the date of the landing, as an assistant at the hospital at Sydney Cove. In the matter of his employment, however, Watson wrote under a definite misapprehension. "The First Fleet," he wrote, "carried a complete medical staff, one surgeon on each transport, and of these, a Principal Surgeon, three assistants, and one junior had been appointed to remain as the medical staff of the infant colony. They held their commissions direct from the Crown..... The first Principal Surgeon was John White, whose office carried a salary of £182/10/- per annum, and he had as assistants William Balmain, Thomas Arndell and Dennis Considen at a salary of £91/5/- each, and a junior, John Irving at £50."

Certain obvious errors in this statement call for correction. The First Fleet did not carry "a complete medical staff, one surgeon on each transport." There was no surgeon on the Prince of Wales, and, had it not been for Bowes' co-operation, there would have been none for the convicts on the Lady Penrhyn. John Irving was not "appointed to remain as [one of] the medical staff of the infant colony." He certainly did not hold a commission "direct from the Crown." He was a convict. As to his salary, although Phillip made two requests that he be paid an allowance, it was not until September 7, 1795, a few days after his death, that Hunter arrived with his appointment as "assistant to the surgeons with a salary of fifty pounds per annum."