Michael Anthony Cleary
Son of Anthony Cleary and Bridget McMahon. Baptised in Miltown Malbay, County Clare, Ireland on 21 September 1851 and probably born shortly before that. Baptismal sponsors were Michael & Mary Barry. The death certificate contains a place for the information "how long in the Australasian colonies or states" and the entry states 62 years in New South Wales, Victoria and New Zealand, suggesting he left Ireland in approximately 1869, aged possibly 18 years old. Never again to see his parents or native country.
The circumstances of Michael's departure from Ireland are not known. It appears that his brother, John, may have emigrated at about the same time but it is unknown if they travelled together. John settled in Victoria where siblings Peter and Elizabeth had setttled, but Michael travelled to New Zealand where a cousin, Michael James Cleary, was living.
photo provided by Denise Ritter,
Michael's grand-daughter
The first confirmed information relates to Michael joining the New Zealand Constabulary. When he joined on 25 November 1878, his previous occupation was stated as "miner", his height was 5 ft and 9 inches and his complexion was "fresh". He is number 1020 in the REgister of constables. Some information on the role of constables in New Zealand at that time can be found at http://www.crime.co.nz/c-files.asp?ID=10280. The Armed Constabulary was both army and police, fighting in the New Zealand Land Wars as well as keeping order. By the early 1870s, the men of the Armed Constabulary were being more often employed on road and other works. Details of Michael's service are not known.
Michael Anthony Cleary married Elizabeth ("Lizzie") Nash in St Patrick's Church, Oamaru, New Zealand, on 12 March 1881.
Michael was discharged from the Constabulary in July 1883 and they moved to Australia, living in Goulburn, then a major city south west of Sydney. According to the birth certificate of his second son, Michael Cleary was aged 32 years in October 1884, when they were residing in Goulburn, his occupation was described as "storekeeper". Later the family lived in Granville (a suburb of Sydney), the town of Wellington in central-west New South Wales, and eventually at Hoxton Park (near Liverpool, in outer Sydney).
Information about the children of the family is found separately with information about their mother. The older children in the family left school at early ages and went to work to earn money to assist their mother in supporting the younger children. His son, Michael Francis Cleary, had very little time or respect for his father. Michael Anthony Cleary drank excessively, which did not help the family's poverty. It is understood that he also gave money to Church institutions (especially St Vincent's orphanage for boys at Westmead in Sydney). This generosity, when his family was so poor, was resented by some family members, including a suggestion that he may have had an illegitimate child living in that institution. One of his grandchildren (Sister Sylvia Cleary, born Hilda, daughter of William Anthony Cleary), when asked about her grandfather in later years, recalled seeing her grandfather under the influence of alcohol only once. Another grandchild, John Buggy, also reported happier memories of his grandfather. So it seems that different family members had different memories of Michael A. Cleary.
The above photograph, from the collection of the late Mary Bergin Cleary, showing
Elizabeth and Michael Cleary is thought to have been taken at the wedding of their
second son, Michael Francis Cleary, and Catherine Bergin in April 1911.
According to William Cleary's account, it would appear that the family resided in Third Avenue, Hoxton Park. However modern maps show streets named First, Second, Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh etc. etc. up to Thirty Third Avenue, with all numbers represented except Third Avenue and Twenty First Avenue. It would appear there once was a Third Avenue which is no longer on the maps. However Sr Sylvia Cleary, grand-daughter of Michael and Elizabeth, recalled visiting her grandparents and then living on the farm, after her grandparents had moved to Liverpool. The location she identified is between Second and Fourth Avenues, consistent with the location of where Third Avenue might have been.
Michael Anthony Cleary does not seem to have had much contact with his brothers and sisters in Victoria.
The photograph above is the Buggy home in Guildford, taken on 18 May 1927. S.M.Buggy's
first "T model" Ford, carrying a load of furniture,
is parked in front. Photo from Peter Monaghan, grandson of Michael A. Cleary.
Michael A. Cleary died on 13 January 1931, at 62 Cross Street, Guildford (the home of his daughter Mary Buggy). On his death certificate he is described as a "farmer". A family story was that he died after having six teeth extracted which was reported to be linked to causing "septic mouth"; he was ill for about ten days prior to his death. The death certificate states that he died of myocarditis and congestion of the lungs. He was buried in the Roman Catholic Cemetery at Liverpool, New South Wales.
map shows Liverpool Cemetery and "X" marks approximate location of Cleary graves.
