Catherine Bergin
Born 27 November 1884 according to family tradition. According to records noted elsewhere, Catherine was apparently christened on the same day in The Cathedral in Waterford on 27 November 1884. (Birth certificate states 28 November, gives the name "Kate" and gives the mother's maiden name as Whelan. The informant for the purpose of the Register was "Generfa Hogg" who was present at the birth; and the birth was registered approximately eleven days later. It is possible that the informant heard the baby called "Kate" and thought this was to be the formal name, and she may also have been confused whether the birth was ten days ago or eleven days ago at the time she officially notified the birth. "Phelan" and "Whelan" are the same Gaelic name translated variously into English - see Phelan Family.)
The Catholic Cathedral in Waterford
where Catherine Bergin was baptised
photgraph taken in 2002.
Catherine's mother, Mary Ann Phelan, died when Catherine was an infant of just nineteen months of age. It is thought Catherine lived with her maternal grandparents (her grandfather Thomas Phelan was a boot and shoemaker) and their unmarried crippled son John Phelan, also a bootmaker, in their home in Milk Lane in Waterford City. Milk Lane no longer exists with the buildings having been demolished to construct an extension to Arundel Square in the city. It is thought that when his parents died, John stayed living in the house with his niece. Because her uncle was confined to a wheelchair, the young Catherine had to shovel the winter snow away from the windows and doors of her uncle's Waterford premises. Nora Spencer (Catherine's daughter) once asked her mother why they never went to see the snow in Australia, and Catherine replied that she had seen and shovelled so much snow in Waterford that she never cared to see snow again.
It is not known what happened to Catherine's father, Michael Bergin, and her sisters (except Julia). Possibly the family was split up after their mother's death and they more or less lost contact. It is possible that Michael took the two older daughters and raised them, possibly with help from his family, while the two younger girls may have remained with the family of his deceased wife.
When Catherine was aged approximately 13, her uncle also died. She then went to live with an aunt who had a family of her own.
The 1901 census shows that Catherine Bergin, age 16 years, was residing in Barrack Street, in Waterford Urban No 3 District Electoral Division (DED). The census listing for the 122nd house listed in the street was :
- Thomas Phelan, age 50, head of the family, occupation lime-keeper
- Ellen Phelan, age 43, wife, occupation ladies nurse
- Frank Phelan, age 18, son, coach painter
- Peter Phelan, age 14, son, scholar
- Catherine Bergin, age 16, niece, shop assistant
- Susan Fegan, age 22, servant All six occupants were recorded as born in Waterford City and all could read and write, but Peter Phelan is recorded as the only one able to speak the Irish langauge as well as English. The house is recorded as having 8 rooms of which 5 appear to have been bedrooms (one of the larger houses in the street) and it had an out-building such as an office, which was not usual for houses in the street. Most houses in the street are recorded as being "2nd class" (between 6 and 11 rooms in total size) making it a rather middle class street, when many houses in Ireland would have been 3rd or 4th class with many fewer rooms.
The presence of a servant is interesting and it is not clear whether this indicates that the family was relatively wealthy. It would be interesting to find out more about this family. In the 1911 census, the house number22 in the survey of the street records two occupants : Ellen Phelan, age 60, head of family and James Phelan, age 13, grandson. The document shows that Ellen's occupation was "Lady Nurse"; she is recorded as "married" and had been married for 42 years; and she had given birth to 17 children of whom 7 were still living at the time of the census. The census differentiates widow status from married and therefore it appears that Ellen's husband was still living but just not in the family home on the night of the census. There is a significant discrepancy in the age as Ellen was reported to be only 43 just a decade earlier. Also in the 1911 census, house no 32 in Barrack Street is occupied by Thomas Phelan age 67 and wife Ellen age 69, both born in Tipperary and Thomas' occupation was "baker" although this Ellen was also a "ladies nurse"; this family was identified separately in the 1901 census in dwelling number 112 in that survey. However, wIth such similarilty in names, it can be seen that it would not be difficult to confuse the various Phelan families in the area.
Two views of Waterford quays in 1905. Waterford was Catherine's home town for the first twenty one years of her life. The photographs were taken in approximately the year that Catherine departed the city of her birth. The copyright owner of these pictures has not been identified and it is believed these pcitures are now in the public domain.
According to Catherine's daughter, Nora, Catherine felt as though she was taking up valuable room in a home that was burgeoning with its own family members (perhaps one of the sons married and brought his wife to the home). While appreciative of the uncle and aunt's care, Catherine felt she should not stay. Her only other known relative was her sister, Julia Bergin, who had become a nun in the order of Sisters of Mercy in Australia. It is understood that Catherine was to receive an inheritance (probably from her uncle) but could not yet have it because she was too young. To allow her to go to Australia to be near her only known close relative and to make a better life for herself than was possible in Ireland in those times, a priest gave her money for the journey. She made a legal document allowing the priest to accept the inheritance on her behalf when she reached the legal age.
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The White Star Line had also opened up a new route in 1899, a route between Liverpool, Cape Town and Sydney. Three ships had been built for this new trade. They were the Afric, Medic and Persic. All of these three ships were slightly below than 12,000 tons and could carry 320 passengers each, all in third class. Because they all had been launched in the last year of the 19th century, these three vessels were popularly known as The Jubilee Class. (http://www.greatoceanliners.net/suevic.htm) Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/) reports that the ship was later turned into a whale factory ship and met its end, sunk by a German U-boat on September 11, 1942 during World War II. |
On 3 August 1905, the 7825 ton ship Medic sailed from Liverpool in the U.K. bound for Capetown in South Africa and Albany, Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney in Australia, with 318 passengers. The passenger list includes "Miss C. Bergin" who is described as "adult, single, female" and her occupation is "spinster". On departure, the estimated journey length was 70 days so that, if according to plans, the ship would have arrived in Sydney on approximately 12 October 1905, about a month before Catherine's 21st birthday. However a passenger list, stamped by Dalgety & Co shipping in Sydney (accessed through Ancestry.com) lists Catherine as a "shop assistant" and states the date of arrival in Sydney as 212 September 1905. Her sister was in a convent in Bourke in western New South Wales. In the 19th century, Bourke was a major trading centre for the riverboats that travelled along the Darling River, however this changed as rail and, later, road transport were introduced. According to a family story, Catherine travelled to Bourke by rail from Sydney.
Remembering that nuns generally have better health status and live longer lives that the general population and, when one reads the story about Julia (Sr Brigid) and other young nuns who died at early ages in the conditions in Bourke, it is not difficult to realise why Catherine decided not to stay there.
Catherine travelled back to the Sydney district and was allowed to live in the Sisters of Mercy convent at Parramatta for a short time. As she needed to find a home and employment for herself, it was suggested that she seek employment as a trainee nurse at the nearby Hospital for the Insane, where accommodation was provided as staff were expected to be on-call at all hours of the day and night. Catherine completed her training as a nurse in the year 1908. She met an attendant (the name given to male nurses at that time) named Michael Francis Cleary and they were married in St Patrick's Church, Parramatta, on 19 April 1911. Julia Bergin (Sr Brigid) had been in poor health for the last 18 months of her life, and it seems unlikely that she would have been able to attend her sister's wedding. It is thought that Catherine had no known living relatives after the death of her sister in 1912.
click on image for enlargement
Wedding portrait of Michael Francis Cleary and Catherine Bergin, who were married on 19 April 1911, in St Patrick's Church, Parramatta.
click on image for enlargement
Catherine Bergin
In the meantime, Catherine had reached the age to receive her inheritance. The priest in Ireland collected the inheritance on her behalf, deducted the money he had lent to Catherine for her travel, and forwarded the balance to her in Australia. Catherine used the money to buy a large block of land in the Mount Pleasant Estate, on the corner of Mary and Gilbert Streets, North Parramatta, and paid for building the house which became the family home. The house always remained legally in her name and, upon her death, was bequeathed to her elder daughter Mary. Catherine's daughter Mary had the unusual distinction of being born and living all her life in that one home until she died, aged in her mid-80s in 1998. The house was sold after Mary's death.
Catherine Cleary (nee Bergin)
photograph taken on day of family celebrations
of her 50th wedding anniversary April 1961
Catherine bore six children :
- Mary Bergin Cleary : born 30 November 1912, never married, died 31 May 1998.
- Elizabeth Cleary : born prematurely on 17 January 1914 but died with collapsed lungs just three hours after birth. Buried at Rookwood Catholic cemetery.
- John Anthony ("Jack") Cleary : born 19 June 1915; married Sybil Marguerite Gilchrist, registration no: 1939/14928; two children : Joy and Geoffrey. Jack died suddenly 20 December 1970 of heart attack.
- Francis Michael Cleary : born 19 May 1917; married Thelma Elizabeth (Betty) Boles, 27 December 1941, registration no: 1941/25042. Four children : Patricia, Denise, Bruce, and John. Francis Michael Cleary died 7 September 1958, age 41 years.
- Honorah Catherine Cleary : born 1919; married Reginald George Spencer on 4 December 1943, registration no. 1943/24513. Three children : Garry, Martin and Shane.
- Daniel Austin Cleary : born 19 May 1921; married Pauline Barbara Endacott on 18 September 1948; five children : Michael Paul, Peter Francis, Robert John, Margaret Anne, and Catherine Mary. Dan died 4 July 1992.
Catherine's children : standing (left to right) Jack, Frank
seated (left to right) Nora, Dan, Mary
Michael and Catherine Cleary on day of their 50th wedding anniversary celebrations in 1961.
St Catherine
In Memory of the Cleary Family
Stained glass window in the (then) new St Monica's church,
the family parish church, in North Parramatta. Contributed
by the family of Michael Francis and Catherine Cleary.
memorial plaque located at graves in section C, row 6, No 1,
in North Rocks Catholic Cemetery (near Parramatta, NSW)
_____________________
Is there some connection ?
After the death of Mary Bergin Cleary, the family home at North Parramatta was emptied of its contents prior to the sale of the home. One small card salvaged from the garbage at the last minute was a piece of paper bearing two handwritten names and a date.
On later examination the writing appears to be the signatures of Thomas Francis Meagher and William Smith O'Brien, two prominent Irish rebels in the mid nineteenth century. In addition to the names is "Richmond Prison" and the date 31 May 1849. Meagher was sentenced "to be drawn on a hurdle to the place of execution on the 13th and there hanged until he be dead, his head then to be cut off and his body to be cut into 4 quarters, then disposed of as her majesty shall think fit" (http:/www.nationalarchives.ie/). Her majesty did not get the opportunity to think fit and, as events transpired, their sentences were commuted at the last minute to transportation to Van Diemen's Land. It is understood that both men had been sentenced to death with the sentence to be carried out in the first week of June 1849, so that the signatures and date, if genuine, were written by the two prominent rebels who knew they were to be executed within the week. Their stories are much more elaborate and interesting and readers may wish to research their lives.
Among the many famous sons of Waterford was Thomas Francis Meagher (1823 -1827), an Irish nationalist who formerly (sic) proposed the green, white and orange as the national flag of Ireland. He was arrested following the abortive Fenian Rising of 1848 and transported to Van Diemen's Land. He escaped from there to America in 1852 where he rose to the position of tempory (sic) governor of Montana. http://www.irishroots.net/Waterfrd.htm
Being heroes, did they produce lots of autographed cards to inspire their countrymen after their death, or is the card unusual and rare? How did it come to be among the rubbish at the Cleary home at North Parramatta in Sydney, Australia? Well it is all a matter for conjecture and readers may develop their own theories.
