Hi Trish
This is my 400th post
and to celebrate it i'm looking for a favour!
Is CORIOLANA (Carol) facing a hopeless cause with her descendants who arrived in NSW from England in the 1850's and lived in Sydney/or suburbs of, she has a problem in that she doesn't know if her descendant is John O'Donnell or possibly James? At this moment in time she is looking for John O'Donnell with wife Mary O'Donnell (nee Bryant) and daughter Mary who arrived in Australia about 1856?.
I have tried to assist Coriolana but know nothing of what is available in Australia let alone Sydney!
I admit to picking on you as you seem to have knowledge of what is available and what isn't and it isn't totally unfair as we do let you win at cricket on a regular basis?
Carol (Coriolana) has just placed a lookup on this subject but thought that I would add to it with the info she sent me!
this is a PM that Carol had sent me as I have tried to assist in the past
I have Mary's marriage (1873 in Sydney) and death certificate (1911). She married Duncan McPherson iin the Sydney CBD. He was born in Scotland. The seem to have lived in the Ultimo area (an inner sity suburb). There is no Family History Group for the city of Sydney (which is quite odd). All their kids were born in Sydney or Ultimo. Mary died in Balmain (a suburb close to the city). I am not sure that a census will tell me anymore than I already know. Duncan was born in Dunbarton, Scotland and Mary was born in London, England. The witnesses were Eliza and Thomas Swadling and I can find no connection to the family. There are no parent's details on the marriage certificate.
Mary's death certificate states that her father John O'Donnell was a baker and her mother was Mary Bryant, she was born in London and had been in the colony for 55 years. Her son Colin McPherson was the informant. He was living at Rozelle a suburb next to Balmain.
All these locations are within miles of the Sydney CBD.
There is no indication that her father was a convict. I have scoured all the convict sites here. I have 13 in the family. Transportation to Sydney ceased in 1840 so I doubt that John was a convict.
I have not been able to find any siblings for Mary at this stage. I would assume that if she had any that they would have been born in the UK.
I have followed up on where she is buried. Her parents are not with her. She died in 1911 in a Hostel at Balmain. She is buried with her daughter Flora, Flora's husband and her son Duncan. The grave has a concrete edge and an urn in the centre but no headstone.
Mary's husband, Duncan McPherson arrived in Australia in 1844 with his parents and siblings. He was 2 years old. The McPherson's also lived in the Ultimo area. He died in an asylum in 1909 from senile decay and is buried with some other person who I assume is a fellow inmate of the Asylum. The grave is in a cemetery near the Asylum, but it is also a public cemetery. The grave is not marked.
That's what I have to date.
Carol
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Cheek of the Devil
Bryant
