Category Archives: Ipswich

Flooding rains: Ipswich 1887

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NFHM AlexThis week’s topic in Family Tree Frog’s NFHM Blog Challenge is All the Rivers Run. Australia alternates between extremes of weather as illustrated by the famous poem by Dorothea Mackellar: My Country[i].

I love a sunburnt country

A land of sweeping plains

Of rugged mountain ranges

And drought and flooding rains.

This is just one story of my ancestors’ experience with the dramas and dangers of flooded rivers. Some resulted in fatalities, others in property losses, but this is the most well-covered in the newspapers, and also a story lost (or hidden?) by the family.

Floodwaters rise in the heart of Ipswich January 1887

Unidentified (1887). Floodwaters rise in the heart of Ipswich, January 1887. John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland

On 22 January 1887, the Queensland town of Ipswich was deluged by a severe flood. Some said it was the worst in European memory, others that it was only exceeded by the 1864 flood. The newspapers document that it had also passed the level of the 1841 flood[ii]. It would not be the last time the town was hit, as even in recent years Ipswich has been inundated by enormous flooding.

At the time of the 1887 flood, my ancestor, Stephen Gillespie Melvin, had a confectionery store in Ipswich as well as various other business interests. He had worked hard to establish himself after the tragedy which accompanied his arrival in the colony when his first wife, Janet Peterkin Melvin had died in quarantine on arrival. He had won prizes at the local Agricultural Show[iii] and established a surprising portfolio of property…almost certainly to the overall detriment of his balance sheet.

MELVIN SG location shop

1886 ‘Advertising’, Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 – 1908), 27 April, p. 6. , viewed 18 Aug 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122553790

The 1887 flood came powering in just days after the 10th anniversary of Stephen’s arrival on 18 January 1877, not exactly an auspicious anniversary. Perhaps he was already feeling down, remembering his young wife’s death, or perhaps he was increasingly aware of his precarious financial position.

 

MELVIN Telegraph 8 July 1887 p3

1887 ‘Royal Humane Society.’, The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 – 1947), 8 July, p. 3. , viewed 18 Aug 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201023744

It was through news stories about the Royal Humane Society Awards that I became aware of Stephen’s near-tragedy. Trove documents that “The (Bremer) River was in flood, and Melvin, who had been assisting to remove goods from a store (his?) which was surrounded by water, got into the vortex on the edge of the roaring current. Livermore swam out at great risk, took Melvin by the collar, and brought him back to the building in safety. The current was running very strong. Awarded a bronze medal.”

Stephen’s courageous rescuer was Thomas Shadrach Livermore, a 26 year old blacksmiths’ labourer[iv]. (Following his entries in Queensland Births, Deaths and Marriages it appears his correct name was Thomas Shedrick Livermore). The stories place Stephen’s age as 45 years but this overstates his age, as he was born in 1854 in Leith, Scotland.

Naturally I returned to Trove to search newspaper dates closer to the event to see if I could find the rescue mentioned. None seemed to match the award details exactly, however this one stood out for me:

Qld Times 25 Jan 1887 p5 MELVINWe have heard of some acts of recklessness and even foolhardiness-in fact, one was so glaring, on Saturday last (22nd January), in Bremer-street, that many persons who were witnesses of the scene thought the man referred to was trying to commit suicide, and said it was not worthwhile venturing their lives to save his. However, two men went into the river after him, and dragged him out of the water, and thus saved him from drowning, though he almost drowned one of his rescuers in the struggle.[v]

 Perhaps I’m misjudging my ancestor, though while there are anomalies in the report, it fits with other factors affecting him at the time. Perhaps it really was an accident and he got caught in the vortex, which makes sense if he was trying to evacuate his store. In his earlier life he had been a merchant seaman, and it was common for them not to be able to swim.

MELVIN Qld Times April 1887Only a few months later in 1887, Stephen’s estate had gone into liquidation, as detailed in a news story[vi]. He specifically cites the impact of the flood on his business[vii]. I’ve also referred to the Insolvency files at Queensland State Archives, and Stephen’s holdings of property were quite amazing for a relatively recent immigrant. It’s also interesting to see that his father-in-law, William Partridge, was one of his creditors. These events were not to be the end of Stephen’s annus horribilis but those stories will keep for another day.

There was much made about the proposed presentation of the medal to Thomas Livermore including a description of the medal.

MELVIN Qld TImes 3 Sept 1887 p5On the obverse of the medal is depicted a female figure, representing Australasia, in the act of placing a wreath on the head of one deemed worthy of honour, while around is stamped the motto, ” Virtute paratum.” The Southern Cross above fixes the locality as being in the Southern Hemisphere. On the reverse is the name, date, etc., and a wreath supposed to be composed of eucalyptus and laurel leaves. The Police Magistrate is directed to present the medal and certificate to Mr. Livermore in as public a manner as possible; but he has not yet fixed a date for this ceremony…[viii]

Personally, I owe an enormous debt of gratitude to Thomas Shedrick Livermore. Had he not saved my great-grandfather from the flooded river, my grandmother, mother and I would not have been here, nor would seven other branches of Emily Partridge and Stephen Gillespie Melvin’s family.

I certainly hope that the medal has been preserved in the Livermore family, along with the story of their ancestor’s bravery. The presentation was held on Tuesday 6 September 1887[ix] and the Police Magistrate Mr Yaldwyn rightly summed up Mr Livermore’s courage when awarding the medal[x].

Telegraph 8 Sept 1887 p3 crop

———————

[i] http://www.dorotheamackellar.com.au/archive/mycountry.htm

[ii] http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122819295

[iii] The Ipswich Show. (1882, December 16). The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 – 1939), p. 856. Retrieved August 17, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19788354

[iv] Queensland Births

1862 C385 Thomas Shedrick Livermore George Mary Ann Haydon

 

[v] 1887 ‘Advertising’, Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 – 1908), 25 January, p. 5. , viewed 17 Aug 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122819289

[vi] 1887 ‘Supreme Court.’, The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 – 1947), 11 July, p. 2. , viewed 18 Aug 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201021946

[vii] MEETING OF CREDITORS. (1887, April 30). The Brisbane Courier (Qld. : 1864 – 1933), p. 6. Retrieved August 18, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3468421

[viii] 1887 ‘LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS.’, Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 – 1908), 3 September, p. 5. , viewed 18 Aug 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122820644

[ix] LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS. (1887, September 6). Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald and General Advertiser (Qld. : 1861 – 1908), p. 5. Retrieved August 18, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122821625

[x] Our Ipswich Letter. (1887, September 8). The Telegraph (Brisbane, Qld. : 1872 – 1947), p. 3. Retrieved August 18, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201023537

Another few bricks tumble on Trove

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George Kunkel

George Kunkel

It seems that this past few days have been a voyage of discovery. First I think I’ve cracked the mystery of my Mary O’Brien’s arrival even though there’s some archival searching to be done, then a repeat search of Trove for George Kunkel turned up another gem! And yes, this should have been a Trove Tuesday post, but then again it’s no longer Tuesday.

The first snippet I found was an advertisement in the North Australian newspaper of Saturday, 14 July 1866:

THIS DAY-AT 2 O’CLOCK. In the Court of Requests, District of Ipswich. WILSON v. KUNKEL. TAKE Notice that HUGHES & CAMERON have received instructions from the Bailiff of the Court of Requests to sell by Public Auction, at the Residence of the Defendant, East-street, THIS DAY (SATURDAY), the 14th Instant, at 2 o’clock sharp, The following GOODS and CHATTELS, the property of the Defendant in the above cause, seized under execution, unless the claim be previously satisfied : article123331889-3-001 Kunkel

1 handsome Carriage, 1 Cedar Table (Pine Top), 5 Chairs, 2 Forms, 1 Dressing Table and Cover, 2 Clocks, 2 Pictures, 1 Decanter, 1 Cruet Stand, 6 Tumblers, 1 Butter Basin and Glass, 3 Chimney Ornaments, 1 Double Cedar Bedstead, 1 Single Cedar Bedstead, 1 Box. 10 Stretchers, 1 Toilet Table, 3 Looking-glasses, 1 Jug and Basin, 2 Washstands, 2 Dressing Tables, 6 Mattresses, 4 Pillows, 2 Blankets, 1 Counterpane, 2 Plates, 4 Dishes, 1 Pine Table, 1 Pine Bedstead and Mattress, Crockery, Househlold and Kitchen Utensils, &c., &c.

Terms Cash on the fall of the hammer. No Reserve

It was around 1866 that the Kunkel family appeared to have headed west with the new railway line to Toowoomba. It’s believed George worked on it, but perhaps another possibility is that he was working as a butcher supplying the men, just as he did on the Tooloom goldfields.

Perhaps this explains why the family needed to move. If the proposed auction of their belongings proceeded on that Saturday, surely the family would have been left with little to support daily life. What I find interesting is that the sale focuses on his household belongings. Did he no longer have any business assets? While it was generally required that a man be permitted to keep the equipment needed to do his job, surely there would have been something else to sell than the beds from under their bodies.

There’s another “spin” to this, too, because when George and Mary’s daughter Elizabeth (always known as Louisa) was born in March 1866, George states his occupation as “boarding house keeper”. It seems he was following on the skills learned at his mother’s knee and generations of Happs who ran Das Goldenes Fass inn back home in Dorfprozelten.

Perhaps the reason there are so many assets listed here is because they were part of the boarding house rather than the family’s own. Nevertheless it’s clear they were reasonably well fitted out for a working class family with five children.

All those questions aside I wondered what had brought George to this point. I’d never found a bankruptcy case or a liquidation order against him.

Queensland Times, 7 July 1866 UNDEFENDED CASES There were forty-five undefended cases on the sheet, of which a great many were disposed of out of Court or dismissed from non-appearance of the parties. Verdicts were given for plaintiffs in the following cases, with costs as appended. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123333099

Queensland Times, 7 July 1866 UNDEFENDED CASES There were forty-five undefended cases on the sheet, of which a great many were disposed of out of Court or dismissed from non-appearance of the parties. Verdicts were given for plaintiffs in the following cases, with costs as appended.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123333099

Further research of Trove revealed at least part of the cause. George was being pursued for dishonouring a £6 promissory note as well as the cost of goods purchased (but presumably not paid for!) of £8 2s 6d. In both cases Wilson was claiming 5 shillings costs, so another £1 to add to the original £14/2/6.

It seems apparent that George had got himself into financial difficulties perhaps by being over-extended in his business arrangements. Their son Thomas was born circa 1868, and his birth and baptism are the only ones I cannot find from the 10 children. My conclusion is that somewhere soon after this financial debacle in mid-1866, the Kunkel family started westwards for the Darling Downs. They later took up a selection at Murphys Creek in 1874. They would never live in Ipswich again, though their granddaughter expressed the view that it was a shame they’d left there, presumably not knowing the reasons why, or echoing something she’d been told as a child.

Trove Tuesday is a theme created by Amy from Branches, Leaves and Pollen blog.

Australia Day 2013: The Kents from Sandon, Herts

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The 2013 Australia Day challenge was initiated by Helen of the blog From Helen V Smith’s Keyboard. The challenge is to talk about our first ancestors to arrive in Australia, male or female, or perhaps both. My initial reaction hovered around my “swimmers” George Kunkel and his wife Mary O’Brien. While George may have been part of the Victorian gold rush fever, it’s by no means certain, so in the end I decided to go with my earliest identified arrivals. This neatly captured both my great-great-great grandparents, Richard and Mary Kent, but also my great-great-grandmother, their daughter Hannah, who would later marry William Partridge in Ipswich, Queensland.

Hannah Partridge nee Kent 1909, probably taken for Qld's 50th anniversary celebrations.

Hannah Partridge nee Kent 1909, probably taken for Qld’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

Richard and Mary Kent arrived at Moreton Bay with their adult children on 16 December 1854 on board the General Hewitt. Richard Kent (46) was an agricultural labourer whose parents were Richard and Mary Kent, both deceased. Mary Kent was 49 and her parents, John and Mary Camp, were both deceased. Also among the married couples was their son Richard Kent (23) with his wife Mary Kent (23) and daughter Catherine Kent (1). The younger Richard was also an agricultural labourer and of course his parents were on board. His wife’s parents were Samuel and Mary Brittain who were both living in Cambridge. Listed among the single passengers were the older Richard and Mary’s other adult children: Hannah Kent, aged 19 was a servant whose parents were on board; Thomas Kent (19) and John Kent (17) both agricultural labourers. All the members of the family are recorded, not entirely accurately, as born in Hertfordshire. All could read and write except Mary Brittain Kent and John Kent who could read only. They all stated their religion as Church of England.[1] .

Were the Kents among the many passengers who signed the testimonials. Moreton Bay Courier 23 December 1854.

Were the Kents among the many passengers who signed the testimonials? Moreton Bay Courier 23 December 1854.

The immigrants on the General Hewitt, a ship of 965 tons, had sailed from Southampton on 25 August 1854 and arrived in Moreton Bay 107 days later. There had been 16 deaths on board (14 of them children) and 3 births. The brig Sporting Lass went down to the Bay to bring the passengers up to town but the weather was so rough it prevented the brig from lying alongside. After such a long time at sea, the immigrants had a frustrating week waiting to be taken ashore.[2] As they landed only days before Christmas I wonder what how they felt to be in such a different environment.

On arrival 381 immigrants were disembarked and the newspapers report that there was such demand for labour that less than two weeks later there were only 70 adults remaining in the immigration barracks and most of them were hired.[3] The Kents were among the large groups of agricultural labourers and servants looking for work. Presumably they were recruited by an Ipswich employer because this is where they settled. Wages for a married couple were £50 and for female servants £20.

The Kent family came from the village of Sandon in Hertfordshire which had been the family’s home for hundreds of years. In the 1851 census Richard Kent (46) was enumerated at Roe Green near Sandon as a farmer of 40 acres (employing one man) and a beer house keeper.[4] His wife Mary was 50 and their sons, Thomas 17 and John 15, were employed at home. All of the family were born in Sandon. Roe Green is an old medieval settlement and I wrote about my discovery of their pub’s name and more about it here.[5]

Sandon Church and the old Six Bells public house © Pauleen Cass 1992

Sandon Church and the old Six Bells public house © Pauleen Cass 1992

In 1851, Richard and Mary’s daughter Hannah (my great-great-grandmother-to-be) was 14 and a servant working for Mrs Anne Field at Wood Farm, in the adjacent parish of Rushden. Wood Farm has a long history, being an old moated site from the 16th century. Their eldest son, Richard Kent (21) and his wife Mary Ann Kent née Brittain (21) were living at Green End in Sandon where Richard was working as an agricultural labourer. Mary Ann Brittain’s home place is recorded as Melbourn, Cambridgeshire, not Sandon. It is interesting to compare the family’s ages with the stated ages on arrival compared to their actual ages: Richard 46 (actually 49), Mary 49 (53), Richard jnr 23 (24), Mary Ann 23 (24), Hannah 19 (17), Thomas 19 (20) and John 17 (18). Hence all their ages, except Hannah’s, were decreased to enhance their immigration prospects and reduce costs.

An 1851 Post office directory for Hertfordshire confirms that Richard Kent was a beer retailer.[6] The village of Sandon was not a large one, though the parish is a little spread out and in 1851 there were 176 houses with a population of 770 (412 men and 358 women). It seems that the Kents were reasonably well established though not affluent. One wonders why the whole family decided to emigrate and re-establish themselves in MoretonBay. I think their reasons were either economic or to help the adult children get ahead. At one time I thought it may also have been attributable to religious affiliation as in Queensland there were occasional non-conformist links. I now suspect this was not the case.

Richard Kent’s name appears on various electoral rolls and on endorsements of nominees for parliamentary positions in Queensland. Apart from that he seems to have kept a fairly low profile in his new town and without any oral history it is difficult to develop a more holistic understanding of Richard or his wife Mary Kent.

The North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser, 30 September 1856, page 1

The North Australian, Ipswich and General Advertiser, 30 September 1856, page 1

Trove has helped me to unearth a clue to the family’s early life in Ipswich with several advertisements throughout 1856, thanks to the recent digitisation of the Ipswich newspapers. Richard Kent was working on Rhossili/Rhossilli, a property in Little Ipswich (now the edge of West Ipswich) where he is listed as “in charge” of stock. Whether this Richard was the father, who had run a farm as well as his public house, or the son who had worked as a farm labourer, is nigh on impossible to know. I like the fact that whichever man it was, had the opportunity to work with skills he’d acquired in England. Perhaps it was even his first contract on arrival in Queensland less than two years earlier.

Rhossilli Ipswich, but is it the right one? 1939. bishop.slq.qld.gov.au:130643 Copyright expired.

Rhossilli Ipswich, but is it the right one? 1939. bishop.slq.qld.gov.au:130643 Copyright expired.

My search for Rhossili in Trove revealed that around this time it was lived in by Pollett Cardew, Commissioner of the Peace. Ipswich Heritage lists a property called Rhossili but states it’s unclear whether this is the first property of that name. My ambivalence rests on the fact that this Rhossili is in Newtown, to the east of the city centre, whereas Little Ipswich was to the west. Conversely, Cardew is mentioned in association with the Ipswich Heritage site, in Pugh’s Almanac and in Trove family notices from 1857. Obviously there’s scope for future research at Queensland archives and libraries now I’m aware of the family connection.

The family’s hopes for a promising new life disappeared with the early deaths of children and grandchildren, leaving the succession limited mainly to the women in the line. On such genetic whims of matrilineal inheritance does my own existence depend.

Richard Kent died, aged 65, on 31 July 1870 at his residence at Pelican Street, North Ipswich. Richard’s place of birth is correctly stated as Red Hill (Sandon).[7] He was buried in the Ipswich cemetery by the Church of England minister.  His wife, Mary Kent, died aged 75, only a few months later on 26 September 1870 at Terrace Street, NorthIpswich, the home of her daughter Hannah Partridge. Plainly her age had been routinely under-stated in the records. Her place of birth is stated as Weston (not Sandon), Hereford (actually Hertfordshire).

© Pauleen Cass

[1] State Records of NSW, Persons on Bounty ships to Sydney, Newcastle, MoretonBay 1848-1866. CGS 5317, microfilm 2466, reference 4/4937.

[2] The Moreton Bay Courier, 23 December 1854, page 2.

[3] The Moreton Bay Courier, 30 December 1854, page 2.

[4] 1851 English census, Hertfordshire, Registration district of Royston, Sub-registration district of Buntingford, parish of Sandon, HO107.

[6] Post Office Directory Hertfordshire, 1851,village of Sandon, page 222, digitised by Archive CD Books.

[7]Queensland death certificate 1870/C490. His county of birth is shown as Herefordshire not Hertfordshire, a mistake which was repeated on Mary Kent’s death certificate.

I investigates Ireland, Inishail, and Ipswich (Qld)

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I am participating in the A to Z 2012 blog challenge throughout April. My theme is a genealogical travelogue or a travel genealogue (I’m not sure which) and today’s post explores interludes in Ireland, Inishail, and Ipswich (Qld, Australia).

I is for Ireland

As soon as I arrived in Dublin in the late 1980s there was a sense of recognition, a realisation of how much like the Irish we Australians are in so many ways…the sense of irony, mickey-taking, disregard for authority. At the same time it seemed unfamiliar because I’d expected the inflexibility and conformity learned from my life in an Australian Catholic school and church with Irish nuns and priests, and a stern Irish-born grandfather. It was a delight to discover that Ireland was full of joie de vivre and craic (good fun) as well as the darker, more morose side with which I was familiar.

Allihies, West Cork on the Beara Peninsula

Without the urge to learn more of my family history I may never have visited Ireland, and so would have missed out on far more than adding leaves to my family tree. Ireland fulfils so many stereotypes that you’ve heard about: the green patchwork fields, the distant blue hills, old stone cottages, the soft rain, and the quirky sayings and greetings that seem quintessential yet somehow difficult to remember when you leave. Coming from Australia with its wide open spaces and vast distances, it’s easy for a tourist to think “ah I’ll get there in no time” but everywhere there are those signposts that can all point to the same place, via twisty Irish roads that only change how much time it takes you to get to your destination. Despite the number of times I’ve visited I still make the mistake of not allowing enough time!

Beautiful Achill Island, Co Mayo. © P Cass 2006.

Over the years we’ve visited 20 counties and each has its own beauty. Despite my Clare ancestry I have to say my favourites are the rugged, more isolated areas: Achill Island (Mayo), Beara Peninsula (Cork), the wide-open spaces in south-west Donegal, tragic site of many evictions, and the steep cliffs near Dun Choin by Dingle (Kerry).

Over the decades as the Celtic Tiger stirred, and then roared, the social atmosphere has changed. There was cash to splash and everyone was busy, busy. There was a brashness to life, in Dublin especially, that I didn’t really like…it had turned into a typical big city (or perhaps I’d got used to living in a smaller city). In the rural areas people remained both friendly and reserved, much as always. The standard of living had improved which made life more comfortable for people…the decades and centuries of disadvantage were slowly being turned around. It’s sad to think that the Irish people are now going through such difficult times.

Wherever you go, there is that essential kindness and welcome that the Irish share with the visitor. It’s a grand place to visit and if you have the opportunity it’s well worth going. Even if the trip doesn’t uncover specific family history, you’ll get a much better sense of the place and its people, and, intuitively, the loss your ancestors experienced when they left it all behind.

I is for Inishail (Scotland)

Inishail is part of the combined parish of Glenorchy and Inishail in Argyll, Scotland. Inishail lies over the hills from Inveraray and borders the starkly beautiful Loch Awe. The MacArthurs and Campbells are powerful in this area, and history abounds. I’m not planning to talk about that here but if you want to investigate further you might find this linka helpful starting point.

Highland cattle near Cladich, Argyll. © P Cass 2006

My interest in Inishail parish arises because my 2xgreat grandparents, Duncan McCorquodale (various spellings) and his wife, Ann Campbell lived there for about 50 years, apparently having moved across the Loch from Kilchrenan parish. They both appear in the 1841 census, and Duncan in the 1851 census, living in Drimuirk. It took some work locating this little hamlet as it’s rarely indexed on maps. My starting point has been the village of Cladich which in its day, was on the drove road for cattle to Inveraray and points south and west. The long haired Highland cattle are still a feature of the area, and of a local estate. In the colder months, when we tend to visit, the clouds hang low, and the mist filters through trees draped in moss and lichen…dimly among the trees appears a woolly Highland cow. It can be kind of spooky.

Drimuirk by Cladich, Parish of Inishail, Argyll. © P Cass 2010

On previous trips I’d estimated from maps where Drimuirk was located, and taken photos, but this time I was given a great privilege…the opportunity to “walk the land” where my ancestors lived. At ground level, and with local help, I could see that what had seemed random rocks were actually the remains of the rude cottages of the long-ago residents of Drimuirk. Of course I have no idea which of the small handful of house foundations was theirs, but I like to imagine it was the one with the view over the loch and where the travellers could be seen coming over the hills. Afterwards I read the Kirk Session records for the parish, and found a reference to the “small house” of Duncan McCorquodale. The reiteration of “small house” suggests that even by the standards of the day it must have been tiny, yet there’d have been half a dozen people living there at times. You can read my post about it here. I’m forever grateful to have been given this chance to see what remains of this little settlement.

Dorothy Wordsworth passed through the area in 1803, around the time my family came to the area to live. She describes the children of the Macfarlane family thus: The children, after having collected fuel for our fire, began to play on the green hill where we stood, as heedless as if we had been trees or stones, and amused us exceedingly with their activity: they wrestled, rolled down the hill, pushing one another over and over again, laughing, screaming, and chattering Erse (Gaelic)…[i]Reading this it’s so easy to imagine my own great-grandfather playing with his siblings in this way.

Genie tip: when searching for Inishail, also try spelling it as Innishail, especially in archive searching, which will add to your results.

I is for Ipswich (Queensland, Australia)

View over Ipswich, March 2012, with St Mary's Catholic church prominent. © P Cass 2012

Ipswich is the place where my Melvin, Partridge, Kent and Kunkel families first settled in Australia. New immigrants would sign work contracts and then travel by boat up the river system to Ipswich from where they  would be dispersed to the most distant reaches of the Moreton Bay settlement, as happened with my Gavin family and most of the Dorfprozelten immigrants who came to Moreton Bay. No doubt the employers were keen to keep them on the move before the immigrants had any idea of just what they were taking on, and how very isolated many of them would be.

Those who came to Ipswich to live and work arrived in a small but bustling town with minimal, but developing, infrastructure. They quickly became part of the social fabric of the community and could, if they wished, make their mark there. William Partridge worked as a carpenter, George Kunkel ran a boarding house in Union Street with his wife Mary and also a pork butcher’s establishment, before they moved west with the railway construction. Richard Kent was an older man when he arrived and remained a labourer as far as I can tell, though he’d run a public house in England. Stephen Melvin arrived later, in the 1870s, and before long was establishing himself with a well-regarded confectionery shop(s) and factory.

My families were on opposite sides of the religious divide with the Kunkels attending St Mary’s, the Catholic church, and the others associated with the Anglican or Methodist churches at different times. Despite this it would have been difficult for the Kents, Partridges and Kunkels not to be aware of each other in such a small community through the 1850s and 1860s.

A well preserved Ipswich home.

One of the interesting things about doing family history from those early days of Moreton Bay/Queensland, is how often you come across someone whose ancestry lies in the same places as yours…not all that difficult when the European population was so small. I wonder from time to time, whether these distant links are part of why we instantly “click” with some people and others, without doing a thing, get our backs up. It intrigues me that much the same thing can happen with people whose names I find bobbing up in the overseas parish registers of my families…kind of weird really.

Ipswich for a long time was a coal mining town and continued to be a place where new immigrants could afford to settle. Ipswich suffered in the 2011 floods, a history which has repeated itself over the centuries. These days it’s throwing off its former social disadvantage and promoting its history, of which there’s a wealth. If you ever want to see fantastic examples of vernacular Queensland architecture, Ipswich is the place to go. Perhaps precisely because it was economically depressed for quite a while, there are wonderful examples of old Queensland homes with deep verandahs, mostly set on stilts to keep them above the flood waters.

I’m looking forward to having more time in the future to re-explore Ipswich and its historical treasures: the churches, the railway workshops, the architecture and the cemetery.

I ships for East Clare immigrants

Irene (1852) [7] + 7 from Ennis; Ironside (1863) [9] and Ida (1864) [9]

A to Z 2012 Challenge

My nod for today is Catherine Noble’s blog about writing. I especially liked “D for Dedication”.

[i] http://www.ourscotland.co.uk/ebooks/recollectionsweek3.htm. Recollections of a tour made in Scotland AD 1803 by Dorothy Wordsworth. August 31st, 1803.

Some thoughts on “St Mary’s Ipswich: the Luckie Parish”

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St Mary’s Ipswich: the Luckie Parish

This book by John R Kane was published in 2011 and was a winner of the Viva Cribb Bursary offered through the Ipswich City Council. I bought the book during a driving trip to Ipswich a few weeks ago and felt my money had been well spent, and as a bonus it gave me in-flight reading on the way home.

This book added a new timeline dimension to those I’ve read before about Catholic Queensland, or Ipswich, or both. This meant I got a clearer sense of what had happened in St Mary’s Ipswich before and during the years my Kunkel ancestors lived there. Other ancestors lived there but they were members of other congregations. My interest really focussed on the period from the church’s inception to the turn of the 20th century.

The physical and emotional demands placed on these early Queensland priests, essentially missionaries, echoed our own experience of missionaries in Papua New Guinea in the 1970s. It could be a very lonely life as well as physically challenging and financially draining.

I had known about Fr McGinty’s indefatigable efforts to fund-raise and build churches for the Catholics of his geographically-dispersed parish (or mission as it was technically known). I’d also known that he had ridden many, many miles in his commitment to his parishioners, baptising and marrying people who may not have seen a priest for some years. My great-grandmother Julia Gavin and her brother were among those he baptised on these rides to far-flung stations, settlements and towns. He’d also baptised some of the Dorfprozelten descendants as well as an unrelated Gavin family I research. The man really had enormous energy and dedication. Unfortunately his resistance to the Bishop’s directive to hand over the donated funds raised by McGinty, caused untold controversy, and no shortage of ill-will. He could also be a rigid-thinking man who got himself into bother with the community over religious holidays or refusing to bury those who did not practice their faith (even children). Still I continue to admire his commitment and energy.

It may not have been the author’s intention, but I left the book feeling no love for Bishop Quinn and his impact on the church in Ipswich. Certainly McGinty was obdurate but to over-ride the parishioners’ wishes for the money they’d so generously donated seems both unwise and insulting, albeit consistent for the times. My understanding is that the Sisters of Mercy struggled against Quinn’s control as well, though Kane suggests they conformed –not my understanding from years at All Hallows’ but perhaps my memory is not correct.

The book also highlights the Irishness of the Catholic Church in Australia, something that’s not news to anyone brought up in the faith in Queensland, and something the German Catholics had to come to terms with (though sometimes it drove them to the Lutherans). The book also talks of the debates and changes around parochial education and government funding –something that continues to rear its head from time to time.

From a personal point of view I remain disappointed that the church built by Fr McGinty in 1860 from donations by early parishioners was largely destroyed, to be replaced in 1884 by a grander church of cathedral dimensions. Surely it would have been possible to retain the old one and use it for another purpose. I wonder how many of the first donors contributed to the second church’s construction…those early pioneers must have suffered from church-building-burnout, especially if they moved around. Fr Martin (see book below, p134) indicates that stones from the previous building were used in the sacristy of the new church.

I’d have liked to see a little more cohesive editing of the book in some sections, and a subject index, but this did not detract from its value to understanding the history of St Mary’s Ipswich and would be a useful reference for anyone whose family worshipped there.

It is a good complement to the following books:

The Foundation of the Catholic Church in Queensland, Martin D W, Church Archivists’ Press, Brisbane 1998 (this book has some excellent images of St Mary’s Ipswich, old and new).

St Mary’s Story: a history of St Mary’s Catholic Parish, Ipswich 1849-1999, St Mary’s Parish Historical Society, Ipswich, 1999.

Beyond the Internet: Week 12 – Church histories

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This is Week 12 in my Beyond the Internet series in which I explore the sources of information beyond our computer screens. This week’s topic is Church Histories.  I’d love it if you wanted to join in with your thoughts on this topic. If possible please provide a link to your post on this page.

Does this sound like one big yawn to you? Lynn Palermo over at The Armchair Genealogist has written this week about the importance of background reading for our family history. Learning more about our ancestors’ parish churches is important to our understanding of their day-to-day lives at a time when the church used to be such an integral part of peoples’ lives.

Extract from Robert Dunne, Archbishop of Brisbane, op cit, p272 (footnotes). I believe Tazilia Dining is probably Cecilia Dümig/Dimig/Dimmock nee Füller.

You might be surprised at the treasures hiding within these books: sometimes information about specific people even though more often it will be general information. Obviously we’ll mostly each need our own reference reading list, given our ancestors’ different geographical areas.

Even biographies of senior churchmen can be helpful. One of the most informative church books for my own family was the biography of Robert Dunne, Archbishop of Brisbane. There are countless references to how Dunne interacted with his parishioners (which included my Kunkels), his visits to the railway camps and how he viewed them, his encouragement of land purchases etc. It also documents how he got into strife for not providing sufficient pastoral care for his German-speaking Catholics. The petition transcription includes the names of four of “my” Dorfprozelten families, not to mention quite a number of other German Catholics (I’d love to see the original but they have been unable to locate it).

Centenary histories of churches can be particularly useful though they may have a variable standard of documentation.

Catechism Class St Stephen's Cathedral Brisbane 1860, Foundations of the Catholic Church in Queensland, op cit, page 148.

These are some of the things I’ve found in the church histories or biographies:

  1. References to petitions and signatories.
  2. Details of subscription lists for the construction or improvement of churches.
  3. Donations of specific items for the church interior –stained glass windows, communion vessels.
  4. Extracts of old church newsletters.
  5. Reference to Rev Benjamin Glennie’s diary entries and remote pastoral travel on behalf of his Anglican flock. I have wondered if the teamsters who helped him cross the Condamine River in 1857 included my 2x great grandfather, Denis Gavin who was working as a teamster in that area.
  6. The catechism class at St Stephen’s Catholic Church, Brisbane in January 1860 (wouldn’t you love to find a family member in this list? I would!)
  7. Sunday School prizes.
  8. The names of churchwardens in 1907 for Anglican parishes in Childers, Cleveland, Dalby, Drayton, Esk, Gayndah (Warra history)
  9. Photos/sketches of old churches, now demolished or decommissioned.
  10. Early baptisms in the pioneer churches as priests rode hundreds of miles to marry people or baptise children.
  11. Early confirmation ceremonies reported in the newspapers.

Among my collection of church histories to which I’ve referred in this post are:

Robert Dunne, Archbishop of Brisbane. Byrne, N J. The University of Queensland Press, Brisbane, 1991.

St Michael’s Church, Gorey (Wexford) 1839-1989, Forde,W (ed) 1989

The Foundation of the Catholic Church in Queensland, Martin D W, Church Archivists’ Press, Brisbane 1998

St Mary’s Story: a history of St Mary’s Catholic Parish, Ipswich 1849-1999, St Mary’s Parish Historical Society, Ipswich, 1999.

A Century of Service, All Saints’ Warra 1907-2007, All Saints’ Restoration Committee.