AN IRISH
IMMIGRANT FAMILY
By Ann O'Shannessy
John O'Shaughnessy & Bridget Conroy
Little is known of the lives of the O’Shaughnessy - O’Shannessy family before leaving Ireland, though enough to say they would have been much affected by the horrific living conditions of the 1840's. This is born out by Bridget's death certificate, which states of her children, "and four dead in Ireland".
John O'Shaughnessy, born about 1806, married Bridget Conroy, born about 1814 in Galway, on 31st January, 1836. John was the son of Michael O'Shaughnessy and Mary Broderick, and Bridget's parents were Richard Conroy and Mary Gourman, both fathers given as farmers.
About eight children were born in Ireland, those known being Michael b.1839 at Woodford; Mary or Maria b. 27th Sept, 1840 at Woodford; John b. 3rd May, 1843 at Rosmore; Margaret b.1846; Richard and Patrick. Woodford and Rosmore are villages in close proximity in south-eastern Galway, near Portumna, close by Lough Derg along the Shannon River.
From the Immigration Deposit journals, we found the family was sponsored to Australia by Bridget’s brother Richard Conroy, who with brothers Edmond and Patrick, and sisters Elizabeth and Judith, had arrived in Sydney in 1850 on the "Elizabeth". The money for the fares of John and his family was paid on 17th November 1853.
The O'Shannessy family disembarked at Point Henry, Geelong, Victoria from the "City of Manchester" on 11th July, 1854. Finding the arrival details in the Victorian P.R.O. Shipping records was not easy, as they had dropped the "O" and came under Shaughnessy. As people using alphabetical indexes will know, this made finding them difficult. At one time Irish folk dropped the "O" not through shame, but in order to make the best of an opportunity of a new start in a new land. By 1858 they were again using the "O" though the name was variously spelt.
According to Shipping Lists, John was 35 years
old, Catholic, able to read and write. He was assigned to J.
Russell of Native Creek, at a salary of one hundred pounds for
six months (or years).
Bridget was 34 years old and the children were
Michael 15 ,a Blacksmith; Mary or Maria 13 ; John 11; Sarah 9; and
Margaret 9. Sarah is not mentioned on either parents death certificates,so
perhaps she was a niece that travelled with the family.
On the 20th August 1855 a son Richard was born at the Leigh, a mine near
Ballarat and on the 19th July 1858 another son was born at Dead Horse Flat
near Eaglehawk ,so we know the family was on the move ,most probably following
the Gold Strikes .
Sometime around 1862 ,John acquired about three hundred acres of land at Kingower
near Inglewood,Victoria . The family moved here and the property was to remain in
the family until 1920 Edmond sold it. The little weather board cottage,shaded by
pepper trees and built by John and his sons still stands within sight of Mt Koorong
Close by is a creek that was the source of water .This "block" adjoined the land
owned by daughter Mary and her husband Stephen Egan ,and was later bought by John .
The land comprises a mixture of open grassland and timber.
As each son turned twenty one his parents gave him a horse and cart and twenty pounds
and he set out to make his own way in life .
In the Victorian Directories for 1968 John and Michael are listed as Miners at Kingower
Several well known nuggets of gold were dug in the Kingower area including the
"Blanch Barkley". In fact the Kingower fields were amongst the richest in Victoria .
John O'Shaughessy Snr died at Kingower on the 9th October 1885,and Bridget died
also at Kingower onthe 2nd September 1897.
Both are buried in the Kingower cemetary in graves later protected by Chicken wire
The late Jeff O'Shannessy ,a great Grandson ,restored the graves and installed a
plaque over them . Jeff by his own wish is now buried close by
Michael O’Shannessy married Kate Sheedy at St. Mary’s Church, Inglewood, on the 17th Match, 1868, and they had a family of nine. From about 1876 to 1886 they were in N.S.W. as we know four children were born at places as far apart as Balranald, Coonamble, Walgett and Bourke. They moved back to Victoria and Michael died at Reola on the 8th August, 1916, shortly before his son, also Michael was killed in action in France. Michael and Kate are both buried in Kingower Cemetery.
Daughter Mary, married Stephen Egan of Kingower, on the 21st of January, 1858, and they had seven children before Stephen died in 1869, and with his daughter Bridget, is buried at Kingower. Mary later married Battista Gianetti. She died at Glenalbyn Farm, Merriden W.A. in 1922, having gone west to live with her daughter, Bidelia Cahill. Mary is buried at Nangeenan.Western Australia. Stephen was a brother of James and Thomas Egan who pioneered the Enngonia region, north of Bourke. A descendant of Stephen and Mary is cricketer, Terry Alderman.
We come to John Joseph (Honest John) O’Shannessy, who had moved to N.S.W. working as a contract fencer and tank sinker, probably with brothers Michael and Richard and certainly with the Egan brothers and their families.
On the 25th January, 1877 at St Jarlath’s Church Parkes, John married Mary Ann Joyce, the second daughter of John Joyce and Catherine Fox, who married in Adelaide in 1854, he from Westbury Wiltshire, and she from Dublin.
John and Mary had nine children; John Joseph b. 1878 at Parkes, Christina b. 1879 at Cobar, Edward b. 1882 at Temora, Louise b. 1883 d. 1884; Michael b. 1884 at Gerara Station. Bourke; James b. 1887; Thomas Leo b. 1889 at Enngonia; Hubert b. 1892 at Bourke; and Catherine b. 1894.
John and Mary Ann finally settled at Enngonia about sixty miles north of Bourke where they had the store and hotel. The Egans’ took up land nearby. Many descendants of both families are still in the Western area of N.S.W.
Mrs Nell Egan had given a graphic account of the journey made by the settlers as they made their way northward.
John died in Sydney on the 10th of December, 1898 and is buried in Rookwood Cemetery. After John’s death, Mary Ann carried on with the hotel and later had the license for the North Bourke Hotel. In later years she lived with her daughter Kit at Woy Woy. Mary Ann died in Bourke in 1936 and is buried there.
Margaret O’Shannessy married John Thomas at Inglewood Vic. on the 10th February, 1873 and they lived in Bendigo. There were seven children. A grandson became bishop F.X. Thomas of Geraldton, W.A. Margaret died at Bendigo in 1897 and is buried there.
Richard married Marianne (Mary Ann) Fry at Inglewood, on the 13th May, 1878 and they had nine children. They also moved to Enngonia. Some time after 1894 they apparently moved to Queensland, and further details are unknown, though descendants are still around Bourke and Mackay Queensland.
The youngest son of John and Bridget, Edmond John, also known as Edward, married Margaret Jane Bacon at Inglewood on the 24th of November, 1880. It was he who took over the farm at Kingower. There were seven children of this marriage. Edward was also a road contractor and there are still culverts in the area built by him. He died on the 31st July, 1921 and is buried at Kingower.
Following the death of his wife, Margaret, Edward married Honorah Shanahan.
Though mention is made of another Richard and Patrick on the parents death certificates, nothing is known of them. They were not on the shipping lists.
I am in contact with many descendants of John and Bridget through the children listed, and would welcome any further information. This article is intended only as a summary of the family history.
By: Ann O’Shannessy. 1989
Acknowledgments:
N.S.W. Birth, death and Marriage Index.
Vic. Birth, Death and Marriage Index.
Victorian P.R.O Assisted Shipping Index.
Woodford (Galway, Ireland) Family History Group.
Vince Egan, Nell Egan, Dot Tully, Late Joyce Mallon, Late Tom O’Shannessy, Denise Besant, Eddy Noonan, Wendy Lippianan, Ann Crimeen, Frank and Rene Walsh, Win Farrell, Late Jeff O’Shannessy, Ruth O’Shannessy, Maggie Cahill, Immigration Deposit Journals, Bourke Catholic Church Records, Parkes Catholic Church Records, Roma O’Donnell, Judy Egan, Don Egan.