The Story of Mary Ann Farley - Part One

I'm about to divert from the usual once again.  I'm going to post about one person over two weeks.

This week I'm going to tell the story behind all the research I've done about my paternal Great Great Grandmother, Mary Ann Farley, and all the twists and turns along the way ... then next post I'll tell the life story of Mary Ann, as I know it up to this point from my research.

The tale of my research attempts thus far will take a while, so if you're going to stick with it, then I suggest go and get a huge cuppa first and then settle in.  To begin the saga of my research attempts, I should establish that even from the start, things were complicated!

(The extra bits added in blue font are things I've added along the way as readers of this post have suggested helpful hints ... adding even more to this research story).

The first record I collected was the marriage record for my great great grandmother Mary Ann.  That record was easy enough to hunt down as I knew who the groom was - my 2x great grandfather, Adolphus Hukins.  I had a hint though that things would not be easy right there and then when I noticed which name was recorded for the bride and which for the groom!!!!

Unfortunately Mary Ann's maiden name was apparently unclear and hard to decipher on the original marriage record, therefore two possibilities were recorded on two different transcriptions from that original - one transcription used the name 'Farly' and the other used 'Parly'.

Armed with these choices, I then went on to research immigration records for a Mary Ann Farly or Mary Ann Parly.  After a long and exhaustive search, I ended up nowhere!  Not one single record with either of those combination of names.

Then one day I serendipitously paid closer attention to the marriage record transcription and noticed that one of the witnesses to the marriage was a Patrick Farly.  Surely that was a relative, possibly even her father??

The next step was to double check this piece of information with the information on her death record, under her married name - Mary Ann Hukins.  Success!

According to that record, her father's name was indeed Patrick Farley (although there was a slight difference in spelling).  There was no record of her mother's name though, so it seemed that Mary Ann's son Alfred Hukins, who was the person providing the details for her death certificate, didn't know his grandmother's name!  Not very helpful!

There was however, mention that Mary Ann had been in the colony (Australia) for 74 years.  Using the age recorded at the time of her death, that would mean she had come to Australia around the age of 6, and possibly in 1836, and her year of birth would possibly have been 1830.  The record also stated that she had been born in Dublin.

Off I went again to research the immigration records for a Mary Ann and a Patrick Farly or Farley who might have landed in Australia in 1836.  That was a dead end!

Okay, what about baptism records for Dublin in 1830?  Off I went to RootsIreland.ie   Again, I hit a brick wall!  Did that mean that Mary Ann's son was not in possession of correct details about his mother's life?  I've found over my years of family research that can indeed be the case, but there seemed to be so many other correct details given by Mary Ann's son!!

I widened my search on RootsIreland and found a Mary Ann Farley born in 1830 to a Patrick Farly and Mary Reilly, but in County Cavan and not Dublin.

I then went back to Ancestry.com to search for a baptism record for a Mary Ann Farley baptised in 1830.  Nothing came up for 1830, but there was a listing for 1829 for Mary Ann Farley.  Excitement built once again ... only to be dashed!

Baptism Register 1829 St. Paul's, Dublin city, Dublin, Ireland 

The record was simply a listing of all the children baptised at home in the parish of St. Paul's Church in Dublin City in 1829.  It included those with the surname of Farley.  There was a long, long list of Mary Farleys and two Mary Ann Farleys.  Hmmm!  Could one of them be my 2x great grandmother?  Unfortunately there was no information about parents at all!  So frustrating.

At this point I went to ancestry.com to search other family trees that included a Mary Ann Farley who married an Adolphus Hukins here in Australia.  There were several of these trees, and many of them showing an immigration fact which raised my hopes once more.  At last, I thought I'd be discovering exactly when Mary Ann emigrated and details about her family.

Excitement abated pretty quickly and confusion set in!  The details on the assisted immigrant record listed on these other family trees, had her parents' (and obviously her) surname listed as 'Farlane'.

Was this really my Great Great Grandmother Mary Ann, recorded as migrating to Australia as Mary Farlane with her parents Patrick and Nancy Farlane and her sister Bridget?



How was it that her family name was recorded as Farlane when coming into the country, but then her maiden name was recorded as Farley on all other important records here in Australia after that?  Not only that, but wasn't Farlane a derivative of the Scottish surname McFarlane?


I know the person recording the information at the time in this book could have misheard or misunderstood the surname, and recorded it incorrectly for Patrick, Nancy and the daughters Bridget and Mary; but I was still not entirely convinced that this was my 2x great grandmother and her family.

Assisted Immigrant Passenger List 1840 - Crusader

Upon closer inspection of this assisted immigrant passenger list, I found two young ladies on later pages with the surname 'Farley' - completely different parents though  or so I thought!

A reader of this post has reminded me that Nancy was sometimes used as a nickname for those named Ann.  One of those other young ladies on the 1840 immigrant passenger list was an Ellen Farley and her parents were recorded as a Patrick Farley and Ann Smith.  Could those parents be Mary Ann's parents?  Was this another sister of Mary Ann?  If so, then why was her mother recorded as Nancy on one page and Ann on another ... and why the two different surnames, Farlane and Farley?  

On another point ... if a young girl is travelling with her parents, but because of her age is recorded as an unmarried woman and not included with the married mother's details, usually there's an added note that the young girl is travelling with her parents.  That was indeed noted for the second young Farley girl travelling on the ship in 1840, but not added to Ellen Farley's entry.

So many questions.  Did the person recording the names of the single women aged 15 and over, hear and correctly record the surname of Farley for those two young ladies, but was unable to hear and correctly record the surname Farley for an entire family?  Perhaps there were two different people recording the details on this passenger list, one person with great hearing and one person who had difficulty understanding the Irish brogue????

If that was so ... and it was all just a matter of incorrect details, then this might indeed be the family of the 2x great grandmother, but where to from there?

Well then I decided to check out other records for this name Farlane.

First I searched to see if there was a death record for a Patrick Farlane (the possible father) who had emigrated in 1840 and had apparently come from Lurgan in County Cavan, Ireland with his wife Nancy (nee Smith) and daughters Bridget aged 10 and Mary aged 9.  He was apparently aged 44 when he arrived in the colonies, so that sets a birth date around 1796.

I went on the BDM New South Wales, searching for a death record between 1840 (his arrival year) and 1900.  Nothing!  Alright ... so then I tried Patrick Farley, assuming that for some reason the family name had been recorded incorrectly.

There was a Patrick Farley who died in 1843 in Australia, but he was aged 60.  Not a match!  There was another who died in Sydney in 1898.  He was only aged 48 and the record stated he had not been married.  Again, not a match!  He was far too young for a start.

This date of death had been listed on those other family trees for the father of Mary Ann, but if Patrick's age had been correctly recorded on the immigrant passenger list, then the Patrick who died in 1898 would have been aged 102.

So then, I tried BDM in Queensland, thinking he might have moved north, as some of my relatives did!  There were two.  One died in 1977 ... so that was a definite no!  I doubt my ancestor would have lived until the age of 181!  The other Patrick Farley died in Queensland in 1899, but again the age was out and the parents' details did not match those recorded on the immigrant passenger list back in 1840.

Slam!  Yet another brick wall!

The next step ... I thought why not search for a death records, between 1840 (supposed year of arrival) and 1900, for a Nancy Farlane, whose maiden name was Smith.  Nothing!

Okay ... then I tried Nancy Farley.  There was one!!!!!  Excitement built again!  Checking the record, I found out that her father's name was recorded as Pat, and on the immigrant passenger list (under the name Nancy Farlane), it had been recorded that Nancy's father's name was Pat Smith.  Hmmmm???  Could this be the mother of my 2x great grandmother?

The year of death had been listed as 1859, which was a possibility.  Following on from the age given on the immigrant passenger list record, Nancy would have been around the age of 57 in 1859, the possible year of death.

It's probably a good idea to go and get another cuppa at this point!

There's still a lot more to come.




I purchased the death record of this Nancy Farley - possible mother of my great great grandmother Mary Ann Farley.

Here's where it got interesting.  Given that the surname was not Farlane (as it had been on the immigrant list), the record stated that Nancy was aged 66 at the time of her death.  Now that wasn't really a great match if she has supposedly been 38 years old back in 1840 when she emigrated as Nancy Farlane.  There's almost a ten-year difference there!

Not looking good.

Fingers crossed, I now checked out the name of her husband and possible children of the marriage.  Yes ... her husband's name matched (if Patrick starting using Farley upon arrival!), but then disappointingly, there were no children's names recorded, just numbers!

The record stated that this Nancy Farley had given birth to seven males who had already died by this time; and three other females who were still living.

That was food for thought!  The immigrant passenger list of 1840 had only 2 daughters listed as daughters of Nancy and Patrick Farlane.  Nancy was apparently 38 years old when she arrived in Australia.  Had she really gone on to give birth to another 8 children after that?  Not impossible, but highly unlikely.

I went back to BDM New South Wales to check and see whether a Patrick Farley and a Nancy Smith had registered any births after their arrival in 1840.  Nope!  What about a Patrick Farlane and a Nancy?  Nah!

Perhaps the 7 sons had died before the family had arrived in Australia.  That seemed highly unusual as well!  As there were no names listed, I didn't have enough information to start searching for death records here in Australia or in Ireland, which was a possible birth place for all those boys.

I was now in the depths of disappointment and utter confusion!

But ... hold your horses!!!





Something on the death certificate popped out and took my notice!

What the ...?  One of the witnesses to the burial was an Adolphus Hukins.  Now surely that must have been my great grandfather, married to Mary Ann Farley?  Was this the son-in-law to Nancy Farley?

This is where I had to stop, take a break, and break down everything I'd found out so far!

Mary Ann could have had the surname Farly, Parby, Farley or Farlane.
She could have been born in Dublin around 1830.
She could have migrated to Australia in 1840 under the name Mary Farlane, along with a Patrick and Nancy Farlane and sister Bridget Farlane.

There appears to be evidence that her mother (if she was the Nancy Farley who died in 1858 aged 66 and whose burial was witnessed by Mary Ann's husband Adolphus) had given birth to 10 children - 7 sons and 3 daughters.

There was no evidence that any of the 7 sons migrated with their mother and father, and I could find no trace of a third daughter ... if the Bridget and Mary recorded on the 1840 immigrant passenger list were in fact my 2x great grandmother and her sister.

Mary Ann might have experienced living with a very large family when she was quite young, but then some great tragedy might have occurred which resulted in all her brothers dying before she was 9 years old!

I could find no evidence of a Patrick Farley's or Patrick Farlane's (possible father of my 2x great grandmother) death and burial in Australia ... although if the death certificate details for Nancy Farley (possible mother of my 2x great grandmother) are correct, then her husband was still alive in 1859 as he was the informant.

There was no mention of a mother on Mary Ann's death certificate, and if the details about her birthplace are correct (Dublin!), then that doesn't match the place of origin details on the 1840 immigrant passenger list for the Farlanes ... it had been recorded that both parents originally came from County Cavan.

All clear as mud!

Now throw into that mix another surname .... Farrelly! 


Why, you ask?  I'll tell you why.


On some of those other family trees I had mentioned previously, there was a date of death recorded for Patrick Farley / Farlane (possible father of Mary Ann).  The record attached to this showed this man had died in 1866, but his name was recorded as Patrick Farrelly.

Now at this point I wasn't quite sure why there was yet another surname difference, especially given that Mary Ann's record of marriage and death certificate clearly had her father's name listed as Patrick Farley.  Why would he then be buried as Patrick Farrelly?

I ordered the record for this man named Patrick Farrelly, who had died in 1866.

The informant for this death certificate was a W. J. Whitfield, who was apparently Patrick Farrelly's son-in-law.  The name of Patrick's wife was recorded as Ann Smith.  Hmm!  The Patrick Farlane who had arrived in Australia back in 1840 had a wife named Nancy, and her maiden name was Smith.

It could be the same woman, but why would her son-in-law be calling his mother-in-law Ann, when clearly her name was recorded as Nancy on the immigrant passenger list and her death certificate?  Odd!  Although referring now to the reader who mentioned that Nancy was often used as a nickname for those named Ann, perhaps this was Mary Ann's mother!

More questions popped into my mind.  It was recorded on this death certificate that Patrick Farrelly had been in the colony (Australia) for 26 years, which meant he had arrived around 1840.  That was a match for Patrick Farlane's arrival date, but it was also recorded on Patrick Farrally's death certificate that he had 1 male child and 3 females from his marriage to Ann Smith.

Where were these children?  When was the son born ... and where?  The family that came in 1840 with the surname Farlane, didn't have a son on board with them, and only had two daughters.

I went back to BDM New South Wales to see if I could find a record of a Patrick Farrelly and Ann Smith having a son or daughter after their supposed arrival in 1840.  Nothing!  I went on to check using the surnames Farlane and Farley, with an Ann Smith.  Still nothing!

All this time, while researching this Patrick Farrelly, there was something niggling me.  It took me a while to remember and make the link.

It was the surname of the informant - Whitfield.  Finally, I remembered where I had seen that surname before!

Yes ... there was a Mrs. B.E. Whitfield who acted as a witness to Mary Ann's marriage back in 1847.  Coincidence?  Was this Mary Ann's sister Bridget, who had come out in 1840 as Bridget Farlane?

But then why would her married name be recorded as Mrs. B.E., when in those days married women's names were always recorded using the initials of their husbands!  It should have been Mrs. W. J. Whitfield, given the conventions at the time, as that was the informant's name on Patrick Farrelly's death certificate.

Oh ... my ... word!!!!  Could this whole story get any more complicated and confusing?

I think you've already guessed the answer to that question!


Time for another cuppa?  Make it a big one.





I went back to Ancestry.co to have another look at those other family trees to see if they had a Whitfield related to Mary Ann, and to the Farlane family who had arrived in 1840.

Yes!  But this is where it got extraordinarily crazy!  A number of these family trees had a lady with this name - Amelia or Emilia or Emma Whitfield (nee Farley or Farlane or Farrelly or Farraly) listed as the sister of Mary Ann and daughter of Patrick Farlane and Nancy Smith.

Sometimes the extra Christian name of Bridget was thrown into the mix just for good measure - obviously because there had been a daughter Bridget on the ship in 1840 and there needed to be a connection to make it all fit.

I still couldn't let it go though and so I dug a little deeper into this Amelia or Emilia or Emma Whitfield (nee Farley or Farlane or Farrelly or Farraly) person.  Perhaps she really was connected to Mary Ann, even if I couldn't pinpoint a christian name!

After much hunting, the records I found and purchased show ...

An Emma Farley married William J. Whitefield (perhaps the person recording the details added that extra 'e' in Whitefield.  It's supposedly Whitfield) in 1845 when she was supposed to be 19.


That didn't match the age of Mary Ann's supposed sister Bridget who was 10 years old when she arrived in Australia in 1840.

The death certificate for a Mrs. William J Whitfield has her name listed as Emilia Whitfield.  Her father's name was recorded as Patrick Farley and she had apparently been in Australia since she was aged 5.



That didn't match with the details of Mary Ann's sister, supposedly named Bridget, either!






None of this seemed to prove that she was Mary Ann's sister, if I was to believe that my 2x great grandmother was the child who came out in 1840 under the name of Farlane.




This is the point where it finally dawned on me that I'm probably not going to get a clear picture of my 2x great grandmother's childhood or history before her marriage.

The Youngest

Continuing with a slightly different post format again this week, I'm looking at the life spans of my great grandparents this time, following on from last week's post about the life spans of my great great grandparents.

In last week's post, I looked at the respective ages that each of my 2x great grandparents reached, and discovered they mostly had very long life spans.  This was a little out of the ordinary, given they were all born in the early 1800s when the average lifespan was around 50 to 55 years of age.

For this week's post, I thought I'd look at a younger generation of direct ancestors - my maternal and paternal great grandparents.  I wondered what sort of interesting facts might come to light.  In particular, given that the prompt for Week 32 of the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge is: Youngest; I wondered at the difference between the majority of lifespans and the which was the shortest.

Out of the 8 great grandparents ...
3 lived into their 80s
2 lived into their 70s
1 made it to the age of 60
1 lived until her late 50s
and 1 only survived until the age of 30.

Quite a spread, but as it turns out it was a great grandparent that had the shortest lifespan out of the two different generations of direct ancestors.  His life span was quite short indeed.

The 3 great grandparents that lived into their 80s included:

died aged 89

died aged 86

died aged 86

The 2 that lived into their 70s were:

died aged 79

died aged 70

The 1 great grandparent that lived until the age of 60:

died aged 60

The great grandparent that lived to her 50s was:

died aged 58

The great grandparent that died at the youngest age (out of great and great great grandparents) was:

died aged 30

Strangely, Edmond O'Donnell, the great grandparent who died at the youngest age, was the son of John O'Donnell, my 2x great grandparent who lived to be the oldest in that generation of direct ancestors!

Another interesting set of facts I garnered from the life stories of my great grandparents were the ages they all became parents for the first time.

On my paternal side:
Thomas Connors and Susan Hukins became parents when they were aged 24 and 23 respectively.

Richard Brown and Ellen Cusack were aged 23 and 22 respectively when they had their first child.

On the maternal side however, the facts were a little different and they were mostly older:
Owen McCane (Muckian) and Margaret Farrell were aged 33 and 27 respectively when they became parents for the first time.

Whilst Edmond O'Donnell was only aged 22 when he became a father, his wife Bridget Burke was aged 33.

Interestingly, all my paternal great grandparents were born in Australia.  Indeed, they were all born in New South Wales.  My maternal great grandparents were from Ireland (that's the case for 3 of them) and from England.

I'm joining Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project / challenge.

The prompt for Week 32 is 'Youngest'.

You can join by blogging or posting on social media with the tag #52ancestors.

Check out this FB page:  Amy Johnson Crow

The Oldest

This week I'm diverging a little from the usual pattern of telling just one individual ancestor's story in a post.  After looking at the prompt for Week 31 of the '52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge', I decided to do something a little different.

The prompt is 'Oldest'.  As I was checking off the list of ancestors on the Great Great Grandparents page tab of this blog the other day, something jumped out at me.  Of the sixteen maternal and paternal great great grandparents in my family tree, (all born in the early 1800s) three-quarters of them made into their 60s, 70s and 80s.  That struck me as a rather remarkable feat and perhaps a little out-of-the-ordinary for that generation!

I thought I'd look into just what was the average life expectancy of men and women living in the period between 1800 and 1910.  In Ireland it appeared that for both men and women the average life expectancy was around 50.

As the majority of those great great grandparents migrated to Australia however, I then looked into the average life expectancy in the 'colonies' during the same period.  Research indicated that the life expectancy for men in Australia was around 50 years of age.  The life expectancy for women in Australia during the same period was however around 55 years of age.

5 of my great great grandparents lived into their 80s.
2 lived into their 70s.
Another 5 lived into their 60s.
2 others made it to their 50s, and sadly 2 more only made it to their 40s.

Those that survived into their 80s included:

John O'Donnell / Daniel  82 

Michael Farrell  81

Eleanor Hickey  80

Mary Ann Farley  80

Sarah McCann  80   (information from descendants indicate Sarah lived into her 80s, and whilst I have found a census record from 1901 for Sarah, aged 80, I have yet to find a record of her death)





How amazing is that!!!  All had the distinction of being born in Ireland.  Two of them, John O'Donnell (Daniel) and Sarah Muckian (nee McCann) lived out their long lives in Ireland, whilst the remaining three migrated to Australia in the 1800s.


The great great grandparents who survived into their 70s included:

Eliza Exton  77

Susan Downey  77








Those that survived into their 60s included:

Adolphus Hukins  69

James Burke  67 

Patrick Muckian  67

Caroline Penelope Browning  64

William Connor / Connors  62






Then there was a group that only survived to their 50s or 40s:

Catherine Crotty  59

Catherine Joy  54

Henry Johnson Brown  48

Patrick Cusack  47






I'm joining Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project / challenge.

The prompt for Week 31 is 'Oldest'.

You can join by blogging or posting on social media with the tag #52ancestors.

Check out this FB page:  Amy Johnson Crow

The Story of Susannah Fullagar Hukins

This week I'm telling the story of my paternal great grandmother, Susannah (Susan) Fullagar Hukins (1851 - 1910).

When Susannah (known as Susan) was born in 1851 her father, Adolphus Hukins was aged 27; and her mother, Mary Ann Farley was aged 21.  She was born in a place named Jamberoo near Kiama, on the south coast of New South Wales.

Interestingly, my great grandmother was baptised Susannah Fullagar  (the transcript recorded the spelling of Fullagar incorrectly) which were the christian and maiden names of her paternal Grandmother.

This appears to have been a bit of a family tradition - incorporating maiden names into descendants' names.  Susannah's oldest brother's second name - Crittenden - was also the maiden name of his paternal great grandmother.

When Susannah was born, there were already two boys in the family.
Adolphus Crittenden had been born in 1849.
James Edgar had been born in 1850.

After Susannah, there were to be another 10 children born into the family - another 5 boys and 5 girls.

John Smith was born in 1853, when Susan was 1 year old.
Mary Barnes came along in 1854, when Susan was 3.
Thomas Richard was born in 1856.  Susan was 5.
Adelaide was born in 1860.  Susan was aged 9.
George Henry came along in 1861, when Susan was 10 years old.
Eleanor Sabina and twin sister Cassandra Elizabeth were born in 1865.  Susan was 14 years old.
Alfred Edward was born in 1866.
Amy Jane in 1867.
Arthur E in 1869.

By the time that Susannah was 5 years old, her father, grandfather and uncles were all landowners on the Curramore Estate in Jamberoo.  At this time, the region's economy was primarily centred on the dairying industry, and the Hukins family's plots were established as dairy farms.


Susannah's father Adolphus was however also a hotel keeper by this time, and running a pub named 'Four In Hand' in Kiama, not far from Jamberoo.  This pub started originally as part of a family house, so it seems likely that Susannah's family were living in Kiama and not out at the farm in Jamberoo.  It's also likely they were living quite comfortably at this time.

Photo showing the hotel that had been run by Susannah's father,
after it had been sold and renamed

By the time Susannah was 7 years old however, her father Adolphus was having great difficulty running the pub as a successful venture and was having creditor issues.


In 1858, the pub and family home in Kiama were sold at auction as a result of an insolvency proceeding.  (It was renamed 'Steam Packet Inn') Susannah's father was however allowed to keep the household furniture and clothing.



I wonder what impression this all made on the 7-year old Susannah?  I haven't yet been able to find any evidence about what happened in the period immediately after the family had to move out of the family pub/home.  Did they pack up the furniture and clothes they were allowed to keep and move onto the farm at Jamberoo for a while?

At the time, Susannah was the third eldest in the family of six siblings, ranging in age from 9 to 2 years of age.  Another seven siblings were born over the next ten years, and according to the birth records of these siblings, the family was living in Kiama.  It appears that during these years, Susannah's father Adolphus, was getting into a bit of trouble with the law as a result of drunkenness and larrikin behaviour, so it's likely this was a particularly difficult time for Susannah, her mother and her siblings still living at home.

By 1873, Susannah's father was in more financial trouble and the rather substantial farm at Jamberoo was was now being put up for public auction.  Her father Adolphus had lost everything at this point.  I don't know what Susannah, her mother and siblings were doing by this time, where exactly they were all living, and who was making the living they were all existing on!!

It seems though that Susannah herself had found a way out of the situation.  Perhaps it was true love, or perhaps simply the best choice at the time, but in late 1873 she got married.

Susannah (Susan) Hukins married Thomas Edgar Connors in Kiama in 1873, when she was 22 years old.  Her husband was aged 23.

Interestingly, neither of the bride's nor the groom's parents names were recorded on the marriage certificate.  Susannah had been baptised Church of England, and Thomas baptised Roman Catholic, so there might have been some discord, although Thomas's eldest sister Margaret was one of the witnesses!

By the time I had got to this point in Susan's story, I was hoping that her married life would be far more settled and a whole lot happier than it seems her childhood had been!  I think it certainly started out that way and it does seem that she and Thomas were happy together, raising their large brood.  They went on have 10 children over the next eighteen years.

I will refer to my great grandmother as Susan from here on in, as that was the name she was known as during her married life.

Susan and Thomas's first child, Mary Ellen was born in 1874.  Susan was 23 years of age at that time and as the birth place was recorded as 'Gerringong', then it seems that Susan was living on a farm with her husband further south of Kiama.

It appears that Susan was welcomed in the family life of Thomas's parents and his eleven siblings (the Connors clan) over the course of the following year. I wonder how much contact there was between Susan and her own family?

Sadly, Susan lost her eldest sister Mary Barnes Hukins the same year she gave birth to her first child.

Her sister Mary was living with their parents and died at the age of 19.  The cause of death was dysentery, which she had been suffering for at least three weeks.  Perhaps Susan made the trip into Kiama to visit with her sister, as she was obviously terribly ill for some time.

Whatever the circumstances were in regard to her own family, it's very interesting to note what came next for Susan.  In late 1875 or early 1876 Susan, her husband Thomas Connors, and their daughter Mary Ellen joined Thomas's large family on a long trek to Wagga Wagga, in western New South Wales.  The family group, consisting of 16 members, travelled by bullock and dray for quite a number of weeks.

It seems that both Susan and her mother-in-law Ellen, were pregnant during the trip, which must have created a close bond between the two women.

Typhoid fever was responsible for many deaths at this time in New South Wales, and unfortunately it was rampant in Wagga Wagga at the time the extended Connors family arrived there.




Tragically, within months of arriving in Wagga Wagga, Susan's brother-in-law John Connors, aged 8, died of typhoid fever in June 1876.  Both Susan and her mother-in-law Ellen, gave birth the following month in July.

Susan had a son named John Edgar.

Tragedy continued though, with the death of a second brother-in-law Patrick, aged 22, in August and sister-in-law Ellen, aged just 15, in November; both from typhoid fever.

I'm sure that all the family members must have been heartbroken, but no doubt abject fear must have set in for both Susan and her mother-in-law at that time, worrying about who else the dreaded disease would claim. They were both nursing small babies, and Susan had a two-year old daughter.

It wasn't long after the deaths of Susan's brothers-in-law and sister-in-law, that most of the Connors clan left Wagga Wagga.  Susan's father- and mother-in-law, along with a number of her husband's siblings moved to the Tumut area in southeastern New South Wales.  Susan and her husband however, did not join them.  They decided to move back to the Kiama region.  Perhaps the reason for this was Susan's desire to be closer to her own family.  Perhaps Thomas, her husband, wanted to return to a way of life he already knew.

Whatever their reasoning, that was where they were to spend the remainder of their lives.  Whilst originally it seems they settled back on the coast in Kiama itself, within a year or so they had moved a little further south to a place named 'Broughton Creek' (later re-named as Berry in 1889).

Over the following ten years, their family grew.

William Adolphus, was born in 1878.
My grandfather, George Thomas, was born in 1880.  Susan was 28 years of age.
Alice Adelaide came along in 1882.
James Alfred was born in 1884.
Percy Jerome was born in 1886.
Cyril Ernest came along in 1888.  Susan was 36 by then.

The following year, Susan lost another of her sisters.  Adelaide Ann had married, had given birth to two daughters and was living in Ryde, close to Susan's parents.

Adelaide died in 1889, aged only 29.  The cause of death was listed as 'phthisis pulmonalis', which is pulmonary tuberculosis, often referred to as consumption of the lungs.  Adelaide had been suffering terribly for many, many months.

Only days before Susan's sister Adelaide lost her battle with this dreadful disease, Susan's mother Mary Ann, attempted suicide.  Obviously their mother was driven by overwhelming suffering and feelings of hopelessness and despair.  Thankfully, Susan's mother survived and returned to her family.

During all of this Susan was living near Berry in southern New South Wales with her husband Thomas and their family of eight children ranging in ages from 15 years to 1 year old.

Frederick Augustus was then born in 1890.
Erice Sylvester was born in 1892.  Susan was now 41 years old.
Erice was to be the last born of the brood of 10.

Sadly, Susan's father, Adolphus, died that same year, 1892.  The causes of death included hepatitis and peritonitus, which he had apparently been suffering for the six days before his death.  It sounds very much like Adolphus had liver disease at the end of his life.

Berry Estate 1896 - By Unknown - Samuel Cocks, Views in Shoalhaven, 1896,
Public Domain, httpscommons.wikimedia.orgwindex.phpcurid=29308291

In the following year, 1893, Susan's husband's (Thomas Connors) tender for land on the newly established Berry Estate had been accepted and he leased a farm of 19 acres for a period of 4 years.  Susan was now a farmer's wife and raising her large family on a farm that was producing quite a comfortable income.

Four years later Susan lost her oldest brother, Adolphus Crittenden.  He died in 1897.

Obituary for Adolphus Crittenden Hukins,
known as Chris Hukins -
Kiama Independent and Shoalhaven Advertiser Sat 23 Oct 1897 

Susan's brother was single and working on the property of a Major Weston, known as 'Weston's Meadows', where fine bloodstock racehorses were bred.





He apparently became ill one evening while in Kiama, with a "slight stiffness about his face and could barely ride home."


The symptoms indicated tetanus, and he died just a few days later "after suffering great agony".





As an interesting aside, the owner of 'Weston's Meadows', Major Edward Weston, formed the Illawarra section of the New South Wales Lancers, which later became the Australian Light Horse.  Susan's son, Cyril Ernest Connors, served with the 6th Light Horse in WW1.

By 1898 Susan's husband Thomas had quite a substantial property of 94 acres situated on an estate about four miles out of Berry, named 'Far Meadow'.


The property was principally used for dairy farming and employed four people.  Susan, her husband and children were not only busy working the farm, but were quite active in the social life of the community as well.


Thomas, her husband, was a keen cricketer and a member of the local cricket club for many years.  He was elected to the oversight council of the Berry Central Butter Factory in 1905, and this role continued for many, many years.

Susan, Thomas and their sons appear to have been very keen participants in the Berry Show and other agricultural and sporting events and associations over the years.

Shoalhaven News and South Coast Districts Advertiser (NSW),
Saturday 14 February 1891, page 2

I've found articles referring to Susan's prize winning efforts in the Berry Show of 1891 and 1899, where she won second prize both times for her loaf of brown bread.

Shoalhaven News and South Coast Districts Advertiser (NSW),
Saturday 9 December 1899, page 2

An interesting detail about Susan's life in 1898 ... when she was 47 years old, her first grandchild was born.  Mary Ellen, Susan's first born, gave birth as an unmarried mother, and so it was that my great-grandmother Susan and great grandfather Thomas raised their granddaughter as if she was their own daughter.

In 1901 a horrible accident took the life of Susan's cousin, Sabina Montgomery Hukins.

Evening News (Sydney, NSW), Tuesday 2 July 1901, page 8

Susan's cousin was living with Susan's Aunt Cassandra.  Sabina was the daughter of one of Susan's uncles, James Hukins.  Both her parents had passed, so she was living in her Aunt Cassandra's house in Jamberoo.

Sadly, Sabina (aged 50) was crippled and completely bed-ridden, so when she knocked over a lamp or candle beside her bed, she was unable to escape the flames that quickly engulfed her room.

Apparently Cassandra, aged 72 at the time, tried to run into the building at some point in an effort to rescue her niece, but was beaten back by the heat of the flames.  The effects of her attempt apparently caused blindness, which afflicted her for the remainder of her life.

This tragedy seems to have been the start of quite a number of traumatic events in Susan's life from that point onwards.

In 1906, when Susan was 55 years old, her son William Adolphus died.

William was single and still living on the farm with his mother Susan and father Thomas.  Sadly, he had been suffering tuberculosis - consumption - for at least three years. This was the same disease that had killed Susan's sister nearly 20 years earlier.  William lost his battle with this dreadful wasting disease at the age of 28.

As a mother, the loss of your first child would seem almost incomprehensible.  Children are not supposed to die before their parents.  It would appear though, that William had likely suffered terribly with the disease and perhaps Susan saw his passing as a blessed relief.

The words inscribed on his headstone seem to imply exactly that.



Isn't it strange the things you notice when creating stories for your ancestors?


The three men in her life with the name 'Adolphus', either as a first name or second (her father, her brother and one of her sons), all died before Susan herself.

By the time Susan's son William Adolphus had died on December 30th 1906, almost one half of her children had already left home.  Her daughter Mary Ellen was aged 32, had married and had given birth to another child.  John Edgar, aged 30, had married and started a family.  My grandfather George, aged 26, married that same year, as had his brother James, aged 22.  They had married the Brown sisters, Grace and Lillian and had moved north to Lismore.  The other half - Alice aged 24, Percy aged 20, Cyril 18, Fred 16 and Erice aged 14 - were still living on the farm near Berry.

Tragedy struck again though in the year after Susan lost her son William.  In 1907, Susan's son James also died.  As stated on the coroner's record, he died of burns following an accident at his work place. The circumstances were truly horrific.

The Advertiser (Oct 17 1907) reported "Man Burnt To Death:  James Connors, of Lismore, went into an oil store for oil, and trod on a match, which ignited the fumes, causing a case of methylated spirits to take fire and explode.  He (James) rushed from the building blazing from head to foot, and was badly burnt.  He died the same evening."

It's hard to imagine the depths of suffering for the Connors family, particularly for Susan herself, to lose another son in such tragic circumstances so soon after the loss of William.  James was only 23 and left a widow and two very young children.

Another of Susan's sons, John Edgar had witnessed his brother's death and had come to the aid of his brother as he burned alive.  The experience left an indelible scar on his psyche for the remainder of his troubled life.

A mere three years later, Susan herself passed away.

She died in 1910 at the age of 58.  The cause of death was cardiac failure and pneumonia.  No doubt the grief and heartache associated with the tragic events in the last ten years of her life contributed to her demise.

Note:  Even though it's been rather a long time since my last blog post, I am resuming the 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks Challenge where I left off ... so this week's post is for Week 30's prompt: Colourful.

One definition of 'colourful' is - full of interest; and I do believe my great grandmother's life story meets that definition.  Tough times, great times, sad times, truly tragic times and joyous times.  It was a life well-lived and it appears she was truly treasured by her husband and children.

Special Note to any family members:  If you have and further information to share, can I graciously ask that you do so.  Please use the comments box below or email me.  It may prove to be invaluable to the story and provide future generations with something to truly treasure.

Extra note:  I'm joining Amy Johnson Crow's 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks project / challenge.

The prompt for Week 30 is 'Colourful'.

You can join by blogging or posting on social media with the tag #52ancestors.

Check out this FB page:  Amy Johnson Crow