James & Mary — William Thomas & Elizabeth McBride

JAMES BROWN

The passenger ship, the Lord Raglan, left Plymouth in England on the 27th July 1854, arriving in Port Adelaide 24th October 1854. Those who boarded in Plymouth included Richard Brown, from Avoca, County Wicklow in Ireland. With Richard were 3 sons, and one daughter. Richard’s wife Sarah Neile, had died in Shroughmore, Wicklow, on the 5th May 1854. Whether they had been planning to move or whether Richard made this decision after her death, we have no idea. However, William, an older son, had emigrated to Australia with his wife and child on board the Marshall Bennett, leaving London and Plymouth on 4 November 1851, and arriving in Australia 2 February 1852. Possibly Richard and the family decided to follow them. Richard died on the journey, succumbing to Bronchitis on August the 5th 1854 at the age of 52 years and was buried at sea. Richard’s children - James 19, Richard 16, Jeremiah 14, all labourers, and Anne 13 - were left with no parents. On the ship was also Henry Brown, aged 24 also a labourer, with his wife, Esther Byrne. William and his wife Margaret were established in Port Adelaide and so we assume that the two older brothers would help the younger siblings on arrival. If you copy the following link into your browser, it will open to the digital record of the ship’s log and passenger list.

https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/lordraglan1854.shtml

Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931) Sat 6 Apr 1918 Page 28

James was born in County Wicklow in 1835 - He became a miner in the Callington area, and married Mary Curran in the Catholic Church, Mount Barker, May 22, 1862 when he was 27 years old. James and Mary had 10 children, most of them being born near Callington. The Callington area held several mines looking for copper and James worked with the various companies in the area. At some time after Margrett their 8th child was born, they moved their family to Morchard. This was not such an unusual move when considering that his older brother Henry was farming around Orooroo. James and Mary took up farming and eventually retired in Parkside, just East of Adelaide. James died on 6 July 1918 and was buried in the West Terrace Cemetery.

MARY CURRAN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT to the Bonzol website. Paringa is just North West of Callington, on the way to Mt Barker. Tinpot Hill is about the same distance South West of Callington and Staughton is not listed but is near Woodchester , South of Callington

The residence of the groom was recorded as St Aughton. There is no place by that name in SA, however, there is a small village in the mining area not far from Callington called Staughton, that is where James lived. It was a town set up by the many Cornish miners who worked in that area in the 19th C. The location of Paringa is actually where the Paringa mine was located and Tin Pot refers to Tin Pot Hill, another mining location in the general area

Mary is listed as a passenger on the ship Glentanner, which left Plymouth 23rd August 1855 and arrived at Port Adelaide 26th November 1855. On the ship manifest, Mary is listed as leaving from Wicklow as a domestic servant.

https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/glentanner1855.shtml

There is an index entry in a regional register which lists Mary as being born around 1837 in Armagh, Northern Ireland, and lists her children and husband. The information was supplied by her spouse. However, when she died in 1931, the death notice stated she was 92 years old, which means her birth year was 1839. These small discrepancies often occurred. Sometimes people did not know their exact birth date, some young people falsified their birth dates in order to travel alone. Unfortunately, the name Mary Curran was common in Ireland, and there were too many people of this name to be able to definitively make any statement about her, particularly as we only know her father’s name, Michael Curran, and not her mothers.

Mary married James in Mt Barker 22 May 1862, her first child Sarah being born a few months later. The family lived in Callington, about 20 kilometres east of Mt Barker for about 13 years, where they made their living as miners. Mary died in Parkside in 1931 and was buried in the same site as her husband in the West Terrace Cemetery in Adelaide.

Mary had a sister Margaret who came to Australia with her husband, Adam Coleman and Mary on the Glentanner. Margaret and Adam also had an infant son, either Laurence or John, and a 1 year old daughter, Mary. Adam and Margaret owned a shop in Paringa, the mining town. Margaret died 1 July 1907 in Callington. Adam died 6 October 1885 at St Ives, a very small town between Mt Barker and Callington in the Adelaide Hills. They had 11 children - John, Lawrence, Mary, Anne, Elizabeth, James, Margaret, Winifred, Julia, Michael and Patrick.

James and Mary’s children:

Sarah 1862-1942 - was born in Callington and married George Northeast. Sarah died 4 Sep 1942 at Glen Osmond. She is buried in West Tce Cemetery, Adelaide

Ann 1864-1961 - was born near Callington 2 April 1864 and died in Adelaide November 1961. Ann never married or had children but was known by our cousin Marie McBride (daughter of Leo). Marie said Ann was blind, having developed glaucoma around 20 years old, and lived in her own house, very independently and happily

Elizabeth 1866-1940 - was born near Callington, married William Thomas McBride 1885, had 11 children and died 14 November 1940 in Barmera. Our GGrandmother

Richard Francis 1867-1951 - was born near Callington and married Henriette Minna Bischof and appears to have lived many years around the Tumby Bay, Port Lincoln area. He died in Orroroo 27 Jun 1951

Mary 1869-1944 - was born near Callington, and married Richard James Matthews 16 July 1898. They lived in Clare for several years, she died in Port Pirie 13 August 1944

Luke Patrick 1873-1924 - was born 2 September 1873 near Callington and married Bessie Mary Mundy 25 April 1917, no children. Luke died 7 June 1924 and is buried with his parents in West Tce Cemetery

Michael 1874-1948 - was born in 1874, and died in Parkside South, 1 August 1948 . He was buried with his parents in West Tce Cemetery

Margrett Alice 1875-1963 - was born 13 July 1875, the birth notice stating “near Paringa” - There is a town called Paringa in the Riverland, however, it is more likely that this refers to the Paringa Mine which was part of the Callington mining area, as the birth was registered in Strathalbyn. She married Samuel Arthur Johnson, 9 December 1908 in Boulder, WA. She had 4 sons and died 14 July 1963 in Ferntree Gully, Victoria.

Lucy Catherine 1880-1929 - was born around 1880, this has been deduced from the registration of marriage information. This lists Lucy as 22 years old in 1902 when she married Thomas Roach in the Catholic Church Orroroo, 6 October 1902. She died 28 November 1929 in North Adelaide.

Ada 1881-1968 - was born around 1881 and was 36 the day of her wedding to George William Gregory at the Residence of James Brown in Morchard. She had 4 children and died in Parkside, South Australia 11 July 1968

The grave of James Brown, Mary Brown, and their two sons, Michael and Luke is in West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide.

PLOT Section: Catholic Western Ground Row Number: N Site Number: 12

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