Samuel Callaghan was born in Londonderry, Ireland, on 23 February 1809, or possibly 8 March 1808, as credible sources differ. He was the son of James Callaghan, a shoemaker, and his wife Mary, nee Forsythe.[1]  Samuel followed his father’s trade and became a shoemaker, and on 8 March 1829 at Drumachose, Londonderry, Ireland, he married Mary Ann nee May (1811-13 July 1894).[2] Nine years later, on 19 October 1838, Samuel and his wife, plus their four children James (1829-1910), Robert (1832-1874), Jane (1833-1920) and John (1837 -1915), embarked on the ‘Susan’ leaving Londonderry and arriving in the colony of NSW on 5 March 1839[3] as part of a shipload of 261 government sponsored emigrants.[4]

Church

About 1828 and when in Ireland, Callaghan had become a member of the Wesleyan Church, and upon arrival in New South Wales, he connected with the Wesleyan Church in Macquarie Street, Sydney, and later became a teacher in the Druitt Street Wesleyan Sunday School. After a few years, he moved to the Chippendale circuit and, with others, established a Sunday School there. Later, he connected with the York Street Church and subsequently with the Burke Street circuits. For about eight years, from around 1872, he was superintendent of the Hay Street Wesleyan Sunday School and retired from this work in about 1880 due to poor health.  

The Sydney Wesleyan Sunday School Union, of which Samuel was a member from at least 1846, reported in that same year that their student numbers had increased by 311 to a total of 978, with an increase in teachers of 36; this brought the total number of teachers to 106.[5] Sunday School teaching, to which Callaghan devoted approximately 40 years of his life, would prove to be a significant source of growth for the Wesleyan Church. Around 1851, he became a committee member of the Wesleyan Mission Society NSW Auxiliary, an organization dedicated to supporting the outreach of the Wesleyan Church through Missions.[6]

At his death on 29 August 1884, Callaghan had been associated with various efforts of the Wesleyan Church in the colony of NSW for a period of 45 years, and for about 11 years in Ireland prior to coming to Australia.[7]  His family maintained an active involvement in Wesleyan/Methodism well into the 20^th Century, and one of his grandsons, Robert Samuel Callaghan, was hailed by The Methodist as ‘a prince and a great man’ of Australian Methodism.[8]