Jane Murphy
Middle initial possibly "A".
Jane was born in Tinryland, County Carlow, Ireland on 6 May 1816 and christened on the day of her birth with sponsors Michael Cummins and Eleanor Dobbins. Her father was Laurence Murphy, a tailor, and her mother was Anne Bergan.
the baptismal register for Tinryland Catholic parish, photographed in 2002.
click on image for enlargement
On page 31 of the baptismal register, entry no. 516, (later the adhesive
label "67" was added). Written in Latin, it records the baptism of
Jane, daughter of Laurence Murphy and Anne Bergan, with sponsors Michael
Cummins and Elinora Dobbins, on 6 May 1816.
As a young adult, Jane was residing in the village of Urglin, a few miles from Tinryland. Urglin is a small village near Carlow City. In the early 21st century, there were just a dozen or two houses and some families in the village were named Bergin or Bergan (the name of Jane's mother) and it is possible Jane was staying with her mother's family there. It was not far from Burton Hall, where her older sister, Mary, was a live-in worker.
A view of the Urglin (Rutland) area of County Carlow.
The Church of Ireland tower can be seen in the distance.
Jane told her children that she was related to the Langton family of Kilkenny.
In the late 1830s there was a significant campaign to get young single women to migrate to the colonies.
|
NOTICE In New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land there are very few Women compared with the whole number of People, so that it is impossible to get Women enough as Female Servants or for other Employments. The consequence is, that desirable situations, with good wages, are easily obtained by Females in those Countries; but the Passage is so long that few can pay the expence of it without help. There is now, however, the following favourable opportunity of going to New South Wales. ...................... |
From a collection of ten broadsides on female emigration (M.L.), ed. W. Newman. cited by Teale. R (ed.)
Colonial Eve : Sources on Women in Australia 1788-1914, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1978. pp 43-44
At the age of 23, Jane went to New South Wales in the care of her brother-in-law, Richard Prendergast, on the ship North Britain, arriving in New South Wales on 14 December 1839. Although baptismal records show she was age 23, the migration record states that Jane was age 20; these records also state that she was of Roman Catholic religion, was able to read and write (unlike her older sister) and her native place was Urglin in County Carlow, Ireland.
It is thought Jane worked as a laundress. Within a year of her arrival in New South Wales, Jane married Patrick J. Dunne, a convict who had just been granted his certificate of freedom. The marriage took place in Yass, New South Wales, on 16 November 1840.
click to enlarge image
The certificate of marriage records that Patrick Dunne entered his "X" mark in the register at the time ofthe wedding;
in contrast Jane was able to sign her name. Her signature is shown above.
Jane had 17 children (the names and baptismal dates were extracted from a record of baptisms in Yass obtained courtesy of Caroline Dunne who also provided some of the other following information) :
- Peter Augustus Dunne : born Yass NSW, 23 September 1841; further information provided separately.
- Lawrence Francis Dunne : born Yass NSW, 9 November 1842, NSW birth registration V18421507 61; Baptised 4 December 1842. Married 21-year-old Matilda Mason in Burrowa NSW on 21 March 1879; Lawrence died in 1900 registration no 1900/13416. Lawrence and Matilda had a number of children including at least one son and a number of daughters including
- Mary A. Dunne(died 1884, NSW death certificate 1884/6962); and
- Florence Frances Dunne (born 1886, NSW registration no.1886/16112; and died the following year, NSW registration no. 1887/6556).
- Maria Bedelia Dunne : born Yass NSW, 25 December 1843; christened with name "Mary" on 10 January 1844; also known as "Bedelia". Bedelia Maria Dunne married Thomas Persehouse Burgis (described as a "gentleman" residing in Newtown Road) in St Barnabas Church of England, Sydney, on 27 July 1872. Maria Bedelia Burgis died on 30 May 1926 in Glencoe Street, Sutherland NSW. Her husband Thomas Burgis died in 1934. Children thought to have been :
- William Burgis (born c.1874);
- Edith Burgis (born c. 1876);
- Amy Burgis (born c. 1877);
- Thomas Burgis (born c. 1879, died Wagga Wagga 1929);
- Eva Burgis (born c.1881);
- Mary E. Burgis (died 1884);
- Frederick C. Burgis (born c.1885, died Randwick in 1927);
- Charles Burgis (born c. 1888);
- Dorothy Burgis (died 1915 in Kogarah).
- William Dunne : born Yass NSW, 30 January 1845; christened 2 February 1845; died at approximately 15 months of age and was buried in Yass on 26 April 1846.
- Anne Dunne : born Yass NSW on 15 March 1846; christened 16 March 1846; died at 4 years of age and buried in Yass on 29 April 1850.
- Bridget Dunne : born Yass NSW, 2 February 1848; christened 6 February; either she or another daughter named Bridget known to be still alive at time of father's death in 1897.
- Mary Theresa Agnes Dunne : born Yass NSW, 21 March 1849; christened 31 March; married Thomas Alexander Makins in Sydney in1873; known children :
- Violet Ursula Makins (b. 1874; married James Christianson in Parramatta district in 1898; no further information),
- Maud Makins (born and died in 1876).
- Jane Anne Dunne (born Yass NSW, 17 July or 17August 1850, NSW birth registration V18501097 67; christened 29 July 1850 according to Catholic Church records in Yass). Jane Dunn (sic),
born at Yass, daughter of Patrick Dunn and Jane Murphy died at 692 George St., Sydney on 6 April 1876 at age 23 (NSW death registration 1876/000818); it is presumed that the reported age at death is incorrect. The address is remarkably close to that of her sister, Mary. It is not known if the two sisters resided in close proximity; it is also possible that Jane, who was an unmarried young woman, may have died at her sister's residence at that her father, who was largely illiterate and therefore probably innumerate, made an error with the street number when reporting the death.
- Catherine Amelia Dunne : born 30 November 1851; baptised Parish of St James, County of Cumberland, 7 December 1851. Died at approximately 17 months of age and was buried on 18 April 1853.
- Julia May Dunne : born 9 June 1853, family residing at "Botany Road", a major road in southern Sydney, and was baptised on the same day. In later years, in her application for divorce, Julia identified the inner city suburb of Redfern as her birthplace. She married Leopold Henry Lamy in St Peter's (Church of England) in Wolloomooloo in Sydney on 4 July 1878. The marriage certificate reports that Julia had been residing in Newtown while Henry resided in Essex Street (presumed to be Essex St., Sydney which is in the City North); Henry was described as a grocer. At the time of Carl's birth in 1882, Leopold was the informant and his address is stated as 2 Stanley Street, Arncliffe in Sydney. Children include :
- Laurence P. Lamy (b. 1878, reported as deceased prior to birth of Carl in 1882 but no specific record located),
- Leonie Julia Lamy (b. 1880, married William Hilzinger in 1900; died 1939 at North Sydney),
- Carl (born 4 June 1882 in Bank Street, Chippendale in Sydney, married Eliza C. Schwegler in St Leonards in Sydney in 1913).
- Maude M. Lamy (born approx. 1885 and died in approx. 1886),
- James Christopher Dunne : born 24 July 1855, further information provided separately.
- Joseph P. Dunne : born 17 September 1857, NSW birth registration V18572256 142A; baptised 6 October 1857. No further information known.
- Patrick Martin Dunne : born 11 November 1858; baptised 3 December 1858; died of dysentery just days later on 9 December 1858 in Riley Street Woollomooloo in Sydney; death registration
1858/001499.
- Edmund Charles Dunne : born 24 November 1861; further information provided separately.
- William Thomas Dunne : born 3 September 1863; died 3 November 1901 in Cootamundra Hospital in NSW; death registration 1901/013301; on his death certificate is described as a labourer
and unmarried.
- Alfred Ernest Dunne : born 15 December 1865; died of dysentery and convulsions at just one year of age on 6 January 1867.
- plus one unidentified.
At the time of Jane's death in 1873, it was recorded that ten children, 4 females and 6 males, were still living, with seven being deceased.
From the above birth records it can be seen that the family had relocated to Sydney between the births of children in August 1850 and November 1851. Other information about where the family lived is included with information about Jane's husband, Patrick Dunne. On the death certificate, it is recorded that Jane died at "Macquarie Street South" and the official informant of her death was Patrick, her widower, whose address is also given as "Macquarie Street South" (now named Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills).
Jane died on 10 September 1873 and was buried in Petersham Cemetery. The archivist at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney was able to assist with information that Petersham Cemetery no longer exists. The gravestones were re-located although the graves were left in place. The land was used to build the Lewisham Hospital and as a playground for the nearby St Thomas' school. Sydney's main western suburban railway line runs alongside St Thomas' schoolyard at Lewisham. It is understood the high school building, constructed in the later years of the 20th century, sits on the unmarked graves of many souls. The burial register for Petersham Cemetery is retained by the Cathedral Archives office, although it was damaged in a fire many years ago at St Mary's Cathedral. The original register was sighted at the office and microfilm copy was accessed in the Mitchell Wing of the New South Wales State Library in Macquarie Street, Sydney (library reference number is FM4/5277). The document is titled Petersham Cemetery Register of Interments 1866-1885. The index section was damaged in the fire and could not be read, but on page 160 is found the entry for the burial of Jane Dunn (sic) who was buried in a single grave at block 7, line 2, lot 9, on 11 September 1873. The location of Jane's earthly remains is probably under school buildings or yard at in the area between St Thomas A'Beckett Church and the (now closed) Lewisham Hospital.
some monuments relocated from Petersham to Rookwood
When the Petersham Cemetery was closed, gravestones were relocated to the south-western corner of Rookwood Cemetery in Lidcombe (near East Street and Weeroona Avenue) ; they are placed haphazardly and there are no systematic records. This area of the cemetery was visited in 2000 (photograph above) but Jane Dunne's name was not identified on any of the surviving gravestones. Click here for Map of Cemetery showing location marked with red "X".
Just six weeks after Jane's death, the following notice appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald of Saturday 18 October 1873 :
Married 2nd,SL, at St Francis' Church, Very Rev Dean Sheridan, Thomas Alexander Makins, of George Street, to Mary Theresa Agnes, second daughter of Patrick J. Dunne, Macquarie Street, Sydney, late of Yass.
The archivist at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney advised that the church named "St Francis" was located in Goulburn Street, between Castlereagh and Elizabeth Streets. At the beginning of the 21st century that site is occupied by the Goulburn Street Parking Station above the spot where Sydney's suburban railway system enters the "City Circle" underground. The church of St Francis was relocated to Albion Street, Surry Hills but this was many years after the Dunnes lived in Sydney.
