Elizabeth CLEARY (1845-1913)

Elizabeth Cleary

Daughter of Anthony Cleary and Bridget McMahon. Baptised 23 March 1845 and therefore born shortly before that in Miltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland.

According to the Index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists (Immigration to Victoria) (see http://www.cohsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/db/ship.pl), Peter Cleary age 22 and Elizabeth Cleary age 17 arrived in Victoria in January 1864 on the ship Great Australia. The ages do not fit exactly, but it appears that these were the children of Anthony and Bridget. Also on the same ship were two other persons named Cleary : Denis age 24, John age 24 and Ellen age 18. It is thought that Dennis (Dinny) and John (Jack) Cleary also on this ship are from the family of prominent Victorian sporting, political and media identity, Phil Cleary (see http://www.philcleary.com.au/history_garibaldi_pope_dinny.htm).

Shortly after her arrival in Victoria, at approximately age 19, Elizabeth (also known as Eliza) married Denis Collins at Yackandandah, Victoria.

Based on information in her death certificate and cemetery monuments, her children were

Nora Collins, born 1867 (birth registration no. 1867/5676; infant's name recorded as "Hanora" and mother's maiden name as "Clary"). She was later known as Nora Bluntish; died 1922 in Osbornes Flat at age 55 years and is buried with her parents in Yackandandah Cemetery. Her death certificate states she married a man named Bluntish, first name unknown, in Melbourne in approx. 1901 and that she had one son, Frank, born in approx. 1901. No record of the marriage or birth of the child could be located during a search of Victorian records.
John Collins, born 1869 (birth registration no. 1869/12679 where mother's maiden name spelled "Clary"); no other information known.
Denis Collins, born 1871 (birth registration no 1871/27468 where mother's maiden name again spelled "Clary"). Occupation farmer; usual residence Osbornes Flat. He married twice : in 1897, he married Jane Martin in Myrtleford, Victoria (marriage registration 1897/6406) and there were four children born :
- Mary Florence Collins (born c. 1899 & still living in 1939).
- John Francis Collins (born c. 1900 & still living in 1939).
- William Dennis Collins (born c. 1904 & still living in 1939).
- Kathleen Jane Collins (born c.1909 & still living in 1939).
In 1922, he married, for the second time, to Florence Britton (born c. 1892 and died 2 March 1971) in Tumut, New South Wales; one child was born to this marriage :
- Dennis Collins (born c. 1931 & still living in 1939).
Dennis died at Beechworth Hospital; according to his death certificate, he died 2 September 1939, although another source gives the date as two days later.
Anthony Collins, born 1874 at Osbornes Flat; (birth regn. 1874/6343; mother's name registered as "Clary" & birth place registered as Yackandandah) occupation farmer; married Flora Hobbs (1880-1979) in Yackandandah in approx. 1908. Children of the marriage were:
- Doris Collins (born 1911 & still living in 1959).
- Mavis Collins (born 1913 and still living in 1959).
- Harold James Collins, born 1915. According to a gravestone in Yackandandah Cemetery, he was a prisoner of war in Rabaul and died on 14 May 1944, however this date is certainly incorrect. The Rabaul Memorial website shows : COLLINS, Harold James, Pte, VX23628. AIF 2/22 Battalion, Australian Infantry. 1 July 1942. Age 27. Son of Anthony and Flora Collins of Yackandandah, Victoria. Panel 20. The Australian War Memorial Database records that H.J.Collins was presumed dead, at sea in the South West Pacific area, and he is commemorated on panel 48 at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The War Memorial database shows 743 Australian servicemen lost their lives on the single day of 1 July 1942, many of whom were lost at sea, apparently in the sinking of the Japanese ship Montevideo Maru by an American submarine; the ship was carrying more than a thousand prisoners of war and civilian prisoners to Japan. An Australian ABC television program 7:30 Report on 6 October 2003 reported that, if the official record is correct, the sinking of the Montevideo Maru was the largest loss of Australian lives in a single event in all Australian history. However the story also provided testimony from a Japanese seaman on the ship that some Australians survived the sinking, sang Auld Ang Syne in memory of lost comrades, were picked up by a Japanese ship, and were transported to Kobe in Japan to labour as prisoners of war. Another source quoted on the program reported that the surviving Australian prisoners-of-war died when they were sealed in a mine just days prior to the dropping of the first atomic bomb. The sinking of the Montevideo Maru, 1 July 1942 by Ian Holmes tells that families had no news of their loved ones in uniform; as months passed and then years, they would fear the worst but could only hope. By late 1945, after the end of the war, families still hoped for contact until eventually, a couple of months after the end of the war in the Pacific, Japanese records were located and families were formally notified that their loved ones were lost in the sinking of the ship and were not coming home. It must have been heart-breaking for families. Perhaps May 1944 is the date that Anthony Collins imagined or believed that his eldest son died and the lost son is so commemorated on the gravestone of his father. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission does not appear to acknowledge the many souls lost in Rabaul and in the sinking of the Montevideo Maru; Joanne & Jenny Evans are thanked for their research and their Rabaul Memorial web-site recognising their father/grandfather and the many others who died in this "this often neglected theatre of war". Also see http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/SinkingofMontevideoMaru.html
- Sheila Rose Collins born 1917 & still living in 1959).
- Frances Gene Collins born 1919 & still living in 1959).
- Francis Brian Collins(born 1921 & thought to have died 1996).
- Gwenneth Lesley Collins born c. 1922 & still living in 1959).
- Gordon Keith Collins born c. 1922 & still living in 1959).
- Edward Dennison Collins (born 1922 & still living in 1959) - last three children were triplets.
The death certificate records that his usual address was U.R. Wellsford Street, Yackandandah. Anthony Collins died at age 85 years on 17 July 1959 in Wodonga District Hospital; his death was the result of injuries received when the car he was driving ran off the road and collided with a tree.
Francis Collins, born at Yackandandah in 1878 (birth regn 1878/6150; mother's name recorded as "Clary") . Held rank of sergeant in the 14th Battalion Australian Infantry Forces (A.I.F.); while a prisoner of war, he died on 12 April 1917 of wounds received in action at Bullecourt, France. see http://www.cwgc.org/cwgcinternet/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=250088 and http://www.awm.gov.au/database/roh.asp. Commemorated at Vis- En-Artois British Cemetery (memorial location reference XI. D. 4.), at Haucourt, Pas de Calais, on the road from Arras to Cambrai, in France. Also commemorated with his parents in Yackandandah Cemetery and is also commemorated on Panel 72 at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Mary Collins (born 1880 at Yackandandah; birth registration no. 1880/19773).
Stephen Collins (born 1883 at Yackandandah; birth registration 1883/6336).

Denis died on 5 May 1892 (death registration 1892/8690). Eliza died at Osborne's Flat, Yackandandah, Victoria on 13 October 1913, and was buried in Yackandandah Cemetery.

It is likely that some descendants of Elizabeth Collins still live in Victoria and any further information would be welcomed.

Elizabeth Cleary in the

brief family tree of
Elizabeth Cleary