Bridget Hefferon (1844 - aft. 1935)

Born 1844 in County Cork, Ireland

Wife of Carl Christian Nielsen — married 1879 in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia

Died after 1935 after age 91 in Encounter Bay, South Australia, Australia

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Biography

Bridget was born in 1844. She was the daughter of Patrick Hefferon and Ellen Unknown. She married Carl Nielson in 1879^[1][2].

85th Birthday ^[3]

Mrs. Bridget Nielson, of Normanville, celebrated her 85th birthday at her sons' residence (Messrs. L. F. and M. Nielson), at McLaren Vale. Mrs. Nielson was born in Ireland and migrated with her parents, six sisters and a brother for Australia, and arrived at Port Adelaide by the ship "South Seas," in August, 1855. Mrs. Nielson survives the family. Soon after their arrival at Port Adelaide, they went by boat to Normanville, where they lived in an old slab hut for two years. The blacks in those days were numerous and treacherous, and often startled the family by peering at them through the slabs. Two years later, her father built the house in which Mrs. Nielson, up till now, has resided; the front portion was built in 1857. Fifty-five years ago at the age of 30, Miss Bridget Hefferon, as she was then, was married by the Rev. Father Peters to Carl Christian Nielson, a native of Als, Schleswig, Holstein, Denmark, who, when Germany invaded that family in 1864 fled with his brothers to England. With money given them by their father they came to Australia and settled at Normanville; Lawrence going on the land, and Hans to the gold mines in Eagle Hawk, Victoria, where, as underground manager he met his death. In 1925, Mr. Carl Nielson died, since when his widow has lived alone, but she is now going to reside with her youngest daughter, Mrs. Armstrong, at Victor Harbour.

In the Public Eye^[4]

Mrs. Bridget Nielson, of Normanville, journeyed from that town to the residence of her sons, Messrs. L. F. and M. Nielsen, Belle Vue Hotel, McLaren Vale, on August 11 to celebrate her eighty-fifth birthday. She received many congratulations, and after dinner musical items were rendered by Mrs. Gordon Grant and Misses' P. Hyde, E. Montrose, T. and J. Tyson, and Olga Young. Mrs. Neilson was born at the Glen of Aherlow, Tipperary, Ireland, is hale and hearty, and always has a smile of greeting. When five years of age she left Ireland with her mother and father, six sisters and a brother, and arrived at Port Adelaide by the ship South Seas, in August. 1855. Mrs. Nielsen survives the family. Soon after their arrival at Port Adelaide they went round by boat to Normanville, where they lived in an old slab hut for two years. .Mrs. Nielsen relates many thrilling stories about the blacks, who were numerous and treacherous in those , days, and how the family were often startled by them peering through the slabs. Two years later her father built the house where Mrs. Nielsen now resides. The front portion was the original built at Normanviile in 1857. Her father, Patrick Hefferon, was well known around Yankalilla and Normanville in the early days as an expert in using a sickle. In those days, said Mrs. Nielsen, there was no up-to-date machinery. The wheat crop was cut with a sickle, tied into small bundles, and a thrasher was travelled from farm to farm.

She died at Encounter Bay, South Australia in 1935^[5]. She is biried at Saint Peters Catholic Cemetery in Normanville^[6].

Sources

1. ↑ Genealogy SA, BDM, Marriage Index. Reg: 120/121, https://www.genealogysa.org.au
2. ↑ Bridget Hefferon Father's Name: Patrick Hefferon Spouse Name: Carl Nielsen Spouse's Father's Name: Laurence Frederick Nielsen Marriage Date: 10 Jul 1879 Marriage Place: Norwood Registration Place: Adelaide, South Australia Page Number: 121 Volume Number: 120 Source Information Ancestry.com. Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line].
3. ↑ SOME INTERESTING REMINISCENCES. (1928, October 11). Southern Argus (Port Elliot, SA : 1866 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved February 12, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article97201939
4. ↑ IN THE PUBLIC EYE (1928, August 25). Observer (Adelaide, SA : 1905 - 1931), p. 32. Retrieved February 12, 2019, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article164888049
5. ↑ Genealogy SA, BDM, Death Index. Reg: 567/508, https://www.genealogysa.org.au
6. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/126369586/bridget-nielsen : accessed 04 October 2021), memorial page for Bridget Heffernan Nielsen (1845–3 Jan 1935), Find a Grave Memorial ID 126369586, citing Saint Peters Catholic Cemetery, Normanville, District Council of Yankalilla, South Australia, Australia ; Maintained by R and J (contributor 48362636) .