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Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: aus*jen on Wednesday 29 August 18 06:11 BST (UK)
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Mary Brothers nee Jennings b. 1819 Ireland, arrived in Sydney with her mother and siblings in 1828.
She was a sister to my 2xgr.grandfather. Mary married Johnson Brothers in 1836. Mary died in 1862 in Cooks River, Parish of Petersham NSW. Her death cert. states she was buried 27.8.1862
in the Catholic burial ground. After a search on Google I have found the Sandhills or Devonshire St.
cemetery had a Catholic burial ground. This cemetery was closed and the graves removed in 1901
to make way for the Central railway station.
The Biographical Database of Australia has an entry for Mary Brothers (attached) which refers
to 1901. A $30 fee applies to read the entry, which may or may not be useful. I note also that
State Records NSW has a partial index to the re-interments for Sandhills cemetery on reel.
My questions are:-
1. Would the Catholic burial ground in Cooks River, Parish of Petersham, NSW refer to the
Sandhills Cemetery in 1862?
2. If so, are there any resources which list burials in this cemetery? Most likely there would
be no headstone.
3. How do I proceed to ascertain Mary's final resting place?
Regards,
Jen.
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nope :)
Sandhills is definitely the one where Central Railway Station now stands.
I will look up my resources
JM
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She’s not listened here: http://austcemindex.com/cemetery?cemid=6098
Jamjar
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Thankyou for your replies JM and Jamjar.
Jen.
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Bunnerong Road Botany/La Perouse :)
BROTHERS, Mary; Died: 26/08/1862; Religion: Roman Catholic; Transferred to La Perouse RC, Section: 4N, Plot: 28;
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/sydneys-history/people-and-places/streets Cook River Road (City Road ... !, so a tad and a short walk from Devonshire St Cemetery... but on land needed for the railway expansion, so re-burials occurred from there too)
JM
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Thankyou JM for your swift reply your info. is much appreciated. ;D
Just to clarify please - was the transfer to La Perouse from the Devonshire Street cemetery?
I am not sure of the original place of burial on 27.8.1862.
Kind regards,
Jen.
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Interesting Question ... I am not sure, my own resources have RC cemetery for Cooks River, nearer to Sydney Uni than Devonshire Street. I have phoned my retired C of E clergy to ask for him to look through his papers to see if it is clearer there.
City of Sydney have maps... I have not yet downloaded any to search through though.
http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/about-sydney/maps
and
http://atlas.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/
JM
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:) and from phone a rellie :)
http://www.stmaryserskineville.org.au/our-parish/history ... look for Macdonaldtown RC in Sands ... and also look for cemetery opposite Grose Farm (ie pre Sydney Uni)...
JM
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...
The Biographical Database of Australia has an entry for Mary Brothers (attached) which refers
to 1901. A $30 fee applies to read the entry, which may or may not be useful. I note also that
State Records NSW has a partial index to the re-interments for Sandhills cemetery on reel.
....
I think the $30 is the annual subscription fee giving full access to all their databases... :)
https://www.bda-online.org.au/pricing/ and https://www.bda-online.org.au/sources/ :)
JM
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JM thankyou for your time and trouble on this request :D
I looked on Trove and came across a description of the archives of St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral
now held by NAA and SAG. The archives cover the Petersham Cemetery from 1866-1886, a tad
too late for this burial. Looking further on Google for 'Petersham Catholic cemetery' - this
cemetery was opened in May 1865 because the Catholic cemetery in Devonshire Street known
as Sandhills was full (notes from Catholic archives).
So perhaps the original burial on 27.8.1862 was in Sandhills?
I am not familiar with Sydney so all your links have been a great help ;D
Regards,
Jen.
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Cook River in the early days of Sydney Town covered a broad district, not just the much smaller locality that many would think of it today. Similarly, Peterham remains a suburb, but the Sydney Town district from the early days includes Petersham Hills and covered a much larger area...
I am not sure if the Roman Catholic burials for Cook River Cemetery would mean they were interred at Sandhills (ie Devonshire Street), but I am keen to find out, so too my rellie. If no-one else posts confirmation, we are contacting another family member, - retired NSW BDM officer .. to see if he can enlighten us. I will post once I know. :)
JM
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https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/urban_growth_in_the_cooks_river_valley
St Annes at Barks Huts :D
Posting this for a rellie (who should join RChat ::) ::) ) to follow up :)
JM
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Civil Parish of Petersham is much larger than the suburb of Petersham.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-233833962/view
Perhaps Eveleigh Railway works resumption ... (lower right of map)
JM
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.... Mary married Johnson Brothers in 1836. Mary died in 1862 in Cooks River, Parish of Petersham NSW. Her death cert. states she was buried 27.8.1862 in the Catholic burial ground. ....
So on the map I gave live link for, you will notice that the Cooks River runs from the left to the right, basically across the lower section of the map of the Parish of Petersham. As Mary was re-interred in 1901, it seems likely she was one of the many removed due to the large infrastructure for Central Railway, and its works. So it is possible she was in the Catholic section at Devonshire St, but the document you have, seems to indicate Cooks River, Parish of Petersham, which should be referring to the locality and its civil parish... Afterall, Devonshire St Cemetery was NOT in the civil parish of Petersham. :) Devonshire St Cemetery is in the civil parish of St Lawrence. (Fingers crossed I have understood the phone message).
JM
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JM Thankyou for all your posts, have delayed my reply so I could read their content. The
map is particularly helpful thankyou, I note at no. 127 the R.C. cemetery at Lewisham opened
in 1865.
Interesting point you make that Sandhills cemetery was not in Parish of Petersham
Will post the relevant parts of the document to make sure I have given the correct details.
(see my following post)
Added: Corrected line 4 to Petersham.
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Hello JM, Here are relevant details from the death cert. transcription.
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Umm... so from Old Boy NSW retired BDM senior officer ... probably the info is from NSW BDM death registration...
Cooks River, Parish of Petersham .... is that showing her usual residence
Cemetery ... this is likely under a different heading from Cooks River, Parish of Petersham ... Catholic burial ground ... does NOT have to be in Parish of Petersham, so could be Devonshire St Cemetery... sadly, many of these death registrations from that era do not give sufficient information to absolutely confirm which Catholic burial ground... but if transferred to La Perouse, then likely she was buried at Devonshire St (Sandhills) Cemetery.
JM
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http://www.australiancemeteries.com.au/nsw/leichhardt/balcatholic.htm
JM
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Thankyou JM - so much :D your tenacity is appreciated.
Yes, Sandhills cemetery does seem the most likely - it is not a conclusion you have reached
without some very serious research! ;D ;D You have some very impressive skills.
Regards,
Jen.
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Hi
NSW State Archives have New on line index: Devonshire Street Cemetery Reinterment, 1901 records
BROTHERS Mary died 26/08/1862 Cemetery Reinterred La Perouse
Cass
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Cass, Thankyou for your info. :D great to have confirmation that Mary Brothers was
originally in Devonshire Street cemetery.
Regards,
Jen.
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Well found Cass :)
Here's a detailed map from 1859, showing the burial ground :) Devonshire Street...
http://atlas.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/maps/city-of-sydney-detail-plans-1855/city-of-sydney-detail-plans-1855-sheet-23/
JM
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Thankyou JM, that's icing on the cake :D What a great map, I love the fact that some of
the colours on the legend are still visible on the map after more than 160 years.
Jen.