Hello,
My name is Paul Byrne-Moroney. I am the great grandson of Richard Byrne and son of the person Jane has referred to in her comments as ‘the older relative wanting information, and, if at all possible, though unlikely, a photograph of Richard.
I'm very grateful that Jane Cleary shared this page with me and that so many of us are searching for information pertaining to our families, including my great-grandfather, Richard Byrne from Buninyong - Born Warracknabeal or Yankee Flat, Warranheip, Victoria 12 Feb 1871 - Died 29 May 1948, aged 79.
Richard and Catherine had one child, my grandfather, Edmund Aloysius Byrne b. 28 Dec 1900. Richard and Catherine separated in 1901 and Edmund was raised by Catherine’s parents, in Ouyen, Victoria. My mother has a photo of the toddler in the arms of his grandmother. Until recently, my family thought that my great grandfather had died long before my mother was born – because that’s what the family had been told by Richard’s estranged wife, Mary Catherine Murnane, who left him with a one year old toddler (my mother’s father, Edmund) around 1901. Mary Catherine Murnane told the world that her former husband Richard Byrne had died – we think because she left him with her son, which would have been socially frowned upon.
At our state public records office I found Supreme Court litigation papers between Plaintiffs – Fred P Stevens & Co versus Defendant – Richard Byrne, dated 1897 No.115 – judgement for the plaintiffs. Not sure of course if these are for the same Richard Byrne. I also newspaper records from Saturday 16 Feb of a Richard Byrne selling land at a public auction because he was ‘leaving the district’. The properties, allotments Z2, Z3 & 3C and totalling 103 acres, were located in Sections 19 (1) & 21 (2) in the Parish of Warrenheip. The lots included secure fencing and residential dwellings.
Richard enlisted in WW1 on 1 / 12 / 1915 at the age of 44 in Galong NSW. According to Richard’s war record he received the standard three service medals.
It is probable that Richard acquired 279 acres as a residential lease near Jan Juc following the first world war because the signature on the property acquisition documents, from 1919, match the signature Richard used when he enlisted in the WW1 in 1915. He also stated his occupation as labourer/carpenter. Richard acquired Allotment 52, Parish of Paraparrp. and on the property transaction papers, Richard gives his postal address as a company in Ryrie St Geelong – I can’t decipher the old script with the company name but I will research that in Geelong. He gives his age as 48, states he is a widower, that he has one 18 year old son and that he has no-one depending on him. Using the property maps on the papers and cross referencing with roads and waterways on Google maps, I have been able to figure out the boundaries of the property. Also at PROV I found a 1922 electoral role record for a Richard Byrne in the district of Corio / Sub-district of Geelong. His occupation was ‘labourer’. There are also records of a Richard Byrne being involved in litigation in Geelong over the years following the war due to debts that this particular Richard Byrne, had.
Interestingly, I also located a newspaper submission of a lease of 562 acres in Romsey (a property known as Farm Hill) by Messrs Pearson, Rowe, Smith & Co to a Richard Byrne ‘of Warracknabeal’ for a period five years, three months. Unfortunately, I don’t have date so I will need to track that down again. If he was born in Warracknabeal, did he return there at some point? Perhaps to be nearer to his son who was raised in Ouyen? These sites I found through google.uk are also informative.
http://www.swvic.org/digby/family/mcevoy.htm http://www.swvic.org/digby/family/hawkins.htm Of additional interest, I had my, my mums and before he passed away, my father’s DNA tested (which also interestingly confirms our French/German ancestry) and that mum and dad share a 5th or 6th grandparent – so, on the 23&me website, I have DNA relations related to mum, to dad, and about 30 to both my parents. Clearly, I need to tap into 'the both' community in search of the link. I have also been contacted by French people wanting to explore how we are related by DNA. A possible link is that the first wife of Thomas McEvoy, Charlotte Ennis, who came from Antrim, as did my father’s great, great grandmother, Isabella Gamble who married Martin Moroney. Or perhaps the Gambles are connected to the Hawkins. The thing about the DNA site though, is very few people with our various known family names, have been tested and very few also, knowingly at least, have our names list as in their ancestry - so it is mainly broad rather than closer linear family that are coming up as being related and the maximum % relationship is .3% or 3rd to distant cousins. To know more, more of us would need to throw caution to the wind and spit in a tube. Having said that, I wish I'd used Ancestry.com now because it is more widely used and, obviously, I can't submit dad's DNA again. They have said no in the past but I hope one day Ancestry will accept Dad’s 23&Me data (happy to pay the fee) so I can extend our reach.
Paul Byrne-Moroney