Jane (Murphy) Dunne (1816 - 1873)

Born 6 May 1816 in Tinryland, County Carlow, Ireland

Wife of Patrick John Dunne — married 16 Nov 1840 in Yass, New South Wales, Australia

Descendants

Died 10 Sep 1873 at age 57 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

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Biography

Jane was born in Tinryland, County Carlow, Ireland on 6 May 1816 and christened on the day of her birth with sponsors Michael Cummins and Eleanor Dobbins. Her father was Laurence Murphy, a tailor, and her mother was Anne Bergan.^[1][2][3]

As a young adult, Jane was residing in the village of Urglin, a few miles from Tinryland. Urglin is a small village near Carlow City. In the early 21st century, there were just a dozen or two houses and some families in the village were named Bergin or Bergan (the name of Jane's mother) and it is possible Jane was staying with her mother's family there. It was not far from Burton Hall, where her older sister, Mary, was a live-in worker.

Jane told her children that she was related to the Langton family of Kilkenny, however the relationship is unclear and the claim, while made in good faith, may not have been correct.

At the age of 23, Jane went to New South Wales in the care of her brother-in-law, Richard Prendergast, on the ship North Britain, arriving in New South Wales on 14 December 1839. Although baptismal records show she was age 23, the migration record states that Jane was age 20; these records also state that she was of Roman Catholic religion, was able to read and write (unlike her older sister) and her native place was Urglin in County Carlow, Ireland.

It is thought Jane worked as a laundress. Within a year of her arrival in New South Wales, Jane married Patrick J. Dunne, a convict who had just been granted his certificate of freedom. The marriage took place in Yass, New South Wales, on 16 November 1840.^[4]

Jane's eldest son said that he was one of 17 children but only 16 have been identified. When Jane died, the informant for registration purposes was her husband who reported that she had borne 17 children, thereby confirming the statement of the eldest son. The the names and baptismal dates of the first eight were extracted from a record of baptisms in Yass obtained courtesy of Caroline Dunne who also provided some of the other following information) :

Peter Augustus Dunne : born Yass NSW, 23 September 1841;

Lawrence Francis Dunne : born Yass NSW, 9 November 1842;

Maria Bedelia Dunne : born Yass NSW, 25 December 1843;

William Dunne : born Yass NSW, 30 January 1845;

Anne Dunne : born Yass NSW on 15 March 1846;

Bridget Dunne : born Yass NSW, 2 February 1848;

Mary Theresa Agnes Dunne : born Yass NSW, 21 March 1849;

Jane Anne Dunne: born Yass NSW, 17 July or 17August 1850;

Catherine Amelia Dunne : born in Sydney, 30 November 1851;

Julia May Dunne : born in Sydney, 9 June 1853;

James Christopher Dunne : born in Sydney, 24 July 1855;

Joseph P. Dunne : born in Sydney, 17 September 1857;

Patrick Martin Dunne : born in Sydney, 11 November 1858;

Edmund Charles Dunne : born in Sydney, 24 November 1861;

William Thomas Dunne : born in Sydney, 3 September 1863;

Alfred Ernest Dunne : born in Sydney, 15 December 1865;

plus one unidentified. One family source^[5] reports a daughter named Margaret born between Edmund and WIlliam, therefore in approximately 1862, but no record has been found of this birth. Another source suggested that Patrick Dunne, aged either 8 or 9 years of age, who died in Pyrmont on approximately 26th December 1856 ^[6] was the missing child but the name of the mother and pre-decease of the father of that child confirms it was not a member of this family.

At the time of Jane's death in 1873, it was recorded that ten children, 4 females and 6 males, were still living, with seven being deceased.

Not much is known about Jane's daily life but it must have been busy as wife and mother. One incident is recorded by her eldest son : When I was two years old our house on the bank of the river was washed away, and my mother had to carry me in the middle of the night to higher land.^[7] At this time, Jane (aged in her 20s) would have had one or two younger infants also in her care so the experience of having her home washed away in floodwaters must have been terrifying for her.

From the birth records it can be seen that the family had relocated to Sydney between the births of children in August 1850 and November 1851. With information from her son's memoir, noted above, the date of relocation has been identified as 21 April 1851. Other information about where the family lived is included with information about Jane's husband, Patrick Dunne.

Macquarie Street South c.1906

On the death certificate, it is recorded that Jane died at "Macquarie Street South" and the official informant of her death was Patrick, her widower, whose address is also given as "Macquarie Street South" (now named Commonwealth Street, Surry Hills). Jane died on 10 September 1873 and was buried in Petersham Cemetery.^[8] The archivist at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney was able to assist with information that Petersham Cemetery no longer exists. The gravestones were re-located although the graves were left in place. The land was used to build the Lewisham Hospital and as a playground for the nearby St Thomas' school. Sydney's main western suburban railway line runs alongside St Thomas' schoolyard at Lewisham. It is understood the high school building, constructed in the later years of the 20th century, sits on the unmarked graves of many souls. The burial register for Petersham Cemetery is retained by the Cathedral Archives office, although it was damaged in a fire many years ago at St Mary's Cathedral. The original register was sighted at the office and microfilm copy was accessed in the Mitchell Wing of the New South Wales State Library in Macquarie Street, Sydney (library reference number is FM4/5277). The document is titled Petersham Cemetery Register of Interments 1866-1885. The index section was damaged in the fire and could not be read, but on page 160 is found the entry for the burial of Jane Dunn (sic) who was buried in a single grave at block 7, line 2, lot 9, on 11 September 1873. The location of Jane's earthly remains is probably under school buildings or yard at in the area between St Thomas A'Beckett Church and the (now closed) Lewisham Hospital.

When the Petersham Cemetery was closed, gravestones were relocated to the south-western corner of Rookwood Cemetery in Lidcombe (near East Street and Weeroona Avenue) ; they are placed haphazardly and there are no systematic records. This area of the cemetery was visited in 2000 but Jane Dunne's name was not identified on any of the surviving gravestones.

One imagines that Jane had a hard life, mother of so many children of whom too many pre-deceased her. After moving from Yass to Sydney, the family relocated quite a few times and were probably renting rather than home owners. We have no information about their financial status but Patrick's income from work in the building industry would probably have barely sufficed. The youngest of the surviving children was only 12 years old when Jane died. Although her older children were in their 20s and 30s and later produced a large number of descendants, Jane had no grandchildren at the time of her death. Her widowed sister lived in nearby Newtown but she was in poor health. While we don't know any more about her life, it is uplifting to read her son's note that she " ... died, a happy death .. "^[9] Her son records that she was aged 52 at the time of her death, about 5 years less than indicated by the record of her birth and baptism. As noted above, her stated age at the time of emigration was also understated, but by fewer years on that occasion. Perusal of records of other migrants to New South Wales suggests that understating one's age was a frequent occurrence at the time. It is also thought that it may have been prudent for a bride of the era to be seen to be younger than her husband.

Just six weeks after Jane's death, the following notice appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald of Saturday 18 October 1873 :

Married 2nd,SL, at St Francis' Church, Very Rev Dean Sheridan, Thomas Alexander Makins, of George Street, to Mary Theresa Agnes, second daughter of Patrick J. Dunne, Macquarie Street, Sydney, late of Yass.

The archivist at St Mary's Cathedral in Sydney advised that the church named "St Francis" was located in Goulburn Street, between Castlereagh and Elizabeth Streets. At the beginning of the 21st century that site is occupied by the Goulburn Street Parking Station above the spot where Sydney's suburban railway system enters the "City Circle" underground. The church of St Francis was relocated to Albion Street, Surry Hills but this was many years after the Dunnes lived in Sydney.

The Murphys of Carlow, the Langtons of Kilkenny and Cardinal Stephen Langton

Jane told her family that she was descended from the Langton family of Kilkenny. She conveyed the message to her children in Australia that the reported link with the Langton family was important to her. However this purported connection, although it was perpetuated in good faith at the time, is now thought to be probably incorrect. Further information can be seen at The Murphys of Carlow, the Langtons of Kilkenny and Cardinal Stephen Langton. The information was apparently not known in Ireland until after Jane had emigrated. It is likely that a family member in Ireland subsequently sent the information to Jane and she proudly shared it with her family in Australia, quite unaware that it was erroneous.

Sources

1. ↑ Transcribed from Tinryland, Catholic Register of Baptisms, Volume 1, Page 31, Entry Number 519.
2. ↑ Baptismal Registration for Jane Murphy, Tinryland Catholic parish, Carlow, Ireland
3. ↑ Tinryland, Microfilm 04192 / 01, Catholic Parish Registers, National Library of Ireland
4. ↑ Catholic Church, Yass NSW, marriage registration number 13
5. ↑ Information from Hugh Francis McKenzie-McHarg passed on by Gary McHarg and David McKenzie-McHarg
6. ↑ New South Wales death registration 1045/1856 and New South Wales burial 2127 Vol 143 in 1856
7. ↑ Memories of Yass reproduced in the WikiTree entry for Peter Augustus Dunne.
8. ↑ New South Wales death registration 1873/1226
9. ↑ Memories of Yass reproduced in the WikiTree entry for Peter Augustus Dunne.