The ‘Potato Orphans’ of Australia is a tragic, little-known period in the nation's history, in which thousands of vulnerable teenage women, orphaned by the Great Famine, were shipped from Ireland to be wives for the Australian convicts.

Gail Newman is passionate about discovering her ancestors forgotten stories and was shocked when she discovered the truth about her great-great-great-grandmother Jane McDonald.

Jane was sent to Australia at the age of 18 after her parents’ tragic deaths to serve as a maid and be married out to a convict.

‘I find myself teary at times when I find out more information about Jane’s life. She was only 18, had lost both parents and was uprooted from everything she’d ever known to come to a strange country,’ Ms Newman told Daily Mail Australia.

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An image of potato orphan Jane McDonald, which her great-great-great granddaughter Gail Newman was 'so happy' and emotional to uncover after months of searching

The boat records, verifying Jane McDonald's 124 day perilous journey to Australia in 1848

Ms Newman uncovered the tombstone of John Byrne, who died in June 1903 aged 85

Retiree Gail Newman was passionate to undercover her family's forgotten history, as she was unable to

‘I never knew Jane was a potato orphan, she was just a name on paper for me,’ explained Ms Newman, who used the internet to laboriously search for details about her past for more than a year.

‘I get a bit emotional thinking about how she must have felt and wondering how I would have coped in such a situation.’

In a tragic and little-discussed time from Australia’s past, 4000 girls as young as 14 became ‘symbolic refugees from famine’, displaced in Australia and dependent on finding work or husbands to survive.

Ms Newman, a 60-year-old retired childcare worker, finds it difficult to comprehend such a dark period in Australia’s history and the despair-filled, lonely lives faced by girls who were only children.

‘It’s hard when you think about the ages of those girls. These days we would think of them as being children, not adults,’ said Ms Newman.

‘Even though at 18 they’re legally adult, I would consider that to still be a ‘nurturing’ stage. Knowing the hardships from the generations before me makes me feel really blessed for what I have.’

The Great Famine in Ireland in the 1840s was a period of deprivation and disease due to the depleted potato crops, resulting in mass starvation and the death of around one million people between 1845 and 1852.

The young women who survived but had no source of income or ability to sustain themselves became known as the ‘Irish famine orphans’ or ‘potato orphans’.

One of Jane McDonald's children, John Byrne, is pictured. He lived from 1856 until 1939

Between 1848 and 1850 the Early Grey scheme sent female Irish teens from Ireland’s workhouses to faraway Australia to become brides for the convicts.

The homeless orphans had been living and working in the Irish factories, which faced extreme overcrowding and insufficient supplies.

These women had been either orphaned by the famine or disowned by parents who could no longer support them.

The scheme was pitched by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Earl Grey.

He proposed these young, ‘marriageable’ women could serve as wives and provide female labour in the male-dominant and hugely underdeveloped land down under, Australia.

Ms Newman spent more than 12 months hunting for information about her ancestors, particularly about Jane; determined to recover the lost stories.

She managed to uncover shipping records, marriage certificates and even a tombstone to uncover the forgotten story from her family’s past.

Jane McDonald was an 18-year-old nursemaid whose parents, Sally and Hugh McDonald, both died while she was young, leaving her with nothing.

The marriage certificate for the marriage between Jane McDonald and John Byrnes in Maitland in 1848 - the same year she arrived in Australia as a teenage 'Potato Orphan'

She travelled to Australia during a ‘tedious passage of 124 days’ from Plymouth, according to a newspaper cutting from 1848.

Thousands were shipped to Australia to become wives, suffering through perilous journeys which claimed many lives.

‘The ship has on board 203 immigrants, of whom eight are married couples and 195 single women (Irish orphans) from the age of 16 to 25.

‘Two deaths only occurred during the voyage,’ the Shipping Gazette clipping wrote in reference to Jane’s journey.

Her qualities were listed in documentation as 'State of bodily health, strength, and probable usefulness: good.'

Fortunately, the teen was quickly settled in New South Wales to work as a maid in rural Maitland, where she was poorly paid and thousands of kilometres from home.

‘Jane was sent to Maitland by steamer with three other girls. They were all aged 17 and 18,’ said Ms Newman.

‘She was sent to work as a maid for Mr Holmes at Black Creek and paid 11 pounds a year, although I’m not sure if she received this money or if it went to the department that organised the emigration.’

A view of the 17-foot-long frontage of the Dublin City Workhouse where 'Potato Orphans' were sent to live until the workhouses faced serious overpopulation

She was soon married, although Ms Newman has not yet been able to determine if the marriage was arranged or if Jane and her husband met and chose to be married.

‘She was married eight months later to John Byrne, a Dublin-born immigrant 12 years her senior,’

Although the scheme was a success for some, other young women were unable to escape poverty.

Women who were unable to fulfil their duties were forced to live on the streets in Australia or were deported back to Ireland.

Jane and John had 13 children together, although two died as babies and another two died at a young age.

They settled in the Inverell district in northern New South Wales, living on the land.

Gail's great great grandfather, Thomas Peter Byrne, was their second child, born in 1852 at Brodies plain.

At one point they moved to Tamworth where John died in 1903 and Jane in 1915. They are both buried at Tamworth.

John's headstone has been located, although sadly it's understood there is no headstone for Jane.

A group of male inmates at the Bailieborough Union workhouse, County Cavan, Ireland

Gail Newman's mother (centre) is pictured with three of Gail's children. They are all descendant's of Jane

Ms Newman is passionate about history and from a very young age has wanted to know more about her past.

Her mother’s great-grandmother died young before she could pass on the stories, meaning a lot of the family history was lost. Ms Newman did not know anything about her family beyond her mother’s grandfather’s generation.

‘It probably took me 12 months to make much headway. Finding a photo of Jane was absolutely brilliant,’ said Ms Newman.

‘The internet has been incredible, it’s made everything so much easier. Even in 2000 I was going to the library for hours on end and often coming away with nothing.’

She uses websites like Find My Past as well as Facebook to make connections and find records.

‘I think everyone should know where they come from and what the generation before them have gone through – the hardships and the joys,’ said Ms Newman.

‘It gives you more insight into the people in your life and why they are the way they are.

‘It’s like a never-ending jigsaw, there’s always more to find. It’s an addiction and I can never be satisfied!’ she laughed.

Gail Newman's mother Ella (centre) is the great great grandaughter of Jane McDonald. Also pictured as three of Jane's great-great-great-great-great grandchildren

Findmypast has just released 2.5 million records of people from the Irish workhouses in Dublin between 1840 – 1920.