My grandmother's maternal great grandfather was Joseph Cox, he was born in 1804 at Cashel, Co Tipperary, Ireland. In 1826, Joseph was asked by his dying cousin Oliver Cox, to take care of his wife Anne and their 4 children, so after his cousin's death, he married Anne Conway on 28th May 1826 in Stradbally, Ireland. Anne had married Oliver when she was 19 and they had 3 girls and 1 boy born between 1821 and 1825 (Margaret, John, Bridget and Anne). Joseph and Anne then had 4 more children together, 3 girls and 1 boy born between 1827 and 1836 (Elizabeth, Isabella, Catherine and William). On the 5th of November 1836 Joseph, Anne and their 8 children sailed on the Lady McNaughten from Cork to Sydney as migrants. The ship contained 412 emigrants. This was during the time of the potato famine when lots of families settled in Australia. On the voyage, an epidemic of typhoid fever and measles broke out. The ship was inadequately supplied with medical requisites. To add to the seriousness of the situation, the doctor died, and then suitable food for the children and sick people ran short. Joseph Cox was stricken down with fever, and during his illness his wife Anne died as well as the baby William. They had been married for 10 years. Before the ship reached Sydney, 72 people had died. Once in quarantine in North Head in Manly, Sydney, Catherine aged 3 also died. All the passengers clothing and bedding was burnt, and they were quarantined in tents, while those still suffering remained on board.
Also travelling on this ship unaccompanied by their parents were two sisters called Mary and Margaret Maloney. These girls were friends of the Cox family before starting, and they assisted in helping Joseph with the surviving children. The following year, Joseph married Mary Maloney in Sydney in August 1837. They had 11 children together between 1838 and 1857, 7 boys and 4 girls (Martha, Margaret, Samuel, David, John, Joseph, Richard, Laurence, William, Bridget and Mary). Mum's grandmother was their last child Mary Martha, born in 1857. She married Jeremiah Doolan and their daughter Agnes 'Claribel' Doolan was grandmother's mother.
Joseph was a farmer who grew wheat at Gobaralong in 1838 which is considered to be the first crop of wheat grown in the Murrumbidgee district. He moved with his family to Brungle Creek in the Tumut Valley in 1839 and then to the Wagga district in 1846. Joseph Cox went on to be very successful and was one of the founders of the Mt Erin Convent where my grandmother Isla Downing went to school, and he raised money to bring the nuns out from Ireland. They personally donated hundreds of pounds to build the school. Joseph died on 23rd June 1871 at about age 67 in Wagga Wagga, and Mary died 10 years later in 1881 aged 68.
