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Sorry I didn't reply early. It was late here when I posted.

The marriage is for Maria (Mary) McGrath, an Irish Famine Orphan who was sent to Melbourne Australia on the Pemberton in 1849. The Irish Famine Memorial website has her native place as Roscrea, Tipperary but Mary has put her birthplace down on her marriage certificate as Golden, Tipperary. I believe she came from the workhouse in Roscrea immediately prior to her emigration.

Mary's age on the marriage certificate is 22 making her birth about 1831 though the Irish Famine Memorial has her age as 14 years on arrival in Australia making her birth year about 1835. Just to make it confusing, her employment records (from the same site) says she was 16 not 14, making her birth year about 1833.

Her death certificate has her age as 88 in 1921 making her birth year 1833. Though there are a couple of mistakes on her death certificate - the witness being the undertaker and Mary having died from senile decay and heart failure - perhaps not surprising. For example, her father listed as James McGragh. Interestingly, her mother is listed as Mary Duggan, which looks nothing like what is on her marriage certificate but perhaps sounds something like - throw in an accent and this is how it comes out? And it just says she is born in Tipperary.

The marriage took place on 4 August 1853 in Melbourne to Timothy Aherne.

I don't have any other information about Mary. Certainly nothing about siblings.

I've attached the full clipping for the marriage certificate to compare with other examples of handwriting.

I was thinking that Donaghue was probably the closest but I'm just not sure and can't find anything so far to match a marriage or baptism matching that name. It may just not exist. O'Donaghue or Monaghan are interesting variations which I shall check out.

It's early here and I'm heading off to work so I apologise now as I won't be able to respond to any queries until later tonight.

Thanks, everyone, for your help so far! It is certainly a tough one.

Thank you Westward and Maggsie for the additional information - it was very interesting! I hadn't realised, Westward, that early Victorian records turn up on NSW BDM. Learn something new every day!

I wrote to Victoria BDM to find out how they would explain any differences between the two records. I used Timothy Ahern and Ellen Mulcahy's marriage records from 1842. This is their reply:

"Please note that in 1842 the colony of Victoria was not yet in existence and the area known as Melbourne and its surrounds was part of the Port Phillip District, a special district of the colony of New South Wales.

Record number 286 is part of a list that was provided from the relevant churches detailing marriages that occurred in the district, the record 35459 is a record of marriage from members of the Roman catholic faith, it has a few more details than the list entry but please note that even compared to marriages that would be registered in the decade following it still maintains limited information."

...So, it appears if I were to order from the Vic BDM, I would order the 35459 record. However, Westward's suggestion of ordering a NSW transcript sounds eminently more sensible.

Thank you, everyone, for your help!

Thanks, Dundee. Do you know why there are two records?

Survey completed.

Noticed GRO wasn't on the list.

I suspect, but could be wrong, a bit of journalistic license here:  'Blanksby Hall' might have been a device to remind the reporter to check on the actual house details, only for him to forget.

BB

This could be true. A search of Google books threw up a story in "The New Monthly Magazine", 1867, Vol 140, p366

The story is very, very long. At this point in the story, they have reached a wedding...

The ceremony was performed by the Very Rev. the Dean of ----, uncle of the bride, assisted by the Rev. G. L. and T. S.; and Miss Helen B., only daughter of Sir Courtly and Lady B., of Blanksby Hall, ----shire, and Portman-street, and Captain William Skeffington de Rous, of the Life Guards, were made man and wife.

Hmmm. "Sir Courtly".

It is just speculation, but I agree with BoselmBoy that Blanksby Hall is probably just a placeholder name. And the journalist probably said the Hall was in Chester because Robert Yerburgh was the M.P. for Chester so presumably he lived there as well and would check it all out later. BoslemBoy's advice is sound. I'd be turning my attention to the actual properties owned by the Yerburgh family.

Good luck!