1841 McNamara – Co. Limerick, Ireland

 

Thomas and Sarah McNamara of Co Limerick, (my great great great grandparents) who never left Ireland, had three children. Their two sons, John (Abt 1797 – 1849) and Matthew (1798 – 1872) emigrated to New South Wales in 1841.

The third child, Mary (1791 – 1833), was married to Patrick Walsh, both of whom died in Ireland, after which eight of their nine Walsh children emigrated to NSW on the “St Vincent “ (1844) and the “Lord Stanley” (1850). All these siblings went initially to their uncles in the Yass area of NSW. Their Walsh stories are covered here.

 

The two brothers, along with their wives, and Matthew/Mary daughter Sarah, arrived in Port Jackson on the “Livingstone” on 28 October 1841, having left Liverpool on 28 June the same year, with no stops en route. The ship, Master Wm Rickerty, carried 239 Bounty immigrants.

It not clear why the brothers and their families emigrated, and furthermore why they went immediately to Yass. Many left Ireland around this time because of famine. Many merely for a better life, despite no prior connection with anyone in the colony. But “chain migration”, the encouragement by family members and/or friends who were already in the colony, was a major factor in a great many emigrants’ decisions. (The series of Murray related emigrations are an example, outlined here.)

 

It may be that the McNamaras were encouraged by one Edward Gleeson who had been transported from Co Tipperary on the “Earl St Vincent” in 1823 for seven years, convicted under one of the Insurrection Acts of the time. Matthew’s wife was a Gleeson, born in Co Tipperary. An Edward Gleeson was a sponsor at their daughter Mary Anne’s 1843 baptism in Yass. Moreover, Gleeson’s wife appeared to be a Hanniza, as was John McNamara’s wife.

 

 

The NSW “Livingstone” arrival statements record as follows:

John McNamara 37, Farm Labourer, RC, Reads and writes; Native of  Carrick-on-Lich (sic – Caherconlish), Limerick Son of Thomas and Sarah, both dead;

          His wife Ellen McNamara 23, Farm servant, RC, Native of Carrick-on-Lich (sic), Daughter of John and Mary Hanniza , Mother alive; Character Thomas Walsh .

 

Matthew McNamara 35 (33 by registry of births), Labourer, RC, Reads and writes, Native of Carrick-on-Lich (sic), Son of Thomas and Sarah, Parents  Both dead; Character  James Shine ;

          His wife Mary McNamara 35 (sic), Farm servant, RC, Native of Carrick-Lich (sic), Daughter of  Dennis and Mary Gleeson, Both alive.  Father James Shine. Child Sarah  5 years.

 

Several other passengers were either relatives or from the same area in Co Limerick. Some appear later in the Walsh family stories of their settlement and marriages in the Colony. See a list on the “Livingstone” page here.

 

The two brothers were in Yass following their arrival in 1841 and by 1844 were established on a 1280 acre squatterage at Sawyers Creek, at Bowning, near Yass.  Sawyer’s Creek (The Gap) was on the Gunning Road about twelve miles from Yass near the junction of the Lade Vale Road.

 

JOHN and ELLEN appear not to have had any children. John died in 1850. Newspaper report at the time recorded his funeral:

 

“The remains of the late Mr John McNamara of Sawyers Creek near Bowning were followed into town on Thursday last 7^th inst by upwards of one hundred persons and deposited in the Roman Catholic Burial Ground. The funeral procession presented a rather imposing spectacle.”^[1]

 

It is unclear when Ellen died but a NSW BDM entry has an Ellen McNamara having died in 1895 at Blayney. She would have been 87, Given that Matthew and family moved there in mid century, it could be that this is John’s widow. The record inconveniently shows parent names as Patrick and Ellen. (Such mistakes, if this is a mistake,  were common.)

 

MATTHEW and MARY’s family were:

A. Sarah, b. 1836 in Caherconlish, Ireland, arrived with parents in 1841;

B. Mary Ann/Marianne (b. Abt 1843 in Bowning NSW),

C. Margaret Mary (b. Abt 1845 Bowning),

D. Catherine Mary (b.1847 Bowning),

E. Ellen Mary (b. Abt 1849), and

F. James Joseph (b. Abt. 1852 NSW).

They had another son and two daughters who did not survive into adulthood.

 

Matthew continued farming at Sawyers Creek until the late 1850s.  The family was still there in May 1855 when Sarah married neighbour Michael Grogan in Bowning.. A Matthew McNamara held a Publican’s Licence in 1856 and 1857 for the Golden Fleece Inn in Comur Street, Yass.  Incidentally, Michael Grogan’s brother Bernard took over the Licence in 1858.

 

He and his family, and possibly John’s widow, moved to Kings Plains (Blayney) near Carcoar. Since he bought land –  2 roods – in Yass in 1857 and took out a Publican’s Licence for The Traveller’s Rest in Kings Plains in April 1857, it is likely that the family moved around those two dates.

 

He was still there in the late 1860s. Thomas O’Shaughnessy, married to Matthew’ niece, Margaret Walsh, recorded in his diary, which can be found elsewhere on this site,  many visits to the McNamaras en route to and from Bathurst.  Matthew  had the Licence for The Traveller’s Rest  there from April 1857 to 1860. There is not much evidence that Matthew was on the land (as well as a Publican) and  it seems likely that the following extracts refer merely to accommodation at the pub. However, Matthew’s 1872 death certificate described him as “Storekeeper”, and   Mary Ann ‘s as a “Hotelkeeper”, Margaret Mary’s 1921 death certificate  describes him as a “Farmer””.

 

15 Oct 1867    McNamara’s, King’s Plains.

5 Dec 1867     Bought six cows and came to McNamara’s, King’s Plains

1 Jan 1868      I started to Bathurst and got to McNamara’s, King’s Plains

2 Feb 1868      Sunday. I started to Bathurst and reached McNamara’s.

6 Feb 1868      Bought six bullocks and came to McNamara’s.

8 Apr 1868      I went to McNamara’s, King’s Plains.

17 Apr 1868    McNamara’s, King’s Plains.

20 May 1868   P Walsh and I started to Bathurst and got to McNamara’s, King’s Plains.

22 May 1868   McNamara’s, King’s Plains.

 

Mary’s death certificate recorded that she was 47 at her death on 23 February 1864, at Grabine, District of Carcoar (Grabine is at the edge of what is now Wyangala Dam), Her place of birth was listed as Tipperary, Ireland, not Co Limerick as recorded by the immigration officials on arrival in 1841, and the same county of one Edward Gleeson referred to above. Further detail states that she had been in the Colony 23 years, that her parents were Denis Gleeson, farmer, and Mary Burke, and that she had married Matthew in Ireland at the age of 18. The document stated that she was ill for several months and died of “natural causes”. The children of the marriage were listed, with some inaccurate ages, as Sarah 28, Mary Anne 20, Catherine 16, Ellen 14, James 11, all living; 1 male, 2 females deceased. She was buried in Carcoar the day after her death.

 

Matthew died at Kings Plains on 27 September 1872. He was 74. Surprisingly, for a man of this age, a Coroner’s Inquest was requested on the same day. The findings at the 7 January 1873 Inquest were that he had died of natural causes. There may be a story here. His Death Certificate ^[2] gives his date of death as 27 December 1872, age 74. He was buried in Carcoar the next day. The witnesses were James McNamara and J J Patterson, presumably a son and grandson.

A. SARAH McNAMARA

By this time daughter Sarah had married Michael Grogan, whose family had property nearby. ^[3]. They remained in the Yass area and later moved to Peak Hill near Parkes.

 

1 Sarah McNAMARA b: 1836 in Co Limerick IRE, Arr Australia: 20 Oct 1841 in “Livingstone”, d: 19 Sep 1923 in Lithgow NSW married Michael J GROGAN b: 12 Jul 1835 in Boorowa River, Yass, NSW, m: 1855 in Yass NSW, d: 07 Nov 1918 in Peak Hill, NSW

…2 John GROGAN b: 1856 in Yass NSW

…2 William GROGAN b: 1858 in Yass NSW

…2 Matthew GROGAN b: 1860 in Yass NSW

…2 Mary A GROGAN b: 1862 in Yass NSW

…2 Annie GROGAN b: 1868 in Yass NSW, d: 1905 in Trafalgar Victoria

…2 Daniel GROGAN b: 1870 in Yass NSW

…2 Felix GROGAN b: 1874 in Yass NSW

…2 Evelyn M GROGAN b: 1878 in Cowra NSW, d: 1960 in Sydney NSW

…2 Edward Joseph GROGAN b: 1879 in Peak Hill, NSW

 

Their family is covered here as 1823 Grogan.

 

 

B. MARY ANN McNAMARA

Sometimes known as Marianne, Mary Ann was born in Bowning in or about 1842. She grew up at Kings Plains (Blayney) and on 19 September 1860, she married Peter Cassidy, a member of a local farming family. Peter had arrived from Ireland on the “Elphinstone” arriving on 8 October 1840 at the age of one year, with his parents –  James Cassidy 28, and Mary Tierney, 22. James was a labourer and Mary a servant – neither could read or write and came to Australia as immigrants.

Their marriage certificate ^[4] is not very informative, listing Peter as a farmer at Grabine, Abercrombie River (possibly in an area now covered by Wyangala Dam) and Mary Ann  as a spinster of Kings Plains. The marriage was on 19 September 1860 at Kings Plains. (Her Death Certificate incorrectly gives the place as Yass.)

 

1 Mary Ann (Marianne) McNAMARA b: 1842 in Yass NSW, d: 1929 Murrumburrah, NSW, married Peter CASSIDY b: Abt 1836 Co. Kildare, Ireland Arr. Australia 1840 “ELPHINSTONE”, m: 1860 Blayney NSW, d:1911 Boorowa NSW.

…2 John Bernard (Jack) CASSIDY b: 20 May 1869 in Carcoar NSW

…2 Mary Therese (Minnie) CASSIDY b: 20 May 1870 in Carcoar NSW

…2 Margaret Ellen CASSIDY b: 02 Oct 1873 in Cowra NSW

…2 Michael CASSIDY b: 1875 in Noyeau Ck, Woods Flat

…2 Peter Patrick CASSIDY b: 1875 in Cowra NSW

…2 Sarah CASSIDY b: 06 Feb 1877 in Woodstock, NSW

…2 Josephine Mary CASSIDY b: 1881 in Sofala NSW

…2 Katherine CASSIDY b: 23 Feb 1883

…2 Patrick James CASSIDY b: 1885 in East Macquarie, NSW

…2 Grace CASSIDY b: 1888 in Lithgow NSW

Their family is covered here as 1840 Cassidy.

 

 

———————–

C. MARGARET MARY McNAMARA

I have no papers re this family. Perhaps readers may like to supplement this information.

Her death certificate ^[5] stating that she died at Coobng Street (Parkes?) on 23 May 1921 at the age of 76 years, born at Bowning near Yass, married at Forbes NSW at age 17 to James Mulally. Her father Matthew McNamara is described as a farmer. Mother is Mary Gleeson. The informant was Eliza J Pepper, her daughter of Currajong (sic) Street Parkes. The children were Mary C 52, Francis M 45, Eliza J 42, Gerald J 40, Cecil J 38, Leslie J 34 and deceased 3 males, I female.

 

D. CATHERINE MARY McNAMARA

1 Catherine Mary McNAMARA b: 28 Jun 1847 in Bowning NSW, d: 12 Feb 1928 in Canowindra NSW married Joseph John PATTERSON b: 03 Jan 1849 in Kings Plains NSW, m: Abt. 1870 in Carcoar NSW, d: 11 Feb 1907 in Forbes NSW

…2 Samuel Percival PATTERSON b: 1871 in Carcoar NSW

…2 Susan PATTERSON b: 1873 in Carcoar NSW, d: 21 Sep 1931 in RPA Hospital, Camperdown, NSW

…2 Mary Josephine PATTERSON b: 1875 in Carcoar NSW, d: 1908 in Parkes NSW

…2 James Gerald PATTERSON b: 1878 in Carcoar NSW, d: 20 Jun 1924 in Surry Hills, NSW

…2 Elenor Gertrude PATTERSON b: 1880 in Carcoar NSW, d: 1962 in Darlinghurst NSW

…2 Joseph John PATTERSON b: 1882 in Carcoar NSW

…2 William Francis Xavier PATTERSON b: 28 Aug 1884 in Milburn Creek NSW, d: 28 Oct 1951 in 5 Parer St, Maroubra, NSW

…2 Dennis Edgar PATTERSON b: 10 May 1887 in Spring Vale NSW, d: 28 May 1930 in Sydney NSW

 

E. ELLEN MARY McNAMARA

Ellen b. Abt. 1849  married Patrick CAMPBELL b. Abt. 1847 in about 1873 in Carcoar. Little else is known.

 

F. JAMES JOSEPH McNAMARA

James Joseph b.1852 married Margaret. Little else is known.

 

I welcome any correspondence clearing any error or omissions. There are many gaps. The stories of our pioneers  deserve to be told.