Tuesday, December 9, 2008
New wife found for Pine Lodge Pat!!!!
Last night found me in a state of great confusion, followed by immense excitement, when a new research resource on the Victorian PRO site provided me with an intriguing piece of information.
The source was the 'Victorian Probate Index', and finding a reference often allows for the downloading of the actual associated documents such as wills or administrations.I located the following reference for our Patrick Bourke of Pine Lodge..
"Patrick Bourke. Died April 8, 1886. Granted May 13, 1886. Administration. Occupation: farmer. Residence: Pine Lodge. To whom committed: Kathleen F. Bourke."
While the associated documents were downloading, I started to ponder "Who IS Kathleen F. Bourke? Patrick's wife, Bridget Corbett Bourke, had died at Pine Lodge in 1880. Patrick's two daughters were Margaret and Bridget...there was no "Kathleen" on the scene anywhere as far as I could tell.
The arrival on my computer screen of the probate documents only confused matters further, as this Kathleen Frances Bourke was claiming to be the widow of Patrick Bourke of Pine Lodge. Widow!!! As far as I knew Patrick had not remarried during the five years following Bridget's death. A check of his death certificate supported this- in the column for "If deceased was married where, and at what age and to whom", son Timothy Bourke who was informant on the death certificate had stated "married in Melbourne when he was 25 years old to Bridget Corbett"...no other mention of any other wife or marriage.
The Australian Vital Records Index did not show a marriage of a Patrick Bourke to a Kathleen, but I finally struck pay dirt on the Victorian BDMs site when I found an entry for a marriage of Patrick Bourke to 'CATHERINE' Frances Rogers in 1886. Subsequent purchase of the certificate revealed that it was indeed our Pine Lodge Patrick, but some large discrepencies became obvious upon analyzing the certificate.
Patrick's details were given as follows:
"Patrick Bourke, widower 1881. Five living children, two dead. Born Town Tipperary, Ireland. Farmer, 46 years. Present residence Pine Lodge near Shepparton, Victoria. Parents : Alick Bourke, farmer, and Margaret Denton(???hard to decipher)"
I was over the moon about the inclusion of Patrick's parents' names, as this was one brick wall that I just couldn't break down, Patrick's previous marriage having taken place in the early 1840s when parental details were not included on Church marriage records.Then I looked at his age...46!!!!! What a giant-sized Furphy!!! Patrick Bourke was at least 70 years old- his age was obviously altered to make the 48 year age difference between him and his new bride seem less obvious. His eldest living son James was 40, and his youngest surviving child Patrick was about 24...his second wife was more than ten years younger than his two daughters!!
Other mistakes, although not quite as large, include the incorrect year of death when Patrick was made a widower( 1881 instead of 1880), and stating that he had five remaining children when in fact he had two daughters and four sons still living.
The bride herself gave the following details: " Catherine Frances Rogers, spinster, born Queenscliff, Victoria. Servant, aged 22 years, present residence Victoria Hotel, Bay Street, Port Melbourne. Parents Edward Rogers, farmer, and Mary O'Brien."
The marriage took place at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Port Melbourne, on February 23, 1886. Witnesses were Thomas Patrick Collins and Mary Jane Collins. The bride signed her name "Catherine Frances Rogers", and the groom signed with a cross.
I don't known how 'Catherine Frances Rogers' became 'Kathleen Frances Bourke' less than two months later.She was born Katherine Rogers in 1863 in Queenscliff to parents Edward Rogers and Mary MORAN (also named as Mary MOYNE on the birth certificates of five other children)Edward Rogers married Mary Moran in Victoria in 1856.
Whatever the case, their marriage lasted less than two months as Patrick died on April 8, 1886. His surviving children must have been furious when this young stepmother applied for probate of their father's will and received it-it is easy to see why son Timothy refused to acknowledge the second marriage on his father's death certificate.
The source was the 'Victorian Probate Index', and finding a reference often allows for the downloading of the actual associated documents such as wills or administrations.I located the following reference for our Patrick Bourke of Pine Lodge..
"Patrick Bourke. Died April 8, 1886. Granted May 13, 1886. Administration. Occupation: farmer. Residence: Pine Lodge. To whom committed: Kathleen F. Bourke."
While the associated documents were downloading, I started to ponder "Who IS Kathleen F. Bourke? Patrick's wife, Bridget Corbett Bourke, had died at Pine Lodge in 1880. Patrick's two daughters were Margaret and Bridget...there was no "Kathleen" on the scene anywhere as far as I could tell.
The arrival on my computer screen of the probate documents only confused matters further, as this Kathleen Frances Bourke was claiming to be the widow of Patrick Bourke of Pine Lodge. Widow!!! As far as I knew Patrick had not remarried during the five years following Bridget's death. A check of his death certificate supported this- in the column for "If deceased was married where, and at what age and to whom", son Timothy Bourke who was informant on the death certificate had stated "married in Melbourne when he was 25 years old to Bridget Corbett"...no other mention of any other wife or marriage.
The Australian Vital Records Index did not show a marriage of a Patrick Bourke to a Kathleen, but I finally struck pay dirt on the Victorian BDMs site when I found an entry for a marriage of Patrick Bourke to 'CATHERINE' Frances Rogers in 1886. Subsequent purchase of the certificate revealed that it was indeed our Pine Lodge Patrick, but some large discrepencies became obvious upon analyzing the certificate.
Patrick's details were given as follows:
"Patrick Bourke, widower 1881. Five living children, two dead. Born Town Tipperary, Ireland. Farmer, 46 years. Present residence Pine Lodge near Shepparton, Victoria. Parents : Alick Bourke, farmer, and Margaret Denton(???hard to decipher)"
I was over the moon about the inclusion of Patrick's parents' names, as this was one brick wall that I just couldn't break down, Patrick's previous marriage having taken place in the early 1840s when parental details were not included on Church marriage records.Then I looked at his age...46!!!!! What a giant-sized Furphy!!! Patrick Bourke was at least 70 years old- his age was obviously altered to make the 48 year age difference between him and his new bride seem less obvious. His eldest living son James was 40, and his youngest surviving child Patrick was about 24...his second wife was more than ten years younger than his two daughters!!
Other mistakes, although not quite as large, include the incorrect year of death when Patrick was made a widower( 1881 instead of 1880), and stating that he had five remaining children when in fact he had two daughters and four sons still living.
The bride herself gave the following details: " Catherine Frances Rogers, spinster, born Queenscliff, Victoria. Servant, aged 22 years, present residence Victoria Hotel, Bay Street, Port Melbourne. Parents Edward Rogers, farmer, and Mary O'Brien."
The marriage took place at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Port Melbourne, on February 23, 1886. Witnesses were Thomas Patrick Collins and Mary Jane Collins. The bride signed her name "Catherine Frances Rogers", and the groom signed with a cross.
I don't known how 'Catherine Frances Rogers' became 'Kathleen Frances Bourke' less than two months later.She was born Katherine Rogers in 1863 in Queenscliff to parents Edward Rogers and Mary MORAN (also named as Mary MOYNE on the birth certificates of five other children)Edward Rogers married Mary Moran in Victoria in 1856.
Whatever the case, their marriage lasted less than two months as Patrick died on April 8, 1886. His surviving children must have been furious when this young stepmother applied for probate of their father's will and received it-it is easy to see why son Timothy refused to acknowledge the second marriage on his father's death certificate.
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