RootsChat.Com

Many thanks Debra & others
I believe you have found what part of Fermanagh my McGees were from with Sarah's record of baptism viz Magheraculmany RC Parish. The date of the baptism is consistent with her age on immigration (surname recorded as Magee) of 1 yr & 6 mths. The surname of the sponsors, McDonagh is not familiar to me; perhaps they are an uncle & aunt?
Best wishes
Kevin

Hi KTMB1966
The parents of Lawrence Doolan (1808-1854) may have been Daniel (1767-1869) & Ellen Doolan nee Ahern, but I regret I cant find the source of this.   They may have married in Ireland in 1828.  My knowledge of the family is limited to what I can find online for free and I regret I have not been able to find out how they arrived in NSW.  One useful reference is  http://Https://Www.Genealogy.Com/Forum/Surnames/Topics/Doolan/105/
My interest arises from the marriage of Lawrence's grandson, George Henry Bernard Doolan (1884-1963) to Mary Jane Vidler (1878-1947), as Mary Jane's mother was Mary Jane Hockey (1855-1937); I am a descendant of this line of Hockeys from Montacute, Somerset, England.
Anchor 425 

Hi Lucy, Janette & Spades

On 18 March 15, I said I was unsure if Lucy's brother, George P. Donovan (GPD) went to NZ before coming to NSW. Some new information has come to light in this regard, in that a person who is a probable ancestor of GPD with whom I made contact via DNA matching (AF) has found evidence that GPD arrived in NSW on 8 November 1864 as a stowaway on "Prince Alfred" from Auckland, and that, for refusing to pay the fare, GPD spent six weeks in Darlinghurst gaol.

I have been unable to find records of their migration to NZ.

KF

Hi Twiggy
Your "associated thread" was started by me and have learned a lot via RootsChat, in particular from Diane Packer, the only relative I have found of Captain Thomas Farrell.   The bibliography in Chap 6 of Hunting the Collectors is a good reading list but would require a visit to a national library to find many of the references.  I had read Chap 6 as well as one book in the bibliography viz that to Robson (1965) & both are very relevant.  However, neither covers Toms life in any detail outside of his time in Samoa & New Guinea.

Thanks Lu for the info on the Thomas Farrells of Takapuna & Coromandel.   It is a fair assumption that they are different men & that the master of the cutter Wanderer of Coramandel is our man.  Diane & I have found in Australian records that Tom is on crew lists of vessels arriving Sydney as an apprentice on Strathfieldsaye from Madras in 1854 aged 16, as an AB (able seaman), on John Melhuish from London in 1860 aged 22, then at stated ages of 23 and 24 respv., of Native Lass  (schooner) from Fiji in May 1863 and Prince Alfred (steamer) from Auckland  in Sep 1864.  I have used trove a lot & only discovered paperspast recently, but I will now concentrate on the latter.

Kev

I am researching Thomas ("Tom") Farrell (1837-1888) who was the presumed defacto spouse of Emma Forsayth, "Queen of the South Seas".

One or more authors believe Tom had been married before he moved to Samoa about 1876, after gold-mining in NZ, and I would like to hear from anyone who might know anything of Tom in the decade or so before that time, especially if he had married in NZ.

Tom was born &/or baptized in Chatham, Kent, England when his father, Bryan was in the British Army, and the family had migrated to NZ with the Fencibles in 1847.  The family moved to Victoria in 1859 and lived on the land.  By then, at the age of 16, Tom had become an apprentice seaman; he spent a decade at sea until 1864, after which there is a gap of some 12 years in Tom's history before we pick him up again in Samoa & the Marshall Islands, with his own vessel.  It is possible that after his time as a seaman, he had sufficient success at gold mining in NZ in order to obtain a ship of his own, which he sailed to Samoa, where he went into the hotel business and met Emma.
In late 1878, they moved to New Guinea where they prospered but Tom developed TB and had to move to Australia for treatment;he died in Sydney.

The NZ marriage index records a couple of marriages of a Thomas Farrell during that period, so it would be helpful to know if "my" Tom can be excluded from the following marriages in NZ 1850-end 1879:
   1870/8316   Sarah        Hodges   Thomas   Farrell   (Dunedin)
   1863/7256   Elizabeth   Kelly       Thomas   Farrell