The Surviving Coonan Children: 1. Margaret Coonan

Above: Margaret Coonan Butler, known as "Aunt Butler" in the Meehan family.

Margaret Coonan was born in Melbourne 1845, and was the eldest child of Irish parents Michael Coonan and Margaret Gleeson. She witnessed much tragedy in her life, and grew up to be a woman of great strength and determination.
Her early years were spent in Melbourne where her father was a carter.She was only two years old when her only sister, Catherine, died several days after her birth in 1847, but would definitely have been touched by the deaths of her brother Daniel in 1852, when she was 7, and as an eight year old when measles claimed her brothers Patrick and Daniel in 1853.

Perhaps the biggest effect on young Margaret's life would have been the death of her mother in early 1855. Margaret was in her tenth year when this tumultuous event happened, leaving her not only without a mother, but with brothers aged seven years and eight weeks to help care for. The circumstances of her mother's death also would have made the event even more traumatic...she died in the Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum after being diagnosed with Puerperal mania and insanity. She died only seven days after being admitted, so one can only imagine the circumstances in the Coonan home that led to Margaret Gleeson Coonan being institutionalised around New Years Eve 1854. Violence, refusal to eat, extreme paranoia, erratic behaviour and self-harm can all be symptoms of Margaret's diagnosed condition, and her daughter Margaret would have witnessed it all.
Margaret's father married again the following year, this time to an Irish girl much younger than himself. Lucy Nihill was only 18 as compared to her husband's age of 34...she was only seven years older than her step-daughter Margaret.
Nothing is known about the details of this marriage, except for the fact that it resulted in no further children, and that it ended after five years when Lucy absconded from the family farm near Epping in 1861.
At this time Margaret Coonan was sixteen years old, and most likely considered well and truly old enough -and capable enough- to run her father's home and care for him and her two brothers. Jeremiah was 13 and Michael 7 when their stepmother did a runner.
For the next twelve years Margaret Coonan remained on the family property and cared for her father and brothers.Jeremiah left to select farming land near Euroa, but Margaret and her brother Michael remained.
In March of 1873, yet another tragedy struck the Coonan family, when Michael Coonan Senior ordered Margaret and Michael from the house and swallowed strychnine.He had been displaying signs of mental instability, so it would have been terrifying for his children-even though by then they were adults- to be sent outside, wondering what they would find when they were allowed to return.
What they did find was a father who had taken strychnine in order to kill himself.He said he was sorry and blessed them both, and died thirty minutes later. It would have been a terrible death to witness...symptoms include terrible convulsions.High doses of strychnine cause muscle spasms within 10 to 20 minutes of ingesting the poison. They start at the head and neck and spread to all muscles, and there is a feeling of impending suffocation. The contractions become uncontrollable, and the back arches so severely that only the head and heels rest on the floor. The eyes remain open and the mouth is drawn aside.
One can only imagine the horror of witnessing somebody die in this agonising manner. Somebody would have had to go for assistance or a doctor-it is a terrible prospect to think that Margaret may have been left alone with her father in this state.
With both parents dead and herself aged 28, Margaret remained on the farm at Wollert, which continued to be farmed by her 18 year old brother Michael.
Her brother Jeremiah Coonan married in 1876 22 year old Margaret Mellon from Woodstock, the daughter of Mooroopna farmer Joseph Mellon and his wife Mary Ann Thompson. He continued to farm near Euroa.
Margaret's other brother Michael married in 1881, at the age of 27. His marriage certificate stated that his usual residence was Yea...Flowerdale, where the later Coonan farm was located, was about 45 km from Wollert where Michael grew up. Michael most likely also ran the Wollert property, as there is evidence that he and his family lived at both locations.

Despite her brothers moving on to other farms, Margaret Coonan was still living at Wollert when she finally surrendered her spinsterhood in 1892 at the age of 46 or 47 years. Her marriage certificate states her age as being 43, most likely because her husband, Thomas Butler, was thirty five years old.
The couple were married at the Catholic Church, Coburg,on June 29, 1892, by Father Hayes.Witnesses to the ceremony were the groom's brother, John Butler, and Margaret's sister-in-law, Mary Meehan Coonan.
Thomas Butler was a farmer from Woodstock (Woodstock is about 6km from Wollert), and had been born there, the son of Tobias Butler and Anne Lane.He was one of four brothers- the others being George, John and Tobias- and two sisters- Julia and Anne.Tobias Butler Senior had died in October 1871 and left Thomas the family farm.

Not surprisingly, considering that Margaret was in her mid-forties when she married, there were no children born to the couple.However, in 1893, two years after Margaret's marriage to Thomas Butler,her brother Michael was killed after an accident fractured his spine. He left a young widow and three small children...Michael Patrick aged 9; Margaret aged 7 and Thomas aged 3 months.
Mary and her children moved to live at nearby Dairy Creek with her aged father,Patrick Meehan. When Patrick died in 1895, he overlooked his only son Michael in his will, leaving everything instead to his daughter Mary and his eldest grandchild,11 year old Michael Patrick Coonan.

Margaret Coonan would have offered all of her support, both emotional and financial, to her sister-in-law Mary Coonan and her young niece and nephews, and had to go one step further when, in 1900, Mary Coonan died of a heart condition that left orphaned 16 year old Michael Patrick,14 year old Margaret Frances and Thomas Emmet aged 7.
At the time of her death, Mary Coonan and her children had been living with Margaret Butler at 'Womblano', Garnet Street,South Preston, and it was in this home that 40 year old Mary died.
Known by her Meehan relatives as "Aunt Butler", Margaret adopted the three children, and took over the estate of their parents until the eldest, Michael, came of age.

It is difficult to trace Margaret Coonan Butler's movements in the 1920s through electoral rolls as there were so many 'Margaret Butlers'.When her brother Michael died in 1893, a funeral notice in the Argus stated that the funeral procession would leave the residence of his sister, Mrs Butler, Wattle Park, Epping.
When her sister-in-law Mary Meehan Coonan died in 1900 it was in Margaret Butler's home in Garnet Street, South Preston. Margaret Butler's electoral roll entries are as follows:
1903: Margaret Butler, Garnet Street, South Preston, independent means (Note: there was no Thomas Butler living at this address)

1909: Margaret Butler, Garnet Street, Preston, independent means
Margaret Francis Coonan, as above, home duties

1914:Margaret Butler, Glenburn, Via Yea, home duties
Thomas Emmett Coonan, Glenburn, grazier

1919: Margaret Butler, Glenburn Via Yea, home duties
Thomas Emmett Coonan, Glenburn, grazier.

The 1924 electoral roll had only Thomas Emmett Coonan living at Glenburn...I can't locate Margaret Butler, who would have been in her late seventies.

Margaret Coonan Butler died on April 25, 1930, aged 84 years. She died at the "Convent of Good Shepherd", Albert Park, Melbourne, and was buried in the Coonan family grave at Melbourne General Cemetery.
Sadly, the youngest of her Coonan adopted children, nephew Thomas Emmett Coonan, died the following year, aged only 38. He died suddenly the day after the first anniversary of Margaret Butler's death.

I have no idea what became of Thomas Butler, Margaret's husband.He did not die until 1930, in Heidelberg, at the age of 72 years, so it appears that he and Margaret had separate addresses for many years prior to their deaths.

The Children of Michael Coonan and Margaret Gleeson.

Michael Coonan and his first wife Margaret Coonan had seven children in their ten years of marriage, born between 1845 and 1854. Only three survived to adulthood, with three sons and a baby daughter dying before their mother's own death in 1855.
The Coonan grave in Melbourne General Cemetery carries the details of these little lost Coonan children. The memorial inscription reads:

" Gloria in Excelsis Deo
Erected by
Michael COONAN
in memory of his beloved wife
Margaret
who died
5 Jan 1855
age 28 yrs
also their beloved children
Catherine & Daniel
who died in infancy
Patrick
died 12 Dec 1853 age 10 mths
Michael
died 19 Dec 1853 age 5 yrs 2 mths
Michael COONAN died 14 Mar 1873 age 53 yrs
Michael Francis COONAN
died
31 May 1893 age 38 yrs
& the latter's two infant children
Jeremiah Joseph & Edward James
also Mary COONAN
who died 31 Jul 1900 age 38 yrs
also Margaret BUTLER
died 25 Apr 1930 age 35 yrs."


Babies Catherine and Daniel died at a very young age, and since their deaths were before civil registration (1853), we will most likely never know the causes. Their entries in the burial registers of St. Francis Catholic Church, Melbourne,state that Catherine's age when she died in 1847 was 3 days, and Daniels's age in 1852 was 14 days. On their mother's 1855 death certificate, their ages at death were given by their father as being Catherine 9 days and Daniel 1 day. I tend to favour the ages given in the burial register, as Michael Coonan was trying to recall infant deaths years after they had occurred.

While we can't know the reasons for the deaths of babies Catherine and Daniel Coonan, brothers Michael and Patrick died within a week of each other in 1853, so I was able to obtain their death certificates.
Tragically, both little boys contracted measles in the summer of 1853.After six days of illness, ten month old Patrick died on December 12, 1853. His brother, Michael Coonan, died six days later, on December 18, 1853. Both boys were buried in the Old Melbourne Cemetery. The new Melbourne General Cemetery had opened in 1853, but the old burial ground that it was replacing did not close until 1854.
Although all four Coonan children had been buried in the Old Melbourne Cemetery, their names appeared on the monument that their father Michael Coonan placed on their mother's grave in the new cemetery.
Measles was first brought to Victoria (and Australia) by the ship Persian in 1850, but it did not assume epidemic proportions until 1853-54. I found death notices in the Argus for late 1853 recording measles as the cause of death for four children and an adult, although there were many more death notices for children in which the cause of death was not noted.

The death certificates for Patrick and Michael Coonan can be found earlier in this blog.

Argus articles re. Michael Coonan's death

Michael Coonan Senior's death certificate

The above certificate was a very poor copy, so the transcription is as follows:

15th March, 1873, at Wollert, Shire of Darebin, County of Bourke.
Name: Michael Coonan, Farmer.
Male, 53 years.
Cause of death: Effects of Strychnine taken by his own hand whilst of unsound mind. Sudden death. Verdict given at Inquest held by Mr.Candler, Coroner, on 17th March, 1873.
Parents: Jeremiah Coonan, Farmer.
Catherine Conroy.
Informant: Crossed out was "Michael Coonan, Son, Wollert", and underneath written " Richard Robinson, Constable,Present at Inquest."
Buried: 18th March, 1873, General Cemetery, Melbourne. John Daley undertaker.
Born: King's County, Ireland. 32 years in Victoria.
Married: Melbourne, aged 25 years, to Margaret Gleeson, and again Melbourne aged 37 years to Lucy Niall.
Issue: Margaret 28; Jeremiah 24; Michael deceased; Patrick deceased; Alice deceased; Michael 18. None by second marriage.

NOTE: The baby daughter who died was not Alice, but Catherine.

The death of Michael Coonan Senior, 1873.

Because I can find no sign of Lucy Nihill Coonan having died or remarried, I have no idea whether she ever returned to her husband. She is not buried in the Coonan grave in Melbourne General Cemetery with Michael Coonan and his first wife, so I am assuming that the couple remained estranged for the rest of Michael's life.
When Lucy left in 1861, her three stepchildren were aged 16 (Margaret),13 (Jeremiah) and 6 (Michael). Margaret would have had to step in and help raise her younger brothers as well as care for her father. Even if Michael hired a housekeeper, it still would have been Margaret's place to run the house in the absence of a mother figure.
Their farm was situated at Wollert, which was located only 27 km north of Melbourne.
Michael Coonan Senior lived for another twelve years after his second wife left him, and then,in early Autumn of 1873, things came to a head when he took his own life in the family home. I have ordered his inquest, but a small newspaper article in the Argus briefly tells the sad story:-

" A farmer named Michael Coonan, living at Wollert, committed suicide on the 14th inst. by taking strychnine. He came home about 6 o'clock in the evening, apparently suffering from drink, and behaved in a very strange manner. He turned his children- a son and daughter- out of doors, and took the poison. He then called them in, blessed them, and said he was sorry for what he had done. He died about half an hour after. There was ground for believing that the deceased was of unsound mind, and the evidence of Dr. Barker supported the theory. An inquest was held by Mr. Candler on the 17th inst., and a verdict was returned that deceased died from the effects of poison taken whilst he was of unsound mind."
-The Argus, Thursday, March 20, 1873.

The two children at home were Margaret, aged 28, and Michael aged 18. Twenty four year old Jeremiah Coonan, the eldest son, had not yet married, so I am not sure where he was on the day of his father's suicide.He may have already selected land at Euroa...he was farming there three years later when he married Margaret Mellon.

Michael Coonan had died without leaving a will, so it was his eldest child Margaret Coonan who applied for the Letters of Administration to his estate.She was granted administration on June 6, 1873. An inventory taken after her father's death revealed that he had the following stock on his property:
20 sheep and two lambs
25 cows, 18 heifers and 1 calf.
1 sow and 6 young pigs
1 goat
10 geese
6 horses, 2 of them lame.

There were also the other essentials of farm living- 2 drays,plough and harrows, chaff cutter,3 sets of harness-plough, dray and light- and a spring cart.
Michael's assets at death were valued at almost 270 pounds, and his liabilities came in at almost 160 pounds.He did not owe much money locally, but had a promissory note owing John Coonan of Brisbane, Queensland(most likely his brother John who had settled in Queensland after emigrating)the large amount of ninety four pounds.
Margaret Coonan also claimed wages for nine years at the rate of fifteen pounds a year, for a total of 135 pounds... the poor girl must have been housekeeping for no wages for her father since c. 1865, or from the ages of about 19 or 20 until 28!

John Coonan and George Emerson were trustees of Michael Coonan's estate, and for a number of days in July of 1873 there ran an advertisement in the Argus stating:

" TEN POUNDS REWARD-MISSING DEED. Michael Coonan to John Coonan and George Emerson, conveyance in trust for Margaret, Jeremiah and Michael Coonan, December 29, 1859. Ten pounds reward will be given to anyone delivering the deed to Bellin and Wilkinson, auctioneers, 8 Collins Street east, agents for the estate."

Three years later, on April 1, 1876, there appeared an advertisement in the Argus re. the sale of "three comfortable brick cottages in Nicholas lane, off Bourke Street east, near the Parliament Houses." The auctioneers were the aforementioned Bellin and Wilkinson, and they were being instructed to sell the cottages by "Messrs J. Coonan and G. Emerson, trustees of the late M.Coonan".
The cottages were described as follows:
" Those three comfortable brick cottages, each of four rooms, being in thorough repair, and let to respectable tenants, each at twenty six pounds per annum.The land has 37 feet 5 inch frontage, by a depth of 60 feet. Title, Crown certificate."

The missing deed written in 1859 must have referred to these three cottages in a good Melbourne location, and an income of 26 pounds per year for rent was not to be sneezed at in that period of time.
Adding further to the 'Tale of Three Cottages', we find in the Victorian 1856 Electoral Roll:
Michael Coonan, Darebin Creek, freehold.
Michael Coonan, farmer, Darebin Creek, owner of three freehold cottages off Little Collins Street east, Occupied.Eastern Hill Division.

Margaret and her brother Michael Coonan remained at the family property for some time. Michael married from his Yea property in 1881, but Margaret was still living at Wollert when she married in 1892.

Michael Coonan's second marriage

In 1856, the year following the death of his first wife Margaret, Michael Coonan decided to marry again. His second wife was much younger than him...Lucy Nihill had arrived in Melbourne from Ireland per the ship 'Stamboul' in August of 1854, aged 17 years.On the same ship was her mother, Mary, aged 38, and siblings Timothy, aged 15, and Eliza, 13.
The marriage certificate of Lucy and Michael stated that Lucy was the daughter of William Nihill, farmer, and Mary Coffe.It was noted that Michael Coonan was a widower, and that he had three children living and four deceased.
It also provided the information that Michael was a farmer residing at Brighton.
I have references to the Coonan holdings being selected in the areas of Epping/ Darebin Creek/Whittlesea and/or Wollert,presumably after his marriage to Lucy.These locations are all within a general area of 25km from each other, so I don't know if the references are to one property or several...hopefully a descendant of the Coonans will find this blog and put me straight!
It appears that there were no children born of this second marriage- none appear in the Victorian birth index or on the death certificate of Michael Coonan. In fact, the only reference that I can find to Lucy Nihill Coonan after her marriage was in a Victorian Government Gazette of 1861...
" CAUTION. My wife ,Lucy Coonan, having absconded from my residence and absented herself without my knowledge or consent, and without any just reason or cause, I hereby caution all parties against harboring her or giving her credit, as I will not pay any debts on her account.
Michael Coonan, Darebin Creek, 8th April, 1861."
The identical notice also appeared in the Argus of April 9, 1861.

I have searched for Lucy in the Victorian and NSW BDMs to no avail,under both 'Lucy Coonan' and 'Lucy Nihill'. She just seems to have disappeared off the face of the earth.
In 1860, the year before Lucy left her husband, there was a notice in the Argus about a court case between 'Nihill vrs Coonan'. No names were mentioned, but the plaintiff was referred to as 'she'.

Michael Coonan's sister, Hanora Coonan Clancy.

Four months after Margaret Coonan's death, an advertisement appeared for several successive days in the 'Argus' which read as follows:
" The address of Michael Coonan, carter, who arrived in Melbourne in 1841, or Mary Coonan, his Sister, who arrived in 1852, is anxiously wished for by their sister, Mrs. Philip Clancy(all from Duncairn, King's County, Ireland). Address Widow Clancy, Post Office, Brisbane, Moreton Bay."
I can't find a Mary Coonan arriving in Melbourne in the 1850s who could be Michael Coonan's sister, although a Mary Coonan from Kings County arrived on the same ship as Michael Coonan, the Mary Nixon, in 1841.

This sister of Michael Coonan who was looking for him was Hanora Coonan Clancy, the wife of Philip Clancy, who had arrived with her family in Brisbane on September 14, 1852, on board the emigrant ship "Rajahgopaul".
The Clancy family consisted of 39 year old Phillip, his 31 year old wife Hanora and their children Thomas, 12; Catherine 10; John 8; Margaret 6 and Jerry (Jeremiah) nil (born on board).The family was from King's County, Ireland,where Phillip's parents were John and Mary Clancy, and Hanora's were Jerry and Cath Coonan.

Upon the arrival of the 'Rajahgopaul' in Moreton Bay, there was outcry over two matters:- firstly, that the immigrants had been allowed to disembark despite there being typhus on board the ship, and secondly, that the treatment of the passengers on the voyage had been far from satisfactory. From the 'Moreton Bay Courier ':
"THE IMMIGRANTS - The ketches Sarah and Aurora having been employed to bring up the immigrants by the Rajahgopaul, the whole of them were landed in Brisbane by Thursday evening. It appears that the correct numbers embarked were as follow: -63 married couples, 37 single men and 74 single women above fourteen years, 34 boys and 45 girls from one to fourteen, and 17 infants. As there were 15 deaths (of whom 12 were children) and 13 births, the number landed was 153, viz. -237 male and female -adults, 96 boys and girls from one to fourteen, and 18 infants. On the landing of the immigrants it was found that a few of them exhibited symptoms of disease, in one or two instances of a rather serious character ; and one man died in Brisbane Hospital on Wednesday night, having been in a state of great exhaustion when brought there the same evening. The Surgeon-Superintendent explains that about a week, or ten days before coming into port a disorder showed itself amongst a few of the immigrants, which at first appeared analogous to the "influenza" occasionally so prevalent, the patients having a discharge from the eyes and nose. He had no reason to suspect that the disease was at all contagious, although some febrile symptoms appeared, as is usual with most disorders. The few who are so affected now are under treatment in the infirmary of the depot. Considering that there is every probability of a continuous flow of immigration, immediate steps ought to be taken to increase the accommodations at this establishment. At present they are inadequate to the necessities of the immigrants. All the single men by this ship are already engaged, or have left the depot on their own account, and if the whole of the passengers had been of that class they would probably have been all hired yesterday. Some of the families have also been engaged. The wages for single men ranged from about £26 to £30 a year, with rations."
Moreton Bay Courier- Saturday 18 September 1852

"After the passengers by the above named ship had been duly mustered and landed, it transpired that some of them had complained of the conduct of the Captain and Surgeon-Superintendent of the ship, against whom they preferred charges of immorality, and unkindly treatment of the sick, during the passage. Other persons in authority on board were said to be implicated in these, charges. The reports having been communicated to the members of the local Immigration Board, a preliminary inquiry was instituted on Thursday last, which resulted in the commencement of a more formal investigation yesterday, at which the Captain and Surgeon were present, and which is expected to be concluded to-day."
-Saturday 25 September 1852.

One man wrote to the newspaper "What has been lately dreaded here has at last come to pass.Several of the immigrants by the ship 'Rajahgopaul' have been seized with Typhus Fever. One man died of it yesterday,and his wife, I understand, is not expected to live. Besides those already dead, I have at this moment been told of another case which has just occurred."
Although Hanora gave birth to a son named Jeremiah on the trip to Australia, a child named Jeremiah Clancy was registered in Queensland in 1854 to Philip Clancy and Honora Cooney.I don't know whether the first Jeremiah died, or this was a late registration for the son that was born at sea.

Phillip Clancy died some time within the first few years of his arrival, although when and by what means I have not yet discovered.At the time Hanora Clancy placed a notice in the Melbourne Argus in May of 1855, she was widowed, so her husband must have died in the period 1852-1855.
I have also found several notices placed in the 'Argus' in June 1853, by 'Honor Clancey' of Brisbane, Moreton Bay. They read:
"Michael Conay, of County Kilkenny, is requested to communicate with his sister, Honor Clancey, wife of Phillip Clancey, addressed to care of Reverencd J. Hanly, Brisbane, Moreton Bay."

This 'Michael Conay' would definately be 'Michael Coonan', despite the place of origin as 'Kilkenny' and not 'Kings County'.Honor Clancy could read but not write, and her husband could do neither, so it would have been up to the priest Hanly to listen to what Hanora wanted him to write for the newspaper notice, and then transcribe her Irish brogue, offering plenty of opportunity for phonetic mistakes.

Maybe Michael Coonan did not see the notice, because two years later Honora was trying to contact him again.Perhaps she had heard of the death of her sister-in-law Margaret in the Asylum earlier in the year and wanted to help her brother and his young family, or perhaps she was recently widowed and required assistance herself.

I have no way of knowing if the two siblings ever reunited...Hanora Coonan Clancy remarried in Queensland in1860, and her brother Michael Coonan in Victoria in 1856.

Hanora's second husband was a very interesting character by the name of Louis Stamm.Following is a little about his life:

"Louis Stamm was born in 1808 when his parents were visiting England. Stamm served in the Prussian Army and emigrated first to America where his business ventures were not successful. He was 47 when he arrived in Australia in the ship 'Marbs' in 1855.
(NOTE: His shipping record states that he was 29) Stamm had a varied early career in Queensland as a merchant, newspaper proprietor and brewery owner."

"Stamm Street, Indooroopilly, commemorates the name of Louis Stamm who was born in England in 1808 when his parents were on a visit to that place. He was of Polish descent and his father was a Colonel of Engineers in the Prussian Army.

Stamm was educated at Breslau (Wroclaw) Poland and later at a military school at Glangan and subsequently followed a military career during which he saw a good deal of service.

He travelled to America where he engaged in business but did not have much success. At the age of forty five years, he came to Australia and was in the employ of the Hon. James Taylor in Toowoomba for some time. During his stay in that town he engaged in several business activities such as timber merchant, architect, surveyor, builder, newspaper proprietor, and brewery owner.

In the 1860's he came to Brisbane and purchased land on the western side of the now existing Indooroopilly Railway station, about five miles from Brisbane and continuing towards the Stamford Hotel also in that district. The area of his land totalled 170 acres and was bought for an average price of £4.10s.0d per acre. When the railway was built towards the Albert Bridge, Indooroopilly, it ran through the paddocks originally owned by Louis Stamm. The area now known as Indooroopilly was once part of a cattle run - McDougall Station - which extended from Toowong through to Moggill. The property was later subdivided into farms, one of which belonged to Louis Stamm. He was one of the earliest chair- men of the Indooroopilly Divisional Board, after its separation from Taringa and Toowong. Stamm's estate covered the present site of the Indooroopilly Railway Station, and practically all the area that comprises the present day suburb.

In 1888, he realised on his land, and cultivated the small area which he retained.

Louis Stamm was twice an alderman for the North Ward of the Brisbane Municipal Council (as then called).
He married widow Hanora Clancy in 1860, and the couple had one daughter, Mary Louisa Stamm (known as 'Louisa')born in 1862.Louisa married Andrew Keating, esq, of Brisbane, on May 28, 1884.

The Stamm family lived at Herbert Street in the Wickham Terrace area Brisbane. Louis's life had been a colourful one in business, in his travels, and his experience as a child on his parents' farm at Posen when the great Napoleon on his retreat from Moscow spoke to him. This incident was vividly impressed on his mind‑the stern look and the eagle eye of this great warrior. Stamm Street is probably the only street in the Southern Hemisphere which can thus claim historical link with Napoleon.
Louis Stamm came from a long living family-his father was 114 and his mother 78 years at the time of their respective deaths, while Louis himself passed away at 95 years in February 1903. He left the bulk of his estate to his daughter Louisa Mary Keating, his wife Hanora having died in 1897."
- From http://www.chapelhill.homeip.net/FamilyHistory

Two funeral notices were placed in the Courier on Monday, November 15, 1897:
"The friends of Mr. Thomas Clancy of Taringa are respectfully invited to attend the funeral of his deceased mother Mrs Honora Stamm, to move from her residence, Herbert Street, Spring Hill, this (monday) morning, at 10:30 o'clock to the Nudgee R.C Cemetery."
An identical notice was also placed by "Mr Jeremiah Philip Clancy" who respectfully invited his friends to attend the funeral of his deceased grandmother Honora Stamm.

Michael Coonan' second marriage, 1856.

Michael Coonan's sister puts advertisement in Argus, 1855

Notice from 'Argus' re. Margaret Gleeson Coonan's funeral.

Death Certificate of Margaret Gleeson Coonan, 1855.

Death certificate of Michael Coonan, 1853.

Death Certificate of Patrick Coonan

Baptismal certificate for Patrick Coonan, 1853

Above: Baptismal certificate of the sixth child of Michael Coonan and Margaret Gleeson, Patrick Coonan. He was baptised on February 7, 1853.

Shipping record for Margaret Gleeson

Above: Entry for Margaret Gleeson, aged 23, amongst the unmarried women on board the ship 'Diamond' that, like Michael Coonan's ship 'Mary Nixon', arrived in Melbourne in November 1841.

Shipping record Michael Coonan

Michael Coonan appeared in the passenger list of unmarried males on board the ship 'Mary Nixon' which arrived in Melbourne in November 1841.

The Story of Michael Meehan and Margaret Gleeson

Michael Coonan was born in Duncairn, Kings County, Ireland, in c, 1820,the son of Jeremiah Coonan, farmer, and his wife Catherine Conroy.
At the age of twenty he emigrated to Melbourne on the ship 'Mary Nixon', which arrived in November of 1841.There was also a Mary Coonan from Kings County on board the 'Mary Nixon'...Michael had a sister named Mary who emigrated to Australia, but it is not certain whether this Mary Coonan was his sister.His siblings Hanora, Thomas and John also emigrated to Australia in the years to follow.
Three years later in 1844, Michael married Irish girl Margaret Gleeson at St. Francis Catholic Church, Melbourne.Margaret was the daughter of Tipperary farmer Daniel Gleeson.
Twenty three year old Margaret Gleeson had arrived in Melbourne on board the Irish Immigrant ship the "Diamond" on November 4, 1841. Also on the "Diamond' from County Tipperary were Michael Gleeson, aged 27; Biddy Gleeson aged 27 and Catherine Gleeson aged 20- it is unknown as to whether these Gleesons are related to each other or to Margaret.
Michael Coonan and his wife Margaret had the following children:

Margaret Coonan: born 1845, Melbourne
Catherine Coonan: born 1847, Melbourne. Died aged three days.
Jeremiah Coonan: born 1848, Melbourne. Died 1927, Euroa, aged 77 years.
Michael Coonan: born c. 1848, Melbourne. Died 1853, aged 5 years.
Daniel Coonan: born 1852 Melbourne. Died aged one day.
Patrick Coonan: born 1853. Died aged 10 months.
Michael Coonan: born 1854. Birth was not registered.

Of the seven Coonan children, born between 1845 and 1855, only three survived to adulthood...Margaret, Jeremiah and Michael. Catherine, Michael, Daniel and Patrick all died in infancy or early childhood. Catherine and Daniel died before they were even a month old, and Patrick and Michael both died of measles within six days of each other in December of 1853.

Around December 31, 1854, Margaret Gleeson Coonan was admitted to the Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum, suffering from "Insanity and puerperal mania". She had given birth to son Michael only seven weeks previous to her admission.
When researching Puerperal Mania in the 19th century, I was amazed at how often examples of tragic cases associated with this disorder surfaced in Australian newspapers. For example, in 1871 the 'Brisbane Courier' published the sad story of mother of six, Mrs Romph,who whilst suffering from puerperal mania killed two of her small children with a knife and wounded the other four and herself before being disarmed.At the inquest, her doctor stated:
"I have no hesitation in stating that she was suffering from puerperal mania, from which she is not yet recovered; my reasons for arriving at this conclusion are her general incoherence,absence of sleep without fatigue,irregular state of bodily functions, her expression, movements, appearance, her having born many children at short intervals of time, long periods of lactation , and general loss of memory, these, with other symptoms,leave no doubt in my mind that the prisoner was suffering from mania. Puerperal mania frequently exhibits itself in acts of violence similar to those now under investigation."

Initially I had failed to see how a mental condition such as puerperal mania could actually cause a person's death, ruling out suicide of course. Research showed, however, that it was common for mothers with this extreme disorder to actually stop eating and virtually starve themselves to death:
" It is often difficult to persuade the patient to eat, indeed at times it is necessary to employ force to supply her with nourishment. Another unpleasant feature is an occasional disposition to commit suicide."
In a case reported in the Argus newspaper in 1859, just four years after Margaret Coonan's death,a woman named Elizabeth Jane Ellis died at the Yarra Bend Lunatic Asylum , the cause of death being given at the inquest as "puerperal mania". The article stated:
" Deceased, who was about 37 years of age, was very violent and destructive, and could hardly be prevailed upon to take her food. She never improved in health and died on the 24th instant."

Margaret Coonan was admitted to the Yarra Bend Asylum only a week prior to her death. She had given birth to her seventh child seven weeks before her admission, so her husband had probably tried to cope with the situation for some time at home before resorting to having her committed.

Mary Coonan was buried in the Melbourne Cemetery on January 8, 1855. The grave stone on the Coonan family grave states that she was 28 years old, but she was actually 35 as stated on her death certificate.

Michael Coonan was a widower at the age of 34 years.His surviving children were nine year old Margaret, seven year old Jeremiah and the baby, two month old Michael Francis.Like many other men in his situation, Michael married again...on April 15, 1856, at Brighton, Michael Coonan married 18 year old Irish girl Lucy Nihill. Their story will be continued after I post some certificates and other documentation.

Mary Meehan's marriage to Michael Coonan.

On September 1, 1881, when Mary Meehan was 22 year old, she married 27 year old farmer Michael Coonan.Michael also farmed near Yea, but the couple were married at St. Francis Catholic Church, Melbourne.
Michael was the son of Irish-born farmer Michael Coonan and his wife Margaret Gleeson. Like his new wife's family history, Michael Coonan's background also had its own share of tragedies, so I will take a break from the tale of Michael and Mary Coonan here at the start of their marriage, and scoot backwards a generation to relate the sad tale of Michael Coonan's parents.

Mary Honora Meehan's birth certificate.

Mary Hanora Meehan, third child of Patrick Meehan and Mary Mockler.

Mary Hanora Meehan was born at Kilmore on August 28, 1859, to 30 year old carrier Patrick Meehan and his 22 year old wife Mary Mockler. She was registered at birth by her mother as 'Hanora',after Patrick Meehan's mother Hanora Ryan, but known as 'Mary Honora'.At the time of her birth her brother Michael was about two years of age, and a sister Joanna had predeceased her in 1855 when she died of pneumonia aged 7 months. Baby Mary was born into a tumultuous home life, with her parents often fighting and her mother sometimes being physically assaulted by her father. She was only eight months old when things came to a head in her Kilmore home,and her mother was found dead in the bottom of the family well after a fight with her husband the night before. The coroner's inquest found that Paddy Meehan had to stand trial for murder, so he was arrested and held in custody until the trial took place in June 1860. The children, Michael and Mary, would have been looked after during this period by their aunt, Patrick Meehan's widowed elder sister Judith Bourke, who also lived in Kilmore with her five children. Patrick Meehan's murder trial found him not guilty as there was absolutely no proof that he had either killed his wife and thrown her down the well, or that he had pushed her down the well when she was alive. The autopsy suggested that Mary Meehan had been alive when she entered the water, and had drowned, and the prosecution was unable to prove that her husband had been the method by which she had been propelled into the well. In fact, the jury Foreman interrupted the closing address of Mr Brewer,in Paddy's defence, and told him that the minds of the jury were already made up to acquit the prisoner. This left Paddy Meehan a free man,albeit a widower with two infant children to care for. Even though several people had given evidence as to Paddy's physical abuse of his wife, one witness- William Richardson, did state that "He seemed very fond of his children." Other witnesses were more damning in their evidence: From the Argus newspaper: " Charles Mackay, police-constable, stated that about six weeks before Mrs Meehan's death, he went to Meehan's house, and found the deceased with a face all black, and considerably bruised. She declined to give Meehan in charge, or to take out a summons against him. Philip Corboy also deposed to the habitual ill-usage of deceased by her husband. She was, he said, a small woman, and had been married about five years. William Richardson, remembered the deceased having been ill-treated by her husband about two months before her death, and being under Dr. Bindley's care. Cross-examined by Mr. Brewer: he seemed very fond of his children. I heard him remonstrate with his wife once in a mild tone of voice. Frank Lane Bindley said he was a duly qualified practitioner, residing at Kilmore. Knew the deceased and her husband. Had attended the deceased some three years before her death. She was suffering from contused wounds of the head. Also attended her in her confinement about twelve months before." I have no idea how welcome Patrick Meehan would have been made on his return to Kilmore. The local newspaper, the 'Kilmore Examiner' had published their opinion of him on April 26, 1860, just three days after Mary Meehan's death: " THE SUPPOSED MURDER IN THE NEW TOWNSHIP.- A man named Patrick Meehan, well-known in the town, has been committed to take his trial on a charge of having murdered his wife. There was sufficient evidence produced to justify the committal of the prisoner. It is evident that, if the prisoner did not actually murder the unfortunate woman, he, by his inhuman treatment, drove her mad, and occasioned her to commit suicide, by throwing herself down a well over 70 feet deep. Such a fellow, under any circumstances, deserves to be punished." Ther Irish population was incredibly strong in Kilmore, and perhaps Patrick Meehan had supporters enough amongst them to be able to remain in the town. His sister Judith and her family remained in the Bylands/Kilmore district for another ten years at least before selecting land opened for selection on the Murray River near Yarrawonga in the parishes of Burramine and Boosey. After the trial, Patrick Meehan went to the alluvial gold fields in the Upper Goulburn region of Victoria. He spent several years working on the Jordan River near Wood's Point. In the early 1870s, Paddy selected land at Dairy Creek, near Yea. His daughter Mary lived with her father, as did her brother Michael, I suspect, although the latter did himself end up in the Yarrawonga district. When Patrick Meehan died in 1895, his obituaries as published in local papers painted a picture of a decent, much-respected citizen: "Mr Meehan, who was an honourable, warm-hearted and kindly disposed man, was esteemed by all who knew him best for his sterling qualities."- Yea Chronicle " Mr Patrick Meehan, of Doogalook, who died on the first inst., was an old colonist and a sterling, straight-forward man."- The Broadford Courier and Reedy Creek Times

James Meehan, final child of Annie Harris and Michael Meehan.

James Meehan was born in c. 1913 at Yarrawonga to 45 year old Annie Harris and her husband Michael Meehan. His schooling would have been split between Yarrawonga and Thornbury as his family moved to the latter in the early twenties.
Tragically, both James and his brother William contracted the disease tuberculosis and both died in the same year- James in January 1931 aged 17 and William in October on his 23rd birthday.
Above is a photograph of the Meehan grave in Fawkner Cemetery. Buried there are brothers James and William, and their parents Michael and Annie.

Birth certificate of William Edward Meehan

William Edward Meehan, son of Michael Meehan and Annie Harris.

William Edward Meehan was born at Yarrawonga on October 2, 1908, to 40 year old Annie Harris and 52 year old Michael Meehan.
William's life story as I know it is sadly lacking, because he died before he started a career or married anyone. My limited knowledge of William Meehan concerns the sad tale of he and his younger brother James both dying of tuberculosis in 1931.
James died first, aged 17, in January of 1931. William passed away on October 2 of the same year....on his 23rd birthday. He was buried in the Fawkner Cemetery on the following day.

Birth certificate of Annie May Meehan.

Annie May Meehan,final daughter of Michael Meehan and Annie Harris.

Annie May Meehan was born in Yarrawonga on May 31, 1906, to 38 year old Annie Harris and her husband 48 year old Michael Meehan.Her siblings were listed on her birth certificate as being Margaret, 10; Henry 8; John 5 and Mary 2.
Annie was educated in Yarrawonga, and then moved to Northcote/Thornbury in the early 1920s. She lived at 28 Pender Street, Thornbury, until her marriage in 1935 to commercial artist Sydney Gough Wentt.
After her marriage Annie lived at 457 Main Street, Mordialloc, and she and Sydney were still residing there at the time of the 1954 electoral roll. In all electoral rolls, Annie's occupation was given as "sales".
Mary Waters recorded that she thought that Annie had two children, Elizabeth and Peter, but this is yet to be substantiated by me.

Mary Monica Meehan, daughter of Michael Meehan and Annie Harris.

Like her brother John Francis, I know very little about the life of Mary Monica Meehan.Born in Yarrawonga in 1903, she was known always as 'Monica' rather than 'Mary'.
Monica completed her schooling at Yarrawonga, and moved with her family to Northcote in the 1920s. She lived at home with her parents until their respective deaths (her father in 1932 and her mother in 1957).The family lived in the same house in Pender Street, Northcote( or Thornbury...it is classified as both in electoral rolls...'Northcote' until 1942, and then 'Thornbury' from then onwards.
Monica never married, and died in 1983, aged 80. She was buried in the Fawkner Cemetery on June 26, 1983. She is buried in the same grave as her brother, Michael Meehan, who predeceased her in 1958.

John Francis Meehan, son of Michael Meehan and Annie Harris.

John Francis Meehan was born in Yarrawonga in 1901, the son of Michael Meehan and Annie Harris.
He was schooled in Yarrawonga, and moved with his family to Northcote in the 1920s. He was living with his parents at 28 Penders Street, Northcote, and working as a labourer up until 1936, when I lose track of him.
I have no other information regarding John Francis Meehan.I do not know if he ever married, although his cousin Mary Coonan noted that he had no children.
John Francis Meehan died in January 1951, aged 49.He was buried in the Fawkner Cemetery, Melbourne, although not in the same grave as his parents and siblings William and James, or his siblings Monica and Michael Meehan who also shared a grave.

Photo of Maurice Meehan,son of Harry Meehan

Above: This photo is of Maurice Meehan, left, the son of Henry Joseph Meehan and Elsie May Coghlan. With him is Michael Patrick Hevern, his first cousin once removed...Maurice's father, Harry Meehan, was the brother of Michael Hevern's grandmother, Madge Meehan Hevern.

Birth certificate of Henry Joseph Meehan

Henry Joseph Meehan.

Above: This photograph is believed to be Patrick, Henry and John Meehan. It was sent to me by Mary Coonan Waters, who told me it was from the Coonan family collection. The Coonans and Meehans were first cousins, as Michael Meehan's sister Mary Hanora Meehan married Michael Coonan in 1881. Mary waters wrote: " This photograph was unidentified, but I think it could be three of the Meehan boys- the boy in the glasses is very much like Harry." I also think that the eldest boy in this photo is a younger version of the soldier identified as Patrick Meehan in a previous blog.

Henry Joseph Meehan, known as 'Harry', was born on May 5, 1898, at Hume Street, Yarrawonga. His birth was registered by his mother, Annie Meehan, and she recorded that young Harry had two other siblings- Patrick aged 4 and Margaret aged 2. He also had two half siblings- Daisy and Michael Meehan.
Harry's education would have been conducted in Yarrawonga. His family moved to Northcote in the early 1920s.In 1924 he was living with his family at 24 Penders Street, Northcote, and working as a grocer.
In 1928 Harry Meehan married Elsie May Coghlan, the daughter of Luke and Anne Coghlan.The couple had two sons- Kevin Joseph and Maurice Meehan. The electoral Rolls followed Harry Meehan's movements as follows:

1931: 76 Bent Street, Northcote.
Elsie May Meehan, Home duties.
Henry Joseph Meehan, carter.

1936: 18 Bond Street, Preston.
Elsie May Meehan, home duties
Henry Joseph Meehan, driver.

1937: 699 High Street, Preston.
Elsie May Meehan, home duties.
Henry Joseph Meehan, driver.

1942: 18 Bond Street, Preston.
Elsie May Meehan, home duties.
Henry Joseph Meehan, driver.

1949: 18 Bond Street, Preston.
Elsie May Meehan, home duties.
Henry Joseph Meehan, driver.

1954: 18 Bond Street, Preston.
Elsie May Meehan, home duties.
Henry Joseph Meehan, driver.
Kevin Joseph Meehan, clerk.

Elsie Meehan, wife of Harry, died in 1980 at the age of 84 years.Her husband Harry died in 1981, aged 83 years. Their son Kevin Joseph Meehan died in 1982, aged only 51 years.

Another photo of Madge

Margaret Ellen "Madge" Meehan

Margaret Ellen Meehan (known always as 'Madge') was the first born child of the marriage of Annie Harris and Michael Meehan, although she had an elder sister and two brothers who were born before her parents' marriage.
Madge was born on November 5, 1895, at Yarrawonga, to 27 year old Annie Harris and her 37 year old husband Michael Meehan. Annie's age on Madge's birth certificate states that she was 30, but since she was born in 1868 she was actually three years younger. Her age was often incorrect on certificates- not to make her appear younger, as is usually the case, but aging her by several years.Her birth year according to her marriage certificate would be 1866; her death certificate 1864; her birth year on the birth certificates of Daisy, Annie and William was the correct 1868; of Henry 1867; Michael 1866 and Madge and Patrick 1865!

Madge Meehan was educated in Yarrawonga, and in 1923, at the age of 28 years, she married Edward Timothy Hevern. Known as 'Ted', he was the son of Edward Hevern (1864-1920) and Mary Sheedy (1870-1941)It appears that Edward Senior was born as 'Edward Timothy Heffernan' at Taradale, Victoria, the son of David Heffernan and Anastacia Whelan. I have no idea why he changed his name from 'Heffernan' to 'Hevern'.
The Electoral Rolls show that the family of Edward and Mary Hevern were in Yarrawonga for the years 1909, 1914 and 1919. Edward Senir was a carter, and his son Edward in 1919 was a grocer's assistant.
After Madge's marriage to Ted, they moved to Leeton in NSW. The electoral rolls show them as follows:

1936: 31 Willow Street, Leeton.
Edward Timothy Hevern, shop assistant
Madge Hevern, home duties.

1937: As above.

1943: Currawang Avenue, Leeton.
Edward Timothy Hevern, manager
Madge Hevern, home duties

1949: Currawang Avenue, Leeton:
Edward Timothy Hevern, manager
Madge Hevern, home duties
Alsia Mary Hevern, home duties
Maureen Margaret Hevern, cannery employee.

Madge and Ted Hevern had two daughters and a son. Their son was named Patrick Edward Hevern, and he married Kathleen Patricia Carroll at Leeton on February 16, 1957. They had five children: Michael Patrick,Suzanne Maree, Graham John, Thomas Edward and Stephen Gerard.

Ted Hevern died in Leeton in 1963.His wife Madge died in 1975.

Birth Certificate of Patrick Meehan(aka John Harris)

Above: Patrick Meehan was registered as 'John Harris'. He was born to Annie Harris in Yarrawonga on June 6, 1983, and she married Michael Meehan on 24 August, 1893.Her baby son, as well as a daughter Daisy and another son Michael, all took the surname 'Meehan'.

Also of interest on this page of birth registrations is the entry above John Harris...it is the birth of Thomas Bourke, son of John Bourke and Mary Jane Cain. John Bourke was the son of John Bourke and Judith Meehan,(and brother of my gg grandfather Paddy Bourke) so it was his first cousin Michael Meehan who married Annie Harris to become John Harris/Patrick Meehan's father.

Letter to Patrick meehan's mother from the A.I.F, 1919.

Patrick Meehan's will

Niepppe-Bois ( Rue-Du-Bois) British Cemetery, Vieux-Berquin, France.

Above: The cemetery in which Yarrawonga boy Patrick Meehan lies buried.

The Battle of Hazebrouck (one of the Battles of the Lys), including the Defence of Nieppe Forest, lasted from 12 to 15 April 1918. The line east of Nieppe Forest was defended against overwhelming forces by the 29th and 31st Divisions, the latter including the 4th Guards Brigade. Although Vieux-Berquin village was lost on 13 April, the rest of the line was held until the 1st Australian Division had detrained and arrived on the field. The 1st Division reached Hazebrouck on 12 April, only just in time to fill a great breach and stop the German advance.Further German attacks towards the critical logistics centre of Hazebrouck were slowed by the defending British troops, before being stopped by the Australian 1st Division occupying a defensive position 5 miles (8 kilometers) from the town on 13 April.
The cemetery was used from April until September 1918. The grave of one British officer who fell in 1915 was brought to this cemetery after the Armistice from LA MOTTE-AUX-BOIS COMMUNAL CEMETERY. The cemetery was used again during the Second World War for the burial of casualties of the battles covering the withdrawal to Dunkirk in May 1940. Nieppe-Bois (Rue-du-Bois) British Cemetery now contains 70 First World War burials and 33 from the Second World War. The cemetery was designed by A J S Hutton.
The Australian soldiers who were laid to rest in this cemetery were:
BERGIN FELIX JOSEPH
Australian Sergeant Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Age: 27 Date of Death: 16/04/1918 Service No: 15 B.25.

BOYD ANDREW
Australian Corporal Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Age: 24 Date of Death: 14/04/1918 Service No: 3032 B.21.
DAVIES FREDERICK CHARLES
Australian Private Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Age: 26 Date of Death: 14/04/1918 Service No: 774 B.23.
EAMES ROBERT LESLIE
Australian Private Australian Light Trench Mortar Battery 2nd Age: 21 Date of Death: 17/04/1918 Service No: 3143 B.16.
ELLIOT HAROLD ROBINSON
Australian Sergeant Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Date of Death: 19/04/1918 Service No: 3490 B.12.

GLASSPOOL WILLIAM MERVYN
Australian Private Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Age: 38 Date of Death: 14/04/1918 Service No: 1024 B.22.

GRAY F L
Australian Lieutenant Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Date of Death: 18/04/191 B.15.

GUNN IRA WARREN
Australian Sergeant Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Age: 23 Date of Death: 16/04/1918 Service No: 408 B.14.

KEATING HENRY ERNEST
Australian Private Australian Machine Gun Corps 1st Bn. Age: 20 Date of Death: 16/04/1918 Service No: 3418 B.24.
MEEHAN PATRICK
Australian Lance Corporal Australian Infantry A.I.F. 7th Bn. Age: 24 Date of Death: 15/04/1918 Service No: 6319 B.17.

PARFREY WILLIAM THOMAS
Australian Private Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Age: 22 Date of Death: 14/04/1918 Service No: 554 B.20.

PIERPOINT C E
Australian Private Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Date of Death: 16/04/1918 Service No: 6840 B.13.

ROBERTSON ALLAN COUPAR
Australian Sergeant Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Age: 27 Date of Death: 14/04/1918 Service No: 354 B.11.

SMITH GEORGE FREDERICK
Australian Private Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Age: 21 Date of Death: 14/04/1918 Service No: 3428 B.19.

WOOD C
Australian Private Australian Infantry A.I.F. 8th Bn. Date of Death: 04/04/1918 Service No: 6627 B.18.
Patrick Meehan was the only member of the 7th Battalion to be killed here.

Patrick Meehan's 7th Battalion

The 7th Battalion was among the first infantry units raised for the AIF during the First World War. Like the 5th, 6th and 8th Battalions, it was recruited from Victoria and, together with these battalions, formed the 2nd Brigade.
After the withdrawal from Gallipoli in December 1915, the battalion returned to Egypt. In March 1916, it sailed for France and the Western Front. From then until 1918 the battalion took part in bloody trench warfare. The battalion’s first major action in France was at Pozières in the Somme valley. After Pozières the battalion fought at Ypres, in Flanders, before returning to the Somme for winter. In 1917 the battalion moved to Belgium for the advance to the Hindenburg Line. During the battle of the Menin Road in September 1917, Major Fred Tubb VC was mortally wounded. In March and April 1918 the battalion helped stop the German spring offensive, later participating in the great allied offensive of 1918 and fought near Amiens on 8 August. The advance by British and empire troops was the greatest success in a single day on the Western Front, one that German General Erich Ludendorff described as, “the black day of the German Army in this war”.
Casualties:
1045 killed, 2076 wounded (including gassed)
Commanding Officers:
Elliott, Harold Edward ‘Pompey’
Jackson, Alfred
Jess, Carl
Herrod, Ernest Edward

The Battle In Which Patrick Meehan was Killed.
On the arrival on April 12 of the 1st Division at Hazebrouck from the Somme, the Germans were already commencing to penetrate the Forest of Nieppe immediately east of the town. The 7th Battalion, with some of the 1st Pioneer Battalion and a company of machine gunners, pushed through Nieppe Forest, north of La Motte Chateau, and dug in on the north-eastern edge, in touch with the British rearguards. The Australian line, when completed, ran down from Strazeele to the Wood, where it linked up with the British Guards and the 29th Division. The Germans attacked in force on the 14th, but were repulsed; they renewed the attack in the evening, but failed. They never attacked again on these positions.Patrick died of wounds received on April 15, 1918, at Hazebrouck.
He was one of fifteen Australian soldiers killed at Hazebrouck and buried in the little cemetery at Nieppe-Bois, along with 55 British soldiers who also died in the battle.

Patrick Meehan's war record

Patrick Meehan, second son of Michael Meehan and Annie Harris.

Patrick Meehan, pictured above, was born at Lynch Street,Yarrawonga, on June 6, 1893. Again, like his elder siblings Daisy and Michael, Patrick's birth was registered under the name 'Harris' as his mother Annie Harris had not yet married his father Michael Meehan. Patrick's birth certificate was also difficult to locate because of this factor, as well as the unexpected fact that he was registered not as "Patrick Meehan' but as 'John Harris'!!!
There is absolutely no doubt that baby John Harris IS the child who grew up as Patrick Meehan.When Patrick enlisted in the AIF on April 3, 1916, he gave his age as 22 years and nine months, putting his time of birth at around June or July of 1893.As well as this matching up with John Harris's birth certificate, there is the undisputable evidence that both the mother of "John" and Patrick was named 'Annie Harris', and the mother Annie was born at Meredith...perfect match!
Annie Harris married Michael Meehan only two and a half months after Patrick/ John's birth. She brought with her to the marriage a six year old daughter, Daisy, and two sons aged two years (Michael) and two months (Patrick).
It would be a further two years before another child arrived-Margaret Ellen Meehan, known always as 'Madge', was born at Yarrawonga on November 5, 1895.Interestingly, Michael Meehan registered the baby's birth, and in the column for "Previous issue, living and dead", he did not include the names of Daisy, Michael or Patrick. When the next child, Harry, arrived in 1898,his mother Annie registered the birth and included "Patrick aged 4 years and Margaret aged 2 years" as her only previous issue.

Getting back to Patrick...he was educated in Yarrawonga and upon leaving school worked as a draper in Yarrawonga. His elder brother Michael Meehan enlisted for service early on in WW1- November of 1914- and Patrick himself enlisted on April 3, 1916, two months short of his 23rd birthday.

Birth certificate of Daisy (Harris) Meehan.

Daisy Meehan

Daisy Meehan is another Meehan child whose birth is shrouded in a little mystery.Like her siblings Michael and Patrick, I couldn't find her birth certificate in the Victorian BDM index. Her death index entry stated that she was 81 years old when she died in 1970, putting her year of birth as c. 1888-89.
Once I located her brother Michael's birth under their mother's maiden name of 'Harris', I searched for Daisy under the same criteria. Sure enough there was a match...on August 29, 1887, at the Women's Hospital in Carlton, 19 year old Annie Harris had given birth to a daughter named Daisy Grace Harris. Annie's birthplace was stated as being New South Wales, which is incorrect, but Annie's age is right as is the name of her baby and the year of birth. The Women's Hospital was a safe place for unmarried mothers to give birth without too many questions being asked- note that on the birth entries page above,of the five births at the Women's Hospital, four were children without fathers named.Although Daisy was given the middle name of 'Grace', she always used the second name 'Teresa' instead-perhaps it was her confirmation name.
Daisy Meehan was days away from her sixth birthday when her parents married on August 24, 1893.Her schooling was done in Yarrawonga,most likely at the Catholic Convent School with her siblings.
I have always had a soft spot for Daisy Meehan...I love her name, and she was named in a newspaper article as one of the bridesmaids of my great-grandmother Bridget Mary Bourke at her marriage to Paddy Sheridan at Tungamah in 1898.
Daisey herself married a grocer by the name of Henry Stanley White, known as 'Stan', in 1915.They had two daughters that I know of: Jean Harris White (married Daniel Fitzpatrick) and Nancy.
The Electoral Rolls again helped me to trace Daisy's life up until 1954:
1931: Daisy Teresa White, Victoria Street, Kerang. Home Duties.
Henry Stanley White, as above, grocer.

1936: 40 Ferras Place, Albert Park.
Daisy Teresa White, home duties.
Henry Stanley White, grocer.

1937: 12 York Street, Prahran.
Daisy Teresa White, home duties.
Henry Stanley White, grocer.
Jean Harris White, sales.

1942: 102 Brunswick Street, Carlton
Daisy Teresa White, home duties.
Henry Stanley White, grocer.

1949: 102 Brunswick Street, Carlton.
Entries for Daisy Teresa and Henry Stanley White are crossed out with "Oakleigh" written over them.

1954: 246 Barkly Street, Fitzroy North.
Daisy Teresa White, home duties.
Henry Stanley White, foreman.

Daisy Teresa Meehan White died in 1970 at the age of about 81 years.

Photograph of Michael John Meehan

Above: Michael John Meehan, 1891-1958.

Children of Michael Meehan and Annie Harris.

The birth certificate of Michael Meehan can be seen above, and it immediately becomes obvious why I could never find his birth certificate under the name 'Meehan'...he was born on March 4, 1891,almost two and a half years before his parent's marriage, and registered with his mother's maiden name of 'Harris'.
I could also not find the birth of his sister, Daisy Meehan, and after finding Michael as 'Harris' I located a likely entry for Daisy's birth also...Daisy Grace Harris born 1887, Carlton, no father mentioned. Our Daisy Meehan was born c. 1888,according to her death certificate, so this is most likely her.

Michael Harris was known always as Michael John Meehan. He grew up in Yarrawonga and after his schooling was completed became a clerk. He enlisted for World War 1 on November 12, 1914, at the age of 23 years and 8 months. He was described on enlistment as " 5 feet 7 and 3/4 inches height; 10 stone 3 pounds; florid complexion; grey eyes; brown hair; Roman Catholic." He was lucky enough to survive the battlefields of France, unlike his brother Patrick, and returned home to Australia in November 1918.
The electoral rolls show that Michael, after his return from the War, moved to 12 Park Street, St. Kilda West, and there he remained, working as a clerk, for the years 1924, 1931, 1936, 1937, 1943, 1949 and finally the last available online roll in 1954.
Michael John Meehan died in Thornbury, Victoria, in 1958, aged 67 years.He never married as far as I can ascertain.

Marriage Certificate of Michael Meehan and Annie Harris

Annie Harris, wife of Michael Meehan.

Annie Harris (pictured above) was born in the Lethbridge district of Victoria in 1868, the daughter of Henry Harris and his wife Annie Hoskins. Henry and his wife had married in Victoria in 1857, and had the following children:
1861: Mary Harris born Native Creek, Victoria
1863: Georgina Harris, born Meredith.
1865: Henry Harris, born Meredith
1868: Ann Harris born Lethbridge
1871: Sarah Harris born Meredith
1873: Margaret Elizabeth born Meredith.

Annie Harris married Michael Meehan in 1893 and had a family comprising of four daughters and six sons.

Michael Meehan, only son of Paddy Meehan and Mary Mockler.

Above: Michael Meehan as an elderly man. At the time this photo was taken, he was bed-ridden with arthritis, a legacy of his shearing days.

I have not been able to locate a birth certificate for Michael Meehan, the second of three children and only son born to Paddy Meehan and Mary Mockler.He was born in c. 1857 in Kilmore, and was a little boy of only two or three when his mother was found dead in the bottom of a well near their home.
It is not known whether little Michael remained with his father after the death of his mother, or whether he was raised by his father's widowed sister, Judith Meehan Bourke, who also lived in Kilmore.It is known amongst the descendants of Michael Meehan that there was an irreparable rift between Paddy Meehan and his son, and that in his father's will Michael was left "a shilling and a shot gun".I favour the scenario of Michael livng with his father and sister, and the falling out with his father coming later when Michael was a grown man.

At the time of his marriage Michael Meehan was residing in Yarrawonga while his only living sibling, sister Mary Honora Meehan, lived with their father on the Dairy Creek property near Yea, and after her 1881 marriage to Michael Coonan she remained in the Yea district.
In 1893, two years before his father's death, 35 year old Michael Meehan married Annie Harris, 24, at the Catholic Church in Yarrawonga. Annie brought to the marriage three children- Daisy who was almost six, Michael who was two years and a two month old baby who had been registered as 'John Harris' but raised as 'Patrick Meehan'.All three of these children were registered as 'Harris', with no father's name stated, but were raised with the name 'Meehan' as part of the Meehan family.
Michael and Annie had a large family of ten children,including the three born prior to their marriage, and Michael worked very hard as a labourer and shearer to support his family. Electoral Rolls for 1903, 1909, 1914 and 1919 show Michael Meehan, labourer, and Annie Meehan, home duties, living in Yarrawonga, the 1919 Roll specifying their address as Telford Street, Yarrawonga.
In 1924 the family were shown as living at 28 Penders Street,Northcote, which is a suburb of Melbourne:
1924: 28 Penders Street
Michael Meehan no occupation
Annie Meehan home duties
John Francis Meehan cabinet maker
Harry Joseph Meehan grocer

1931: 28 Penders Street, Northcote.
Michael Meehan no occupation
Annie Meehan home duties
Annie May Meehan sales
John Francis Meehan laborer
Monica Meehan home duties

1936: 28 Penders Street, Northcote
Annie Meehan home duties
Monica Meehan home duties

1942: 28 Penders Street, Northcote.
Annie Meehan home duties
Monica Meehan home duties

1949 and 1954 entries were as above.

On May 31, 1893, just under three months before Michael married Annie Harris, his brother-in-law Michael Francis Coonan passed away. This left Mary Meehan Coonan, Michael Meehan's sister, a widow with three surviving children. She remained on the family property, but died herself in 1900, leaving her children-aged between 16 and 7 years- orphaned.
Stepping in to adopt the Coonan children was their paternal aunt, Margaret Coonan Butler, 52 years old, widowed and herself childless.In September of 1900 Margaret applied for the Letters of Administration of Mary Meehan Coonan's estate, the latter having died without a will.In one part the document read:
" The deceased left no husband nor father nor mother nor sister her surviving, but left one brother her surviving named Michael Meehan who usually resides in Yarrawonga in the Colony of Victoria and is a labourer, but is as I have been informed by a telegram from his wife and verily believe at present in NSW and out of the jurisdiction of this court and who is as I know of my own knowledge in very poor circumstances and has a wife and family dependent on him for support."

Margaret Butler adopted the three Coonan children and raised them herself, and the family property at Yea, 'Tara', is still held by the grandchildren of Michael Coonan and his wife Mary Meehan.
Michael Meehan and his wife Annie had their share of heartbreak in the raising of their own family...in 1918 they lost their son Patrick Meehan in France in WW1, and in 1931 they lost two sons, 17 year old James and 23 year old William, to the disease tuberculosis.
Michael Meehan died in his home at 28 Penders Street, Northcote,on July 4, 1932, aged 75 years. His cause of death was given as 'Rheumatoid arthritis, years; Myocarditis, heart failure, years."

Certificates relating to Sarah Burdick.