Nicholas Bourke, son of Patrick Bourke & Bridget Corbett

Nicholas was the final child in the family of Patrick Bourke and Bridget Corbett. He was born on October 7, 1863 at Bylands when his mother was about 45 years of age. The information given on his birth certificate by his father, Patrick Bourke of Bylands (who signed with a cross) was as follows:

Born 7 October, 1863, Bylands, Nicholas Bourke, not present, male.
Father: Patrick Bourke, farmer, aged 45.Born in Co. Tipperary, Ireland.
Married: In June 1842 at Melbourne.
Issue: John 20; James 18; Margaret 16; Bridget 14; Thomas 10; Edward 7; Patrick 2
Mother: Bridget Bourke, formerly Corbett, aged 45, born Co. Tipperary, Ireland.
Witness/nurse: Mrs Coman
Registered: Kilmore, 24 October, 1863.

Nothing was known about Nicholas beyond the fact that he died at the young age of 21 years. Obtaining his death certificate on June 5, 2006 tinged his story with sadness, because his life was summed up with the word “idiot”. No occupation- just ‘idiot’ and the fact that he had died of ‘disease of the brain, idiot for many years’.
We will never know if in fact Nicholas was born a normal child and contracted a disease that left him mentally impaired, or if as the last child born to an older mother, he was born with a genetic condition such as Downs Syndrome.
Nicholas Bourke died on January 21, 1885, at his father’s Pine Lodge farm. His doctor was Dr. J.P. Fitzgerald who had last seen Nicholas on October 31 of the previous year. His father Patrick Bourke, farmer of Pine Lodge, registered his death, signing the page with a cross as he could not write.
Nicholas was buried in the Shepparton Cemetery on January 23, and John Bowen was the undertaker. There was no priest in attendance, and John Bowen and Benjamin Lambert were witnesses.