Tarraville and more Kelly questions

After my post Yarram continued about finding that the much loved Nurse Bessie Lawler of Yarram was witness to the marriage of my great grandmother Mary Agnes Morgan and also to the marriage of Mary's first cousin Alice Frances Kelly (daughter of John Kelly), I have been trying to find more information about that part of John Kelly's life.  
I've found a few news articles in some of the digitised Gippsland newspapers in Trove, which mention a John Kelly but there were a couple of John Kelly's living in the area at that time.

It was wonderful to receive an email from Gwen O'Callaghan who was a compiler of the book  "Clonmel to Federation: a Guide to People in the Port Albert area 1841-1901"  She gave me some further information and I was able to borrow the book through my local library.

Information from the book about one John Kelly below match some of my findings to date although my John Kelly was born in Ireland not Tarraville and the "possible daughter" Bridget LYNCH was actually the daughter of another John and Mary Kelly nee MURNANE.

KELLY, John

Born Tarraville. [AVR]
Married 1869 Mary Ann FRANCIS (c1848-1888) (qv); John 1869-1888 Alberton-Melbourne. [DPI]
Possibly daughter Bridget LYNCH, born c1877, daughter of John and Mary KELLY, died 1965 Yarram, aged 86. [DDI] Catholic, of Yarram; buried Yarram. [YNC]
Tanner; owned 4-room wooden house on six acres, Tarra Road. [RB1875]
Signed petition to William HAIR to stand for Alberton Shire Council. [GS, 26 Jul 1883]
Tanner, Alberton East and Myrtle Point. [M1884]
J KELLY, member of jury at inquest into death of Jacob SNOWDEN (qv). [GS, 16 Oct 1884]
John KELLY, formerly of Tarraville, whose wife died at North Melbourne after a long illness. [GS, 18 Aug 1888]

From the same book held by Gippsland Regional Maritime Museum, other John Kellys who were living in the area were:

KELLY, John
Salaried schoolmaster, Tarraville, employed by Denominational Board 
[Electoral Roll in GG, 9 May 1856]*

KELLY, John
Born Ireland [DPI]*
Died 1860, aged 29 , buried Greenmount Cemetery [GSC]*

KELLY, John
At Alberton Police Court, Jno KELLY and Daniel BOURKE charged with robbery from Michael HOGAN in a hut at Welshpool [GS, 7 Aug 1889]* report of trial at Alberton Police Court [GS, 10 Aug 1889]* report of trial of General Sessions, Palmerston [GS, 12 Oct 1889]* [YC, 11 Oct 1889]*

KELLY, JJ
Forfeited 213 acres, Stradbroke [GS, 13 Oct 1886]*
Paid £30 by Alberton Shire Council for roadwork 1892 [SGC,13 Jan 1893]*
Government mail contracts [SGC,15 Oct 1895]*
North Riding [Rate book, 1901, list in G1901]*
Probably John James KELLY, born c1856, son of John James and Margaret (GILL) KELLY; died 1934 Yarram, aged 78 [DDI]*
Methodist, of Won Wron; buried Yarram [YNC]*

My John Kelly was a tanner.  He died at the Yackandandah tannery in 1905.

A very kind "anonymous" who commented on my Yarram posts tells me that the Tarraville Tannery was known as Tarra Bank. I had found and posted a news article which was a letter to the editor written by a John Kelly from Tarra Bank about his wife giving birth to a son in 1869.  

In another newspaper article a John Kelly was declared insolvent in 1878 but he was from Wurruk Wurruk, 
I think that may be a bit  too far away even though he was named as a tanner and beamsman.  
Reasons given were lack of employment, death of a son, illness of wife and all that could fit my John Kelly.
I must try to find if further information on insolvencies is available.

A definition of that occupation from the "Old Occupations" site is - 

Tanner's Beamsman

Draped part-cured skins over a Tanners Beam, a flat slab of wood or stone, to scrape off the remaining flesh, fat and hair

By 1888 the Kelly's were living at 73 Melrose Street, North Melbourne.  John's wife, Mary Ann, died there on the 16th of August 1888 of a lumbar abscess and debility which she had for 4 months. 

Did they move to Melbourne because of her health or because of the insolvency or perhaps both?  John's sister, my great great grandmother Alice Morgan, had the Cross Keys Hotel in Pascoe Vale Road, Essendon.  Maybe they moved to be nearer her and medical care both.

Very sadly their 17 year old daughter Mary also died in a tragic accident in 1888.
That will be another story.

* [sources in book]
AVR = Australian Vital Records Index 1788-1905; Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1997
DPI = Digger Pioneer Index
G1901 = "Glimpses of Yarram Yarram and District in the year of Federation 1901" Yarram and District Historical Society Inc
GG = "Gippsland Guardian" Port Albert. Microfilm 1855-1866
GS = "Gippsland Standard", 1882-1898; microfilm Port Albert Maritime Museum [PAMM]

GSC = "Greenmount Station and Cemetery"; Greenmount Catholic Cemetery Trust, 1994
M1884 = Middleton and Manings Gippsland Directory, 1884-5

SGC = "South Gippsland Chronicle and Yarram and Alberton Advertiser" 1893-1898, microfilms, Yarram Genealogical Group Inc.
YC = "The Yarram Chronicle and South Gippsland Adviser" 1888-1892; microfilms, Yarram Genealogical Group Inc.
YNC = Yarram New Cemetery Registers and Inscriptions; transcribed and indexed by Yarram Genealogical Group Inc. MacBeth Genealogical Books, 1996

Yarram continued

I wrote in my previous post Y is for .... Yarram that I had received a copy of this photo from New Zealand of two girls named Miss Bessie and Miss Kate.  No one knew who they were though.  It was at first thought that one of the names was Annie but too many opinions were definite that it said Bessie.

Recently I made contact with Kim who sent me some information about the families at Yarram which had been researched by her grandmother over the years.

Woohoo this information confirmed my theory!  The girls in the picture were in fact Elizabeth Ann (known as Bessie) and Catherine (known as Kate) Lawler.

Kim's great-great  grandmother, Alice Francis Kelly, was the first cousin of my great grandmother Mary Agnes Morgan.
Alice was the daughter of John Kelly and Mary Ann Francis.


The witness at Mary Morgan's wedding (left) show Bessie Lawler's signature in 1887 with a bit of a fancy tail on the first S, (perhaps a medial S as in old fashioned writing) and below at the wedding of Alice in 1900.  Only a small difference in the signature after thirteen years.

Alice's mother was Mary Ann Kelly nee Francis.  She was the daughter of Mary Kilroy and Thomas Francis. When Thomas died Mary Kilroy remarried Fenton Lawler (often spelt Lalor).  Elizabeth Ann and Catherine aka Bessie and Kate were their daughters; so half sisters of Mary Ann Francis.

Bessie started at Melbourne University in 1889 to study nursing.  She went on to become a much loved nurse in Yarram, conducting the Kilroy Private Hospital on the corner of Station and Rodgers Street.  The original building is now a private residence.

Y is for .... Yarram

  YARRAM

I am a little late with my Y contribution for the Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge issued by Alona of Gould's  

I was going to write about my husband's ancestors the Young family but I haven't done a lot of research on them yet and I have been enthralled lately with my current project about a family connection, I have only just found, to Yarram in South Gippsland, Victoria. 

This connection is still quite confusing and may take a bit of unraveling yet.  

A brief rundown so far:-

My great great grandmother was Margaret "Alice" Kelly.

One of her brother's, John Kelly, brought their two younger brothers to Alice in Melbourne just before her wedding to John Morgan in 1858.

I knew John went to Gippsland as he married Mary Ann Francis at Tarraville in 1869.  Tarraville, Yarram and Alberton are all close by one another.

In searching Trove I found quite a few references to a John Kelly but there may well have been more than one living in the area.  

Yet to be sorted.

There was a John Kelly who was a tanner at Nightingale's tannery at Tarraville in 1874.

My John Kelly was a currier (tanner) when he died at Yackandandah in 1905.  

There was a John Kelly who became insolvent at Tarraville in 1878.  Reasons given were lack of employment, death of a son, illness of wife. 

There was a big "to-do" over a Dr. Eccles in several articles, one being in the Gippsland Times in December 1869 where John Kelly's wife may have lost a son soon after childbirth. There is a birth registration for a John Kelly born to John Kelly and Mary Ann Francis in 1869 at Alberton which is near Tarraville.

Mary Ann Francis' mother was Mary Kilroy.  After the death of her first husband, Thomas Francis, Mary Kilroy married a Fenton Lawler.

They had three children, Michael, Elizabeth and Catherine.  Catherine married Edward Slavin in 1887.

I sent a query to the rootsweb Gippsland mailing list and learned that there is a book called  "Clonmel to Federation: a Guide to People in the Port Albert area 1841-1901". compiled by Gwen O'Callaghan at the Gippsland Regional Maritime Museum which contains quite a bit more about the Francis and Lawler families.  I have yet to get access to the book but Gwen did give me a couple of snippets and one little piece of information which grabbed my attention immediately.  Elizabeth Lawler was a much loved nurse who delivered thousands of babies at Yarram for many years.  She was known as Bessie.

A few months ago I received copies of a batch of photos from descendants of John Kelly's nephew, Alexander Morgan, who went to New Zealand.  

One of these photos was of two young ladies.  

Written on the base of the photo was "Miss Bessie and Miss Kate" but none of the descendants knew who they were.

I believe they could well be Elizabeth and Catherine Lawler.

One of the witnesses at the marriage of John Kelly's niece, my great grandmother Mary Morgan, in 1887 was a miss Lawler but the first name isn't very legible. I don't know yet if she is of the same Lawler family.  Bessie Lawler was known to be in Melbourne doing her nursing training around 1889.

I'm still searching, sorting and wondering but perhaps one day I will find enough confirming detail that all these pieces will fit together.

 My family history through the alphabet list