James Lalor- South Beach

LALOR, James - some key facts

James LALOR was born in Co Kilkenny, Ireland, c1837-1838, to John and Mary Lalor.

He was in Bendigo when the Eureka Stockade riots took place in Ballarat (in 1854) and was described as a ‘distant relation’ of Peter Lalor who was prominent in the rebellion.  According to his obituary, he was a butcher in Melbourne, and was a manager in Mr Pettie’s large butchery shop for several years.

In his obituary it also says that he sailed in the ship ‘Lightning’ and followed the early gold rushes at Addison’s Flat on the West Coast, but never met with much success there. (Gold was discovered at Addison’s Flat in May, 1867.)

By 1871 he was living in the Greymouth district, and on 14th September 1871, he married Catherine ROWLAND in the Roman Catholic Chapel, Greymouth. He was described as a bachelor and a miner, with a stated ‘length of residence’ of 2½ years. A marriage notice appeared in the Grey River Argus.

Catherine and James had six children. Their first daughter, Margaret Jane, was born 22 August 1872, while they were residing at South Beach, and subsequent children were named John, Mary, Robert, James and Thomas.

James mined for gold at South Beach. On the Westland electoral roll of 1911, James Lalor, of Paroa, is listed as a miner, and in 1914 on the Westland supplementary roll he is listed as “6182 Lalor James, senr. South Beach, miner.”

In April 1883 James is listed as one of four men applying for a lease of 8 acres of land at South Beach, for a period of 15 years, to be worked by ground sluicing. The company formed was to be called “The Rising Sun Gold-mining Company”. One of the other company members was Robert Delaney, who had been named as a witness at James Lalor’s wedding 12 years earlier.

James Lalor was clearly accustomed to public speaking, and many references can be found to him in ‘Papers Past’, performing varied public roles. A second, more detailed account of his life has many of these references attached.

James Lalor was confident when taking a public stand for the rights of miners. In 1886 when a public meeting was held about leasing of South Beach lands, James Lalor was one of those involved in the discussions, and he proposed a motion “That a petition be presented to the Waste Lands Board, and a copy forwarded to the Honorable the Minister of Mines, showing that by the sale or leasing of any land within the Paroa district that the miners would suffer severely, inasmuch as their very costly dams and water-races would become valueless, which should be viewed as a calamity to be averted.”

In his later years James also became a 'Parliamentary Messenger'. An article in 1901 in New Zealand Free Lance described him in favourable terms, noting that among the messengers in the recent session of the House of Representatives ‘there was one at least who bore a historic name and is a blood relation to two men who have achieved celebrity'. The writer told us that James Lalor was a modest man: 'Yet, Mr James Lalor, who came up from Greymouth to wear the livery of Parliament and who has just got back to the Coast this week to resume his avocation as a gold miner could boast of his family connections if he were not far too modest a man to say anything about himself at all.'  The writer then said that James Lalor was a ‘full cousin’ of the celebrated Irish orator, Richard Lalor Sheil.

In 1992, my aunty, Edith Lemon (nee Lalor), showed me where the old residence of James and Catherine Lalor stood at South Beach. It was rather derelict, but had clearly been a rather grand villa in its time. I am told that it is no longer standing.

James Lalor died at South Beach on 3 October 1916, of malignant disease of the throat. In the Argus he was described as ‘well and favourably known throughout the West Coast’  and a ‘true and devoted father’. On October 5th, Catherine Lalor invited friends to attend the funeral for her late husband James, leaving from her residence at South Beach for the Greymouth Cemetery.

He is buried in Karoro Cemetery in Greymouth, together with his wife Catherine, and two grandchildren who died as infants.

Compiled by Margaret Riordan, great- granddaughter of James Lalor snr, 
27 March 2020

I have various documents and references to the facts listed above, but my footnotes didn't come through on the cut and paste to the blog. Here they are, included as pictures. 

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.

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.