Tony, I presume they all married in Australia. Could I suggest you post marriage details so we can get an idea of earliest arrival date. There's a big 19 year spread of ages. I'm struggling with Susan being unmarried in her 30's and Bridget being around 12 or 13. One scenario could be that Ellen died shortly after Bridget's birth and as the eldest, Susan became the mother of the family. Another though is that they had to be assisted immigrants. I can't see them paying their own way. Have you look on Ancestry's immigration records. That covers all states in one search. Peter

Peter, Yes, they all married in Victoria. Jane (Johanna) 1853 Susan 1859 John 1861 Patrick 1863 Bridget 1863 They bought adjoining farms at Axedale, near Bendigo. We believe that there were other siblings who went to California. Susan's headstone confirms that she was 90 at the time of her death in 1911. Susan and Bridget were next door neighbours at Axedale and their two branches of the family remained very close over the next two generations. Susan may well have been a "mother " to her youngest sister especially when Bridget's husband died in a farming accident when she was pregnant with her second child. Yes, I have been using Ancestry but still no luck in this case. Tony. On 17/01/2013, at 11:07 AM, Peter R Booth <pbo08596@bigpond.net.au> wrote: > Tony, > > I presume they all married in Australia. Could I suggest you post > marriage details so we can get an idea of earliest arrival date. > > There's a big 19 year spread of ages. I'm struggling with Susan being > unmarried in her 30's and Bridget being around 12 or 13. > > One scenario could be that Ellen died shortly after Bridget's birth and > as the eldest, Susan became the mother of the family. > > Another though is that they had to be assisted immigrants. I can't see > them paying their own way. > Have you look on Ancestry's immigration records. That covers all states in > one search. > > Peter > > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CLARE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message

Tony, You're right. There's nothing obvious. Jane McGrath had to be here by 1853 when, by your records, she married. The only possibility in Assisted Immigrants is an 1852 arrival via Lady Elgin. But the other McGraths on the ship are names like Deborah, James, Nathaniel and Mary. I did similar logic for Bridget before 1853 and there's no match on ages. So the possibilities are a) Unassisted (Highly unlikely I would think) b) Disembarked in Adelaide, Hobart or Sydney c) All travelled separately (Again highly unlikely) d) Horribly mistranscribed e) Shipping papers don't survive. I don't think I can help. The only other suggestion might be to search Trove newspapers which may include them in shipping news. At least you know they were here and have all the Australian data on them. And I can give you a personal guarantee they travelled by boat. Peter

Thanks again Peter. It's always helpful to be forced to retrace your steps and recheck your material. Adelaide remains a possibility but the SA records are pretty thin. I fear that their records may not have survived. I have used Trove pretty extensively for this family. Lots of interesting material but not on their arrivals. It looks if St. Senans in Kilrush has to be the next step. Many thanks, Tony. On 17/01/2013, at 9:00 PM, "Peter R Booth" <pbo08596@bigpond.net.au> wrote: > Tony, > > You're right. There's nothing obvious. > > Jane McGrath had to be here by 1853 when, by your records, she married. > The only possibility in Assisted Immigrants is an 1852 arrival via Lady > Elgin. But the other McGraths on the ship are names like Deborah, James, > Nathaniel and Mary. > > I did similar logic for Bridget before 1853 and there's no match on > ages. > > So the possibilities are > a) Unassisted (Highly unlikely I would think) > b) Disembarked in Adelaide, Hobart or Sydney > c) All travelled separately (Again highly unlikely) > d) Horribly mistranscribed > e) Shipping papers don't survive. > > I don't think I can help. The only other suggestion might be to search > Trove newspapers which may include them in shipping news. > > At least you know they were here and have all the Australian data on > them. And I can give you a personal guarantee they travelled by boat. > > Peter > > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to IRL-CLARE-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message