B is for a Better Life and Bucasia #AtoZChallenge2016

B is for a Better Life and Bucasia. First, a better life. By this, I mean the chance of a better life as the reason my ancestors travelled across the seas, a long and dangerous journey in the 1850s - 1870s when many of my ancestors arrived.

I find it hard to imagine the journey today when I shudder at the long flight - 24 hours plus - it takes to get me to the UK. Their journey was as long as four months in calm weather while a clipper could arrive in half that time in favourable winds. Also, the conditions onboard ship were extremely poor for 'steerage' passengers and most of my ancestors were poor immigrants and arrived via the 'steerage' berths.

So, why did Alex Walker and Mary Jane Young come? The conditions in Ireland during and after the famine or 'Great Hunger' were appalling - little work available, little or no opportunity to own a farm or to advance in prosperity. 

For Alex and Mary Jane, they came separately, they undertook the long journey across the oceans to Australia seeking fortune, opportunity and freedom. Mary Jane had her sister, Elizabeth Hannah, already in Australia and no doubt she had written back to Dublin encouraging her sister to join her in Queensland. Alex as previously mentioned went first to New Zealand and then to Victoria and  finally to Queensland

Their journeys must have been accompanied by feelings of sadness, excitement, fear, and hope - after all they knew they would most probably never see their family or homelands again. How brave they were, I don't think I would have been as brave. 

And, what did they find? Well, Alex and Mary Jane met in Mackay, Queensland, married, established a farm near Walkerston and raised three daughters, had 28 grandchildren and 40 so far identified great-grandchildren.  Not bad!

On to the second B post - Bucasia.

Bucasia, Google Map accessed 2 April 2016

Bucasia is a town and now one of the largest suburbs of Mackay in the Mackay Region, Queensland, Australia. In the 2011 census, Bucasia had a population of 4,257 people. 

In 1874, Bucasia was originally called Marara but was later named Seaview. In 1938, it was decided that there were too many places called Seaview and so it was renamed Bucasia after Father Pierre-Marie (Paul) Bucas, the first Roman Catholic priest in Mackay. (Wikipedia - here)

The reason I have included Bucasia in the A to Z Challenge is that in the 1922 Queensland Electoral Roll for the Division of Herbert (now Dawson), Mary Jane Walker was residing with a daughter on the Esplanade. I wonder if she was just having a seaside break or if she was living with her daughter more permanently. I hope she was enjoying the sea view and the sea air.

A is for Alexander #AtoZChallenge2016

Friday 1 April - the start of the 2016 A to Z Challenge.

So, starting with A, who was Alexander Walker? 

Alexander or Alex Walker as he was known, was born in Belfast, Co. Antrim, Ireland on 11 June 1825. He migrated to New Zealand and then to Australia, arriving on 26th April 1863 in Hobson's Bay, Victoria on the Alhambra from Port Chalmers, Dunedin, NZ. Alex then made his way to Mackay arriving there in the mid-1860s. 

He married Mary Jane Young in 1872 in Mackay and had three daughters of the marriage. Alex and Mary Jane selected a farm near Walkerston where he was listed as both a farmer and a carpenter in various publications.

Alex died on 13th November 1909 and was buried in the Walkerston Cemetery on 14th November 1909. He was survived by his wife and three daughters.

1909 'DEATH OF AN OLD RESIDENT.', Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), 23 November, p. 4. , viewed 30 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article173266812

Burial Card from Walkerston Cemetery

As you can see there is a problem with the date of death. The Qld Births, Deaths & Marriages Registry records his death as 1909 (C2346) as does the Daily Mercury, however, the burial record of the Walkerston Cemetery records his death as 13th November 1910. Obviously a transcription error, it just shows how you have to check and check again.

Now, just a little bit about Mackay, Queensland where Alex married Mary Jane. The useful website, Queensland Places, that you can visit here, tells us that Mackay was named after the explorer, John Mackay who led an expedition from Armidale, New South Wales, in search of northern grazing lands. In May 1860, after exploring inland regions, Mackay reached the Pioneer River, upon which the town of Mackay was later established.

Municipal government began in 1869 and the Mackay township's population tripled during the 1870s. Mackay was described in the Australian Handbook in 1876:

From the Australian Handbook, 1872 accessed from
http://queenslandplaces.com.au/mackay on 1 April 2016

More about the Mackay District as the Challenge develops ...

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Source Citations:

Inward Overseas Passenger Lists (New Zealand Ports). Microfiche VPRS 13439, copy of VRPS 947. Public Record Office Victoria, North Melbourne, Victoria.

http://queenslandplaces.com.au/mackay accessed 1 April 2016

A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal update - #AtoZChallenge2016 #themereveal

Well, here we are at the start of the A to Z Challenge 2016. As I said in my theme reveal I have found a new family in my family history research so I have decided to use the challenge to research and discover more about this elusive new family. The new family is that of Mary Jane Young, my great-great-grandmother Elizabeth Hannah Young's sister, her husband Alexander Walker and their descendants.

UPDATE: thinking about the family I realised that they were around in Mackay, Queensland in the early days of settlement so I have decided to discover some of the early Mackay history as it relates to this family and others in my family tree. I hope you enjoy the journey.

Women's History Month - my four great-grandmothers #womenshistorymonth

My thanks go to Shauna Hicks for her thoughtful post on her four great-grandmothers for Women's History Month and her inspiration. Thanks also to Shauna for the link to the Australian Women's History Forum and the history and information found there, well worth a read.

So I was fortunate to know two of my great grandmothers, both on my maternal side. Unfortunately, I didn't know either of my paternal great grandmothers but have gleaned some information about their lives that I can share with you.

Annie with her parents

Annie & Dorothy May

Firstly, Annie Jacintha Mary Elizabeth Antoney, my maternal grandmother's mother. Annie was born on the 24th June 1879 in Mackay, Queensland the third child and first daughter to Joseph Antoney and Elizabeth Hannah Young. Annie married John Douglas Thomas on the 18th May 1897 in North Eton, Queensland and had three children, the eldest being my grandmother Dorothy May. Unfortunately, her husband developed consumption or pulmonary tuberculosis and died on 30 January 1907. So with three young children to support Annie married Gilbert Samuel Colin Letona Birkbeck in Mackay on 17 Feb 1909. There were three children from that marriage. 

I knew her as "Granny Birkey" and as a strong disciplinarian - probably because she had to be at times in her life. Annie was widowed for a second time in December 1947 and lived until 11 November 1960, she is buried in the Gympie Cemetery.

McCann family 1903

Secondly, Catherine Eunice (Kitty) McLaren, my maternal grandfather's mother. Kitty was born on 20th December 1866 in Taranaki, North Otago, New Zealand the fourth of eight daughters of Hugh McLaren and Jean Douglas. She came to Australia with two of her sisters in around 1890 (I can't find a record for her arrival) and married George McCann in Lismore, New South Wales on the 19th April 1893. Kitty and George had seven children and my grandfather George Douglas (Doug) was the fourth child and first son of the marriage.

Kitty 1938

The family moved to Murwillumbah in around 1909 and the last child was born there in 1911. I am unsure of exactly when the family moved to Brisbane bu believe it was around 1915 as my grandfather was apprenticed to a saddler in that year in Brisbane.

Kitty was widowed in September 1937 and lived at her home, Denmora, in Cowlishaw Street Bowen Hills until her death in January 1961. She is buried in Toowong Cemetery with her husband. I remember her as Granny McCann and also smelling of violets, she always wore violet perfume and often a bunch of real violets.

Thirdly, Mary Cameron, my paternal grandfather's mother. Mary was born in Glenmore, Ardnamurchan, Argyll, Scotland in 1835 the sixth of eight children and the second to be named Mary to Dugald and Christian Cameron. She emigrated with her parents and siblings first to New Zealand in 184o and then to New South Wales. I have been unable to track their arrival in Australia ( another one who obviously swam) but the family appears in the Hunter Valley region of New South Wales with their daughter Ann's marriage in 1845. Mary married William Connor at Barties Farm near Hinton, New South Wales on 19 July 1853. The family moved to the Clarence River district with William's extended family in ca. 1861. Mary and William had eleven children, five girls and six boys. Two of the girls died within their first year and Mary's last child was stillborn in 1870.

Mary was widowed in 1875 when William fell off his horse in Pound Street, Grafton and her sons William (Willie) died in 1880, James in 1880 and John in 1887. So Mary, who was unable to read or write, was left with little or no money a leased farm and three unmarried children. I don't know what actually precipitated her distress, other than her extreme misfortune of losing her husband and sons, but Mary was brought up before the Magistrate on the grounds of being of "unsound mind". The following are extracts from the Clarence and Richmond Examiner:

11 September 1880
Grafton Police Court - Monday, September 10th -
M. Connor v. A. Connor, a charge of assault, was dismissed.  M. Connor arrested on a charge of being of unsound mind. Was remanded for 8 days for medical treatment.

21 September 1880
M Connor was committed to the hospital for the insane at Gladesville.

4 April 1885
Before the Police Magistrate and Mr. W. Blackman. J.P.
UNSOUND MIND - Mary Connor, on remand, supposed to be of unsound mind, was ordered to be forwarded to the hospital for the insane at Gladesville.

Saturday 4 April 1894
GRAFTON POLICE COURT Tuesday, March 31
Before the Police Magistrate. and Mr. W. Blackman. J.P.
UNSOUND MIND
Mary Connor, on remand, supposed to be of unsound mind, was ordered to be forwarded to the hospital for the insane at Gladesville.

Saturday 28 April 1894
Grafton Police Court on Tuesday, before the P.M. Mary Connor, Mary Jones and Thomas Fadden, deemed to be insane, were, on the certificates from Drs. Houison and Hood ordered to be forwarded to the Hospital for the Insane at Gladesville.

Callan Park Ward c 1910

Mary did not return to Grafton after the 1894 committal and died in Callan Park Lunatic Asylum on 26 January 1910. Her cause of death was "senility of unknown duration" she is buried in Rookwood Cemetery. I often think of Mary, alone at Gladesville and Callan Park hospitals and know from experience that her stay would not have been a pleasant one, I hope Mary found some respite there.

My fourth great grandmother, is my paternal grandmother's mother, Dorothy Oswald. I know little about Dorothy except what I have found during my research. Dorothy was born in Cramlington, Northumberland in 1855 to Joseph Oswald and Rose Wood. She was the fourth child of six children, four girls and two boys. She arrived in New South Wales in 1858 with her mother and siblings, her father having arrived a year before to find work and establish a home in Newcastle.

Fact sheet, AEC - 1903 Election
http://www.aec.gov.au/about_aec/Publications
/Fact_Sheets/fact_sheets/fact3.pdf

Dorothy married Emanuel Vero in Newcastle on the 20th June 1874 and there were nine children of the marriage, one being my paternal grandmother Dorothy Vero. 

I think Dorothy must have been forward thinking as both she and her daughter Dorothy enrolled to vote in 1903 when the Commonwealth Electoral Rolls were established when voting was not compulsory. I like to think of her having the right to vote in Australia, a right she would not have until the age of 30 in 1918 in England. 

Dorothy was widowed in 1905 and died in December 1944 in Wickham, New South Wales. She is buried in Sandgate Cemetery, Newcastle.

So thanks again to +Shauna Hicks for the inspiration to write about my four great-grandmothers. It has made me think about them especially the two I did not have the chance to know. So like Shauna all four of my great-grandmothers survived their husbands and lived to old age.  I wonder what parts of them have traveled down the lineage? Perhaps strength.

St Patrick's Day 1916 and now

St Patrick's Day one hundred years ago in 1916 was celebrated with sports days, race meetings, socials, parades and, of course, visits to the local hotel for a Guinness - most likely men only there. See a selection below for some of the 1916 events. Most places in Queensland had a public holiday for St Patrick's Day back then - sounds like a good idea to me, perhaps we could bring the holiday back?

1916 'ST. PATRICK'S SOCIAL.', The Bundaberg Mail and Burnett Advertiser (Qld. : 1892 - 1917), 16 March, p. 3. , viewed 17 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article215651608

1916 'Advertising', The Evening Telegraph (Charters Towers, Qld. : 1901 - 1921), 21 January, p. 3. , viewed 17 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article212815145

1916 'Advertising', Daily Mercury (Mackay, Qld. : 1906 - 1954), 29 February, p. 6. ,
viewed 17 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article172299477

My maternal grandmother, Dorothy May, always had corned beef and cabbage for dinner on St Patrick's Day. This tradition was handed down from her Dublin-born grandmother, Elizabeth Hannah. Apparently her grandmother told her that in Ireland they had boiled bacon and cabbage but that corned beef was an appropriate substitute for Australia. This tradition was carried on in my childhood and also during my married life. As I live alone now that particular tradition has gone, and I do miss the corned beef.

St Patrick's Day - 17 March 2016 - has added meaning this year. While I have always celebrated Paddy's Day by wearing a brooch I purchased in Ireland with shamrocks inside, this year the day has special meaning. You see, my mother Patricia Dorothea passed away on St Patrick's day in 2015. I can't believe it is twelve months since her passing - I think of her every day and continue to have conversations with her.

So happy St Patrick's Day to all, especially if you have Irish heritage.

May love and laughter light your days,

and warm your heart and home.

May good and faithful friends be yours,

wherever you may roam.

May peace and plenty bless your world

with joy that long endures.

May all life's passing seasons

bring the best to you and yours!

An Old Irish Blessing from IrioshCentral

A to Z Challenge 2016 - my theme

Well, the 2916 A to Z Challene is less than  a month away! I have been thinking of a theme and have decided that I will use the newly discovered family of my 2nd great grand aunt,  Mary Jane Young. This will be an opportunity to discover a new family of cousins - I'm certainly looking forward to researching and finding out more about this newly discovered family.

I am currently back in hospital recovering from ever more surgery but amusing myself with some research thanks to the fre Wi-Fi at the hospital. Thank goodness for technology, it certainly helps pass the time. Stay tuned for the challenge.