Catherine Rowland- my West Coast great-grandmother

Sometimes when doing your family history, questions come to mind that are 'wonderings' that you are unlikely to find an answer for. One such question for me is: "Why did Catherine travel across the Tasman from Victoria to Greymouth on the West Coast, as a young single woman?"

Catherine Rowland was born on 26 August 1845 to Christopher Rowland and Margaret Arbuckle, in Heidelberg, Victoria, and baptised in St James Church, Melbourne. Two more children were born in East Brighton, Melbourne, including Margaret Jane, the youngest, who also came to New Zealand later. Sadly their mother Margaret died in 1861 of consumption, and was buried in Kyneton, Victoria.  Margaret was only 16 years old at the time (and Margaret Jane only four.)

What happened to Catherine in the intervening years is unclear, but she married James Lalor on 14 September 1871 in the Roman Catholic Chapel, Greymouth. Not much information was collected for marriage documents in NZ at that time and we can only glean a few facts. In her 'intentions to marry' document held at National Archives (NZ) she was said to be a spinster of full age, and although it is not clearly legible, her length of residence appears to be 8 months. This would make it possible that she crossed the Tasman in early 1871, with the caveat that 'length of residence' could have been interpreted as in the district, or in New Zealand.

Grey River Argus, Volume XI, Issue 981. 18 September 1871

 

 

The only other document that we have that gives an indication about when Catherine might have arrived in NZ is her death registration. She lived a good long life in South Beach, Greymouth, until she died aged 83 of sudden myocardial failure on 3 January 1934. She was said to have been in NZ for 62 years, and this would give a time of arrival around 1871-2.

These two dates are consistent, and it seems that she did in fact arrive in New Zealand not many months before her marriage in September 1871. (Shipping records between Melbourne and Greymouth of the time are hard to come by.)

So the questions remain, did she cross alone as such a young woman? Or was she with a friend? Did she know someone in Greymouth, or did she just make the crossing in the hope that a better life existed for her away from Victoria? It is unlikely I will find answers, but it is still a nice thing to wonder about. 

Catherine Rowland (Lalor) with a child (thought to be Eileen Hamilton)

Accentuate the Positive Geneameme 2022

For the first time, I am participating in GeniAus end-of-year blogging challenge, so here goes! 

1: I was happy to go back to my local genealogy branch meetings after a Covid absence. (I was really looking forward to going to the Lower North Island Irish Research Day as well, but managed to end up in isolation with Covid when it was on!) 

2: In 2022 I was particularly proud of writing about Fr Patrick O’Riordan who served as a priest in NSW- my first cousin twice removed. I had seen him mentioned in a newspaper when he visited another priest-cousin in New Zealand, but hadn’t managed to find out much about him. Suddenly, one bit of information from Andrew Redfern, a fellow Twitter-er, broke open the floodgates of information! 

5: A new genealogy book that sparked my interest was Chris Paton’s “Tracing your Scottish family history on the internet”, and I hope to delve into this more in 2023. 

6: A geneasurprise I received was this beautiful photo of my maternal grandmother, Rose Payn, that my cousin sent to me. I think she is probably a bridesmaid for one of her sisters in this photo, around 1912 or so.

7: In 2022 I finally met a third cousin from a Scettrini line that I hadn't had any contact with. 

8: Locating the birthplace of my great-grandmother Mary Burke in a rural area near Abernethy, Perthshire, Scotland, gave me great joy. Doing a Pharos course by Chris Paton gave me the confidence to use maps from the National Library of Scotland effectively, and led to this discovery. 

11: An informative newspaper article I found was one that told me Fr O’Riordan’s brother was killed in an ambush in 1921 in Ireland. This led to more research and discovering a military archive that contained a huge amount of information about his family, when they applied (unsuccessfully) for compensation after his death.

12: I was pleased I could contribute to my local genealogy branch by taking over as editor of the monthly newsletter. I am thankful to the long-time editor who thought to ask me to do this, and had faith that I could do it. 

14: I got a thrill from opening someone’s eyes to the joy of genealogy when I was able to go from an Irish marriage entry a friend had obtained from an old family Bible, to a whole heap more information about her family in Ireland. 

20: Another positive I would like to share is that I finally worked out how to search on Trove effectively, by using Advanced Search. This has helped me find the information I wanted, instead of being overwhelmed by 1000s of results! 

Thanks GeniAus for setting this opportunity up.

Jeremiah Malone, junior

The youngest child, and youngest son, of Jeremiah Malone and Margaret Riordan, was named Jeremiah. He was born in 1882 according to evidence from the Ballyhea Parish register, though I haven't been able to find his birth in civil registration.
In the 1901 census, Jeremiah is described as a farmer's son, aged 19, living with his parents and four other siblings. He was able to read and write.
On 13 September 1910, Jeremiah married Catherine Crowley in Clonakilty, Co Cork. (Clonakilty is in south-west Cork near the coast, quite far from Ballyhea.) Their marriage registration is available on the website for Irish civil registration.

By the time of the 1911 census Jeremiah was living in Main St, Rathkeale with his wife Catherine. He was a horticultural instructor.

Jeremiah and Catherine had a daughter Margaret (known as Peggy), born in June 1911. Three further siblings have been found: Michael James (1913),  Bridget (1915), and Mary Catherine (1919).

Peggy married a Brennan, and continued to live in Rathkeale where she brought up her family, and Aunty Mary Riordan (her first cousin) told me about her so I could visit her in the early 1980s. Michael James (Mick)  emigrated to Australia and his wife also came from Rathkeale. Bridget died young, aged just 24, of pulmonary tuberculosis. Mary Kate emigrated to the USA, her husband’s locality.

Jeremiah Malone died aged 52 on 9 October 1935 in Rathkeale, after suffering for four days from influenza and pneumonia. His death was registered by his daughter Mary Kate.

Library visit

I've known for a while that my local Palmerston North library provided access to both Ancestry (library edition) and Find my Past- but I had never explored using either of them. Sunday afternoon was my time to remedy that. I took my laptop with me in case the library computers were busy, as you can access Ancestry once you are on the library wifi. FindMypast you actually have to be on a library computer to access. The library had two computers with these websites on, and fortunately there was no problem at this time of the day/week getting access.

My great-grandfather, Jeremiah Malone has always been a bit of a mystery to me. I knew the family was living in Ballinadrideen, near Charleville, Co Cork, Ireland. I also had a precious family photo of him, but I knew little more about him.

Jeremiah Malone

I had seen the 1901 census return for the family before on the National Archives of Ireland website, when his age was stated as being 75. Somehow the way FindMyPast set out his details from the census helped his age 'jump out' at me. He was 75, and 20 years older than his wife Margaret. FindMyPast also listed his birth year as 1826. An exploration for another time will be to investigate whether this is just an estimate, or whether a record actually exists. (After coming home I tried looking up the Ballyhea Parish baptismal records, which do exist for the 1824-8 time period, but they were hard to read, and I didn't 'find' him there on a quick look.)

It turned out that findmypast had transcriptions for Irish deaths 1864 -1958, and I was able to find the transcription of the likely death entry for my Jeremiah Malone in 1906, but no image. I noticed the copyright was listed as being FamilySearch, so I investigated further on there when I arrived home. Still no image though. It took me a while before I found the link for historic Irish civil registrations, and now knowing his death date, bingo, I found the image of the death registration for Jeremiah Malone, resident in Ballinadrideen, Ballyhea. It's strange how it suddenly feels as if I 'know' Jeremiah a little more, as if he has some clothes over his mystery.

 The death entry of the time didn't list the names of any parents though, but that is something I might explore 'next time' I go and use the library computer. "Maurice Malone" who was informant who was present at the death, is a brother of my grandmother, Margaret Malone, and thus my great-uncle.

I was able to print off pages from findmypast at the library for just ten cents a page, which was handy.

Using Ancestry Library edition was interesting. I couldn't directly sign in to the family tree I have created- so next time I will take details of any 'hints' I want to investigate with me. But I navigated a few things, like electoral rolls in Canterbury where I found Patrick Riordan listed over a wide time period. It was handy to know I could e-mail this home, check it again on my home computer, and leave it sitting there on my 'discoveries' page.

Annie Riordan: Sr M St Majella RNDM

My grandfather Martin Riordan had five siblings, all born on the Riordan-Burke family farm at Charing Cross in Canterbury NZ. So far on this blog I have written briefly about my three Riordan-Burke great-uncles, John (a priest), Patrick Joseph (a farmer) and James (who died in WW1). But I also have two great-aunts in this line of my family, Bridget and Annie Riordan. Today I'll write about Annie, who became Sr M St Majella RNDM.

Annie Riordan was the sixth and last child born to Patrick Riordan and Mary Burke, on 23rd August 1891. Her mother Mary was already suffering from TB at the time of her birth, and she died in March 1892 while Annie was still only a baby.

Annie was baptised just two days after her birth, on 25 August 1891, by Rev James J O’Donnell, her father Patrick’s first cousin. Sponsors were Thomas Burke and Joanna Halpin.

This photo shows Annie Riordan on the left, next to her sister Bridget. (Annie reminds me very much of my sister Katherine in this photograph.) An inscription on the back implies that this photo was originally sent to cousin Jeremiah, who I think was almost certainly their cousin Jeremiah Malone in Ballinadrideen, Co Cork.

Annie excelled in music. She obtained her ATCL in piano in 1909. She passed an intermediate exam in Harp in 1907. She sang as part of a concert for the bishop in 1905. In the biography of her in the archives of the Mission Sisters order it said that she ‘was naturally gifted with a beautiful voice, …which she gave ungrudgingly to the service of God, particularly her voice, when singing in the Chapel — God’s praises.’

She became a boarder at the Sacred Heart convent when quite young, and entered the Novitiate at the early age of 15, on 6 January 1908.

Her biography says she ‘had inherited Consumption’ from her mother, but with the great care bestowed upon her, it appeared she had grown out of it. However, in November 1910 she had an attack of gastric influenza that left her weak. Five weeks before her death she took to her bed and the illness progressed rapidly. On 20 June 1911 she was administered the last Sacrament by the priest.

I was told by Sr Martina Burke that Annie’s brother John came up from the Seminary when she was in her last illness, and was called in the early hours when her end was near. He ran over to the convent without even doing up his shoelaces.

Annie died of TB on 7 July 1911 at the convent of the Mission Sisters in Lower High St, Christchurch. Her funeral was held in the convent chapel on Saturday 8 July, then she was buried in the sisters’ plot at Linwood Cemetery, Lot 99C, Block 40.

Sources:
1: Birth Registration Image- Malvern, quarter ending 31 Dec 1891
2: When Mary Burke, her mother, died in March 1892, the death registration stated that she had been suffering from Phthisis Pulmonalis for 2 years.
3: Chch diocesan transcript from baptismal register for Darfield.
4: Most music results etc were recorded in the Tablet. (Catholic magazine)- Papers Past
5: “Biography” for Sr Majella was sent to me as a relative by the archives for the Mission Sisters.
6: Photos: Aunty Mary Riordan had this photo of Annie and Bridget.
7: I took photos of the sisters’ plot at Linwood cemetery with Sr Majella’s name on it -early 1990s.
8: Obituary: https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/new-zealand-tablet/1911/7/13/32

Passing things on...

This year I have two main things I want to achieve with my family genealogy.

The first is to get a booklet together that 'introduces' the family story to our newer generations. At this stage I'm not yet half-way through what I want to share on the paternal side- words and pictures- but hopefully the booklet will be a Christmas present this year rather than next!

The second thing I want to do is to get going on some proper organisation of all my family photos- both recent and older and even photocopies I have of very old photos. If I can digitise them, hopefully they are more likely to last over time to reach somebody interested in more family research.

Dad, second from right

Yours truly and sister

Of course, I haven't stopped trying to follow up some new leads as well. One thing I really want to do is track down where exactly our Lalor family came from in Co Kilkenny. There is a really useful article in Papers Past that states that my great-grandfather, James Lalor, is a 'full cousin' to the famous Irish orator, Richard Lalor Shiel. I have found a 'pedigree' on the National Library of Ireland site that seems to relate to this exact family in 1855, and hope to get it 'looked up' soon- but it seems like the researchers in Dublin are currently overloaded with business. Maybe I will have to look it up myself on a visit. I suspect 'my' Lalor connection will be turn out to be just over the county border from the Templetuohy area- if I actually can break through this brick wall!

James Lalor- origins?

I have written before on this blog about my maternal great-grandfather, James Lalor. And I also blogged a little info about him that I discovered in the parliamentary journal New Zealand Free Lance in 1901.

More recently I found an obituary for him that gave more facts about his life that I hadn't known before. He had come to Melbourne at quite a young age, and was a butcher there, soon managing Mr Pettie's large butchery shop. He then sailed in the ship Lightning for New Zealand. He followed the early rushes at Addison's Flat but met with little success.

He was appointed a messenger at Parliament, and filled that position for fourteen years, receiving an address and letter from Sir Joseph Ward when he retired. He was a keen follower of the trotting world, and owned a couple of horses.

His obituary states that he came from Kilkenny, and that was 79 years old at his death in 1916. I know only a few other things about his origins. His father was John Lalor, and his mother was "Mary" but I don't know her maiden name. From the Free Lance article I learned that he was a distant cousin of Peter Lalor of Eureka Stockade fame, and a 'full cousin' of the famous orator Richard Lalor Shiel. It seems clear from various newspaper entries that James Lalor was a clever speaker himself, both literate and educated.

The old Lalor homestead at South Beach, Greymouth, on the West Coast.

 

Photo

 taken 1992

Emboldened by recent success in working out where exactly my Riordan ancestors came from in Co Limerick, I feel I should now put some effort into working out where exactly James Lalor came from. However, for Patrick Riordan, I knew the surnames of both his parents, and I had a townland, Curraheen. I also knew whereabouts in Co Limerick some of his cousins hailed from.
I expect that a search for James Lalor's origins will be more difficult, and since he was possibly born around 1837, his birth is likely not included in parish records. His full cousin Richard Lalor Shiel seemed to be more based in Waterford, which would indicate our James' family was perhaps based more in the south of the county of Kilkenny. But then I think that Peter Lalor, his 'distant' cousin was from Abbyleix, just over the northern border of Co Kilkenny in Co Laois. I will spend some time searching, but this might be a 'brick wall'. Will blog again if one day I learn more.

Martin Burke

Recently we had an afternoon tea- a meeting of the third cousins- Burke-Burton style. I realised then that I had never summarised what I knew about Martin Burke, my grt-grt-grandfather. I have since done that, and this post shares a few bits from the summary. Feel free to contact me if you think you might be another third cousin!

The first reference I found for Martin Burke was in the 1861 Scottish census, when he was living with his family in Perth, at 134 High Street. Martin was described as married, aged 19, a ploughman. There were also five other family members listed at the address- his parents Michael (52) and Bridget(49); his brothers Thomas (19), a ploughman, and John (16), a cabinet maker apprentice; and his sister Mary (9). (Mary was not listed as attending school.)

Martin Burke married Ann Philp in February 1861, at St John’s Catholic Church, Perth (Scotland). Thomas Burke was a witness. Her parents were Thomas Philp, ploughman, and Isabella Philp, whose maiden name was Nicholson.

Martin and Ann’s first child, Mary Burke, was born in August 1862 in the Parish of Inchture.

Martin, Ann and Mary emigrated to New Zealand in 1864. On the passenger list for the Mermaid which arrived 16 February 1864,  from London, Martin Burke was listed as a ploughman, with wife and one child, from Fifeshire. I was once told by Sr Martina Burke that there is an oral story told in the Burke family that Martin Burke hoisted Mary onto his shoulders for the walk over the Bridle Track from Lyttelton.

Martin and Ann’s second child, Ann (Annie) Burke, was born in 1864 at Addington. Their third child,Thomas Burke, was born in 1866.

John Burke, the brother of Martin Burke, died in January 1895 at Burnham. He was 52, a labourer, and was said to have died of cancer of the liver. He had been in New Zealand for 12 years (ie arrival c1883.) He was unmarried, and was buried in the Darfield Catholic Cemetery near his niece Mary (Riordan, nee Burke) who had predeceased him.

Ann Burke, the wife of Martin Burke, died in March 1895 at Burnham. She was buried in the Darfield Catholic Cemetery near her daughter Mary Riordan and brother-in-law John Burke.

Ann Philp, Martin Burke, and child

Martin Burke died in November 1918. On his death registration it said that he was born in Co Mayo, Ireland. He was buried in the Sydenham Cemetery, but there is at present no headstone on his grave. There are currently cousin-plans afoot to erect a small headstone.

The Last Post

On October 3rd 1918, John Francis Payn, my great-uncle, was killed in action near Crevecoeur in northern France.

He was born in Kumara on the West Coast in 1895, the sixth child and second son of Francis Davis Payn and Johanna Scettrini.

He was a private in the 2nd Battalion of the Wellington Regiment, NZEF. He departed New Zealand on 17 June 1917, and served in France for just over a year before his death on the battlefield.

Via Twitter, thanks to @NZLainey and @powderkeig, I learned about the Last Post ceremonies at Pukeahu National War Memorial Park in Wellington. These have been held each evening to commemorate the 100 year anniversaries of New Zealand  involvement in World War 1. I decided to apply to read the Ode in English at the ceremony on October 3rd, 2018, the date marking 100 years since the death of John Francis Payn.

Leaving Palmerston North early-ish allowed time for some Wellington explorations. It was dull and a little drizzly first thing, but this seemed to bring out the very best in the tulips at the Botanical Gardens. Somehow, their brightness reminded me of poppies found today on the old battlefields.

Around 4pm it was time to get ready for the ceremony. I had taken my greenstone taonga to wear, which had belonged to a cousin on the Payn side. (I had also decided to wear a skirt to show respect- but the Wellington breeze was swirling around the memorial, so perhaps trousers would have been more suitable!)

When I arrived at Pukeahu I was very pleased to find my youngest sister, who lives in Wellington, had made it there. Lainey and Jane both arrived, and a cousin and her three children were also there. It was heartening to find I had such support.

Soon John, the organiser of the ceremony, arrived, and he made my sister and myself both very welcome. He talked me through what was to happen. Since it was a special anniversary, he said I could say a few words about John Francis, and lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the start of the ceremony. I was introduced to all the military participants, and they also made me very welcome.

The ceremony itself was simple and dignified. There was a senior officer who was in charge, two men to bring down the flags, and a bugler. This day there were three of us to read the Ode, including an Italian man who read it in Italian.

We marched out to our positions, and we three readers of the Ode stood just behind the tomb. I spoke briefly about John Francis and laid the wreath. Then the bugler played the still and the Last Post. We three read our versions of the Ode, in Te Reo, English, and Italian. And then everyone stood still for a minute's silence. At the end we all marched back into the shrine area. It was a simple ceremony, very respectful of the memory of those soldiers who had not come home.

John had a special gift for me before we all departed- this special '100' Last Post commemoration pin. He then kindly took photos of our family visitors in the shrine.

It was a special time at Pukeahu, and I feel privileged to have had the chance to honour the memory of John Francis Payn.

Riordan/Narbey line

I have been looking at the Canterbury Riordan info I have, prior to the NZSG conference which will be held in Christchurch at Queen's Birthday weekend.

Patrick Joseph Riordan (my great-uncle), was the third child born to Patrick Riordan and Mary Burke in 1886. In 1911, he married Mary Philomena Narbey (born in Akaroa) at the Catholic Church in Darfield. Patrick Joseph and Mary Philomena had six children: a son, Patrick Alphonsus, and five daughters, Mary Patricia (Molly), Thecla Philomena, Ursula Veronica, Colleen Cecelia and Aileen Winifred.

Patrick Joseph died in 1944 and is buried at the Broadfield-Shand’s Rd Cemetery along with his wife, Mary Philomena, who is buried in the same plot. Bridget Ryan, Patrick’s sister, is buried nearby.

I do not have a ‘confirmed’ photo of Patrick Joseph, but there is a possibility... Perhaps someone in Patrick's direct line, or someone descended from a Narbey line, might be able to shed some light on this photo.

This photograph, from the HH Clifford collection of Canterbury Museum, is labelled “Mr R J Riordan, bridal couple, c 1911.” I have searched and was unable to find any R J Riordan, nor his wedding in 1911. This man ‘looks’ like  one of our Riordans to me! I suspect- but have not proven- that this is a photo of Patrick Joseph Riordan and Mary Philomena Narbey on their wedding day.

Anyone who has any further info about this photo, I would love to hear from you!

PS: For comparison- this is a photo of my grandfather, Martin, -Patrick's brother. 

Payn-Wallace wedding

How I love Papers Past! I am currently going through all the info I have about Frank Payn and Johanna Scettrini's family, and tidying it all up in neat folders both on the computer and into paper files. Mostly I only have a small amount of info about each of their children but it still takes time.

Next job is to store it all online somehow but I am being so indecisive about what to use. I find Google Docs so cumbersome- not sure about DropBox- and have never really got to proper grips with iCloud. One day...

Every so often I get bored with being neat and tidy, and I delve into Papers Past to find something new...

While I was tidying all my info about Elizabeth Payn, the third child of Frank and Johanna, a little Papers Past delving led me to this wonderful account of her marriage.

 This account was published in the West Coast Times on 7 February 1912. From it we learn that Elizabeth Payn married Mr Kenneth Wallace of Hokitika on February 5th 1912 at Holy Trinity Church. We are told Elizabeth was the second daughter, and was given away by her father. Her sister Mary was her bridesmaid. There were toasts held at the bride's parents residence after the ceremony, and in the evening bride and groom left for their future home in Hokitika. 

One of the other useful features of the Papers Past website is that it is now easy to get the full reference details to an excerpt- and I (usually!) remember to screenshot them, so here they are. 

Someone - I think it was Freda, descended from the Kate Payn (Olsen) line- sent me this wonderful photo of the Wallace family.