For many years we had no clues as to the parentage of Patrick Bourke. He married in Melbourne before parental details were required on marriage certificates, and his parents were not named on his 1886 death certificate. Then we discovered that months before his death he had married for a second time, and this time we struck gold with the information given on his marriage certificate:
Above: The information given on the marriage certificate of Patrick Bourke's
second marriage stated that his father was Alexander Bourke, and his mother was Margaret Danton. It also stated that Patrick had been born in Tipperary Town.
From this point, it was not difficult to track down Patrick's baptismal details back in Ireland, as well as the marriage details of his parents.
Above: Patrick Bourke's baptism, January8, 1815, at St Michaels, Tipperary Town, revealing that his parents were not married at the time.
Above: The marriage of Alexander Burke and Margaret Danton, St Michaels, Tipperary Town.
On Bridget Corbett's death certificate, her father was given as ‘Nicholas Corbett’, and her mother ‘unknown’. When her brother Michael Corbett died in 1861, his death certificate recorded his parents as Nicholas Corbett and Bridget Hennessy.
Various records gave Bridget's year of birth as ranging between c. 1821-24, and Michael between c.1816.
Irish church records reveal that Bridget Corbett was born in the parish of Sologhead, Tipperary. She was baptised in 1820 as can be seen in the record below:
There are numerous Patrick Bourke/Burkes who arrived 1840-41, and as yet we have not been able to pinpoint which of them is definitely ‘our’ Patrick Bourke. There were two Patrick Bourkes of about the right age also on board ‘Lysander’, so it may be that he came out on the same ship as his future bride.
Patrick Bourke and Bridget Corbett were married at St. Francis Catholic Church, Melbourne, on April 24, 1843.
First child John was born in Newtown, Melbourne, in 1844. James followed him in 1846, and both boys were baptised in the same church that their parents were married in.
Margaret Mary Bourke, their first daughter, was born in 1848, and until this year I had thought that her place of birth was most likely Melbourne like her elder brothers, or perhaps Kilmore at a pinch. Just days ago I discovered that she was in fact born at Devils River, Delatite, near Mansfield, an area that I had not even known Patrick and his family had resided in!
Second daughter Bridget Bourke was born at Kilmore on January 21, 1854. She was baptised on April 30, 1854, by Father T. O’Rourke, and her sponsors were fellow Irish immigrants Martin and Bridget Ryan.
Thomas Bourke was born to Patrick and Bridget in c. 1855-56 at Kilmore, followed by Timothy in 1857.
The family were located at Bylands, a farming community near Kilmore, and in 1861 their next son, Patrick, was born. Final son, Nicholas, was born at Bylands in 1862.
There is some discrepancy as to how many children were born to Patrick Bourke and Bridget Corbett. Records have been found pertaining to eight children, but it is thought that twelve children were in fact born to Bridget, with four dying either before birth or soon after. In 1857, at the time of Timothy Bourke’s birth, his mother registered the event and told the Registrar that she had “four boys, 2 girls living; deceased 2 boys, 2 girls”.
When Patrick Bourke recorded the birth of his son, Patrick, in 1861, he described the four deceased children as being “three boys and one girl”.
This discrepancy suggests that the babies were still born or died very soon after birth, and perhaps were not even named. No official trace has been found of these four babies, except for their mention on their brothers’ birth certificates. There was a five year gap between Bridget’s 3rd and 4th children, which is probably the period in which the infant deaths occurred.
In 1868, the following entry was placed in a postal directory:
“1868: BOURKE J. M. P & L FARMERS KILMORE.
BOURKE JOHN, MICHAEL, PATRICK & LAWRENCE,
FARMERS BYLANDS (KILMORE).
The same entries were also placed in 1869 and 1870, then in 1875 the entry read “ BOURKE Patrick and Michael James Bylands farmers.”
There were another two families of farming Bourkes at Kilmore and Bylands during the same period as our Patrick, and these references to John, Michael, Lawrence and Patrick related to one of them. The other Bourke family farming at Bylands was the family of John Bourke and Judith Meehan. No blood connection between these three Bourke families has yet been found.
In 1869, eldest daughter Margaret Bourke married Kilmore storekeeper Patrick Bourke, whose parents John and Judith were also of Tipperary stock.
During the early 1870s, Patrick, Bridget and their family relocated to Pine Lodge near Shepparton, where they took up farming land.
Documentation from 1873 refers to Patrick ‘Burke’ of Kilmore being a selector of land on the Broken River. In 1876, Patrick had to answer departmental questions in regard to his farm and practices, and the following information was given:
Q: Do you live here continuously? A: Yes
Q: Where does your family reside? A: On the land.
Q: Do you hold any land under another licence or lease from the crown? A: Yes. 55-24 parish of Arcadia, residence and cultivation.
Q: Distance from this allotment: A: 25 miles from my present residence.
Q: Is the land enclosed? A: Yes, 140 chains comprising of 80 chains chock and log (at a cost of 10 shillings per chain) and 60 chains log and brush (costing 5 shillings per chain).
Q: Who are the occupiers of the adjoining lands?
A: Bridget A. Bourke
Q: No. of acres ploughed & cultivated
1) First year? A: 40, costing 3 pound 10s per acre, and yielding 20 per acre. Value 175 pounds.
2) Second year only, not including the first? A: 10 acres
Buildings: Slab house, 20 feet X 15 feet, materials wood. Value 15 pounds. Other improvements: stable and barn, valued at 15 pounds.
Q: Total cost of improvements? A: 265 pounds.
In 1876 the postal directory has an entry for “ PATRICK BOURKE, FARMER, PINE LODGE SHEPPARTON”.
Patrick and Bridget and their family selected about 650 acres, split by a road which today is the Midland highway. The southern-most portion of the property, 21B and 19A, fronted the Broken River, and totalled 252.0.24 acres.
The section on the northern side of the road, 21A, was larger, totalling 319 acres 2 roods and 30 perches. In 1876, Bridget Anne Bourke, at the age of 22, was granted the leasehold of this property for the term of seven years. When making the application, she stated that her family lived on adjoining lands, and that she lived in the homestead on the property continuously.
Again, questions asked of Bridget before the approval of her lease gives us a good picture of her farm and living conditions….fencing consisted of 164-11 chains of chock and log fencing, valued at 10 shillings per chain, and 90 chains of log and brush, valued at 5 shillings per chain. Her father, Patrick Bourke, was the occupier of the adjoining land.
Bridget’s home was larger than that of her parents and brothers. It consisted of a weatherboard house, 38 feet by 15, with a separate bark kitchen 25 feet by 15. Her water storage was provided by a dam 20 feet long, 14 wide and 8 feet deep, and other improvements included a pig shed and stockyards.
On July 18, 1877, having been granted lease of block 21A, Bridget then applied to transfer the lease back to her father, Patrick Bourke of Pine Lodge. Her reason for doing so was given as “I am desirous of leaving the district”. She only moved as far away as nearby Dookie, where she raised a large family with farmer Michael Moylan.
Bridget’s application was granted on August 12, 1876, and her father Patrick worked the land alongside his own until November 1879. At this point he applied to mortgage the lease on 21A to Michael Ryan. The reason for requesting the mortgage was “ want of money to meet bills falling due and failure of crops last season.” It was also noted on the application that Patrick had two rents due on his property.
Three of their children married after moving to the Pine Lodge district…son James Bourke married Ellen McCluskey from nearby Arcadia in 1876; younger daughter Bridget married Dookie farmer Michael Moylan in 1878 and Timothy married Mary Ann Howard in 1884.
Of their other children, Nicholas died at the young age of 21; eldest child John died a bachelor aged 37; and Patrick never married. No trace at all has been found of Thomas Bourke.
The family matriarch Bridget Corbett Bourke was the first member of the Bourke family to be buried in the family plot at the Shepparton Cemetery. She died on September 16, 1880, at her Pine Lodge home, at the age of 56 years, having been ill for some eight or nine months after suffering a stroke. Her cause of death was given as ‘hemiplegia’, which is a paralysis of half of the body as the result of either a cerebral haemorrhage (stroke) or thrombosis (the blockage of a blood vessel by a clot).
Bridget’s son, John Bourke of Murchison, provided the information on her death certificate:
“On September 16, 1880, at Pine Lodge, Shire of Benalla, Bridget Bourke, farmer’s wife aged 56 years. Died of hemiplegia, 8 or 9 months duration. Last seen by Dr. J. Fitzgerald on August 27, 1880. Father’s name Nicholas Corbett, mother’s name unknown. Buried September 18, 1880, at Shepparton Cemetery by Ralph Longstaff. Minister Uriah William Brady Robinson, witnesses John Bourke, Timothy Quinlan. Born Tipperary, Ireland. 39 years in Victoria. Married in Melbourne aged 20 to Patrick Bourke. Issue: John 35; James 33; Margaret 31; Bridget 29; Thomas 24; Timothy 21; Patrick 19 and Nicholas 14.”
Above: From the Kilmore Free Press, 30 September, 1880.
The eldest child, John Bourke, died two years after his mother in 1882, following an attack of dysentery. Youngest child, Nicholas, died in January 1885.
The following information was recorded in the old Shepparton Cemetery register 1878-1911:-
Grave No: 98, 99, 100.
Date: September 18, 1880: Bridget Bourke. Plot owner Patrick Bourke. Internment: first. Religion R.C.
May 15, 1882: John Bourke, second internment. R.C.
January 22, 1885: Nicholas Bourke, third internment. R.C.
April 9, 1886: Patrick Bourke, 4th internment. R.C.
The accuracy of John Bourke’s entry in the above register entry is not certain, as John’s death certificate states that he was buried in the Burramine Cemetery on May 15, 1882, and the burial was witnessed by Father Michael Kennedy and Patrick Bourke.
On May 3, 1881, Patrick made an application for a grant which read as follows:
“ Sir,
Being the lessee of allotment 19A and 21B of section in the parish of Pine Lodge, County of Moira, containing 252 acres and 24 perches, I hereby apply to pay the difference between the amount of rent actually paid and the entire sum of one pound for each acre, and for the issue of the Crown grant for the same.
My reason for desiring the conversion of my leasehold into a freehold is to enable me to borrow money at a cheaper rate.
I have the honor to be, Sir, your obedient servant,
Name: Patrick Bourke X his mark.
Pine Lodge.
The grant was approved, and the purchase money noted as being two hundred and fifty three pounds .
Patrick Bourke, widower, continued to farm at Pine Lodge until his death in April 1886. The tragic event took place on April 8, 1886, and was recorded in the local ‘Shepparton News’.
“ The circumstances under which Mr. Patrick Bourke, one of the earliest settlers in the Lodge district, met his death, are somewhat painful. From what we can learn, the supposition gaining most authenticity is that on Thursday evening last Mr. Bourke rode his horse for water to a dam within a short distance from Cashel. The banks of the dam are extremely steep and the animal missing its footing, fell. Deceased was thrown against a log that happened unfortunately to be in the dam, and thus met his fate. The large funeral cortege that wended its way into Shepparton on Saturday testified to the universal esteem in which Mr. Bourke was held.”
Shepparton News, Tuesday April 13, 1886.
In the same edition was also the following reference:
“ It was announced in our last issue that public meeting of ratepayers would be held on Saturday at Mr. Thos Graham’s residence, Kialla, and the Pine Lodge Hotel, for purpose of protesting against the proposed diversion of the waters of the Broken River from its natural course. The meetings would have been largely attended but for the untimely death of Mr. Bourke, whose funeral took place that day and was attended by the majority of Pine Lodge residents with whom the deceased was acquainted.”
The Kilmore Free Press carried the following report:
"Many old residents here will remember Mr Patrick Bourke, at one time an old and respected resident of Slab Hut Creek, Bylands. He selected land some years back at Pine Lodge, where he continuously resided, and I believe was fairly successful. News reached Shepparton on Thursday night that he was found drowned in a dam near Cashel, and when the account reached Kilmore there was much regret amongst many old friends. Mr. Bourke was a straightforward, honest man, and was deservedly respected in the Kilmore district, where he was a resident for a number of years before going to Pine Lodge."
- Kilmore Free Press, Thursday 15 April 1886.
Patrick Bourke’s death certificate gives the following information, which was provided by his son Timothy Bourke, labourer of Pine Lodge.
“On 8th April, 1886, at Dookie, Patrick Bourke, farmer, aged 70 years. Cause of death accidentally drowned. Magisterial inquiry not considered necessary. Order for burial from James Maginnus J.P. Parents names not known. Buried April 10, 1886, Shepparton, by John Bowen, undertaker. No priest or minister present at burial, buried by B. Lawless. Householder Timothy Bourke witness.”
Born Tipperary, Ireland, about 46 years in Victoria. Married in Melbourne aged 25 years to Bridget Corbett. Issue: James 40; Margaret 38; Bridget 33; Thomas 31; Timothy 32; Patrick 24.”
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