The Family Detective

I haven't given up the chase for Ellen Ross or Mary Ann Kelly, but they've occupied so much of  my research of late with little success that I thought I might concentrate on a little researched relative. Catherine Tormey married Ellen Ross' son John. Catherine was my 3rd Great Grandmother. I know most of Catherine's life facts and we know from immigration records the name of her brothers Joseph and Frank and her Ann but there are lots of questions whether she was a blood relation to Michael Hart who'd paid her immigration fees and was listed as an uncle. I suspect that there might be a few stories we'll never be sure of. Catherine went to live with Michael Hart after coming to Australia. His daughter married one of the Clark Brother bushrangers and was known to associate with them, and in fact stolen goods were found in his possession. Building Her Story Starting this story I know Catherine's mother is Ann Chance and her father is Michael Tormey but...

When the ship which Ellen and her family boarded set sail from Southampton Hampshire on 17th November 1854 there must have been mixed feelings about the new life ahead. They were at sea for 100 days and fear for baby John Kelly and baby John Dunn must have plagued the families after Scarlet Fever spread through the passengers killing 10 children onboard. They finally arrived in Sydney Cove 25th February 1855 but the ship and those aboard were placed in quarantine for 16 more days with the immigration records showing they embarked on the 13th of March.   For Ellen we find little in the way of interesting news stories. We gain a sense of her though through records pertaining to James and those of her children. John's immigration records show he was a bricklayer and he had arrived at the time railway lines and stations were being built. Stephen Phillips and his sons after him were rail men so in the early days of arriving in the colony perhaps James was involved in buil...

Like our roses to make them grow they need some pruning and maintenance. I've made my tree private for now and I feel I've solved some big mysteries on the tree including Michael Connolly who is an uncle who was sent to Norfolk Island. I read an eye opening account of his "unnatural act" and for now I think I'll just go visit some of my original ancestors and see what the expanding world of the internet throws my way. I've never really printed any of my sources or catalogued them properly so now is the time. I feel comfortable with some of the trees I've been making as well trying to see if cousins etc throw out interesting information. I'll need to graft them onto my family tree once I've pruned my original tree. Now the big question is where to begin. I think with a cup of tea...

Around 1830 a baby girl was born in Tuam, Galway. Her name was Ellen Phillips and one day she would marry James Kelly and set off to a new life away to Australia and away from the turmoil of the Great Potato Famine. Her parents were Michael and Mary Phillips (nee Connolly) and she grew up with at least two other siblings. Stephen who was a railway labourer was the one to sponsor James and their newborn son John on their journey to Australia. The other was her elder sister Catherine who accompanied Ellen and James aboard the immigrant ship Bengal in 1854. Times were tough in Ireland in the late 1840s. More than a million people died in Ireland and around another million emigrated to other lands. The English were building their underground railway and took advantage of the plight of many desperate Irishmen employing them as cheap, almost slave labour. Stephen found employment as a railway labourer in London and as with many desperate people needing to live close to their place of...

Tracing Mary Ann Kelly has taking many years of my own research and many more of some of the other researchers including Dafydd. With happiness he agrees with me that we have found Mary Ann's parents in James & Ellen Kelly (I've realised John & Mary as names are only on Mary Ann's death certificate and there's been little other information about them except their residences). I think with 2 of our researchers we might also be able to get a DNA match so I shall hold off myself getting one!! Anyway for me I like the old fashioned chase...a bit like grabbing pen & paper for working out a sum before I grab a calculator! Mary Ann Cotter (nee Kelly) So... until I am proven any different Ellen Kelly is my newest branch on the tree and after a few days I have many stories to tell but she is still elusive! Part of the issue is she has so many names in the documents I've discovered. Eleanor, Ellen, Mary...even her surnames Kearasen on Mary Ann's death ...

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...

I haven't definitive proof that the Ellen Ross who came to Australia in 1833 abord the emigration vessel The Bussorah Merchant (AA) is our Ellen Ross as I haven't found strong enough evidence to link her to John Lees Ross. In saying that though the dates and details all do match nicely. I have tracked a few interesting things about Ellen Ross the migrant so in the chance anyone comes looking for her they can read my research and please comment why you came as shared knowledge might just be what we need to solve this mystery. This post is continually being updated as I research and is more a recount of my findings than a biography of Ellen Ross. The research journey can take me off track and back on with detours to visit other interesting places. I began this post late on July 14th and will add some dates along the way to show my research hours & dates. I will try my best to add information about where facts came from. The following abbreviations will help you know wher...

Ellen Ross may be my first direct female ancestor in Australia (unless we can prove the stories of Aboriginal Australian dalliances). Interestingly someone commented on my ancestor tree that they were looking for Ellen Ross who had married a John Seely and they believed Ellen to be Aboriginal. Unfortunately the source record was deleted and I can no longer find who had posted the comment. There is a tree on Ancestry.com that links Ellen and Seely so I am making contact to see if they have more than a hunch on it. **SEE UPDATE BELOW** Ellen Ross probably emigrated to Australia. The name Ellen is passed down to at least two descendants. We can be comfortable in thinking it is not Helen but we know many colonial people didn't stick to birth names!! To look for Ellen, first we need to understand John Ross (husband of Catherine). We know from his marriage on 6th October 1856 that he was 21yrs and 3 months and born in Parramatta. This is very specific so I feel confident we can p...

John Ross (Senior) as a person has an interesting story to tell. Transported to Australia and in and out of gaol. His final sentence was 3 years in the chain gang just before his death. The above assault charge took place in September 1833. Of interest is Ralph Howe was a fellow convict about the Countess of Harcourt. Many researchers on my line have him as Ellen Ross' husband but no records are found to substantiate this except the church records for John Ross & Catherine Torney's state his mother was Ellen Ross' (maiden name) and father was John Ross (deceased). I'm not sure who first connected the records together whether it was on Ancestry.com.au or a different platform but I've come firmly to the understanding that family trees, including my own can't be firmly reliable. I think it important to review your trees especially as new records become available. I try my best to substantiate facts with at least 2 sources and those of us who...

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...