Pierce Patrick Gilligan (1873)

Born 27 Sep 1873 in Mount Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia

Ancestors

Husband of Elizabeth Philips — married 14 Aug 1898 (to Aug 1906) in Cobar, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Perry Gilligan is a Military Veteran.
Served in the New South Wales Military Force Boer War 1901-1902
Sargeant 3rd Battalion, New South Wales Mounted Rifles

Pierce was born in 1873, the son of Patrick Gilligan and Mary Vane. ^[1]

He married Elizabeth Philips at Cobar on 14 August 1898 in the Church of St Lawrence O'Toole.^[2]

He stated that he was a copper miner on his certificate of marriage.^[3]

Their only child, Ivy Ethel Mary Gilligan, was born on 27 August 1899 at Cobar.^[4]

In February 1900, Pery’s weatherboard house at Cobar burned down with all its contents. An inquest into the fire was conducted by Coroner Brown in March 1900, and it was ascertained that the house was unoccupied as Elizabeth and Ivy were in Sydney and Pery was at Meryula for the night with two other men. Pery said he had no idea how the fire originated, and that he was on good terms with his neighbours and there was no mortgage on the house. The building and furniture had been insured for £120.^[5]

After the fire the Gilligan family lived at Andrew Anderson’s Court House Hotel for a month, until they moved into the Tobacconist’s Shop on Marshall Street in Cobar, which Pery had bought.^[6]

On 3 July 1900 Pery was before the Cobar Police Court for the detention of a bicycle from the Massey Harris Co, for whom he was the local agent.^[7] The bicycle was subsequently handed over, and Pery was ordered to pay professional costs and court costs.^[8]

Pery subsequently left Cobar and his wife that month without her knowledge.^[9]

On about 26 September 1900 a warrant was issued by the Cobar Bench for the arrest of Perry Gilligan, charged with the fraudulent appropriation of money from the Massey Harris Co. at Cobar in August 1899. He was described as being about 25 years old, 5’ 8”, with a medium build, dark complexion, blue eyes, clean shaved with a slight moustache, dressed in a grey tweed suit and brown ‘Dr Jim’ hat.

In November 1900 Pery wrote to Elizabeth and told her he was living in Sydney. She joined him in Sydney with Ivy, and he informed her that he had joined the Australian contingent fighting in the Boer War. They lived together until he left for South Africa on 17 March 1901. She said he promised to return to her within 12 months, but that did not occur.^[10]

Pierce served in the Boer War under the name of Alec Gilligan Gordon, recorded as Alec Gilligar Gordon. He was a Sergeant in the 3rd Battalion of the NSW Mounted Rifles.^[11]

Elizabeth had not heard from him from May 1902 until approximately May 1904 when she received a letter from him. She believed that he arrived in Sydney on 15 June 1905, and she took out a warrant for his arrest under the Deserted Wives and Children Act 1901 (NSW) that was issued at Cobar on 19 June 1905. The warrant was executed at Petersham, NSW on 22 June 1905 when Pery was getting out of a cab with two young ladies at 2.00 am.

He was subsequently brought before the Police Court in Newtown, NSW and remanded to appear at Cobar Police Court on 7 July 1905.^[12]

On 7 July 1905 Pery Patrick Gilligan, alias A. G. Gordon, was charged with wife desertion, and the matter was heard before the Police Magistrate at Cobar. Pery Patrick Gilligan stated in the proceedings that he used the name Alec Gordon before he left for South Africa, and that he spent 5 months in in a Johannesburg hospital. After the war, he had been in charge of the Burke estate in South Africa for 18 weeks at £15 per month, but he said that the cost of living in South Africa was about five times as high as in N.S.W. He then went to a gold rush in Madagascar in January 1905, and afterwards left for Australia when he had only £14 remaining.^[13]

The Bench made an order for 15 shillings per week to be paid to Elizabeth and 5s per week for 12 months for his daughter together with costs and an order to pay a recognisance and sureties to the Court for the due performance of the support orders.^[14] While Perry was also charged on warrant on the same day with the fraudulent appropriation of 1 pound 10 shillings from Massey Harris Cycling Co, he was discharged without prosecution as the principal prosecution witness had left the state.^[15]

He was served with Elizabeth’s petition for divorce while he was imprisoned at his Majesty’s Gaol in Cobar for failing to pay the recognisance and sureties, and her petition was heard in the NSW Divorce Court on 16 March 1906. Pery did not appear, and the Court granted a decree nisi, returnable in three months, with Elizabeth to have custody of their daughter.^[16]

On 11 July 1906, Pery Patrick Gilligan appeared at Wellington Police Court to answer a charge of fraudulently misappropriating the sum of 10s on 23 June 1906, which had been collected under authority to pay the said money to Ignatius Bell.^[17] On 23 July 1906 Pery Patrick Gilligan appeared before the Police Magistrate for the hearing.^[18] The facts were that Bell was a mine football player who had been injured in a match, and a collection had been proposed by Gilligan to aid Bell. Gilligan had been asked to collect the money from the men who had promised to subscribe. During the proceedings the charge was subsequently altered to stealing the sum of 10s from Augustine Eugene Marshall, a mining student, as his funds had not been paid to Bell. Pery was found guilty and sentenced to four months' imprisonment in Dubbo Gaol.^[19]

The Decree Nisi granted in Elizabeth’s suit was made absolute on 29 August 1906, and the marriage of Elizabeth Gilligan and Perie Patrick Gilligan was dissolved.^[20]

In early 1908 Perry met Florence Wright, and they were married on 20 Feb 1909 at Canterbury, NSW. Their only child, Leslie Gordon Gilligan, was born on 4 May 1909 at Paddington, NSW.^[21] Perry deserted the family in July 1909 and did not return.

On 10 June 1910 a warrant under the Deserted Wives and Children Act 1901 (NSW) was sought by Florence for wife desertion by Perry Percival Gilligan, which was issued by the Wollongong bench. He was said to be about 40 years old, 5’9”, with a stout build, dark complexion, black hair turning grey, balding with a black moustache, brown eyes and generally dressed in blue serge clothes with a black hard hat. He was also said to be fond of horse-racing, and was a coal miner and labourer.

The warrant was not able to be executed and Florence petitioned for a divorce in 1912, which was granted in 1913.^[22]

Sources

1. ↑ NSW BDM birth reference 9207/1873; Decree Nisi granted on 15 June 1901 in the Supreme Court of New South Wales in Divorce proceedings no. 3824 (Gilligan v Gilligan) instituted on 11 January 1901, in which Mary Gilligan petitioned for a dissolution of the marriage: NSW State Archives file number NRS – 13495 – 29 – [13/12551] – 3824 Divorce papers Mary Gilligan – Patrick Gilligan. Birth Location from his marriage certificate
2. ↑ Marriage certificate for Pery Patrick Gilligan and Elizabeth Philips for the wedding solemnized on 14 August 1898 filed in the Supreme Court New of South Wales Matrimonial Causes Division no. 5381: NSW State Archives file number NRS – 13495 – 28 – [13/12618] – 5381 Divorce Papers Elizabeth Gilligan – Perie Patrick Gilligan.
3. ↑ Marriage certificate for Pery Patrick Gilligan and Elizabeth Philips for the wedding solemnized on 14 August 1898 filed in the Supreme Court of New South Wales Matrimonial Causes Jurisdiction no. 5381: NSW State Archives file number NRS – 13495 – 28 – [13/12618] – 5381 Divorce Papers Elizabeth Gilligan – Perie Patrick Gilligan.
4. ↑ NSW BDM birth reference 29635/1899; NSW BDM death reference 24691/1986.
5. ↑ Cobar Herald, 3 March 1900, page 2 ‘House Burned Down’.
6. ↑ Affidavit sworn by Elizabeth Gilligan on 23 March 1906 filed in the Supreme Court of NSW Matrimonial Causes Jurisdiction no. 5381: NSW State Archives file number NRS – 13495 – 28 – [13/12618] – 5381 Divorce Papers Elizabeth Gilligan – Perie Patrick Gilligan.
7. ↑ Cobar Herald, 2 June 1900, page 2 ‘Cobar Carnival Week – Cobar Show’.
8. ↑ Cobar Herald, 7 July 1900, page 2 ‘Local and General - About a Bicycle’.
9. ↑ Affidavit sworn by Elizabeth Gilligan on 23 March 1906 filed in the Supreme Court of NSW Matrimonial Causes Jurisdiction no. 5381: NSW State Archives file number NRS – 13495 – 28 – [13/12618] – 5381 Divorce Papers Elizabeth Gilligan – Perie Patrick Gilligan.
10. ↑ Affidavit sworn by Elizabeth Gilligan on 23 March 1906 filed in the Supreme Court of NSW Matrimonial Causes Jurisdiction no. 5381: NSW State Archives file number NRS – 13495 – 28 – [13/12618] – 5381 Divorce Papers Elizabeth Gilligan – Perie Patrick Gilligan; Cobar Herald, 8 July 1905, page 7 ‘Alleged Wife Desertion’.
11. ↑ The Cobar Herald, 8 Jul 1905 page 7 'Alleged Wife Desertion'.; Australian War Memorial, Pre First World War Conflicts Nominal Roll ‘Alec Gilligar Gordon’ https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1446639
12. ↑ Affidavit of Gillbirt Kelly, law clerk, sworn on 24 July 1905 filed in the Supreme Court of NSW Matrimonial Causes Jurisdiction no. 5381: NSW State Archives file number NRS – 13495 – 28 – [13/12618] – 5381 Divorce Papers Elizabeth Gilligan – Perie Patrick Gilligan; Supreme Court of NSW Matrimonial Causes jurisdiction transcript of proceedings for matter no. 5381 Elizabeth Gilligan – Perie Patrick Gilligan on 6 March 1906.
13. ↑ Cobar Herald, 8 July 1905, page 7 ‘Alleged Wife Desertion’.
14. ↑ Cobar Herald, 8 July 1905, page 7 ‘Alleged Wife Desertion’; NSW Police Gazette, 19 July 1905 page 266.
15. ↑ NSW Police Gazette, 19 July 1905, p 266.
16. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald, 25 April 1906, page 7 ‘Divorce Court’.
17. ↑ Cobar Herald, 14 July 1906, page 9 ‘Alleged Fraudulent Misappropriation’.
18. ↑ Cobar Herald, 28 July 1906, page 3 ‘The Gilligan Case - Accused Sentenced’.
19. ↑ Cobar Herald, 28 July 1906, page 3 ‘The Gilligan Case - Accused Sentenced”.
20. ↑ Sydney Morning Herald, 29 August 1906, page 6 ‘Divorce Court’.
21. ↑ NSW BDM birth reference 17610/1909; Baptismal records, Emmanuel Church, Clifton, County of Woronora, NSW; died 21 Sept 1978: Sydney Morning Herald, 22 September 1978 Death Notices; NSW BDM death reference 106630/1978.
22. ↑ Supreme Court of NSW Matrimonial Causes Jurisdiction no. 385 of 1912: NSW State Archives file number NRS – 13495 – 28 – [13/2764] – 385/1912 – 6 September 1912 to 17 October 1913 - Divorce Papers Florence Gilligan – Perry Percival Gilligan; The Sun newspaper, 21 October 1913.

The Cobar Herald NSW Sat 14 Jul 1906 Page 9 Alleged Fraudulent Misappropriation.

The Cobar Herald NSW Sat 28 Jul 1906 Page 3 The Gilligan Case.

Australians in the Boer War Oz-Boer Database Project

• NSW BDM Marriages

Registration Number Groom's Family Name Groom's Given Name(s) Bride's Family Name(s) Bride's Given Name(s) District

1. 5373/1898 GILLIGAN PERY P PHILIPS ELIZABETH COBAR
2. 1048/1909 GILLIGAN PERRY P WRIGHTFLORENCE CANTERBURY