The Family Detective

The mystery of Mary Ann Kelly continues but little by little pieces start to come together. Today I came across this. I may have stumbled across it before as I have some notes saying John Kelly's name might actually be James. But I don't rememeber reading before "amongst the very earliest employes [sic] on Bendenine". C Yass Evening Tribune (NSW  1899 - 1928), Thursday 19 July 1906, page 2 The Bendenine Pastoral estate was established in the 1840s and after the death of Cornelius O'Brien in 1869 Henry Brown became the new owner. In 1881 Brown died unexpectedly and the ownership of Bendenine passed to the Bros. Friends. This information is useful when looking at old maps and placing them in time order. If we assume James Kelly to be the father of Mary Ann then we assume a few other things. Going by her guestimated birth range James would have arrived at Bendenine to work for O'Brien or may even have come with Henry Brown. It would be interesting to

Greville's Post Office Directory is a handy research tool for locating some family members in 1872 who lived in rural areas of NSW. It's where I'm heading next in my hunt for John Kelly but it's nice to consider the whereabouts of other family members at the time. On the paternal side blacksmith Henry Laing is living with Sarah (nee Weatherstone) in Bigg Street, Liverpool. His son John has left home and the family name is now Lang. He is working as a labourer at Jerebatgully via Ballalaba (possibly for Thomas Hart who is also listed but Michael Hart is not). John Ross & Catherine (nee Toomey) left the Braidwood/Auraluen area around this time on their way to Quirindi.  A John Ross at Quirindi is listed as a pound keeper but has had the job since 1856 so it is not my John Ross. Catherine was born around this time as well she is the first of their children not registered at Braidwood. Some family trees & family records have her born at Auraluen but I'

It took hours to overlay maps .. and try to narrow it down, but using Regan's Lagoon, Galong Station and Mount Bobbara as landmarks I think I have done as good as I can on this. Also the road markings can be seen in Google Earth as you get in really close. Google Earth shows all this area planted out with trees and it has part of Limestone Creek running through it as the older maps show. There are a number of parish maps from 1886 show lots 32 & 100 as Edward Cotters and later around 1891 we see he's bought Lot 60 but we can't see him as owning 32. The area circled on Google Earth is where I think lots 32 & 60 were .. though maybe out a paddock or two. But it would be in this general area at least. I'm guessing Hilltops Shire would have better land maps and could help... one day.

You get to a point on your tree where you have to decide that you've reached your limits. For the Kelly line it ends with John Kelly. He is a name on some certificates. But I could write a simple story about him. How much is true needs to be established. In my story those words in red are information found in sources such as death certificates and newspapers. John Kelly came from an Irish background. He spent some time around the Campbelltown area before settling near Yass . He married Mary Kerasen (Kerrison?) and lived on the Bendinine estate. Their daughter was Mary Ann . The family lived close to where the Cotter Family lived on the estate and this may be a factor in Mary Ann marrying Edward Cotter . He lived in the area during some interesting times. Banjo Paterson was a boy, and his father managed the Bendinine estate. During this time the bushranger Johnny Gilbert was killed in a shoot out close to the edge of town. As I get more ... If I can get more, I can

As mentioned in my previous post I no longer believed that the rest of the family history world were right about Mary Ann Kelly's parents being John Kelly & Mary Madigan and Mary Ann being born in 1850. It just didn't add up. Luckily Daffyd Cotter and P Teale have listened too. Both ordered certificates for Mary Ann's death and wedding and some interesting facts have come to life. YES, I've admitted before that death certificates can be a bit hit and miss but here are some new leads from the 2 certificates: Mary Ann Kelly Born in Campbelltown Father's Name: John Kelly Mother's Name: Mary Kerasen Living at time of marriage: Bendinine The ages & birth dates are still a muddle. The death certificate states married age was 20 (making her married in 1881 but our records show the marriage was in 1876. The death details would have her born around 1861. So we have a discrepancy of dates around 5 years. If she was married at age 20 in 1876 this would put

There's a lot we know about Mary Ann Kelly. She was the wife of Edward Cotter (Son of Michael) and had many children. Her many grandchildren and great grandchildren have created family trees with details surrounding her birth and dates for her christening. But it is her death that makes me question the validity of the details of the trees and I think we need to look closer to find more proof. What we know from the newspapers: Her husband was Edward Cotter. She lived in Burgooney. She died on 5 December 1926 in West Wyalong, N.S.W. Australia. We know her children consisted of 8 sons & 3 daughters. [At the time of Edward's death a year later the papers reported 6 sons & 3 daughters were still alive in 1927] She was Church of England by faith and buried in a local cemetery Both newspapers state her age at 65. This would put her date of birth around 1861. However many family historians have claimed immigration records and christening records pur ou

One thing you find as you search your family tree is that the more you look the more you find. Now that may seem like I'm stating the bleeding obvious but a few years ago I thought I'd hit a dead end looking for information on the residences of the early Cotters in Australia. But as the internet opens up even more you realise that places like "Taylors Creek" have about 15 different names!! Names for the first settlers properties (eg Wallah) and then as those properties grow or are divided then a creek may be named after the families (eg Taylor) and then an area grows up with that name (Eg Taylors Creek) but as time wears on the area is divided again possibly due to political or clerical reasons and then you find Taylors Creek is now Reids Flat or Rugby. Even the creeks had more than one name. So finding a few old maps and comparing the changes has given me more scope to look for information on the dwelling places of Michael Cotter (convict). I've opened this p

On the evening of 19th March 1857 a travelling hawker set up camp beside a creek near Michael Cotter's hut. Michael Cotter worked as a shepherd and caretaker of Mrs Gibson's Taylor Creek property near Wallah Wallah and was still away from the hut at the time. At home was his wife and children. While sitting on a log, the hawker, Mr Thomas Kerr was approached by three men with blackened faces one who drew a double barrelled shotgun and another who drew a double barrelled pistol on him. Kerr was forced into the hut with the family while his dray was emptied of it's money till and a number of expensive items of clothing and cutlery. He was told to stay in the hut for half an hour and not raise the alarm to give the bushrangers time to escape, but it was then that Michael Cotter and a companion arrived home where they too were forced into the hut with the threat that they would "blow (his) brains out" should he look at them closely. In the morning Cotter helped

Indent descriptions used to create a "Mugsheet" of Michael Cotter on his arrival to NSW. My Third Great Grandfather Michael Cotter was yet another convict in my family tree. He was transported to Australia in 1831 for stealing a sheep. He was assigned to Mr Gibson from “ Tirranna” Goulburn Plains where he worked as a servant. During his time there he met Catherine, the daughter of fellow convict Patrick Dodd. After receiving his Ticket of Leave in 1836 he was granted permission to marry Catherine which they did on the 11th October that year. In 1851 Michael and Catherine had been married 14 years and had seven children. They had left Goulburn and were living near Wheeo a farming hamlet where the “Ashfield Tavern” had had a history of bushranger guests including Frank Gardiner and his gang. The population of the area was small but made up mainly of Irish immigrants. On St Patrick’s Day Catherine, Michael and his friend   John Carroll went to the “Ashfield Taver