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 (1830 - 1910), 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.

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?

It was unusual for a married woman's name to be recorded using the first and second initials of her own name though.  It was far more common for her name to be recorded using the initials of her husband.  

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

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



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 - 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.