Michael Farrell: building a life

Life in Cork

Michael Farrell was the first Farrell in the family to arrive in Australia. There is much we don't know about his life, but there is enough to get some idea of his character and the impression he made on a Bengal-born military officer who would become one of Australia most famous explorers.

Michael was born about 1808 in Brandon, County Cork, Ireland, and died in Adelaide 5 July 1850. He was a free settler, a convict and a carpenter. His profession would also attract some of his descendants, though not his raucous first-born Richard from whom we descend.

His death record suggests a birth in 1808 but the names of his Catholic parents are not known.

Prior to his departure for New South Wales, Cork’s economy had gone into decline. The end of the Napoleonic Wars contributed to a slump with prices for agricultural produce falling. Cork Harbour no longer regularly hosted the Royal Navy and that caused a decline in the provisions trade. Unemployment rose and was exacerbated by an influx of migrants from economically depressed rural areas. 

The growing Colony of New South Wales looked attractive for the young carpenter. Michael’s parents may have encouraged the move and may also have travelled the 30 kilometres from Bandon to Cork Harbour to see him off, guessing that they may never meet again.

Arrival In Port Jackson

On 25 May 1827, the Mariner arrived in Port Jackson with some free settlers and '158 male prisoners, having lost two on the passage’. The guard was an attachment of the 39th Regiment under Ensign Charles Sturt who would later become famous as an explorer. Michael, as we shall see, made a positive impression on Sturt.

In Sydney, Michael met others who had arrived from Cork at St Mary’s Chapel near Hyde Park the hub of Catholic activity under the leadership of Cork-born Father John Therry. Therry’s interest in Australia had been ‘aroused by the transportation of Irish convicts’ and he arrived in 1820 and as a ‘farseeing pastor making up for years of neglect’. One of his aims was to build a church and perhaps he took an interest in those of who the skills to help him build it.

Michael gets into strife

However, within a year, Michael had got himself into trouble. He was charged with being an accessory in a case of murder and robbery. The trial process lasted from April to August and he was ultimately found guilty in the Supreme Court of receiving stolen jewellery following a house robbery during which the owners’ servant was murdered.

William Regan was convicted of the murder and Father Therry encouraged him to write down the names of those who held the stolen property before his execution. Regan also a native of Cork and stone-mason, named Bartholomew Taylor and with a little more reluctance Michael Farrell. Regan’s trial detailing his shooting of James Davis made compelling reading in the papers.

The case that entangled Michael.
Sydney Gazette and New South Wales Advertiser
Monday 14 April 1828

Charges against Taylor were initially dropped for lack of evidence, but Frederick Hely, superintendent of convicts, was keen to pursue testimony showing that the pair had tried to sell the stolen goods. In June 1828, the Police Bench examined Taylor ‘a prisoner of the Crown, and until very lately assigned to his wife’ and Farrell ‘a youth of but a few months knowledge of the Colony … [and] a lodger in Taylor's house.’

Captain Sturt was a character witness for Farrell and stated that he knew him as a ‘carpenter's mate and that he bore the character of an orderly, honest man’. John Flood, Farrell’s employer, also attested to his ‘good character for honesty and industry’. Taylor was sentenced to 14 years transportation at Norfolk Island and Farrell to seven. Sturt’s reference when combined with Farrell’s youth, the fact that he was a boarder with Taylor and the suggestion that Regan had been reluctant to mention him may have helped confirm a lighter sentence.

Charles Sturt (1795-1869) Explorer, replica by
John Michael Crossland, oil on canvas, circa 1853.
National Portrait Gallery NPG 3302 used with permission.
Without him, Michael and Catherine may not have married.

Farrell's stroke of luck

Farrell made two petitions for pardon. The first less than six months after his transportation, a professionally written form letter, was quickly rejected.

The second came about by a stroke of good fortune. 

Captain Sturt happened to be stationed at Norfolk Island for a short time and after meeting Mick took the initiative in writing to Governor Burke on 22 February 1832 that ‘Farrell’s conduct has been so exemplary on Norfolk Island and his executions of his duties so satisfactory that I am convinced he erred more from pliancy of disposition…’. The pardon was granted by Governor Bourke three days later. 

Farrell’s pardon document has some luck for us also. It includes a description of him; 5 feet 5 ¼ inches tall, sallow complexion, brown hair and grey eyes. He had a scar on his left hand (perhaps showing he was a righthanded carpenter) and a tattoo on his left arm - ‘MFIN’. ‘MF’ refers to Michael Farrell himself and ‘IN’ may refer to a loved one. He did not arrive in 1828 as a convict so it is not clear whether the tattoo was made in Cork or on Norfolk Island.

Catherine Ahern leaves Cork

Back in Cork, Catherine Ahern was one of a group of 202 girls and young women removed from the Cork House of Industry and Foundling Hospital and dispatched to Sydney on the Red Rover in April 1832. The plan was to solve two problems: the care of orphaned girls and the lack of industrious women of marriageable age in New South Wales. The Red Rover was celebrated on its arrival in Sydney on 10 August 1832 as the first emigrant ship carrying solely non-convict women. The Sydney Gazette hoped that the women, ‘who presented … a neat and respectable appearance will be so treated by the families who apply for them, as to effect that important amelioration in the moral condition of our working population, which the measure is intended to accomplish’. Indeed.

Catherine made arrangements for employment as a housemaid with Mrs John Paul of George Street, not far from where Michael was living. Perhaps Michael and Catherine met at St. Mary’s at one of Father Therry's matchmaking events. In any case, they were married at St Mary’s on 19 February 1833. The marriage and arrival of several children, starting with our ancestor Richard on 16 February 1834, did ameliorate Michael who kept out of serious trouble for the rest of his life. In 1837 Catherine’s sister may have joined them perhaps to help with the growing family.

Mick and Catherine's marriage - witnessed by new friends.
The place was St Mary's Chapel. It became a Cathedral after their marriage.

Catherine kept in contact with several of her Red Rover companions; they showed up as witnesses at one another's weddings and children's baptisms. Michael's companions seem to have been other builders including John Mazagora a son of free settler Constable John Massagora whose family arrived in 1816. John and Mick both worked for Francis Reynolds a 'respectable builder in Kent Sreet'.

Adelaide calls

In 1846, immigration to Adelaide from other Australian Colonies increased as a result of the Colony’s mineral wealth. Steady work was available in the building industry and the Colony’s population rose from 22, 000 in 1846 to 63, 000 in 1850.

The Farrells got in early and arrived on board the Emma from Sydney on 28 April 1846, listed as ‘Farrell, M. Mr and wife and 3 children’. Up to that point, Catherine had given birth to seven children. Some may have died before they left for Adelaide and some may not have travelled with them perhaps staying with Catherine's sister. 

Charles Sturt was also in Adelaide and helped encouraged its development before leaving on an expedition in 1844. Although there is no evidence that he encouraged Michael to make the move it is possible.

In Adelaide, two more Farrell children were born; Anne and Thomas. 

The scourge of tuberculosis

At this time tuberculosis was a common cause of death in the Colonies. It was probably in Adelaide that Michael contracted tuberculosis which killed him in 1850 and his young son Thomas in 1852. 

There is no record of the burial of either Michael or Thomas although West Terrace Cemetery believes they buried there  -  it was the only cemetery in town and it has unmarked Catholic graves for which there are no records. Michael's undertaker was a neighbour in Currie Street, Adelaide. John Groser had been declared insolvent in 1846 as a carpenter and presumably found that the dead paid better than the living.

There is also no evidence of what happened to Catherine after the death of Thomas in 1852. Her daughter Anne was in Bendigo soon after her brother’s death. She was only about seven years of age so perhaps her mother took her there and perhaps she married again.

Michael may have been naive but benefited from Therry’s community, his marriage and the help of Charles Sturt who recognised his good nature and honoured the hopes the young carpenter felt when he left Cork Harbour.

Revised 9 November 2018.

"Wretched strangers": Shakespeare’s plea for tolerance towards immigrants in 'Sir Thomas More'

By Andrew Dickson

‘The Book of Sir Thomas More’ is the only surviving literary manuscript in Shakespeare’s hand. Andrew Dickson describes how the scene Shakespeare wrote for the play contains a moving plea for the plight of immigrants.

Among the 40ish plays written entirely or almost entirely by Shakespeare, there is a tantalising puzzle: a manuscript titled ‘The Booke of Sir Thomas Moore’ (booke in this context meaning ‘play script’). 

 William Shakespeare via Wikipedia

Now kept in the vaults of the British Library, the document is a play script from the late 16th century or early 17th, in draft form and dense with revisions and changes. Its main author seems to be the now little-known poet and playwright Anthony Munday (c. 1560–1633), but the text also appears to contain the handwriting of four fellow dramatists including a shadowy figure known initially as ‘Hand D’. In 1871, scholars proposed an identity for Hand D – William Shakespeare. 

If they are correct, the manuscript of Sir Thomas More contains something incalculably precious: the only example of Shakespeare’s handwriting in a literary manuscript.

The Book of Sir Thomas More: Shakespeare's only surviving literary manuscript

Harley MS 7368, the only surviving play script to include Shakespeare’s handwriting.

View images from this item  (4)

Usage terms The British Library has decided to make the images of pre-1800 collection items available on this website. For more information please refer to the following guidance.

What is the play about?

The play’s subject matter is the rise and fall of Thomas More, the Tudor lawyer and polymath who was sentenced to death for refusing to recognise Henry VIII as Supreme Head of the Church in England. Even by the fraught political standards of Elizabethan England, More’s story was dangerous stuff. The events the play depicts had happened only 60-odd years earlier, and More was a Catholic who had died for his principles. 

Catholicism was officially banned under Elizabeth I, and adherents of the old religion forced to worship in secret; to present a sympathetic portrait of a Papist martyr who defied his monarch, as Sir Thomas More does, was risky indeed.

Still more riskily, the play dwells on xenophobic riots that tore through London in 1517. These riots bore troubling similarities to disturbances that had occurred in the 1590s and early 1600s when the playwrights were working on the script. 

Incensed by what they saw as dangerous levels of immigration from the European continent, rioters had rampaged through London calling for ‘aliens’ or foreigners to be expelled or have their throats cut. As well as the handwriting of Munday, Shakespeare and the other dramatists – Henry Chettle, Thomas Dekker and Thomas Heywood – the manuscript also bears the exasperated comments and revisions of Edmund Tilney, Elizabeth’s theatre censor, who had the power to prevent performances of plays he deemed inflammatory. Sir Thomas More seems to have been one of those plays: as far as historians can tell, it was banned from public performance.

What is Shakespeare’s scene about?

What does Sir Thomas More reveal about Shakespeare? 

Much more than his rather cramped handwriting. The most contentious moment in the script is what was called the ‘insurrection’ scene, in which xenophobic Londoners poured onto the city’s streets baying for immigrants to be thrown out of England. Though we tend to think of Elizabethan playwrights operating in splendid isolation, it wasn’t uncommon for writers to work together, contributing sections or speeches as required. At some point in the development of Sir Thomas More, Shakespeare seems to have been commissioned to write the play’s emotional highpoint, in which the heroic More – who is at this point in the play the sheriff of London – pleads with the crowd to accept and welcome the asylum seekers in their midst. 

‘Imagine that you see the wretched strangers,’ More cries,

Their babies at their backs, with their poor luggage,Plodding to th’ ports and coasts for transportation, And that you sit as kings in your desires,Authority quite silenced by your brawl ... (Sc. 6, 84–88)

More turns the rioters’ arguments back on themselves: if they themselves were refugees, where would they go? Which country would want them? ‘Why, you must needs be strangers,’ he concludes, finding no ‘abode on earth’, with ‘detested knives against your throats, / Spurn[ed] like dogs’ (ll. 148–50). 

Ashamed and contrite, the mob backs down.

Sir Thomas More may have been too contentious to stage at the time, but the power it has in the theatre is all too clear. In the speech Shakespeare gives to More, the sheriff single-handedly quells the riot by appealing to the crowd’s better instincts, and with imagery that is painfully vivid: ‘wretched strangers’ lugging their babies and their belongings, plodding to the coasts to be shipped back home – if they still have a home. 

In its show-stopping emotional force, it calls to mind the Jewish moneylender Shylock’s agonised appeal for tolerance in The Merchant of Venice (‘Hath not a Jew eyes?’ (3.1.59)), and touches on a question repeatedly probed by that drama and others such as Othello and Measure for Measure: what does fairness and acceptance look like? And what are the delicate social contracts that underpin multiculturalism? 

As so often with Shakespeare, we have no way of knowing if More’s sentiments were the playwright’s too, but he makes the case for tolerance with blazing force.

Little-known though it is, and almost never performed, the scene is powerful even now, and not difficult to map on to refugee crises in the 21st century – whether in the apparently endless exodus seeking asylum from Syria’s bitter civil war or the stream of migrants heading overland to Europe from destinations as far-flung as Afghanistan and Eritrea. With the European Union divided over how to respond, and extremist and right-wing political movements capitalising on a wave of anti-immigrant feeling, these issues will not go away. 

Migration, as Shakespeare makes plain in this remarkable scene, is nothing new: the important question is how the rest of us respond.

Andrew Dickson is an author, journalist and critic. A former arts editor at the Guardian in London, he writes regularly for the paper and appears as a broadcaster for the BBC and elsewhere. His fascinating book about Shakespeare's global influence, Worlds Elsewhere: Journeys Around Shakespeare's Globe, is available now in paperback. He lives in London, and his website is andrewjdickson.com.  First published: 15 March 2016

The text in this article has been made available under the Creative Commons License.

A book you should read - Waste of a Nation: Garbage and Growth in India

Waste of a Nation: Garbage and Growth in India 
by Assa Doron and Robin Jeffrey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book turned out to be more engaging than the subject initially suggested. The first clue is the light humour in the title; a gentle spice throughout the narrative. Though the subject is perhaps intrinsically unattractive the book demonstrates that it is vital and while India’s situation has unique factors, the issues are universal as is the urgent need to address them. 

The authors sympathetic and perceptive observations have intrinsically constructive intentions, I think. Rancour, cynicism or despair may have been easy options, but their approach is to focus on suggesting how things can be made better. 

The comprehensive reading behind the book places India’s situation in its realistic geographic and historical context and thereby illustrates that the issues are universal. While various themes come up in different contexts, I didn’t feel like thinking ‘you told me that before’; the concept of a ‘binding crisis’ and the plight of the Dalits are examples. The book is thoughtfully structured by dedicated educators. 

Hopefully, this book will be widely read – it certainly deserves to be!

The authors talk about their book.

What are my top six posts?

Here’s the latest countdown…

Number 6

Joseph Swan: engraver, publisher and supporter of the arts.

One of my more respectable ancestors, who made a distinguished contribution to Glaswegian culture. 

This is the only known photo of him.

Number 5:

A ‘new’ photo of an Australian Beersheba hero? 

The story of a war hero who also built a church retains its place at number 5. 

There will be a further item on him later.

Number 4:

A tale of two tea planters: Claud Bald and F G Marsh. 

An introduction to my two tea-planting ancestors. This is up from number 6 and continues to have regular views. The picture shows Claud on the left and Fred on the right with their respective spouses seated with two other daughters of Claud's standing. 'Ruffles' is in a bow.  

Number 3:

Grandfather Poe and the King of Chinese Cinema. 

Solving more family mysteries and widening horizons. This item was previously number 2.

The photo was taken at a country show in about 1950 and would have been against his will had he known.

Number 2:

La Trobe: Rambler, Writer and Royalist. 

Responses to John Barnes impressive award-winning biography of the man whose name followed me around for many years. 

This was previously number 1.

And the new top read is...

Number 1:

Australia Day: when would you like it? 

Should we change the date of Australia Day? Here are some suggestions which might be better than 26 January! 

The Red Ensign flag - Australia's original flag, is via Wikipedia.

Please look over the posts and share your favourites…

This website uses cookies including third-party cookies. By using this website you consent to the use of these cookies.

The search for William Romulus Powe's father

For a long time, I’ve tried to find the ancestry of my ancestor William Romulus Powe.

Finding William Romulus Powe - ‘WRP’ – in the first place was an interesting journey which I’ve described before. 

A major difficulty is that he is often assumed to be William Powe, the son of Revolutionary War veteran William Powe (1759-1849). They were both about the same age but married different wives in Garrard County Kentucky and moved to Missouri at about the same time.  

But having clarified that, I became stuck on trying to find who WRP’s parents were. I’d come to a dead-end.

So, I decided to get some (more!) expert help from genealogist Dr Leonard Butts.

My request was simple: can you find the parents of WRP and document his relationship with the other Powes in Garrard County, Kentucky?

What we know

Here are the main things we know about WRP.

WRP married Margaret Brown in Garrard County in 1817. She was, a member of the Brown family into which the Revolutionary War veteran, also named William Powe, married. The older William married Jerusha Brown.

WRP served in the War of 1812, enlisting in Garrard, and was at the decisive Battle of New Orleans.

WRP left Kentucky for Missouri well before the death of Revolutionary War veteran William Powe in 1839 and was not mentioned in his will.

WRP separated from Margaret Brown and their children in Missouri in 1849 and after marrying again moved to Indiana and then Illinois, where he had additional children.

WRP served in the Battle of New Orleans, January 1815. Copy of lithograph by Kurz and Allison published 1890. Courtesy National Archives.

William Romulus Powe’s connections

WRP states in census records that he was born in Virginia. 

Although Madison County, Kentucky (part of which became Garrard) was in the Commonwealth of Virginia at the time of early settlers, it would have been part of Kentucky well before the time of WRP’s birth in about 1795. However, no evidence of William’s origin in other parts of Virginia has been found, even though some of his descendants believed he was born in Virginia.

The only possible Powe family connection with WRP is with that of Revolutionary War veteran William Powe (1759-1839) of Garrard County, Kentucky. This William Powe married Jerusha Brown, whose relationship with William Romulus Powe’s first wife Margaret Brown was likely as an aunt. A Frederick Brown posted bond for the wedding of WRP and Margaret, which suggests he too could be a relation.

Although WRP has often been confused with the son of William and Jerusha Powe (also named William), he is clearly a different person. William Powe Jr, born about the same time as WRP, always stated he was born in Kentucky.

WRP could have some relationship to the John Powe who appears in both Madison and Garrard counties in 1794, a few years after the Revolutionary War veteran William Powe. The suggestion is that they were related and possibly brothers.

If it was John Powe who brought WRP to Kentucky, the time of arrival is close to coinciding with William’s birth. This might explain why William always stated he was born in Virginia since both John and the elder William were from Virginia. This theory fits the few known facts but it's important to note that there are many gaps in the records.

WRP’s use of 'Romulus' began when he migrated to Missouri, possibly to distinguish himself from William Powe Jr., who migrated to the same county in Missouri at about the same time. A search for the origin of the name Romulus – as a surname or as a paired connection with the name Remus (the mythical founding twins of Rome) revealed nothing to indicate that the name was anything more than a fanciful use by William himself or his parents. 

This idea is reinforced by the fact that William seems to have used ‘original’ rather than family names for his own sons. William did name a daughter Agnes Royston Powe. While there was a Royston family in Garrard County, no prior relationship between the Powe and Royston clans could be discovered.

William Powe senior and John Powe

The most obvious research path for WRP is through William Powe and John Powe, who arrived in Madison and Garrard counties in Kentucky after the Revolutionary War.

William Powe, the Revolutionary War veteran is well-documented and there is enough material for a future item on him. WRP married into the same Brown family as the elder William Powe, which suggests a double family connection. Unfortunately, though there is nothing certain about his ancestors either.

John Powe is more mysterious and for that reason has been assumed to have had some connection to WRP, possibly as his father.

The elder William Powe and John Powe served in the Revolutionary War out of Orange County, Virginia, but the only Poes living there at the time and previous to the war could not be connected to William and John.

‘Powe’ is not the spelling of the name in Virginia, but William and John spelt it that way, as did their children and WRP, whose relationship to them is unknown. WRP and the elder William’s son William Powe Jr. both migrated to Missouri at about the same time, reinforcing a close family connection.

In the end, Leonard’s research showed that it is lack of records which has prevented identification of WRP’s parents. There is some early tradition believed by William Powe junior’s descendants of a connection with WRP’s family, though exactly what that relationship is we don’t yet know.

Next Steps

Among Leonard’s suggestions for next steps are several related to the YDNA project which boil down to ‘get more people to take part’. There is a good chance that Revolutionary war veteran William Powe (1759-1849) who died in Garrard County KY is connected in some way. Some of his numerous descendants are easy to find but none of them wants to take part – and none live near enough for me to ‘drop in’ with a test kit.

He also suggested doing the same search for some other specific family groups, though locating such descendants is more problematic.

I have also agreed to take part in an autosomal test to identify possible Poe ‘cousins’ as recent results from a known relative have shown some promise.

A focus on Orange County, Virginia, records is also a logical option though access to such records, especially the many which are unindexed is likely to be expensive.

Further research on other family connections among early settlers of Garrard County who were from Orange County is also a potential focus.

A critical clue is the Garrard County court record showing John Powe brought two mulatto children to Garrard County from North Carolina. However, without knowing where in North Carolina he brought them from, it is impossible to know where to look. Should evidence emerge showing some connection of the Garrard County John Powe to someone in North Carolina prior to 1794, this could help resolve the mystery.

Do you know a Poe?

Meantime, if you know anyone with the surname Poe or Powe would you please ask them to consider taking part in the YDNA project? 

Don't rush me. I'm thinking...

Farrells in the Family and some Riverina Rogues

At last, I’ve begun to learn more about the Farrells in the Family…

What follows is based on notes jotted down on pieces of paper following various conversations with my father – Noel Lyell (1924-2003). They are sorted by the name of the person being described. Dad’s words are in italics. I’ve also recently connected with cousin Steven Farrell and we’ve been able to share information.

Dad’s mother Beatrice Keys (1883-1960) was born in Hillston in the north-west of the Riverina region of New South Wales. Her father, George Alexander Keys, had migrated with his northern Irish Presbyterian parents when he was about 10 years old. 

George married ‘local’ Emma Farrell on 15 May 1879, the daughter of publican Dick Farrell and his wife Kate – who were Catholics.

Richard’s father Mick Farrell had migrated as a carpenter from Cork Ireland as a free settler. Catherine Ahern followed him a few years later and they married in Sydney in 1833.

More about these people in later posts…

Emma Farrell (1860-1949): Dad’s maternal grandmother

I got on very well with her. Several of the stories Dad mentioned probably came from Emma and although he didn’t say so, it’s reasonable to believe that he spent a fair amount of time with his grandmother in his early years when his mother was single.

Her father was from Piney Range.

Met Ned Kelly when they slept on top of the wool cart. ‘Always a gentleman’, his boys helped. 

Lived at Terrence [a terrace?] House in Elizabeth Bay at the end of her life similar to the house Paul Keating later owned. Had a set of friends in Elizabeth Bay and Rose Bay; part of the Farrell circle which she kept to herself. Some connection to Queensland and Charleville.

Remembers her 80th birthday celebration held in Melbourne. This would have been around 8 March 1940 - her actual birthday - and presumably held in Melbourne because that’s where Beatrice, as well as Dad and his brother Al were all living. His sister Joyce was in the USA. 

Didn’t go to her funeral. He mentioned this several times and it was obviously a great regret. At the time, October 1949, she was in Sydney and Dad was working in Melbourne.

Dad said ‘there were 1,000 bottles of champagne at the wedding’. 
This item may explain why… Riverine Grazier, 31 May 1879, p. 2.
Rev. Matthew Smith was a Church of England minister.

Where is Piney Range?

Piney Range gets a fair mention in accounts of the family. But where is it?

The Greater Hume Council explains:

'Known as the ‘crossroads of the Riverina, Walbundrie was a thriving gold rush town of several thousand people. Formerly called ‘Piney Range’, because of extensive stands of Cyprus Pines in the district, the village is now a rural service centre. On 15 June 1855, the Bulgandra (or Walbundrie Reefs) goldfield was proclaimed, eight miles from Piney Range, making Bulgandra the larger village.'

Most of the towns in this story are in the Riverina. Walbundrie is a third of the way north from Albury to Lockhart where the roads point and intersect with a waterway – Billabong Creek. Courtesy Australiantourism.com.

‘Gentleman Jim’

On another occasion, Dad mentioned ‘Gentleman Jim Farrell’ who was a dapper billiardist and ‘took a shilling a point’. This may refer to Emma’s brother James, though he died in 1899. Dad also applied the name ‘Gentleman Jim’ to his grandfather George Keys who was also a billiardist. Keys was certainly a billiardist but I have no other information about whether James Farrell was.  He also had a wool carting business. ‘Also’ because both he said his grandfather George Keys did this as well.

Dad thought the Farrells had a sheep station in the Riverina and he remembered as a young boy on his tricycle when a snake came towards him. A Farrell uncle ‘saved’ him by throwing the snake in a tank.

Farrell family

Dad met one man with two children one his age [i.e. born about 1924] and another three years older. Wife was a relative of [his Keys uncle] Hock’s [wife, who was "Annie" Dorothy Hume] he thinks. Was also a magician [as was his father Al Poe and adopted uncle Maurice Rooklyn], lived on the dole and had a Buick. Went over the new [Sydney] harbour bridge in their Buick. In general, didn’t get on with this family then. The Bridge was opened March 1932 and at this time Dad was with the Lyell family in Lane Cove.

There were some tensions between Ivy Lyell and Dad’s natural family which the young teenage Noel may have reflected and may be the reason why he perceived his mother and sister Joyce’ contact with them as something they kept to themselves. By the age of 17, Noel had decided to get to know his natural family again starting with his mother. (Separate note) Lived in Rose Bay.

Jack Farrell

Had two kids a bit older than Dad. If the kids were Dad’s age they would be nephews of Emma so this could be one of the several sons of James Alfred Farrell (1859-1899).

Joshua Farrell (1866-1942)

Dad referred to his maternal grandfather as Josh Farrell but it is the name of his grandmother Emma’s brother who obviously made an impression on him. Josh moved to Charleville in 1919 after the death of his first wife. Charleville certainly features in Dad’s memories of the Farrell family as well as the name Joshua.

Josh Farrell in 1909 at Bathurst court
for charges of larceny and horse-stealing.

Beatrice Keys (1883-1960): Dad’s mother

Pregnant with Noel [Dad speaking of himself in the third person] she picked a hospital [St Margaret’s, Sydney] to have him at, draped a flag over the end of the bed for donations for the first boy born on Christmas day that year.

[Beatrice] Knew Tex Morton [and] George Sorlie [who] wrote ‘Rose of Mine’ [this needs to be verified] she had the original [score] and sang it sometimes before [her husband Alexander Poe’s] ‘black magic’ show. ‘Daisy Park’ and on the Lachlan River and also Bogan’s Gate [are locations] connected with Keys / Farrell clans. [Also] Bribie Island [near Brisbane but no further information on this].

“You can tell the gang that we’ll all be there, in our cottage by the sea”. She would sing this to Dad; it was a jolly song, not a lament. [His brother] Jack says she died singing it. Unfortunately, I can’t find out anything about this song.

Some relevant information on Daisy Park: In 1897, a ballot was conducted by the Forbes Land Board for leasehold land on Big Burrawang. One of the lucky ballotters, Bill Dwyer, drew a block near Gunning Gap between Bogan Gate and Bedgerebong. He pitched his tent on his new farm in the Spring of that year and immediately began digging a well and building his family’s first small house. The Dwyers named their farm Daisy Park after the 'vast areas of white daisies' that grew amongst the box and yarran trees on the western side of the block. I can’t yet verify if the Keys or Farrells were connected with this land, but this is worth following up.

[Beatrice was] Intelligent uncanny [I think he meant ‘canny’, but he also saw her as ‘psychic’] likeable and shrewd. Had to resort to many things during the depression to support her kids. When in the air-force [1942-1946], Mum [that is my mother Joan Marsh] went into Harry Rooklyn’s café lounge in Sydney. Beatrice was available to read palms and tea-leaves with two of her air force friends. Beatrice was definitely psychic and Mum was later able to recall the veracity of some of her predictions.

George Alexander Keys (1849-1910)

Met him. This is not possible since he died in 1910 and separately Dad mentioned that he was much older than Emma. Obviously, his name lived on and Dad may have merged the stories with memories of another relative perhaps it was Josh Farrell again or a Keys relative.

Travelled on bullock drays [with Emma] and slept on top for fear of dingoes. One time fell off after which he slept on a hammock underneath. Sometimes Emma travelled with him without the kids. May have hustled with grandfather Poe using billiards. Was called ‘Gentleman Jim’ when he played billiards. Perhaps the ‘Gentleman Jim’ name was taken from James John ‘Gentleman Jim’ Corbett (1866–1933) an American professional boxer. Boxing seems to have been a popular pastime with the Keys and Farrell families as it was with the Lyell family.

Transported wool, [which was] seasonal work. The Keys family had left Hillston by 1890 and lived in Melbourne where George ran a billiard hall for a while before George and Emma separated. Emma returned to New South Wales and George moved to Western Australia where he became a publican and continued to enjoy billiards. He may have visited Ireland before returning to Australia to end his days in Queensland. His father, also named George (1828-1894), remained in Hillston and is buried there.

'Hock' Keys (1880-1923)

Hock is worth a separate item. He was a famous boxer and son of George Alexander Keys and Emma Farrell. He was Australian Lightweight Champion, well known and well liked in his day. He served in the AIF during World War I, but sadly became an alcoholic and died of pneumonia. He figured prominently in Dad’s memories and was regularly mentioned by Emma, Hock’s mother, who is buried with him. His father was a publican who made sure his customers knew he was Hock’s father, which was presumably good for business.

Smith's Weekly, Sat 26 Apr 1930 Page 20.
Fighters and fearless horsepeople.

Comment from Dad’s sister Joyce, as he recalled it

Joyce had a boyfriend, Arch Richie (introduced by Harry Rooklyn). Arch went to Queensland with Joy [in the 1930s] and looked up the Keys family in Charleville as there was some story of a relative there. On their return, grandma [Emma] said there were three [Farrell] boys, one [in the Navy] and the other two officers during World War I. They (or one) had property at Charleville. 

Again, this is a reference to Josh Farrell.

Dad, his sister Joyce and their mother Beatrice – Emma’s daughter – were a family unit in the 1920s but at the time of this visit Dad was living with his foster family who didn’t like him associating with his natural family. 

Do you know more?

These impressions of people are only partial portraits. If any of the names, places or stories sound familiar to you, please let me know. You can leave a comment below or send me a note at leonjlyell@gmail.com

Walbundrie Public School commenced classes in 1878.

Corrections made 31 August 2018

-oOo-

#YPoeDNA

I recently started on Twitter and put up a note with no hashtag encouraging Poe men to look at the FTDNA site. In less than a week, 10 viewers clicked on to the Poe YDNA project site out of 33 looks. Not many but as a result I created a hashtag #YPoeDNA and sent out another tweet and included a picture.

The tweet is “Poe men please provide DNA – Y? It’s the best way to solve our family history mysteries! https://www.familytreedna.com/group-join.aspx?Group=Poe&code=X79802”

  

The objectives of the tweet are:

Promote the Poe FTDNA project

Encourage more men to take part.

Encourage discussion, information sharing and research on Poe / Powe family history.

Document what’s known.

Reduce ‘speculative’ genealogies.

Write Stuff Editing

Do you need a proofreading/editing service? I can provide this for essays, papers, articles, university assignments, ESL documents, speeches, or press releases.

Send me an email leonjlyell@gmail.com with a Word version of your document for a quote. Confidentiality of your work is guaranteed.