Hi, I am trying to find out more about my great grandmother, Catherine Brennan. She was born around 1848 (she seems to have given a variety of birth dates as it suited her) in Mullingar, County Westmeath. Her father Dennis (or Thomas or Patrick) Brennan was a schoolmaster, although when Catherine married, she signed with a cross, so presumably never learnt to write. Her mother was named Catherine or Margaret and her mother's maiden name was Falt, Kensley, Newman or Lennon (there are several schools of thought, as you can see). My great grandmother Catherine travelled from Mullingar to Belfast where she got free passage on the Kapunda (which later sank in 1887 with great loss of life). But Catherine's voyage was successful and the ship deposited her at Townsville in Queensland in November 1875. There she met my great grandfather William Turner and they married at Millchester, Queensland in April 1876. She was a Catholic but they were married under the rites of the Presbyterian Church. They died together in a house fire on a property near Lockhart in NSW in 1908 and sadly are buried in separate parts of the local cemetery, her in the Catholic section and him in the Anglican section. We know a lot about the Turner side of the family but as you can tell, the background of Catherine remains largely a mystery despite our best efforts. Any help would be gratefully received. Geoff Turner
