One of my major non-family interests is searching the Australian immigration records for people from Broadford, County Clare (Parish of Kilseily) and also from East Clare generally. I’ve defined this area as that roughly east of Ennis and belonging to the Tulla Upper and Tulla Lower Unions. Since many families sent people to both Australia and the USA, I’ve got an interest in the US, though rather more diluted.
I started this research primarily because I couldn’t find the immigration records for my ancestor, Mary O’Brien and her sister Bridget O’Brien who I estimate arrived in Australia circa 1855. They probably both came to Moreton Bay, then in New South Wales. The evidence for this is that Mary married in Ipswich, Qld in 1857. Also when sister Bridget o’Brien Widdup died in the Riverina area of NSW (Urana) her death certificate stated that she had spent one year in Queensland. Oral history tells that they came under employment with a sailing captain and that Mary worked initially in Brisbane.
In the post-Famine years migration from Clare was extensive and Australia with its assisted migration scheme was attractive, possibly more so to those who were accustomed to a rural lifestyle. However while Clare people made up a huge slice of Irish immigrants to Australia, the flow here was a drop in the ocean compared to those heading west to the US and Canada.
With the commencement of the American Civil War, America became a less attractive option and with another depression and food shortages taking effect, Australia became the beneficiary of a major inflow of mainly young Irish men and women. The parish priest of Kilseily parish , Fr John Burke, (based in Broadford) was instrumental in assisting many young emigrants to complete the processes required to come to Australia. As the American Civil War came to an end, the emigration flow to Australia once again diminished. However just as many Australians can lay claim to a little bit of Irish in their family tree, many of these came from County Clare.
I am interested in hearing from anyone who knows their ancestors came to Australia from East Clare, and in particular from those who came from Broadford and its surrounding townlands.
A fabulous site for people with Clare ancestry is the Clare Library site (genealogy and history pages). The indexing is reliable, its free and it has a diversity of information not readily available elsewhere. This library and the local history centre are among my Top Ten family history heroes. Check it out, it’s great! http://www.clarelibrary.ie/eolas/coclare/genealogy/genealog.htm
If you’re lucky enough to visit Clare for family history research make sure you visit the Clare County Library and Archives. But remember to book first if you want to use the Archive resources.
I came across your blog whilst researching the ship ‘Peru’. My great great grandparents came from Germany (maybe Baden) on that ship arriving Syd. 23.05.55. Family members have had no success in finding info on Rodolph Orth – story goes that he died from snake bite on Darling Downs in ’56. Can u please suggest where we can go in Germany to find out more about him. His wife soon married William Callaghan who emigrated on ‘James Pattison’ in 1835 from County Cork. This and next gen. were connected (inside and out) with Jimbour Station.
cheers lesley
hi Lesley
Thanks for your post. I have had a quick look at the Peru records which show that the Orth family came from the Bavarian village of Unteraltenbuch which is not terribly far from both Dorfprozelten and the Baden-Bavarian boundary. Rodolph’s parents are shown as Franz and Elizabeth (both dead) and his wife, Helena’s parents were Peter & Maria Schreck (father dead, mother alive in Unteraltenbuch).They had three sons with them, the youngest being Franz who died on the voyage. As per one of my other replies today, the shipping records available on microfilm are critical to finding out more about your ancestors. Although Rodolf was theoretically to be employed by H G Douglas this appears not to have happened if they wound up in Queensland quite quickly after their arrival.
A warning note on the maiden surnames of the women on these German ships: I some cases the women obviously reported their names in the traditional way and so the name recorded as the maiden surname is actually the woman’s mother’s maiden name. It is worth keeping this in mind as I have a couple of ins
tances of this among the Dorfprozelten immigrants. However given she is recorded as Shriek on her son Peter’s birth register, then it is presumably correct.
I’ve looked up various sources I have here and can find no reference to Rodolph’s death. There are a number of possibilities: 1. he wasn’t identified at the time 2. his death never made it onto the registers 3. he didn’t die but went AWOL etc etc. I have instances of all these in families I’ve researched. It wasn’t unknown for an inquest to be held but the death not to be registered. Despite over 20 years searching I’ve still not found one of my ancestor’s deaths anywhere in Australia -he may have gone elsewhere but it’s all a mystery.
You will strike problems searching for “Orth” among the online newspapers as it throws up “north” for example. You may need to go back to the old-fashioned method and see if you can read a copy of the Moreton Bay Courier of the time to see if there’s a story about his death…more common than you might think. I would tend to think it likely that he died closer to Helena’s second marriage as many of the Germans who lost spouses remarried quite quickly sometimes within a few months and she did have small children to support. On the other hand, the birth of their son Peter in 1856 in the Warwick district, and no further children, may add some weight to the timeline.
Hmm another interesting anomaly: the NSW BDM index search shows the Callaghan-Orth marriage as 1857 while the Qld indexes show it as 1859. If it were me, I’d buy both certificates to compare them. It would also be worth contacting the Toowoomba Catholic Diocese to see what information they can provide you with -you will need to give them a donation for the service (a similar amount to the certificate is fair). I have found their records are very useful. They may also be able to tell you what is on Peter’s baptism (these families were very committed about church rites wherever possible).
Given your interest in the Darling Downs you may be interested in joining the Toowoomba & Darling Downs Family HIstory Society which is excellent. You may also be interested in submitting your ancestors details for their new Pioneer Biographical Register which closes on 31 January 2011. http://www.tddfhs.org/
Their blog is also very informative: http://tddfhs.org/component/option,com_wrapper/Itemid,13/ and includes indexes to the Darling Downs Gazettes.
Hopefully this will give you some research to follow up. Good luck with the hunt.
Pauleen
I have much information on the Nebauer, Umscheid, Dennewald and Hohl families (all my ancestors) happy to send anything to anyone.
I may be replicating what I have already sent but I am new to this and I don’t know if my comments were posted.
Monica
Hello,
I just found your very informative website after discovering my gggreat grandmother was born in Broadford County Clare c. 1839. She married Hugh Charles Munro in Melbourne on 6th August 1860. Her name on the marriage certificate is Ann Quinney – her parents are Michael Quinney, farmer and Catherine Flanagan. She could not write as an ‘x’ is her signature. The problem is her surname as spelling alters with each child born to the marriage – Quiney, Quine, Quincy, Quene, Cooney. I’m guessing that Quinney is the more correct as her husband registered the birth of the children. Unfortunately her death does not appear to have been registered, so I have very little to go on.
Any suggestions would be very greatly received.
Thank you very much for your great website and link to the County Clare Library.
Kind regards,
Chris
hi Chris, thanks for your interest. I’ll have a look at some records I have to see if something fits your ggg grandmother. She would have been born within 10 years of my Mary O’Brien. I’ll email you directly. Cheers Pauleen
hi Chris, Sorry about the delay as I’ve been away. I have had a look at my database with the baptisms from Broadford (which only start in 1844) and can find no record of the couple. I searched under Flanagan in the first instance as it got around the problem of her surname. I’m inclined to think the surname could be Cooney as there are at least some around with that name. I find that you have to try to pronounce the name with an Irish accent to see what it sounds like….not that I have an Irish accent. Do you have any info on her arrival, whether her parents were still alive then or not etc. I don’t suppose there’s any chance she arrived with a sibling as many did? I had the most luck with my O’Briens by (1) oral history and (2) getting details from her sister’s death certificate. Is there any chance her death might have involved an inquest or a hospital/asylum admission. Either of these might give you more info to go on. I will email directly too so you have my email. Good luck with the hunt. The Irish can certainly be elusive. Pauleen
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Informative blog and thanks for the book recommendation. Can you tell me a little more about the assisted migration scheme from East Clare. My family are from Moynoe near Scarriff and nine of the ten children emigrated. Several of these children have the usual discrepancies with ages and birth years and an independent record may help clarify. I am also interested to understand more about the process and how unaccompanied young teenagers might leave.
My first response was to say that there wasn’t a specific scheme other than the NSW/Qld/Vic assisted immigration scheme.. depending on timeframes. The pre-Separation NSW records are very helpful. What time frame are you looking at? Having said all that, the priest in Broadford was “facilitating” many young Clare people to come to Australia in the early 1860s…long story best done via email so will get in touch.
I have been looking at 1870s and 1880s. Almost certainly there was a generation of travellers in early to mid 1800s but that’s another story altogether and likely to go untold given state of Irish records for that time.
Thanks for the date line Brian. It will be interesting to learn more.
Guess what Pauleen? Just discovered my great great great grandfather died in the Tulla Workhouse. The rest of his family emigrated to Queensland in dribs and drabs.
I was going to say “excellent” but not really when your ancestor died in the workhouse. What was the timeframe? was it the Famine era or before/after? I’d guess one family member (or more) came first and then brought the rest of them. There are a few indexes at QSA that might be helpful depending where they came to in Qld.
The photo at the beginning of your blog Shouts to me ! River Shannon and the townland of Ballybroughan. Can this be right?
The family were Burke, Patrick and Bridget, and the story of the eviction, hasty departure, and life in Australia is told in “Not the Bushranger” by L M Burke. Published by Gangara Press, 1 Ocean View Drive, San Remo, Victoria 3925, Australia. A copy is available (I think ) in the Library in Ennis. Also maybe at the East Clare heritage Centre, Tuamgraney.
L M Burke
Just to trick you Lorna, the images are rotational but I’m pretty sure which one you mean -water in front and patchwork fields behind. I believe this photo was taken overlooking Lough Derg near Killaloe -or so my notes tell me. However I chose it for my blog, not because of any specific connection to my families, but because it is such a typical Irish scene. Thanks for the tip off on the book about the Burke family. I’m assuming that it’s Ballybroughan, Sixmilebridge? I’m certainly interested in any of the emigrants from the eastern half of Clare so will look it out. Thanks again. Pauleen
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I know just how that happens, one moment you are researching one family in a village, then all of sudden its the village! Easily done!
You might consider linking with the One Place Study list
http://www.one-place-studies.org/list-contents.html
I guess we’re gluttons for punishment Julie!
Agreed Ros..I’m struggling to contain my entries even having decided on places!
Thanks Cass, for your invitation to County Clare emigrees. My interest is Martin Markham who came to Australia from Quin, above Clooney, County Clare, in 1860. Never been able to find any details on his parents John Joseph Markham or mother Mary (Sullivan) Markham, nor his sisters
Anne and Mary, and fearful that they lie in a mass grave as victims of the “Diaspora”. John J.
farmed 13 and half acres at “Toonagh” with his brother or father in law Patt Sullivan. Of course, interested in your German blogs, as Martin’s second wife (his first wife Elizabeth Phelan died in childbirth following the drowning of her youngest son just 2 months before) was Julia Bach whose family was from Neckerhausen, Germany.and came to Australia on the “Catteaux Wattel”. 1855, Christoph was a vinedresser who went to Dr. Alexander Park in Lewisbrook. The story gets sadder and sadder and is for another time. Thanks for all your great info and hope you enjoyed the Congress. Cheers Carol
Thanks for replying Carol…It’s great to hear from another East Clare emigrant’s descendant. You may be lucky -Quin is on the Family Search microfilm list I’ll email you with how to get there just in case you’re not familiar with it. Sounds like there are some sad stories in your family. I too have found quite a number of German-Irish Catholic marriages. Alexander Park appears regularly in the German immigration employers. Sadly I didn’t get to Congress this year Carol…Canberra in 2015 is my goal.
Re your comment about Mary O’Brien marrying in Ipswich. It is also possible that she married in the Northern Rivers area of NSW. I have a child baptised in ‘Ipswich’ at that time and it simply means that the Parish of Ipswich was the base of the priest who was on his rounds through the cedar camps at the time. The area was also covered by the Parish of Armidale and there are some interesting stories told by the records from the travels of the Anglican & Catholic ministers back then.
Thanks Anne…a good tip for anyone with “Ipswich” baptisms/marriages. Yes Fr McGinty and Co covered an awful lot of country on their horse-riding BDM ventures. A number of my Darling Downs baptisms were through Ipswich. However Mary and George were actually married in Ipswich where they resided for some time per both the register and the certificate. (Hence why we old-timers don’t rely on indexes as you know, but others seem not to).