The Story of James O'Donnell (Daniel) / Memories ... October 18

This is the story of my maternal Great Grand Uncle, James O'Donnell (Daniel)  1867 - 1908.

Our common ancestors are:   John O'Donnell (Daniel) and Catherine (Kitty) Joy.

I'm publishing this rather brief story on the anniversary of James's passing.

In Remembrance

(For my 'Family Anniversaries' page)

Photo shared by my maternal 2nd cousin Brigid McGrath

• James was born in August 1867 at the family farm in Killonerry, County Kilkenny, Ireland.  He had entered the world at a time of transition for his family.  The O'Donnells had seen their Gaelic surname "anglicized" to Daniel, reflecting the broader cultural shifts under British rule.

• James was baptised the very next day.  The record shows the family name "Daniel", though a clerical error recorded his mother's maiden name as "Fay" instead of "Joy."  Such mistakes are not uncommon, as the handwriting on the old original documents could be hard to read.

• James was the tenth of thirteen children born to John and Catherine (known as Kitty), so he grew up in a bustling household of siblings.

• He was known as 'Jim' to his family and friends throughout his lifetime. 

• James's large family experienced its share of sorrow.  Tragically, when James was only 3 years old, his younger brother Thomas died in infancy.  Then, when James was 12, his older sister Ellen also died,  at the tender age of 14.  These early experiences of grief would have shaped James's understanding of life's fragility and uncertainty.

• As the O'Donnell (Daniel) children matured, life on the family farm would have become increasingly difficult.  The farm, though providing a basic livelihood, would not have been able to support the growing household indefinitely.  Like so many families in rural Ireland during that period, emigration became a necessity rather than a choice.

• James, along with several of his siblings, left Ireland in search of better opportunities abroad. 

• I have found it very difficult to pinpoint the exact year that James left Ireland, but I do know for certain he emigrated to the U.S.A.  

• It does seem that the O'Donnell (Daniel) children who did leave Ireland, did so after the death of their mother in 1882.  James was only aged 14 at that time however, so it seems likely he left in the late 1880s, when he was in his early 20s.  

The mass exodus of Irish immigrants to the U.S. during this time makes it very difficult to trace specific individuals, particularly with the name James O'Donnell (or Daniel), which appeared frequently in emigration records.

I have spent considerable time scouring through U.S. Irish passenger lists and naturalization records but have found these sources to be scant on details other than - name, country of origin and port of departure.  These few details can in no way pinpoint the exact person you are researching, especially given the huge numbers of people who have exactly the same name.  

• There is one record however that shows my particular James O'Donnell was definitely living in New York in 1905.

• According to the 1905 New York State census, James was living as a boarder with his sister Mary (known affectionately as Minnie) and her husband James although their surname was recorded as 'Londrigan' when it should have read 'Lonergan'.  They resided at No. 59 Vandam Street in Lower Manhattan, a bustling immigrant neighbourhood.
• The census record includes information about the number of years in the U.S. and in that column it had been recorded that James had been in that states for 18 years.  That indicates (if the information is correct) that he had arrived around 1887.

• By then, James was aged 38.  His occupation was listed as "Day Labourer."  Life as a labourer in New York at that time was reputedly very tough, with meagre wages.  Day labourers often lived on the edge of poverty, relying on daily work to survive.

• Family lore tells of very different circumstances in the early years of James's life in New York, during his 20s.  He apparently did very well in the U.S. initially.  He worked as a carpenter and carpenters were in big demand.  At some point after his arrival in New York, James sent a beautiful gold watch back to his family in Ireland.  This gesture of love and connection speaks to his generosity and desire to stay linked to his roots.  Remarkably, this watch remains in the possession of a family member to this day, a treasured keepsake that represents both James's success and his sacrifices.

According to my second cousin:  "James did not just send the gold watch, but also a gold ring to the family in Killonerry.  He is also credited with paying for the erection of the Celtic Cross O'Donnell family headstone in the old Owning Cemetery, where his mother and father and other family members are buried." 

• Sadly it seems, James's fortunes did not hold steady.  By his late 30s, he was living with his sister and her family, perhaps an indication that work had become scarce or that his health had begun to decline.  Life in New York could be unforgiving, and it seems that whatever initial success James may have had was fleeting.

• Unfortunately, James's life came to an untimely end in 1908 when he passed away at the age of 41.  

• I did find a record for my James O'Donnell on the Extracted Death Index for New York, 1862-1948, (with the names of his parents John O'Donnell and Catherine Joy) which then led me to his death certificate.

• Details on James's death certificate tell that he had been ill for some time and had been a patient at Belleview (correctly spelling is Bellevue) Hospital in Manhattan for nearly a month.  His previous address was listed as 776 Greenwich Street in New York, which was different to the address listed in the 1905 census.  Perhaps he had moved out of his sister's home or had they all moved elsewhere together?   James's occupation was listed as labourer.  

• There was a section on the death certificate that recorded the length of time he had been in the U.S. and whoever completed the record listed 20 years as that period of time.  That indicates an arrival year as 1888, close to the year indicated on that 1905 census.  I think it's probably correct to say James arrived in the U.S. in either 1887 or 1888, when he would have been aged either 20 or 21. 

• A death notice for James appeared in local newspapers, but there were no details other than his name.

Photo shared by my maternal 2nd cousin Doreen Powers

• James was buried in Calvary Cemetery in Woodside, Queens, New York, where his sister Minnie, her husband and other Lonergan relatives would later be laid to rest.  Their shared burial plot is marked only by a modest headstone inscribed with the Lonergan surname, a simple and quiet tribute to their lives.

• Though much of James's life remains a mystery, his story is one of resilience.  He was part of a generation of Irish emigrants who left behind everything familiar to seek new lives in foreign lands.  His legacy, although modest, lives on through the stories passed down by family, the small headstone in Queens, and the gold watch that still holds the echoes of a life's journey from Killonerry to New York.

The Story of Catherine O'Donnell / Memories ... September 25

This post tells the poignant and rather short story of my maternal Grand Aunt, Catherine O'Donnell  (1884 - 1898). 

Our common ancestors are:  Edmond O'Donnell and Bridget Burke.

I'm publishing this post on the anniversary of her birth.

Anniversary of a Birthday

(For my 'Family Anniversaries' page) 

Catherine was born in September of 1884 in a small community known as 'Irish Town', situated just outside Toowoomba, in the southern reaches of Queensland, Australia.  Her birth marked the arrival of the first-born child to Edmond O'Donnell and Bridget Burke.

Edmond and Bridget were two Irish immigrants who had arrived in Australia just the year before, seeking opportunity and a fresh start in a distant land.  Their arrival in February of 1883 was followed shortly by their marriage in July of the same year, in the township of Toowoomba.

Catherine's birth certificate has her first name recorded as "Kate".  This information was provided by her mother, and was likely the name used affectionately by her family.  Later in life however, she would be formally known as "Catherine", a name her mother also provided when Catherine passed away.  I shall refer to my grand aunt as Catherine throughout this post.

View of Irish Town c.1884

At the time of Catherine's birth, her father Edmond was a young man of 22, working as a farm hand in the local area; while her mother Bridget, a decade older at 33, had secured work on a dairy farm outside Toowoomba.

Irish Town would have provided a supportive network of fellow Irish immigrants for this family, but Catherine's mother also had the support of her much older brother William, who had emigrated from Ireland in 1865 and had established a life for himself and his family in Toowoomba.

As a baby, Catherine would have heard the lilting accents of her Irish heritage daily in Irish Town, but about a year after her birth, in 1885, the family left Irish Town and moved into Toowoomba proper, likely seeking better opportunities in the growing township.

When Catherine was just 1 year old, her brother John Patrick was born in early 1886.

When Catherine was 3, her brother James (my grandfather) was born in October of 1887.

Life for the young family was about to be marked by loss for the first time.  Tragically, in early 1888, just as Catherine was approaching her fourth birthday, her brother John passed away.  The loss of John would have left a sorrowful mark on her parents, but it's unlikely that Catherine herself would have carried memories of John.

Catherine's only sister, Mary Margaret, was born in November of 1890, when Catherine was 6 years old.

Since the family had moved into the township of Toowoomba they had faced constant economic challenges.  Despite both parents working - Edmond as a carter for the local brewery and Bridget as a dairy keeper - there was little income, and the family lived in temporary shelter at the Showgrounds, where the constant struggle for food and warmth would have been a daily reality.  

Milking cows in a milking shed
Image courtesy of the State Library of Victoria
Photographer: Gabriel Knight 
Photo taken c. 1903

The children were no doubt by their mother's side from very early in the morning to the early evening, as she milked cows and maintained the diary sheds.  

Catherine would likely have spent her time caring for her siblings throughout the day and assisting her mother in whatever way she could. 

By the time brother Maurice Patrick came along in late 1892, when Catherine was 7, the family had finally moved into a house on James Street, where they would have experienced a little more comfort, privacy and protection from the elements.

Tragically, when Catherine was just 8 years old, she experienced the devastating loss of her father Edmond, who died in 1893.  His death left Catherine's mother a widow with four young children to support and raise alone in a world where options for widows were limited.  

Penniless and facing an uncertain future, Catherine's mother made a bold decision to apply for a license to run the Free Selectors' Hotel, a modest establishment on the corner of James Street and Ruthven Street that provided meals and lodging, along with a bar that served alcohol to patrons.  The family would have also used a couple of the rooms upstairs as their home.

This grainy old photo holds the only image of Catherine that I've been able to find.  The photo shows B. O'Donnell's Free Selectors' Hotel and standing in front of the sign is mother Bridget with Catherine to the right and James (my grandfather) to the left.

  

Did you notice the ladder lying on the ground?  The thought that came immediately to my mind was it's likely that Catherine's mother used the ladder to climb up and add the sign "B. O'Donnell's" - her name, Bridget O'Donnell!  This photo was taken in 1894 after Bridget had become the licensed victualler of the establishment and Catherine at the time would have been 9 years old.

The death of her father and then the change in lifestyle when her mother became a businesswoman would have been huge turning points for young Catherine.  Suddenly the family was thrust into the world of running a hotel.  With her mother working long hours, Catherine, as the eldest child, would have taken on many new responsibilities.  She would have helped her mother from early morning until late at night, cleaning rooms, preparing meals and Catherine would also have been expected to shoulder significant responsibility for the care of her younger siblings.

Catherine's childhood would have been cut short.  Life at the hotel meant a constant bustle of guests and patrons, and as she took on the roles of caregiver and household manager in the midst of the busy, often rough atmosphere of this working-class hotel, Catherine was shouldering very heavy responsibilities for someone so young. 

Just two years after her father's death, life changed once again when Catherine's mother re-married in 1895.  With a new stepfather in the household, Catherine faced the challenge of adapting to a new family dynamic, which was soon followed by the birth of another brother in 1896.

By 1898, when Catherine was only 13, she had fallen gravely ill.    

Over the course of six months, Catherine's health worsened as she suffered from dropsy (now known as edema), which caused swelling in her body due to fluid retention.  In her final days, she slipped into a coma and passed away at the family's residence in the Free Selectors' Hotel on Ruthven Street, surrounded by her loved ones.

The primary cause of death, as recorded on her death certificate was 'Bright's Disease'.  It's a term that's no longer used in the medical world, and refers to kidney disease.  

A funeral notice appeared in the local newspaper on April the 5th indicating that the funeral service was held at the Free Selectors' Hotel and then the mourners moved onto the cemetery from there.  The death certificate lists Reverend Thomas Lane, a Roman Catholic priest, as the person who conducted the service.

Catherine's death marked a heartbreaking end to a short life filled with hardship, loss, poverty and responsibility. She was buried alongside her father Edmond at the Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery. 

The inscription on her headstone reads:  "Hark they whisper, Angels say, Sister Spirit come away."  This is an excerpt from a poem written by Alexander Pope named "The Dying Christian To His Soul" and specifically refers to the call of angels for her soul to go to heaven.   To her family, death was not the end for Catherine, but a passage to a spiritual existence.  It's quite moving!

The Story of Lance Dawes.

This post tells the story of my paternal 3rd cousin once removed, Lance Dawes  (1917 - 1943). 

Our common ancestors are:  James Hukins and Susannah Fullagar (my 3x great grandparents).

Lance Dawes - WW11 enlistment photo

Recently I've been doing a lot of research about the family tree members who fought in World War 11, and whilst it was very heartening to see that the majority of them made it home to their loved ones, I found a small group of men who tragically set off to serve overseas and never returned.  

The end of the line for this group occurred on foreign soil for all but one.  Four of the group had a burial place, but sadly, Lance Dawes did not.  This is his story:

Lance was born in the town of Murwillumbah, New South Wales, in 1917.  He was the fourth of six children born to Frederick Dawes and Susan Charlotte Timms.

Before the birth of Lance, his mother Susan had given birth to Audrey in 1912, Cecil in 1914 and Netta in 1915.   Then following the birth of Lance, Hazel was born in 1919 and Wilfred came along in 1922.

Records (his RAAF air crew application) show that Lance attended the Murwillumbah Primary School until the end of 1929.

  

Lance's name appeared on a list of primary school students who had qualified for entrance to the Murwillumbah High School, published in early 1930 in the newspaper, The Northern Star.  He then attended Murwillumbah High School from 1930 until May of 1932 when he turned 15.  

It appears that the family left Murwillumbah around this time, and moved further north to the area around Piggabeen, a town located in far north-eastern New South Wales, inland from Tweed Heads in the Tweed Shire.

Lance's father was a dairyman and established his own dairy farm in the area.   

Piggabeen had predominantly been a dairy farming town throughout the early 1900s, but by the time the Dawes family had re-located there, other industries had begun to flourish.  The rich volcanic soil in the region was particularly suitable for banana growing, and by the beginning of World War 11, Lance had a small farm of his own on which he grew bananas.

In October of 1940, Lance completed his application a an Airman with the Royal Australian Air Force.

In November of 1940, at the age of 23,  Lance submitted his application for air crew selection in the Royal Australian Air Force.  

Some of the details included on his application were his occupation (banana grower), sports and games he had played (cricket and tennis) and the fact that he had not completed an Intermediate or Junior Public Examination.  He had deferred his education after completing a term examination in April of 1932.

After sending off his application, there was a bit of a wait until Lance was actually called up to serve.

In the meantime, in May of 1941, Lance enrolled in the R.A.A.F. Reserve and was posted as Air Crew to Group V of the Reserve.  His Reserve Badge No. was 3524.

 

Then an item appeared in a local newspaper, dated September 27, 1841, stating that Lance "has received his call-up for the R.A.A.F. and will report for duty shortly".

Attestation papers completed in October of 1941

Enlistment Photo 1941

On the 12th of October 1941, at the age of 24, Lance travelled to the Recruiting Centre in Brisbane, Queensland and completed his attestation forms to enlist with the R.A.A.F.  

He was the first of the family to enlist for wartime service.   

Younger brother Wilfred enlisted with the RAAF just a couple of months later, in January of 1942, aged 19.  Older brother Cecil enlisted in April of 1942 with the CMF, aged 28.  

There was quite a lengthy period of training ahead for Lance, from October of 1941 to August of 1942.

A list of Lance's postings from his war service record

Lance trained at 3 I.T.S. - No. 3 Initial Training School - at Sandgate in Brisbane, Queensland, towards the end of 1941. This initial training would have taken two months to complete. 

He was then mustered to 3 W.A.G.S. - 3 Wireless Air Gunner School - located at Maryborough, Queensland, in December of 1941.  There he completed the seven-month course that in peacetime would take at least two years!

In June of 1942, Lance was mustered to 1 B.A.G.S. - No 1 Bombing and Air Gunnery School - at Ballarat, and then almost a month later was mustered to 3 E.D. - No. 3 Embarkation Depot - at Kingaroy in Queensland.

In July of 1942 Lance, aged 25, married Edna Mavis Rylah, aged 20.   

A newspaper item published in the local newspaper gave quite a few details about their special day.

Lance and Edna were married at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church in Tweed Heads, New South Wales.  They were married for only seven months before tragedy struck.

It appears that they spent their honeymoon with Lance's parents in Piggabeen.  The newspaper item above, published at the beginning of August 1942, states that "Sergeant Lance Dawes ... and his wife" had been staying with Mr. and Mrs. F. Dawes of Piggabeen.

August 1942 was the month when Lance was posted to the 22nd Squadron, initially located at Richmond, New South Wales, but then moved to NEA Port Moresby in October of 1942.  So, less than two months after being in Piggabeen with his wife and parents, Lance was in New Guinea with the 22nd Squadron which was there to support Australian Army operations against the Japanese around Buna and Gona.  

Lance had graduated as a Wireless Air Gunner (WAG) in mid 1942 and the WAG's task was to protect his aircraft from enemy attack, whilst maintaining contact with the home base, and helping to navigate a course by means of radio direction finding.

He performed his first operational sortie in November of 1942, and went on to perform five more operational sorties over the next couple of months.  These six sorties totalled 12 hours flown as part of a 3-man crew.  Unfortunately, Lance's time in the skies was about to end.

In February of 1943 Lance was one of a 3-man crew flying a DB-7B Boston Mark 111 (Serial No: A28-21).  The pilot was George Trevelyan Smith and the other crew member with Lance was Sergeant Roderick Thomas Kerr.

On February 6 of 1943 their aircraft took off from 5 Mile Drome near Port Moresby on a mission against Salamaua.  

The aircraft was shot down into the sea 2 miles south east of Salamaua, New Guinea.  

All three crew members were declared "missing, believed killed" by the R.A.A.F. that day.

The R.A.A.F. report into the disappearance of the air crew stated that "reconnaissance from the air 5 minutes later revealed dinghy and debris but no trace of crew."  The report went on to state that the aircraft was "shot down in flames" and that the R.A.A.F. presumed it was either an "enemy fighter known to be concentrated in the immediate area at that time" or an "enemy aircraft from Salamaua".

An item appeared in a local newspaper, the Tweed Daily, on the 20th of February 1943 that stated "Mrs. L. Dawes, of Piggabeen, has been advised that her husband Sgt. Lance Dawes, RAAF, is reported missing, believed dead, as the result of air operations in the North early this month."

So, it was two weeks after the event that the Piggabeen community became aware of the possible tragic loss of one of their own.

This is the official letter that Mavis received from the RAAF.

It was not until over a year later however, that an obituary appeared in the Tweed Daily newspaper.

Five months after that, in September of 1945, the Piggabeen community organised a remembrance service to honour twelve of their young men, including Lance, who had made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

Unfortunately, there was no grave site or burial plot for Lance, and no tombstone for him.   His name and his service however were honoured in other ways.

Lance's name is inscribed on the Murwillumbah High School WW2 Roll of Honour Board in Murwillumbah, New South Wales.  

His name is also inscribed on the All Saints' Church's WW11 Roll of Honour Board in Murwillumbah, New South Wales.

There is a memorial plaque for Lance on the Roll of Honour Wall at the Australian War Memorial - Panel 101. 

Lance's name is also engraved on one of the bronze tablets at the Lae Memorial in New Guinea.  

This memorial commemorates more than 300 Australians who lost their lives whilst serving in New Guinea and have no known grave.