Honorah Cleary
Daughter of Anthony Cleary and Bridget McMahon. Baptised 27 June 1840 and therefore born shortly before that, in Miltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland.
Appears to have been the first in the family to travel to the Australasian colonies. (A young woman named Honora Cleary and reported to be 19 years of age arrived in Victoria in December 1857 on a ship called the Ebba Brahe; this may have been the daughter of Anthony and Bridget). Two other Women named Honora Cleary entered Victoria by ship in the years between 1850 and 1869 (see Index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists to Victoria 1852-1923 provided by the Public Record Office of Victoria), but both the others arrived after the date of the marriage recorded below. Information on Honorah's death certificate states that she died at age 82 after living in Victoria for 66 years. This is consistent with arriving in Victoria in 1857.
According to a marriage certificate issued in Victoria, Honorah Cleary, spinster, daughter of Anthony and Bridget, had been residing in Deep Creek, Stanley, and married Henry Walker at Deep Creek, Stanley, Victoria (in the district of Beechworth) on 25 March 1861 according to the rites of the United Church of England and Ireland.
In 2003, an elderly local resident of Stanley advised that Deep Creek was located approximately mid-way between Beechworth and Stanley; a creek crosses the road at this point (no road signs); the original houses were located on the hillside above the creek. Old Stanley Road still exists and passes nearer to the crest of the hillside. The resident stated that his deceased father had told him that a Walker family was one of the main families in the Deep Creek settlement; he added that the Walkers also operated a "bootshop" in the town of Stanley, near the centre of the village that continues to exist. He advised that the bootshop was possibly opposite the current site of the hotel or, on that side of the road, but on the other side of the main "T" intersection in the village - he could not remember the location for sure.
Honorah's death certificate was not obtained until after this information had been provided by the local resident. On Honorah's death certificate, it is recorded that her occupation was "Boot-Seller". This provides confirmation of that part of the information provided by the local resident.
From information on Honorah's death certificate, the children of the marriage were
- Margaret Walker; register of births in Victoria shows she was born in 1862 (birth registration 1862/5335) and her mother's name is recorded as "Hanorah Clarey"; Margaret died prior to mother; no other information.
- Eliza Walker; register of births in Victoria shows she was born in 1863 (birth registration 1863/10962) and her mother's name is recorded as "Hanorah Clarey"; Eliza died prior to mother; no other information.
- Alice Walker; register of births in Victoria shows she was born in 1864 (mother's name again recorded as "Hanorah Clarey"; birth registration 1864/18453); the year is consistent with information on Honorah's death certificate. Alice died 2 July 1935 and gravestone states she was aged 75 at death but this is almost certainly incorrect. Alice was the informant for the death of her mother. According to her death certificate, Alice was a trained nurse and never married; .at the time of her mother's death in 1924, Alice was residing in Beechworth. She died in Mercy Hospital in East Melbourne and was buried in Stanley Cemetery, close to her parents. It is understood that the Mercy Hospital in East Melbourne was opened in 1935 so that Alice may have been among its initial patients.
- Jane Walker; register of births in Victoria shows she was born in 1866 (mother's name again recorded as "Hanorah Clarey"; birth registration 1866/24223); still living at time of mother's death; no other information.
- Ellen Walker; born 1868 (registration 1868/19814); died of Scarlatina (sacarlet fever) on 1 May 1870 at age 20 months (death registration no. 1870/5658).
- Mary Walker; born 1871 (registration 1871/12487), deceased prior to mother; no other information.
- William Henry Walker or William Simpson Walker; based on information on Honorah's death certificate, William Henry Walker was born in approx. 1874; birth records for Victoria show that William Simpson Walker was born at Stanley in 1875 to Henry Walker and Hannora Cleary - first birth for which mother's family name was correctly spelled (birth registration 1875/5661); Hanorah's death certificate states that he was still living at the time of his mother's death; no other information.
- Francis Vaughan Walker; born 1879; registered as Francies Vaghan Walker (registration no. 1879/12257); deceased prior to mother but no other information is known.
- Ellen "Nellie" Walker; born 1882 (registration no. 1882/5595). Nellie was residing at 5 Chaddesley Avenue, East St. Kilda in Melbourne and her occupation was described as "home duties" when she died on 7 June 1967; she was unmarried and her age and parents' names are recorded as unknown; she was buried near he parents in Stanley Cemetery.
- Honora "Nora" Walker; born 1886 (registration no. 1886/22186); she is buried in the same grave as her sister Nellie in Stanley Cemetery; the gravestone states that she died on 3 March 1963; no record of her death could be located in the Victorian register of deaths, suggesting Nora died outside Victoria but her remains were brought back for burial.
Henry Walker is stated on his gravestone to be a native of Se.. (?indecipherable), Yorkshire, England. He died on 11 September 1899, aged 72 years. Honora lived many years more. She died at Stanley on 17 September 1924. Although she had been married in the rites of United Church of England and Ireland, her burial was conducted by a priest of the Roman Catholic religion of her childhood. Henry and Honorah are buried together in the cemetery at Stanley, Victoria.
Any further information about Honorah Walker (nee Cleary) or her family would be welcome; see contact us.
