Ellen Elizabeth Bourke was the sixth child and second daughter born to James & Ellen Bourke on April 1, 1886.Written on the back of the above photo was “Tot Bourke. Mrs Bill Lonergan, later Mrs. Ted Doyle, number 3 Garnet Street, west Brunswick”.
Known as “Nellie”, Ellen was raised on the family farm at Boosey and attended Boosey North Catholic School with her siblings and the numerous Bourke cousins who also lived in the area.
Nellie was 26 years old when she married local lad William Ambrose Lonergan in 1912. William Lonergan was born July 4, 1884, and had grown up with Nellie and her brothers, although they attended a different school since William went to the Boosey South Catholic School with his siblings Richard and Edward and twin sisters Bridget and Margaret.
Three years before Nellie’s marriage to William Lonergan, her brother William Bourke had married Margaret Lonergan, William’s sister.William Lonergan was a terrific sportsman and footballer, and supposedly had a run for Collingwood at one time.
Known as “Nellie”, Ellen was raised on the family farm at Boosey and attended Boosey North Catholic School with her siblings and the numerous Bourke cousins who also lived in the area.
Nellie was 26 years old when she married local lad William Ambrose Lonergan in 1912. William Lonergan was born July 4, 1884, and had grown up with Nellie and her brothers, although they attended a different school since William went to the Boosey South Catholic School with his siblings Richard and Edward and twin sisters Bridget and Margaret.
Three years before Nellie’s marriage to William Lonergan, her brother William Bourke had married Margaret Lonergan, William’s sister.William Lonergan was a terrific sportsman and footballer, and supposedly had a run for Collingwood at one time.
He and Nellie had two daughters, Muriel Josephine Lonergan in 1913 and Veronica Lonergan in 1915, both of whom became Josephite Nuns. Muriel was born at Yarraville, Melbourne, on March 15, 1913, and Veronica was born at Oaklands, NSW, on June 10, 1915, as her parents moved to the Oaklands district early in their marriage.
Veronica was only two years old when her father died in 1917, at the tragically young age of 33.
Three years later her mother Nellie married again, this time to Edward “Ted” Doyle, and the couple had a daughter, Marjorie Doyle.
Veronica was only two years old when her father died in 1917, at the tragically young age of 33.
Three years later her mother Nellie married again, this time to Edward “Ted” Doyle, and the couple had a daughter, Marjorie Doyle.
Veronica Lonergan told me that she spent most of her childhood and adolescence in Brunswick, a suburb of Melbourne. Her family made frequent trips back to Yarrawonga and Cobram where they still had lots of family living. Veronica entered the Convent on September 10, 1933, and was professed in January 1936. She took the name ‘Sister Clement”, but reverted back to her own name when it became permissible for nuns to do so, and is now Sister Veronica of the Order of St. Joseph. Her sister, Muriel, decided to keep her adopted name ‘Sister Vianney’. Sister Veronica has had a wonderful life as a teacher, and in later life was an invaluable member of staff at the Catholic regional College at North Keilor.
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