Obviously Morgan is not a direct ancestor or blood relative, but I do feel the need to share his story, or at least as much of his story as I have uncovered so far. It left me with a profound feeling of loss and despair, and a fervent wish that this cycle did not continue for others in his family.
Morgan was born in late 1866 in County Tipperary, Ireland. He was the eldest son of his father Michael O'Brien, then aged 26, and his mother Catherine Cahill, then aged 17.
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| Map showing location of Rodus in County Tipperary |
Morgan was baptised in December of 1866 in the townland of Rodus, in the civil parish of Emly and the Catholic Parish of Cashel & Emly, within County Tipperary.
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| County Tipperary |
After the birth of Morgan, his parents went on to have another eight children born in Ireland.
Ellen was born in 1868.
Thomas came along in 1869 when Morgan was aged 3.
Mary was born in 1871.
Daniel was born in 1872.
Denis joined the family in 1874.
Michael was born in 1877. Morgan was now 11 years old.
Catherine came along in 1880.
Hannah was born in 1882, when Morgan was 15 years old.
I wonder what sort of older brother Morgan was? By the time he was 16 he had four brothers and four sisters. I imagine he would have shouldered quite a lot of responsibility from a very early age. It seems likely he lived an impoverished childhood as his parents made the decision in 1884 to leave their home country, and travel halfway around the world to Australia.
All eleven members of the O'Brien family were listed as passengers aboard the ship Duke of Devonshire that departed Plymouth in England on the 20th of May, 1884. The family left the ship on June 25th in Brisbane, and then made their way to Toowoomba.
Morgan Joseph was 17 years old when he arrived in Australia. Once his family had reached Toowoomba, it seems likely he would have started searching for work immediately. I have found no evidence as yet that can shed light on exactly what type of work Morgan found at that time, but it's likely he would have been doing any sort of labouring work he could find.
Another brother was born not long after the family had arrived. John Cahill O'Brien came along in August of 1884, when Morgan was aged 17. Sadly, just three years later, Morgan lost one of his other brothers. Daniel O'Brien died just before Christmas in 1887. He was only 15 at the time, and Morgan was aged 21.
Bridget had also emigrated from Ireland to Australia back in 1883 (the year before Morgan had left Ireland with his family) and had been married to my great grandfather for ten years until he died in early 1893.
Morgan, upon his marriage to my great grandmother, became the stepfather of Kate O'Donnell (then aged 10), my grandfather James O'Donnell (then aged 7), Mary Margaret O'Donnell (then aged 4) and Maurice Patrick O'Donnell (then aged 2). Instant large family ... and all the commitments that come with that!
My great grandmother has become the licensed victualler of the Free Selectors Hotel in June of 1894, after losing her first husband. Just a couple of months after her second marriage, in June of 1895, there was an application made to transfer the licence to her second husband, Morgan Joseph O'Brien. Bridget was expecting a baby by this time, so perhaps that was the catalyst for the decision to transfer the licence to her new husband, Morgan.
It turned out though that Morgan was not the most reliable or skilled hotel keeper. Just one month later, in July 1895, he was appearing in court on a charge of supplying a child with liquor!! Things were not going well!
Morgan became a father at the age of 29, with the birth of his son Morgan Joseph in January of 1896.
At this point in the story, things appear to be going from not so good to not so very good at all.
According to information gleaned from descendants of Morgan's parents, it was around this time that Morgan's father, Michael, had a fall from his horse and suffered a significant head injury. There appeared to be a subsequent impact to his reasoning abilities and mental capacity. According to family folklore "he was not quite right after this!"
In May of 1897 I found a small entry in the Toowoomba Chronicle and Darling Downs General Advertiser stating that Michael O'Brien had appeared before the court charged with attempted suicide. This is very likely to have been Morgan's father as the entry states the man was 60 years old, which is a match to the age Morgan's father would have been at this time.
I have not yet found any information to indicate what the outcome of his charge was, but it's likely Morgan's father spent some time in gaol. Just a few months after his father had appeared in court, Morgan was also up on charges.
At this stage, things are really not going well for Morgan. I wonder if he was able to pay the fine or ended up spending 24 hours in gaol?
Morgan's father, Michael O'Brien, was by now in a very bad way. He decided he would return to visit Ireland, on his own, for a while and then come back to Australia. Obviously the loss of his homeland had left a profound impact and in the depths of his despair, he felt the need to return home. What followed was a peculiar turn of events though. One day he was there, in Toowoomba, and the next he had gone. He made no further contact with any of the family, and no-one was sure if he actually did indeed manage to leave Australia at all. He didn't return to Toowoomba though, so he literally vanished into thin air.
On top of all that, Morgan's mother Catherine died in 1899, at the rather young age of 50. She had obviously been deeply affected by everything that had happened.
From 1897 to 1925, Morgan himself then appears to have disappeared.
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| Electoral Roll for Toowoomba in 1905, showing the large O'Brien clan |
Whilst his wife and siblings appear on the Electoral Rolls of 1903, 1905 and 1906 for the town of Toowoomba, Morgan doesn't appear at all. His name doesn't appear on any records until 1925. Where was he for the intervening 27 years?
I doubt I will ever find definitive definitive evidence of his whereabouts during that period, but a clue did turn up on the Deceased Estate Files for a Morgan O'Brien, that I think was this particular Morgan. I'll share this bit of information later on in this post.
If Morgan did indeed leave his family, I can only imagine the effect this would have had on his only son, and his wife, my great grandmother, and his step children, including my grandfather. Sadly, Morgan's story didn't have a wonderful ending. I finally found him in the 1925 Electoral Roll record for the electorate of Coorparoo, in the electoral division of Moreton, Queensland.
Morgan was living at the Pensioner's Camp on Ipswich Road in Brisbane. He would have been 59 years old at this time.
He was still there in 1928, at the age of 62.
What was this 'pensioner's camp' where Morgan was to spend his twilight years?
Here's a glimpse ...
This is what a typical abode looked like, from the outside. Dwellings were erected using whatever material could be found and most would have had exactly this ramshackle look. At the very least though, it was shelter!
This is what it might have look like inside, although I think the indoors of a single gentlemen's abode would have been far less appealing to the eye.
In a newspaper article published in the Daily Mail in July of 1924, the author painted a picture of the pensioner's camp ...
"Hidden from the view of the Brisbane community ... is a colony formed between twenty and thirty old age pensioners. Most of them are living on a reserve; a scattered few on private land. No rent is asked from these men. They merely obtain a permit from the council or the owner of the private land.
There are certain conditions to be fulfilled, principally in regard to the burning of all refuse, and the places are under police supervision, a visit being paid to them by an officer of the law about once a month.
The habitations of these men are almost as varied as their characters and ways, and the truth of 'necessity being the mother of invention' is well borne out in their constructions and equipment.
A number of men are in tents still, but most of them have made some sort of a shack for themselves. Some of them are covered wholly with flattened out kerosene tins nailed neatly together. The material has been recovered from rubbish heaps or pits. The huts are mostly square, or nearly so in shape, with flat roofs, so from a distance they resemble large packing cases".
The following article, published in 1928, paints a vivid picture.
So it appears Morgan was living along in a community of old age pensioners who made shelters out of whatever they could scavenge. The non-contributory aged pension was first paid by the Commonwealth Government here in Australia back in 1909, but only to those Australians who were 65 and over. As Morgan was not yet aged 65 when he was living in the pensioner's camp, it's likely Morgan set up home with others he knew who were receiving the pension.
Sadly, it looks like Morgan passed away in early 1931 at the age of 64, alone in a hospital in Annerley, Brisbane. His death certificate was completed by a doctor and a nurse, and interestingly, whilst it contained correct information about his parents' names and his place of birth, there were no details of his marriage or mention of his son. In fact, the certificate stated that Morgan was not married.
That leads me to believe that Morgan and Bridget had separated way back in the late 1890s, and it's likely Morgan was never seen by his son, his step-children, or his siblings very much after that, if at all! I'm guessing history repeated itself and he did exactly what his father had done ... disappeared into thin air!
I also uncovered a record on the New South Wales Index to Deceased Estate Files for a Morgan O'Brien who died in Annerley in 1931. It seems in all likelihood, that the Morgan listed on this record would have been my great grandmother's second husband.
A final piece of the story ... this record lists Morgan's occupation as 'retired miner'.
That would make sense and explain why he disappeared from all the official records for that 27 year time period I had mentioned previously. I'm supposing he travelled around quite a bit looking for work as a miner wherever he could find it, and it looks like he moved interstate as well. The record above shows that Morgan had a tiny sum of money saved, but it appears it was never passed on to family. I'm left with a feeling of heavy regret that Morgan seems to have missed out on so much family love and support for around half his lifetime.
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| Gravesite of Morgan Joseph O'Brien at the Toowong Cemetery. The gravesite is located at Portion 27, Section 11, Grave 10 (as indicated by the yellow markers) |
Morgan Joseph O'Brien was buried at the Toowong Cemetery at Toowong, Queensland, Australia. Sadly, his gravesite remains unmarked.
Special Note to any family members: If you have memories to add, photos or 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.
