page_title: Joseph Potaski
section_title: Family
hierarchical_section_title: Joseph Potaski / Family
caption_attribution_description: English: Catherine McDonald (nee Potaski) daughter of convict Joseph Potaski. Catherine was the first european born and baptised in Tasmania. Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office.
context_page_description: Joseph Potaski, or John Potaskie, was the first Pole to settle in Australia, and one of the first convicts to arrive in Van Diemen's Land on Ocean. Joseph Potaski worked hard to establish himself as a successful farmer in colonial Hobart. This was however undone by the exploits of his family. Joseph Potaski reflects the attitudes of those convicts who never progressed beyond their criminal past. Potaski is seen as representing the auspicious beginning of the Polish community in Australia.
  His daughter, Catherine, was the first European born and baptised in the new colony of Van Diemen's Land.
context_section_description: Joseph Potaski's, son Joseph Jnr. was convicted in March 1821 at Sydney, New South Wales, for being a part of a party that burgled Mr. Thrupp's house. Potaski Jnr. was hanged for the crime at Hobart on 28 April 1821. Joseph's sister, Catherine, had also been in trouble. In 1820, at the age of 16, Catherine had given birth to an illegitimate son, William. William died in 1823, at the age of three years. Catherine had also been accused of being a prostitute, and didn't enjoy the favour of Hobart's first Catholic chaplain, Father Connelly. However, Catherine was able to recover. She married on 29 June 1824, to Irishmen Edward McDonald, at St. Virgils church, Hobart, Tasmania. Catherine and Edward had a large family, and eventually migrated to Lara, Victoria. Catherine died in Geelong, Victoria on 30 January 1877.
caption: Catherine McDonald (née Potaski), 1804–1877. Courtesy of the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office[5]
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