Margaret Ellen (Keating) Carr (1874 - 1952)

Born 9 Oct 1874 in Gulgong, New South Wales, Australia

Wife of Henry Samuel Baird — married 13 May 1896 in St Thomas Catholic Church, Mareeba, Queensland, Australia

Wife of William Carr — married 12 Sep 1911 in Mount Carbine, Queensland, Australia

Descendants

Died 12 Jun 1952 at age 77 in Cairns, Queensland, Australia

Biography

Margaret Ellen Keating was born on 9 October 1874 at Gulgong in New South Wales^[1]. Her parents were William and Elizabeth (Eliza) Keating (nee Lawler)

Margaret Ellen Keating and Henry Samuel Baird were married at St Thomas Catholic Church, Mareeba, Queensland on 13 May 1896.

Margaret had a 2nd marriage, after Samuel's early death, to William Carr, at Mt Carbine, who passed away aged 50 at the Cairns District Hospital on 5 September 1930^[2].

In 1930, Margaret Ellen Carr was on the Electoral Roll (ER) as a Cafe Proprietess, resident in Macrossan Street, Port Douglas, which is where her cousin Mary Baird lived until she passed away in 1921. William Carr was also on the same ER as a Labourer. From 1932 to 1937, she was on the ER at the same residence alone, as a Cafe Proprietess. The next published ER, for 1949, and the last one that she was on, gives her address simply as Port Douglas and doing Home Duties.

Margaret Ellen Carr passed away on 12 June 1952 in Cairns, aged 77, and was buried in Port Douglas Cemetery, Port Douglas, Queensland^[3], having had a varied life as a Dressmaker, Shop Keeper and Licensee (ref.1) [Cafe Proprietess]. On the 2nd anniversary of her death a family notice was posted in the Cairns Post of Saturday 12 June 1954^[4].

Margaret Ellen Keating Event date: 13/05/1896 Event type: Marriage registration Registration details: 1896/C/314 Spouse: Henry Samuel Baird

Margaret Ellen Baird Event date: 12/09/1911 Event type: Marriage registration Registration details: 1911/C/1356 Spouse: William Carr

Margaret Ellen Carr Event date: 12/06/1952 Event type: Death registration Registration details: 1952/C/1547 Mother: Eliza Lawler Father/parent: William Keating

Margaret Ellen Keating Carr Birth : unknown, New South Wales, Australia Death : 12 Jun 1952, Cairns, Cairns Region, Queensland, Australia Burial : Port Douglas Cemetery, Port Douglas, Douglas Shire, Queensland, Australia Plot : Section E, Row 3/9 Memorial ID : 158217355 Daughter of William Keating and Eliza Lawler. Wife of (1) Henry Samuel Baird and (2) William Carr. https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/158217355/margaret-ellen-carr

(Obituary The Cairns Post 13 Jun 1952) MRS MARGARET ELLEN CARR Mrs Margaret Ellen Carr, who died yesterday afternoon in the Cairns Calvary Hospital, was one of the pioneers of North Queensland’s mining fields. She knew the outback in the days of packhorses and camp ovens, and earned herself a reputation for able nursing and doctoring in places where doctors were rarely seen. Mrs. Carr was born in Sydney 78 years ago, and was educated in St. Mary’s and Rosebank colleges there before rejoining her family in North Queensland, where they had moved while she was still at school. Her father, Mr. Keating, owned and ran the Tyrconnel gold mine, outsided Mareeba, and it was here that Mrs. Carr married her first husband, Mr. Sam Baird. The couple moved to Mossman, where Mrs. Baird later saved the life of a Kanaka cane worker who had been bitten by a death adder, endearing herself to the natives so that when they began fighting the whites later they took care to see Mrs. Baird came to no harm. From Mossman, Mr. and Mrs. Baird and their young family moved to Mt. Carbine, where they established the first hotel in the district. This trip was completed by packhorse, early this century. In Mt. Carbine Mrs. Baird gave birth to the first child born in the area - the present Mrs. R. Vial, of Port Douglas. Mr. Baird and his brothers found wolfram in the area and began mining it, but lost their claim when their Mining Rights expired and were not renewed quickly enough, giving others time to step in. It was in these years that Mrs. Baird became known for her nursing work. She set broken limbs so they healed straight, treated miners’ injuries and was often called upon to act as midwife. Mr. Baird died while at Mt. Carbine, and Mrs. Baird carried on alone with her family, till she married Mr. W. M. Carr. After a time farming, Mr. and Mrs. Carr went to live in Port Douglas, where they opened a store. Mr. Carr died in 1930, three years later, but Mrs Carr stayed at the Port till 1946, when she retired and came to live in Cairns. She had been in hospital a month before she died. She leaves two sons, Henry Joseph Baird (Warwick) and Cyril Power Baird (Cairns), and two daughters, Mrs. S. Andreassen (Mowbray) and Mrs. R. Vial (Port Douglas), as well as 12 grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Three sisters, Mrs. J. A. Winter (Tully), Mrs. T. Ryan (Brisbane) and Mrs. J Petersen (Cairns), and one brother, Mr. R. Keatlng (Biboohra) are still living. The funeral will leave St. John’s Church, Cairns, at 1 p.m. to-day for the Port Douglas cemetery.

Sources

1. ↑ https://www.ancestry.co.uk/interactive/1950/31771_210892-00027/22338
2. ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/41075184?
3. ↑ https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/158217355
4. ↑ https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/42828770?

Birth: Ancestry.com. Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Registration Number: 14858.

• Marriage: Ancestry.com. Australia, Marriage Index, 1788-1950 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Registration Number: 000314,

Page Number: 13621.

• Residence and Occupation: Ancestry.com. Australia, Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. 1930, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1937, 1949.
• Death: Ancestry.com. Australia, Death Index, 1787-1985 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Registration Number: 001547, Page Number: 370.
• Burial: Ancestry.com. Australia Cemetery Index, 1808-2007 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. Compiler: Cairns and District Family History Society Inc; Collection Title: Port Douglas Cemetery Monumental Inscriptions

• QLD Marriage 1 Registration details: 1896/C/314
• QLD Marriage 2 Registration details: 1911/C/1356
• QLD Death Registration details: 1952/C/1547
• Burial : https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/15821735