Looking for John T. O'Brien was Licensee 1888 Qld Aust.Maryborough

Question

John O'Brien my Great Grandfather arrived Aust. date unknown married  Annie Moloney  8/10/1873   Annie. b. 1847, they had 5 children of which only 2 survived.Annie died 02/Sept.1885..

John  remarries  19/Nov .1885 spouse Catherine Reid  known as Kate,John has license for the White lion Hotel,their first Son born Thomas Francis 23/09/1886 ,2nd Son born John Henry Percy 21/06/1888 . First son Thomas Francis d 1888

Nov.1887 John Transfers License of White Lion to James Welsh,  he disappears soon after.. I was told that he may have had the License for the Royal hotel In Howard. a small town not far from Maryborough. Mary his youngest child was sent to a Catholic Orphanage at Nudgee Qld Aust. I am too old to  now to get to the places ,I am hoping some one maybe able to help.

Kindest regards and congratulations to all your volunteers you are doing a wonderful job.

Marie O'Donnell  nee Zackeresen

Comments

Hi Marie, Just wondering if you are still following this post? I'd like to ask you about  Catherine Gertrude O'Brien if you have a moment? I'm not sure if you can private message on here? Lauren

Answer 1

You seem to have a lot of data already. What were you specifically looking for, aside from the information listed above?

BTW Annie Moloney will be your biggest hurdle, Irish records are a nightmare. Oh wait, he's an O'Brien as well? Argh. The best way to trace their origins will be to find the ship they arrived on. But with such common names I'm not sure much can be done. You might find out more about his history after 1887 through licensing records, or maybe Trove will have something.

Comments

Here's their marriage record: O'Brien-Moloney

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Neither of them was born in Queensland, and no John O'Brien of the right age is on the Assisted Immigrants register for NSW. I checked SA but there are far too many, all after 1866.

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Burial record in QLD for Annie (Moloney) O'Brien

Burial record

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Application to transfer the Royal Hotel, Howard to George Buzza.

Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser (Qld. : 1860 - 1947) Thu 6 Oct 1887 Page 2 LOCAL NEWS.

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Marriage to Catherine: O'Brien-Reid

She was born Limerick, Ireland in 1847 (est), buried Maryborough on 12 Jun 1896.

Burial record

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There are a number of newspaper articles about John's exploits from 1887 through the mid 1890's in the Maryborough Chronicle, assuming there wasn't a namesake in town. He was in court for failing to pay an employee, hiring two islander boys (illegaly), and drunkenness. There are also records of various shipments that arrived for him, and of him winning a contract to supply timber to the local council.

He may have also married again, to a Maria Byrnes, in 1898.

John passed away on 14 Oct 1902 in Maryborough.

Burial record

There was another John O'Brien buried in Maryborough in 1899 but his cemetery card showed a wife, Johanna, buried in the same plot in 1929. A third, buried in 1907, was a newborn child.

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Arriving assisted to Queensland:

Two named John Obrien on the Star Queen arriving 06/09/1869, one aged 22, one aged 28.

One aged 23 on the Mangerton 07/08/1861

One aged 28 on the Sultana 01/11/1862

Two on the Golden Dream 28/05/1863, one aged 22, one aged 24

One aged 24 on the Fiery Star 20/11/1864

One aged 32 on the Montmorency 04/08/1865

One aged 28 on the Ancilla 25/09/1866

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John O'Brien owned the White Swan Hotel in 1874 so must have arrived in Maryborough before that.

Annual Licensing Meeting 1873

He acquired it in September 1873, a month before he married Annie.

Notice of transfer

By the time of the 1878 licensing meeting he had sold it and acquired the Post Office Hotel.

Annual Licensing Meeting 1878

By 1886 he has bought the White Lion and rebuilt it to two stories:

Maryborough Chronicle, Wide Bay and Burnett Advertiser (Qld. : 1860 - 1947) Fri 15 Jan 1886 Page 2 LOCAL NEWS.

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Only one Ann Moloney is recorded as having been born in Ireland in 1847 but she died in Tipperary in 1868, so either the date is wrong or she isn't recorded. There were no Ann or Annie Moloneys on the Assisted Immigrant list at all.

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In addition to Melanie's excellent list, there was one unassisted immigrant named John O'Brien who arrived on 8 Dec 1865. The applicant for his passage was Kate Carey, who died in Rockhampton, 1909. Probably no connection at all.

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Thank you for your help

.Regards Marie O'Donnell

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Hi Rod,

 Ann Moloney is a work in progress her past in West Meath  that is.. Ann  arrived in Australia on the Ship Sultana 1/ March 1866,She Married John O'Brien 8/October1873  she was born c1847. You said that John O'Brien died on  the 14 October 1902 I have tried to find a death cert for him several times but have had no success. Please where did you find this information ?

(Re Catherine Reid /O'Brien  we were told that she was  18 yrs old when John Married her.and that after the 1st son died he  disappeared.)fact  or fiction??

 Johns   brother Simon O'Brien cared for his Daughter Mary for sometime untill  he married his wife.  Mary was then sent  to an orphanage at Nudgee Brisbane

Thanks for your help   MarieO'Donnell nee Zackeresen

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Hi Marie,

Haven't managed to find a passenger list for the Sultana online, but apparently there were a lot of child deaths aboard on that journey.

I found John's burial record on FamilySearch. There was an error in the link before, but it's fixed and you can click the green link that says "Burial Record" below that line now to see it. There is no death certificate.

If I have the right Catherine Reid she was 38 when they married. Her burial record in 1896 shows her as 49. John certainly didn't go anywhere, there is plenty of evidence of him being in Maryborough right up to his death.

I can't for the life of me imagine why Mary would be sent to a convent, unless she was severely handicapped.

Rob

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Rob, are you sure of the death date of 14 Oct 1902?

There IS a death registration for a John O'Brien in October 1902, but on the 4th, not the 14th. 

John O'Brien

Event date: 04/10/1902

Event type: Death registration

Registration details: 1902/C/3493

Mother: Mary Norton

Father/parent: David O'Brien

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Melanie, Obviously one or the other is a typo. :)

Thanks for finding that, for some reason I couldn't see it. The parents' names will help Marie to find the Irish connection.

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In case the stuff at family search isn't seeable (I can't see it)—First marriage: John O'Brien Spouse: Annie Moloney marriage date: 08/10/1873

Ann O'Brien birth date: 24/10/1874

Catherine O'Brien birth date: 14/09/1876

Mary O'Brien birth date: 14/02/1879

Margaret Theresa O'Brien birth date: 14/11/1881 death date: 16/08/1885

Probably(?) the same Catherine that was born in 1876: Catherine Gertrude O'Brien death date: 08/05/1926, Mother: Annie A. Maloney, Father/parent: John Thomas O'Brien

I’m not finding a fifth child for that marriage, nor death dates (name is too common to match for marriages) for Ann or Mary, unless Ann is also Annie: Annie Teresa O'Brien death date: 15/01/1876, Mother: Ann Malone, Father/parent: John O'Brien

Second marriage: John O'Brien Spouse: Catherine Reid marriage date: 19/11/1885

Thomas Francis O'Brien birth date: 23/09/1886 death date: 18/04/1888

John Henry Percy O'Brien birth date: 21/06/1888 death date: 03/08/1968

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IF he did do a runner, so to speak, after the death of the elder boy, it doesn't have to mean he left the area.  It may be that he just walked out on his pregnant wife and stayed somewhere in the area because of the business. (It is something that, sadly, still happens today.  A child dies and, instead of the parents drawing closer, the marriage just falls apart.)

 

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In case it's not already known:

Annie O'Brien death date: 02/09/1885 Death Registration details: 1885/C/3501

Mother: Mary Brennan Father/parent: John Moloney

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The person O'Brien John on the 4th is not my John O'Brien the parents are wrong. John O'Briens Parents were John O'Brien and Catherine O'Donogan.

Sorry I have been so long in replying , I have been without the internet also my phone was also off the air.Thanks for the help.

Marie O'Donnell

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Annie Moloney arrived Harvey Bay on the Sultana 1866.

The Maryborough River flows into Harvey Bay.

Marie O'Donnell

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Mary O'Brien, was living with and Uncle Simon O'Brien after her mother died as John's 2nd wife would not have her., Simon married ,he then told the Catholic Priest ,in his letter he wrote that the whereabouts of the father was unknown, and that he was now married. Annie was sent to the catholic orphanage at Nudgee Brisbane Qld.

 She was released after she turned 19 yrs. She then joined her Sister in Mackay Qld.

Marie O'Donnell