John Patrick Dorney (bef. 1838 - 1868)

Born before 30 Dec 1838 in Cork, County Cork, Ireland

Ancestors

Died 2 May 1868 after age 29 in Penola, South Australia, Australia

Biography

Thomas was born in 1838, in County Cork and baptised on the 30th December 1838 at the Church of St. Finbarr South.

John entered Australia with his brothers, James and Thomas on the Great Britain in 1861. The manifest shows them as travelling with a Thomas Patrick Dorney, age 23, who does not show up anywhere else in Australian records. It's plausible this was in error, and it referred to John Patrick.

In February 1862, a John P. Dorney arrived in Warrnambool and advertised his services as a concertina teacher. He was planning to stay in Warrnambool for a season, and is mentioned several times in the paper up to May 1864, inclduing playing at a ball to celebrate the royal wedding of the Prince of Wales (the future King Edward VII) and Princess Alexandra.

In the May 1866 Border Watch (the Mt Gambier newspaper) there was a notice about unclaimed letters at the GPO in Adelaide. One name was John P. Dorney, Penola.

John died of Phthisis (the old term for tuberculosis) in Penola, South Australia, on the 2nd May 1868. His profession was given as Musician, and stated that Penola was his usual residence.

Sources

• Birth: Parish record (image attached)
• Death: Certificate