I have been searching for information on my grandfather Thomas Whelan who lived in Maryborough at the time of the 1901 and 1911 census and have since found out that he was not born in Ireland but in fact Bega, N.S.W. Australia along with his brother and sisters.
I have since found out that their parents were actually married in New Plymouth, New Zealand on 24th June, 1885.
Their names were Thomas Whelan, place of birth listed as Kilkenny and Elizabeth Connolly, place of birth Longford, Ireland.
The 1885 marriage certificate states that Elizabeth's parents were Mary Anne (Bennett) and Robert Connolly and that Thomas's parents were Elizabeth (Dunne) and John Whelan.
I have no idea when Elizabeth Connolly or Thomas Whelan went to New Zealand or where they left from to go there.
At some stage after their marriage they went from NZ to NSW where their 5 children were born, the eldest in 1889.
At some stage after the youngest was born in 1895 the family returned to Ireland and were living in Maryborough where they are noted on the 1901 and 1911 census.
At some stage, my grandfather Thomas (jnr) returned to Austalia before the first world war. He enlisted in the AIF in Melbourne in early 1917 and served in France/Belgium in 1918 where he was injured and taken prisoner. At the end of the war he returned to Ireland where he married my grandmother Julia (Tynan) at Emo in 1919 before returning to Australia.
I know this has been a bit "long winded" but I would love to be able to find shipping records for both Thomas Jnr and Snr and also Elizabeth Connolly if there is anybody out there who could point me in the right direction.
Anne
Saturday 17th Jul 2021, 05:39AMMessage Board Replies
-
Hi Anne, I have sent your query to one of our most experienced volunteers.
Hopefully she will be able to offer you some advice as to where to start looking.
Best wishes
Denise
IrelandXO Moderator DC
Friday 30th Jul 2021, 06:19PM -
Hello Anne, I am looking into the history that you have posted here and goodness, it is a back and fro isn't it. You will need to be patient but so far I can tell you that Elizabeth Dunne and John Whelan were married here in the Church of Ireland St.Canices, Kilkenny on 31st July 1834. It is weird though that none of the parents are shown for either of them although the witness are Patrick Gwynne and William Whelan (he could be a brother or a cousin ?)
I have also found that Elizabeth was born in 1861: the records are very indistinct but it shows the baptism to have been on 26 May 1861 in Co.Longford Templemichael (Diocese Ardagh) - this record I found eventually in Ancestry However the writing is very bad as it so often is and the name of her mother looks as though it has been written Maria Anna Barrett rather than Bennett. The christian names were often written in the celtic or latin manner and surnames very often are as the Parish priest hears or understands the names, also very often a scribe will pick up the name incorrectly.
Sadly so far I have found no records pertaining to Thomas' birth in Kilkenny however I will keep trying
It was not usual for migrants to go to New Zealand as it was the most expensive place to travel to and there were few Irish invited until long after the USA and Australia's were countries to go to however I found no details of any people goinf to New Zealand but you might like to visit https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/Category:New_Zealand: this site is brilliant for searches in that country. I will keep looking myself but please do let me know if you manage to find anything; I will keep my fingers crossed for you. I will surely come back to you but this will keep you going for the moment and should you wish to contact me - the email is killeedy1@irelandxo.com
Good Luck, Jennifer Jean
Killeedy1 Limerick, Volunteer Ireland Reaching Out ☘️
Friday 30th Jul 2021, 10:15PM -
Anne, these are two sites that might be worth having a look at; http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk › research-guides
https://www.nla.gov.au/research-guides/australian-shipping-and-passenge…
I am at a standstill because I have records of numerous trips from New Zealand to NSW by a Thomas Whelan (?) but no mrs. so I wonder did he work for a company and make several trips until he eventually went to NZ to stay? I cannot investigate further because I do not have any children's names or siblings (might help)
As for the return to Ireland- again I have no date of birth of the Thomas Jnr. and have not found the family in the 1900 census for Portlaoise Maryborough. Perhaps I am not looking at the correct names?
Just an added tyhought - you might like to try My Heritage. as it is free and has a massive data base.
Jennifer Jean e-mail killeedy1@irelandxo.com
Killeedy1 Limerick, Volunteer Ireland Reaching Out ☘️
Friday 30th Jul 2021, 11:37PM