The Whiteford Family near Bathurst

On a recent trip to Orange in NSW I decided to do some hunting for the last resting place of my children's gggggrandfather John Whiteford. With a copy of his death certificate transcript in hand (purchased from Joy Murrin)we were off to the little hamlet of O'Connell. A township about 30 km south east of Bathurst. With my kind of luck the whole main street was blocked off for roadworks and we were sent on a detour around the town. We passed by the old Anglican Church and its cemetery but he wouldn't be there. John and his family were Roman Catholics. I had previously searched the internet in search of the family and found some useful information on the Australian Cemeteries Index site it has listings for O'Connell Cemeteries (including Anglican, Roman Catholic and the General Cemetery). You can also find a listing of the O'Connell General Cemetery at this site Family Lists

A visit to the local pub at O'Connell and a chat to the lady working there put us on the right track to finding the old Roman Catholic cemetery. She also informed us that the O'Connell Hotel had been running since 1865 so I it is more than likely that the Whiteford's frequented this establishment.

A short walk from the hotel to the old Roman Catholic Church and convent which is now a private residence was in a picturesque setting as shown. 

We knocked on the door and asked permission to go through to the cemetery as a courtesy because the cemetery is at the back of the residence.

The headstones are very old and most are in poor condition. Many are broken or were made from sandstone and the inscriptions are worn away.

We did not find John Whiteford senior but found his son John Whiteford junior who had died in 1868 aged 25 years. Perhaps John senior is buried with him and this was never recorded on the headstone. There were no other of the family buried here that we could find.



John Whitford was born in County Antrim, Ireland in 1805, the son of John Whitford (Farmer) and Jane Gow. He was tried in County Armagh on 14 February 1826 for stealing cloth and with no previous convictions for this petty crime he was sentenced to transportation for life. John was transported to Port Jackson in 1827 aboard the Countess of Harcourt. His age at this time was 21. A description given for him describes his height 5 feet 5 and 3/4 with a ruddy pock pitted complexion, light brown hair and grey eyes. He was a Protestant and could read and write and had an occupation as a farmer. In 1842 he was given permission to marry Catherine Bligh. He married her on 4th April 1842 at St Michael's RC Church, Kelso NSW. Catherine was a young 19 year old Irish girl born about 1823 in County Down the daughter of Andrew Bligh and Catherine Cain. She had come as a free on the William Turner to Botany Bay 5th October 1841. She worked as a house maid. 

A Ticket of Leave was originally granted on 9 March 1836 – at this time John Whitford was described as a Labourer and, as well as the above physical description, he was said to be deficient of the left hand.  As this was not mentioned in his indent,  John may have met with an accident in this time.  John Whitford’s original Ticket of Leave given on 9 March 1836 was cancelled and his recommendation for Pardon halted on 3 February 1843, having been had up for Aggravated Assault.  His Passport was re-issued on 22 August, 1843.  His Ticket of Leave was restored and his eventual date of Pardon was 22 January, 1848. AT this time John added an 'e' into his surname and became Whiteford. John was given a grant of land at Mutton Falls, Snakes Valley near Bathurst. He died at Snakes Valley on 3rd February 1877 age 74 of old age and was buried at O'Connell Plains on 5th February 1877. The informant was James Ryan, tenant, Snakes Valley. The undertaker Henry Whelan, Minister D. A. McGrath. His religion was RC and witnesses Edward Brennan and James Ryan. Apparently the land passed on to his eldest surviving son Thomas.

The headstone of John Whiteford(jnr). He was born 1843 at Bathurst and died in 1868. A farmer who married Mary Ann Hourigan on 14 June 1864. 


We took a drive along the Mutton Falls Rd to Tarana and lunched at the little old Pub there,that has been around since 1878. The area is very pretty as the road winds through the hills and crosses the little creeks and valleys through the area.


So we didn't find John Whiteford but we had a nice time looking.

Edmund Harrison - A Brickwall Broken

One of my biggest brick walls in my family history research has been tracing my elusive great great grandfather Edmund Harrison. He didn't leave an easy trail to follow and finding information about him has taken me the last 16 years and the searching of a wide variety of records.

I had to start from hearsay from the family so all I had to start with was that Edmund Harrison was my great grandmothers father and Ellen Lonergan was her mother. Edmund was a journalist who worked on papers in Bendigo, Ballarat and Geelong and that there was some connection to James Harrison of Geelong. He had the Geelong Advertiser and was an early inventor of refrigeration. A couple of tales mentioned he died young, while another was said that he went back to England on family business never to return. I also knew my great grandmother had at least a brother, Louis and two sisters Ellen May and Jessie and in my search I found another brother, Edmund. Edmund jnr was the one who had died young.

Below is a documented list of some of the places I searched over the years in my search for Edmund and his family.

1.  Searched BDM’s for Marriage, births and deaths of Edmund his children etc.  No marriage could be found and no register of births of children.  No death for Edmund.
2. Purchased Marriage and death certificate of Minna Gertrude McCaffrey nee Harrison. Marriage of Louis Harrison, Jessie Harrison.  Deaths of Ellen Harrison nee Lonergan and Edmund Harrison Jnr.  Didn’t buy Ellen Mays marriage or other deaths as didn’t think it would provide any further clues.
3. Contacted the Geelong Advertiser as knew he was a journalist and there was family talk of a connection to James Harrison there who had that paper.  They have no records but put me onto his grandson James who I wrote to.  He sent me a lot of his family history and there seems to be no connection there as yet.  The Geelong Genealogical Society found no evidence of him being in Geelong.
4. Wrote to BendigoGenealogical Society.  They checked and found the following: Bendigo Directories listed 1865-66. Bendigo rate records 65-66.  He is mentioned in the History of Bendigo by G Mackay 1899 and Bendigo and Vicinity published about 1900.  No mention in Advertiser personals or St Paul’s and All Saints records for a marriage.
5. Wrote to Bendigo Advertiser and they could come with no more then already found there records are slim for that time as there was a fire in the building.
6. Wrote to Genealogical Society of Victoria they checked Melbourne cemetery where Ellen is buried without a headstone, nos sign of Edmund snr.  Was not on Vic and NSW assisted shipping index?  Not on Victoria Wills and probate index.
7. Wrote to Herald and Weekly Times to see if they had anything re him working on the paper in the 1850’s, they had nothing.
8. Checked the Electoral roll for 1851 in Victoria no one who fits his description. Checked 1856 Electoral Roll, 1899 Victorian Referendum roll, no Edmund.
9. Had contact with a Patricia Lennox from Bundoora who is a descendant of Ellen’s sister Margaret, she only knew their was a sister by the name Mrs Harrison, but gave me names of the other sister’s which led me to finding more info on the Lonergan sisters of Tipperary.
10. Checked the Victoria Police Gazette for mention of him found two instances and sent away to Police Historical unit for these and any other mention of him.  They sent copies of these to me one of these led me to search the Ballarat area.
11. Wrote to St Kilian’s Church, Bendigo to see if any record of his marriage.  No luck with that.
12. Went to State Library of Victoria and looked through microfilm of old newspapers in Ballarat for mention of Edmund.  He was Editor of the Tribune found nothing else.  Also checked for deaths in papers in Melbourne at the time of Ellen and Edmund Jnr’s death and copied these from the Age.
13. Checked the Melbourne directories from 1870 through to 1905.  Found mention of Edmund Harrison in the early ones.
14. Wrote to the Ballarat Genealogical Society.  They checked directories, hospital admissions no sign of him.  He is mentioned in The History of Ballarat by W.B Withers who worked on papers there.  They checked the Ballarat PRO Court records etc no mention of him 2/7/1861 to 5/3/1863 or prior to that, the next unit was not available to the public due to water damage.
15. Checked Immigration to Victoria from British ports 1852-59 index.  Found an Edmund Harrison age 23 arrived May 1853 on the Eagle also a George listed same age.  Went to PRO and looked this up. It left Liverpool and he is listed as English and a merchant. Seems about the right age, but wrong profession. So may or may not be him.
16. Went to Melbourne General Cemetery and purchased Burial records etc. No Edmund but found other family members
17. Checked through defunct businesses at the PRO to see if he had a registered business.
18. Checked Bendigo Goldfields Petition 1853, List of citizens 1877/78 and Vic Prisoner Index 1850-1900.
19. Checked 1891 and 1901 Census records found an Edmund Harrison about right age and occupation with 2 daughters, one born NZ the other Victoria, Australia. Looks possibly like I am on the right track.
20. Checked and found death of an Edmund Harrison right age and profession same person as above, dying Croydon, England.
21. Questions that I now wanted answered.  Do any photos exist of any of the family Edmund, Ellen and their children when they were young?   What was he doing at the time he was living in Fitzroy? Is there any way of checking baptism records, school records etc? Did he leave the family and go interstate or overseas, can we check outgoing shipping? Find his birth record? Need to find more on Violet and Constance Harrison.
22. Found references to the family above in many pages of The London Times which is digitized online. This can be accessed through the National Library of Australia in their e-Resources.
23. Found him in the East Ballaarat Petty Sessions Register. 31^st July, 1861. Need to next look at newspapers around that date to see if anything mentioned.
24. In Argus Newspaper 2^nd Jan 1871, 25 Jan 1871, 16 Feb 1871, 20 Apr 1877, 14 Nov. 1878. Mentions him being a member of the Yorick Club and standing as a member for the Legislative Assembly.
25. Need to research information on Yorick Club. There are a couple of books on its history. The Yorick Club: Its Origin and Development: May, 1868, to Dec 1910, Melbourne 1911 and A History of the Yorick Club 1868–1966  by J Johnson.
26. Need to research any information through his connection with the Legislative Assembly. He was standing for the Liberal Party.
27. Found him on the Argus newspaper online index and have copies of those references. He was a candidate for the Liberal Party in the Legislative Assembly.
28. There are also references to him on the index to Port Phillip Herald will need to check them at State Library. This period may cover to early a time frame for my Edmund.
29. Researched and found him on 1851 census in London with his family. Then found that family on 1841 census. Edmund and father George were not in England at the time. This gave me his parents so was able to use FamilySearch to find christenings and marriages etc. Parents George Berkeley Harrison and Anna Dunant. George was a Wine Merchant so that ties up with the Passenger records of him as a Merchant.

This is Part 1 of my search of Edmund Harrison and his family. Stay tuned for Part 2. Coming soon!

Orange, NSW and the Wynne/Whiteford Families

On a recent holiday to Orange I decided I needed to make a visit to the Orange Cemetery where there are a number of my husbands family buried. Now, Orange Cemetery is rather large, so go prepared when doing a search. I had looked up the index for the names previously on the CD produced by the Orange Family History Group, so had the sections and grave number I was looking for. They have maps available at the cemetery, but you can also go to the Orange Council web site and download one before you go.  There is also background historical information about the cemetery on this site.

It is still a very hard job finding the graves even with the map and location, but we did eventually find it, as shown above. Lucky enough it had three headstones, with plenty of information. However one was slightly damaged made of stone that had worn away and was very difficult to read.

Transcribed they read:

Sacred to the memory of
Robert Andrew
The beloved son of
Robert & Sarah Whiteford
Died Feb 22nd 1878
Aged 11 months
also
James Joseph Wynne
Born at Orange Nov ?1st 1858?
Died at Parramatta? on Nov 18? 1913
Jesus ??? have mercy on his soul.

Note: Checked the NSW Birth, Death and Marriages  could not find a record of his birth, but found the death, registered in Sydney, parents Thomas & Sarah. Registration number 14968. Will get a Transcript of this certificate from Joy Murrin as it works out a lot cheaper than getting it from the Registry.

In Memory of
Thomas Wynne
Died May 10th 1859
Aged 43 Years
Also his beloved wife
Sarah Ann
Died March 24th 1860
Aged 39 Years
On their souls Jesus have mercy.

Note: Have copies of transcripts of their death certificates and according to Sarah's she died on the 22nd March and was buried on the 24th. They were Innkeepers at Molong, a town not far from Orange.

Sacred to the memory of
Elizabeth Mary
the beloved wife of
Augustus Coulson
died May 24th 1876
Aged 31 years
also of
Elizabeth Augusta Blanch
the beloved child of above
Died Dec. 20th 1868
Grant O Lord Eternal Rest and Peace to the soul of
Elizabeth Mary

Note: Have copy of transcript of death certificate of Elizabeth Mary Coulson. Elizabeth Augusta Blanch died as an infant.
According to records Augustus, Elizabeth's husband should also be buried in this grave, but there was no mention of him on the gravestones.


Some other useful site I found other gravestones for other Cemeteries local to Orange relating to these familes were on Australian Cemeteries Index. They had Molong and O'Connell Catholic Cemeteries which had photos of gravestones of families I am after.

Kiniry Family - Twig on the Family Tree

It's amazing how much time you can get caught up on researching twigs in your family tree. I recently was contacted through Ancestry about the Kiniry family. I really only had a small amount of information about them. My grandma Irene Veronica O'Neill, a staunch Catholic, when I was younger, told me about cousins Rev. Father Tom Kiniry and Rev. Father John Kiniry. That was about the extent of my knowledge. My uncle Paul Pearce another mad fellow family historian had given me the information that Brigid Hurley cousin of my grandmother's through the McMahon family married Peter William Kiniry and they had a daughter Agnes Kiniry.

My contact through Ancestry wanted to know more and when, where and who came out to Australia from Ireland. I then had to go to work doing more research, starting with the Victorian Birth, Death and Marriage indexes. I am luck enought to have access to these on CD, but for a fee you can access the Registry of VIC BDMs online. This gave me a wealth of information that I spent several hours sifting through. The number of * wildcard searches on the surname Kiniry I had to do as they were very creative in their spelling of this name.

Peter William Kiniry I found had been born in Maldon, Victoria in 1874 and died at Korong Vale, Victoria in 1922. The Kiniry's and many of my other relatives including O'Neills, Hogans, McMahons and Ryans farmed in the Boort, Korong Vale and Whychitella surrounds in Victoria.

Peter married Brigid Hurley in 1908 at Wychitella. She was the daughter of Patrick Hurley and Jane McMahon. and was born in 1879 probably at Wychitella and died 24 December 1917 at Korong Vale. She is buried at Wedderburn Cemetery.

Peter farmed the Koprong Vale area and was a member of local council for many years. Furhter information was found on newspapers on the National Library of Australia's newspaper website.

Peter was the son of John Kiniry born 1835, died 1918 at Korong Vale and Mary Morrisey born about 1835 and died 1922 at Korong Vale. Now I know they came from Ireland, but when and where from. That was the next test on which I spent a long time searching and again the many ways of spelling their surname made it difficult. This meant searching on the PROV Online Assisted British and Unassisted indexes. So far I have had no luck. I even tried the Passenger indexes from NSW State Records with no luck. One to keep working on!!

Next problem where they came from. I tried looking for all the children of John Kiniry and Mary Morrisey. The first one born in Victoria was Margaret in 1863 in Melbourne. With further searching on found a Thomas Bartholomew Kiniry dying in 1916 age 58 in Brighton, Victoria and working backwards I found he married in 1883 in Victoria to Jane O'Neill stating that his birthplace was Cork, Ireland.

Well I now have a lot more information to send to the contact in USA, but it has now given me more work in trying to track down the immigration of John and Brigid Kiniry and son Thomas from Cork, Ireland in Victoria, Australia. I do know from John's death register that his parents were John Kiniry and Mary O'Connor, so a little more to go on.

Back at it Again!!

Well I am finally over Christmas and New Year and have been away on hols for a week down at Phillip Island and Inverloch in Victoria. Thought it was about time to get back to work. Finally have fixed all the place names on the Close Family Tree, so I am now in the processes of sorting the filing cabinet out and re-organising all my bits of paper and certificates into folders that will be easy to find.

Particularly working on the Kimber and Simcock families today. I had collected Inquests on several deaths of these families years ago. A good place to get some extra information now is via Newspapers online. I found and fixed some interesting information on my inquests for Timothy Simcock, Arthur Foster Kimber and William David Simcock in the Melbourne Argus.


I also found it useful to do a search for Wills and Probates that have been digitised that are now available at the Victorian Public Records Office.

If you are a member of the GSV (Genealogical Society of Victoria), of which I am, it is a good idea to have a look at the members section. They have a database that you can search of online resources. I was able to find a number of the Kimbers and Simcocks mentioned in Hospital records such as Ballarat and Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital (they have images of these) and a number of other miscellaneous records. Anyway it's worth utilising it if you are a member and I should do this more often.

Fixing Family Tree Maker

Since I have been upgrading Family Tree Maker every year I have found some of my facts and places have become mixed up and very untidy. Luckily Family Tree Maker has built in maps and has a facility to resolve place names.

I decided that seeing I want to put a number of my files in order and make sure I have added all the data and information I have collected I needed to fix all the problems in my Trees up before I add any more information. Considering I have thousands of names this is taking me some time. The ability of FTM to resolve all place names of the same name is a great feature, but unfortunately it will not resolve all place names. I will have to find out if there is a way around this. Also after I had upgraded to edition 17 a number of my facts are in the wrong place, so that will take me several hours rearranging.

Then I am going to work on Gordon's family tree on his mothers side. The surnames are Burrell, Chaston, Whitford or Whiteford, Walker, Wynne, Boothroyde, Gold or Gould, Finney. A number of them came out as convicts, many to Tasmania. Years after I have already got most of their records, many of them are now being digitised. There is a lot more information now on the Tasmanian Archives website and it is well worth going back to regularly to see what else they have available http://www.archives.tas.gov.au/ and also State Records NSW have information on NSW convicts http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/indexes-online

Researching VIC Government Gazettes

I have been having a good search through the Government gazettes available online http://gazette.slv.vic.gov.au/ for Victoria and NSW. Found a number of references to Thomas Flint my gggrandfather who was a Mounted Constable as was his son Theodore. Also found quite a bit on Arthur Loftus Flint who was also Thomas' son and was a Post Master.

Have also been finding a lot of good information on the National Library of Australia's Australian Newspaper site. http://newspapers.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home They are constantly adding to it and they plan to do some of the major regional newspapers in the next few years. I find the Argus a valuable research tool for finding information on ancestors that were in Victoria. I was able to find the missing girl who is the flower girl in my grandparents Arthur and Jessie Flint's wedding. Her name is Yvonne Lang and she became a nurse. She was the daughter of William Baker Lang and Nora Kennedy from the Bass, Gippsland area. Also found more information on her in the Electoral rolls on Ancestry.

Arthur Stothers Flint Born 1901 Died 1977

Jessie Catherine McCaffrey Born 1902 Died 1980

Married 1924 St Patrick's East Melbourne

Flowergirl Yvonne Lang daughter of William Baker Lang and Edith Nora Kennedy