top EARLY DAYS IN APPIN : James Byrne & wife Sarah nee Franklin
Frederick McCubbin’s triptych The Pioneers leads us to reflect on the challenges facing a number of our forbears ( Byrne, Sykes, Kenny, Carey ) and families related by marriage ( Kennedy, Worthington, O’Shaughnessy, Crowe, Quilter ) as they took up recently-gazetted land grants in Appin in the mid 18teens.
Concentrating on the Byrnes : In preparation for the 2001 Daramalan get-together of James’s descendants, I researched, over several months, details of James’s life ( putting together eight A4 pages, available at the reunion). Suffice it to say for the moment that forty-three year old James had married twenty-five year old Sarah at Liverpool on December 26, 1812 – just two months after Sarah’s arrival on the ‘Minstrel’ on October 25 – James had selected Sarah as his prospective wife from the young women on offer at the Parramatta Female Factory ! Some accounts erroneously state that they were married in the now quite historic St Luke’s Church. Not so ! St Luke’s was designed by Francis Greenway ( who did not arrive in the colony until 1814 ) and it was still only partially built when the frustrated clergyman, Rev. Robert Cartwright, conducted the first service there in 1819.
James , a pregnant Sarah and their two toddlers, Ann (b.1813) and Thomas (b.1814) arrived in Appin in 1817. Neighbours already established there on Mount Britain were the Sykes, William and Sarah nee Best, with eight children – Matilda, John, Mary, Ann & William Byrne ( from Sarah’s marriage to Patrick (c.1776-1808) and their step-brothers, George, Thomas & James Sykes. (Sarah’s English-born daughter Caroline was married, as of 1812, to John Kennedy). The Sykes had experienced at first hand the virtual war between settlers and aborigines a couple of years previously – young John was on the point of being killed by one aborigine when a second intervened, saying the lad should not be harmed because his mother was so kind to them. By the time James’s family arrived, open hostility was in the past. Evenso, there was no doubt some uneasiness as to whether the local aborigines would keep the peace.
(See Appin Massacre 1816).
But their immediate concerns would have taken priority. For starters, we can imagine the challenges of just getting to their new property : the arduous journey from ‘civilised’ parts – rudimentary bush tracks ( if at all in places … ), mode of transport, the weather, Sarah’s condition, two kids whining ‘Are we there yet ?’. And what of their first few nights until James was able to knock together some rough shelter. No doubt his skill as sawyer ( honed in his father’s sawmill in Annamae) stood him in good stead – once he had a small hut erected, he would surely have indulged in a wooden floor. At first, though, trodden earth would have had to suffice, in lieu of lino or the luxury of carpet. In those early days, how did they manage with provisions, cooking facilities ( perhaps a Dutch oven ?), clothing, bedding, tools, toilet & washing , water supply, etc. No corner-store when you ran out of sugar … And where was the money coming from anyway ?
Their diligence. nonetheless, paid off. Sarah tended to the needs of the family, with a further seven children born over the next few years : John (1817), Mary Theresa (1818), Frances Matilda (1820), Susannah (1823), Catherine (1824), Patrick ( my great-grandfather, 1826) and JamesWilliam (1828). James worked hard on the property which he named Nether Brae. By 1828, his original forty acres had become 200, with 100 cleared, 35 cultivated, stocked with 30 cattle and six horses. In this, he was assisted by assigned convicts, including Thomas O’Shaughnessy ( who married Ann in 1829). A convict, James Worthington, assigned to a neighbour, married Mary Theresa in 1833.
These two sons-in-law were involved in the drunken and riotous behaviour that had James Byrne arraigned before the Supreme Court of NSW in 1834 on the charge of trespass & malicious damage. Seeking a shortcut to the Appin township across Francis Kenny’s land, they had, on two occasions, broken down fences . On the second occasion, James had come close to the Kenny residence, brandishing an axe which he threatened to plant in the head of anyone who would oppose him. One can presume everything was hunky-dory by 1838 when James leased 640 acres of Kenny land near Lake George. Certainly, harmonious relations were fully established by 1852 , when daughter Catherine married Francis Kenny’s son, John . Here we have a reunion between the two Byrne lines, James & Patrick,: John F.Kenny’s mother being Mary, second daughter of Patrick & Sarah. Indeed, the previous year, James’ son Patrick had married Mary Carey, granddaughter of Patrick & Sarah. These newly-weds of 1851 are of course my great-grandparents (JTF).
So, when your latte is a trifle cold, your internet a bit slow, your train ten minutes late, spare a thought for poor James and Sarah in those early Appin days …
SARAH FRANKLIN ( 1787-1853)
Regrettably, little documentation exists re Sarah. She was apparently born in Co.Clare on 13.4.1787, daughter of schoolmaster George. Family lore has it that she threw a bowl of gruel over a British soldier who was attempting to molest her mother, driving him off. However, he returned, armed with a sword, and decapitated the mother’s infant son. Fearing further reprisals, the Franklins fled to relatives in England. It was here, in September, 1810, that Sarah (with surname Franklington) was charged, at the Lancaster Assizes, with stealing a cow (allegedly her own !) Convicted to seven years , she was transported on the Minstrel , arriving in Sydney on 25 October and hauled off to the Female Factory. Here young ( and old !) unmarried men were invited to canvass for a wife – in a colony where the male/female ratio was so lopsided!, Governor Macquarie sought to establish stable nuclear families, with the alluring prospect of a land grant to married men. This may well have been a factor in James’s fronting up to take his pick. Whatever – the end result has justified the means : I am entirely happy with these two great-great grandparents …
Intriguingly, the Minstrel’s Ship Indents has Sarah Franklington accompanied by a child – but there is no indication of the relationship.. Later references to Sarah (1814 & 1822 Musters, 1828 Census ) give the maiden name Franklin – which seems to be the correct one.
Sarah comes across as a very resourceful manager. James Byrne’s 1840s letters, written when his health was declining markedly, indicate how well she was undertaking tasks and supplementing the family income. We find her, in 1843, ‘going to Goulburn … to pay the rent’ ( apparently lease of the property at Long Corner). Again. ‘when she went to Sydney she made about 50 Pounds (money) of bacon and butter and eggs’. ‘Yr. Mother sent a cask of butter to Sydney and got 18 pence a pound.’
The last that we learn of Sarah is her death on April 17, 1853, just a few days after her sixty-sixth birthday. She is buried possibly in the disused Ryansvale Cemetery on the Maple-Brown Springfield property where James is buried, the lettering on his headstone quite legible in recent years and no doubt still today.
The Carey’s in Appin
JOHN CAREY (1799, CORK – 1870, COLLECTOR)
While I have endeavoured elsewhere to record the major events in the lives of my forbears over the last few generations (and several before that), I have refrained until now (April,2024) to detail what I know of my great-great-grandfather John Carey (while several websites name him as ‘John William’, I am reluctant to do so until I note adequate documentation. Certainly, his first-born son was baptised ‘John William’). I have held back primarily because of AS-YET lack of success in establishing authoritatively the facts re his status as ‘innkeeper’ in Appin. ( Be patient – more below).
McClelland’s Convict Ship Lists provides us with the earliest description of John and the reason for leaving Ireland (25 May, 1819) on the ‘Mary’, to arrive in Port Jackson on 26 August, 1819) : Trial – Cork City, Summer,1818, sentence 7 years. Native place : Cork City. Occupation : Labourer Age : 20 Height : 5’8” Complexion : Dark ruddy Hair : dark brown Eyes : blue.
A replacement ‘Ticket of Leave, issued in 1824, (the original ‘lost’) gives similar details, if slightly different : Year of birth : 1800 Calling : carpenter Complexion : sallow Eyes : dark blue. It also records that he ‘had always been in government employ’ e.g. in the 1822 Muster, he is listed as a member of McAuley’s Road Party, stationed in Liverpool. The crime for which John had been convicted was theft of a coat. ( I think I have read SOMEWHERE that it was the coat belonging to a British soldier … I dearly hope so, if only in part retaliation for Henry VIII’s pinching all the abbeys, monasteries, convents etc. throughout the British Isles ! Good on ya, Johnny !)
23 June 1825 sees him granted his ‘Certificate of Freedom’. About this time, we find him working on the large Broughton property ‘Lachlan Vale’, a stone’s throw from William Sykes’s ‘Mount Britain’ – where fresh-faced Matilda Byrne ( daughter of Patrick Byrne, Sarah Best) was to be found ! And the happy event took place on Nov.1, 1826. Soon after they had set themselves up in Sydney town ( Campbell St., the ‘Haymarket’ area). The 1828 Census has residing with them Matilda’s younger brother William (1808-1906), just launching into what was to prove a very prosperous career in all aspects of the shoe & boot industry.
John & Matilda had seven children : John William, 1827-1914 ( m. Honorah Tobin, 1852). It was he who discovered the now quite famous caves when he settled in Wee Jasper. (I am still trying to establish if his ‘Careys’ are the family (of John William), treated so ignominiously in John O’Brien’s (READ Fr Hartigan’s) ‘Around the Boree Log’ … )
No.2 – my great-grandmother Mary Carey, 1828-1910 ( m.Patrick Byrne, 1826-1899, son of James Byrne & Sarah) Her marriage to Patrick gives us the link between the two Byrne lines. (A number of web-sites give her name as ‘Mary Anne’. I believe this erroneous – have never seen such in any reliable documentation, AND note that the two headstones in the Collector cemetery for (1) her husband and (2) her unmarried sister Kate have ‘Erected by M.J.B’ This I take to be ‘Mary Byrne’, with middle name J……….)
Ellen Matilda (1831-1916) m. George Pasfield, 1850 Sarah Frances (1832-1909) m.David Curtin,1865 Catherine (1835-1902) n.m. Michael Patrick (1837-1866) George James (1839-1931) n.m.
And NOW we come to the murky bit !
Surprisingly, the well-written and comprehensive Appin, the Story of a Macquarie Town (Anne-Maree Whitaker, 2005) makes no mention of John Carey’s tenure as a publican there in the 1830s. She has missed his being listed in ‘Publicans Licences’ for 1831 (266), ‘32 (53), ’33 (188), ’34 (21), ’35 (267), and ’36 (345). Part of the licence for 1831 (Internal Revenue Office No.31/266) reads ‘Licensed to retail Wines and Malt and Spiritous Liquors, issued in favour of John Carey for the House known by the sign of The Union Inn at Appin. And so on for several years e. g. Internal Revenue Office, 13th July,1836 ((No.36/345) ‘License (sic) to Retail Wines and Malt and Spiritous Liquors, issued in Favor (sic) of John Carey for the House known by the sign of The Union at Appin…’
(Whitaker also ignores the history of the ‘Bourke Hotel’, opened in 1841). Even so, she has obviously done much careful research, as evidenced, for example, with her summary on p. 99 :
The Appin Inn was built by William Sykes of ‘Mount Britain’ after he was granted a liquor licence ini1826. In 1833 Nicholas Carberry became the licensee and changed the name to the Union Revived Inn. In 1843 William Rixon became the innkeeper but moved to Campbelltown in 1845. The last three publicans were Ted Spearing, Alf Wonson and Bill Wonson. Andrew Lysaght bought the property in about 1912 and during the 1940s it became a boarding house under the name ‘Carrollon’.
In recent years the building has been restored and is open at times for exhibitions – the first of these centred on William Sykes & family. See photos in ‘What’s New’, Benefaction.home.blog . Note, too, that the street behind the ‘inn’ is ‘Sykes Avenue’.
Whitaker’s omission may well have been due to the earlier fault in Geoff Sykes’s 1978 History of the Sykes Family in Australia :
‘In March 1828, William’s free licence automatically expired, so he wrote to the Colonial Secretary, asking if it could be renewed … The licence was renewed and William kept the inn until 1833. Evidently the competition of Patrick Callaghan and his ‘Union Inn’ proved very difficult for William, as he changed the name of his from ‘The Appin Inn’ to the ‘Union Revived Inn’ In 1833 he sold the inn to Nicholas Carberry.’
Somewhere along the line, did somebody misread ‘Carberry’ for ‘Carey’ ? And what about ‘1833’ – John Carey’s ‘The Union Inn’ is mentioned as such in 1831 (See Licence, above ) !
Now, how about a cat among the pigeons, even under dire threat of a trip along the Thames to the dreaded Tower :
I propose the theory that ‘The Appin Inn’ / ‘Carrollan’ was NOT the inn opened by William Sykes. Let’s look at some evidence for the heresy :
On the NSW State Archives website, we read ‘ NRS Col Sec Letters received from Individuals re Land, 1826-56 (papers of John Carey of Appin) – two items :
Original publican’s licence issued to William Sykes, 14 March 1828 AND Sketch showing the situation of Carey’s Inn and enclosures on the Appin Reserve, 1832 ( 32 / 8742) The sketch positions this inn between M.Doran’s land and that of Mrs McGee.
What is highly significant and relevant to my theory is the text printed on the outline representing the allotment, namely ”John Carey, late Sykes’ “ Interestingly, a 1837 ‘Town Grant’ gives precise details re this or an adjoining piece of land (I’m still working on it …) :
‘Commencing at the South West corner of Mr Doran’s Thirty acres farm. Bounded on the North by a line bearing East seven chains four links, on the East by a line South four degrees West four chains fifty-four links on the South by a line West two degrees North seven chains four links and on the West by a line North four degrees East twenty-nine links. Being the allotment promised to the said John Carey .
( One chain = 22yards – the standard length for a cricket pitch ! 1 chain = 100 links)
Ann-Maree Whitaker’s 2005 edition has a beautiful aerial view of part of Appin. Centre left you have the modern Appin Hotel. Across the spine to the rear is nowadays Appin Park with, I believe, our John’s allotment taking up the corner and so stretching back to what was originally Doran’s farm.
The NSW State Archives website comments ‘By the early 1830s,Sykes was more than 60 years old, and the licence (and the inn itself) had passed to his son-in-law John Carey. See also 32/8742 (last page below) which illustrates the location of the inn at Appin’.
An 1899 plan of ‘The Village of Appin ‘ (David Miller) shows John Carey’s three acres adjacent to Doran’s 30 acres, obviously omitting reference to William Sykes as the previous owner ! Alongside on Market St, we have Johanna Smith’s acre block. Today, that area constitutes Appin Park (currently in the planning stage for revitalisation) across the side road from the Appin Hotel.
In 1832, we find John applying for additional land :
(32/53) Bounded on the West by the main Road, on the North by Mrs McGee’s and my own Allotments, on the East by a continuation of my own Eastern boundary, and on the South by a line west to the Road, to include the quantity of four Acres…’
On a Five-Star rating, the Careys’ inn scores well from a guest in 1832 :
RN Surgeon Alick Osborne and a companion were visiting Sydney’s environs, as recorded in his Notes on the present state and prospects of society in NSW ‘ and came to Appin :
‘We got refreshments and fed the horses at Tate’s (a hotel in Campbelltown-JTF) and proceeded at a slow pace to Appin, distant ten or twelve miles. We arrived at sunset and found the future town of Appin to consist of a solitary inn, on the left hand of the road, and another house, formerly an inn, ‘vis-à-vis’ on the other. The inn is kept by a man named Carey, an Emeralder, and at his house we got everything in the most hearty abundance, if not in the very best style. Our dinner consisted of rashers of bacon and eggs, grilled fowl, brown bread, nice new butter, black tea, and brown sugar; and it was difficult to convince Mrs Carey, his kind and bustling spouse, that the fare was approved until demonstrated by the demolition of almost all the edibles on the table. A glass of gin and water, a good bed, and a fatiguing day’s ride insured an enviable night’s rest.’
Good on you, John & Matilda ! Who wants ‘the very best style’, anyway ?
It is interesting to note the exodus from Appin of several of our rellies in the late 1830s. James Byrne and family moved south to Long Corner near Kennys Point, Lake George; William and Sarah joined son George, relatively close by at Spring Valley; and John Carey took his family to what the Postal Directory of 1839 termed ‘Mill Bang’ ( later ‘Milbang’) near Breadalbane.
In June,1840, we find him once again a publican with a licence issued for the Breadalbane Inn. It would seem that his three sons, John William, George James and Michael Patrick continued the Milbang farm – John Snr, John Jnr, George and Michael are shown on the electoral roll for Milbang as late as 1866. I am not sure just when John William moved with young wife Honorah to Wee Jasper – there is a clue in the latter’s 1898 ‘Yass Courier’ obituary : ‘Mrs Carey had resided with her husband in this district for 45 years’, which means their having moved to the Yass district soon after their 1852 marriage. The question remains: ‘Why does John William appear in the 1866 Milbang roll ?’
1866 was a sad year for the family with the death of Michael, aged just 29. The loss may have been a factor in Patrick Byrne’s moving to ‘Warra Willa’, four miles south of Milbang.
Certainly, over the next few years – or sooner ? – we find his mother-in-law Matilda,her daughter Kate and son George joining the Byrne family in residence at ‘Warra Willa’.
John himself died just four years after Michael, with both buried in the Collector graveyard under the very much old-style stone – a long slab supported on six stout ‘legs’.
We glean from his death certificate that his father’s name was Michael – no mention of his mother, nor any inkling of his early days , an Emeralder on the Emerald Isle.
Great Achievers – Carey Descendants
KEVIN JOSEPH CURTIN 1924-1996 – celebrated architect
Material mainly from Ken Charlton’s article, accessed via http://www.architecture.com.au.
John CAREY, Matilda BYRNE > David Curtin, Sarah Frances CAREY > Michael Patrick CURTIN, Margaret Maloy > Leo Michael CURTIN, Mary McGann > KEVIN JOSEPH CURTIN, Judith Rolfe. (Sarah was the sister of my great grandmother Mary who married Patrick Byrne)
Born in Murrumburrah, 13.12.1924 (reg. 1925). The family moved to Queanbeyan, where Kevin and his twin brother Leo Patrick attended St Gregory’s Primary School, then to Ainslie in 1940. He completed his education at Canberra High School and became a clerk in the Public Service, as did Patrick. On turning 18, they enlisted in the RAAF,1943, and served as navigators of Lancaster bombers over Germany. Patrick had vowed to pursue a career in architecture after the war, but was killed in action , 23 Feb., 1945. Kevin determined to fulfil his brother’s ambition. He became an associate of the RAIA in 1951, having completed a non-diploma course in architecture at Sydney Technical College and established the Curtin & Cameron practice in Sydney in 1953. He was so well regarded in the profession that he was a member of the jury for the Sulman Medal in 1954 and a Fellow in 1970.
His affiliation with the Catholic Church eventually led to commissions for more than 50 churches and over 200 schools . For these, he was awarded a Papal medal. He designed some remarkable churches, particularly St Bernard’s Botany (1954) said to be the first church in Australia with a parabolic roof. Other notable churches are St Monica’s, North Parramatta, with nine-bay A-frame roof and Marist Brothers’ Chapel, Kogarah (Bexley) a two-storey circular chapel and assembly hall with a radiating pre-cast concrete folded-plate roof (See Note 1 below – JTF). Highly significant is that, in memory of his twin, Kevin would donate the crucifix at the centre of the reredos in each church that he designed – a beautiful and powerful expression of love. ( I am grateful to Judy Kenny for bringing this to my attention).
By the early 1960s, his practice was Kevin J.Curtin & Partners. He completed major hotels for the Federal Hotels chain, as well as the West Point Convention Centre in Hobart and casinos in Darwin, Alice Springs and Launceston. His Civic Developments in NSW included Broken Hill, Dubbo and Bankstown.
When the Dominican Order in Australia resolved in 1960 to set up its headquarters in the Canberra suburb of Watson, the Irish architect and Dominican Fr Bonaventure Leahy designed a complex with a Dominican Sisters’ convent and Teachers training college and a Dominican priests’ house of theology. The concept included a parish church and primary school. Kevin was engaged to collaborate with Fr Leahy and building began in 1961. Kevin Curtin & Partners were the lighting and heating consultants for the house of theology. The convent and college opened in 1963, the Dominican Rosary School in 1964 and the house of theology in 1966.
Kevin designed the Queanbeyan Leagues Club in 1963. This and other projects, such as Queanbeyan RSL Club and the Queanbeyan Bowling Club led him to open a branch of his Sydney-based practice in 1964. In that year, Anglican, Presbyterian and Catholic churches and a presbytery were designed for Jindabyne in the Snowy Mountains. St Columbkille’s Catholic Church opened in 1966. At the ANU, Curtin designed the John XXIII College and the chapel of St John the Evangelist, the first chapel on the campus. They opened in 1969, the same year as Curtin’s Yowani Country Club in Lyneham Other clubs designed by Kevin include Canberra Southern Cross Club, Canberra Royals Club and Queanbeyan Leagues Redevelopment. His Macquarie Hotel was completed in 1970.
Canberra schools designed by Kevin include Canberra Catholic Girls High School (Merici College), Braddon; St John Vianney’s Primary School, Warramanga; St Matthew’s Catholic Primary School, Page; St Francis Xavier’s Catholic High School, Florey; and Padua Catholic High School, Wanniassa.
Perhaps Kevin’s greatest legacies in Canberra are two remarkable churches, based on the Vatican Council II’s recognition of the ‘centralised sanctuary’. St Joseph’s Catholic Church, O’Connor (1973) is a good example of the late 20th century Ecclesiastical style, with a striking external form which, with its open site, can be appreciated on all sides. The dominant bronze-coloured steel-deck roof has four complex kite-shaped elements sloping from a central pyramidal tower over the generally circular church, which is walled in uncoursed bluestone. Internally, natural light flows in through dazzlingly-coloured glass, down from the central skylight and via wall panels each side of the spot-lit simple altar.
The current building is actually a reconstruction, faithful to the original as designed by Kevin but substantially destroyed by arson-lit fire in August, 2007. Providentially, as the Catholic Voice ( 22 July, 2020) noted, the church’s remarkable design saw the central spire in the roof act as a chimney, drawing the fire upwards and away from the outer walls and the beautiful stained-glass windows. (See Notes 2, 3 below)
Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Curtin, designed in association with Ernest Munns, is another good example of the style, this time with brick walls and a terra-cotta tiled roof. The form is a triangular pyramid, with substantial smaller pyramids attached on each side, but the composition, on a less open site, is not as successful externally as that of St Joseph’s. The spatial quality of the interior, where the projecting triangular bays are seen to advantage, is quite unusual. A central skylight floods the interior with daylight.
A notable and prominent example of Kevin’s architecture is the former ACT TAB, now TransACT, a brick office tower on Northbourne Ave, Dickson.
In July, 1977, the architectural and engineering practice of Kevin J. Curtin & Partners Pty Ltd in Canberra was purchased by Ernest Munns and Robert Sly . Sly was a newcomer, but Ernest Munns had managed Curtin’s Canberra office for some time. Kevin’s final project before retiring was the St Mary’s Cathedral School, Cardinal and Priests’ residence (sic) in Sydney (1992). He died suddenly in 1996, aged 71, and is buried in Macquarie Park ( Block 14, 0865). (See Note 4)
Notes
1 Many a Mass attended in the 60s in the chapel by Carey/Byrne descendants, Bro. Raphael Quinlan (1895-1976, his grandmother, Ellen Carey, married George Pasfield) and myself ( my great grandmother, Mary Carey, married Patrick Byrne). In community with him for three years, I did not know at that time that I was related to ‘Gus’ (as the kids called him – I don’t know why ! ) He loved going to the races on Saturdays (unbeknown to the Provincial !) with his brother , a noted racehorse trainer.
2 Almost a miracle ? A substantial part of the cost of the reconstruction was met by a First Prize Opera House Lottery win – the windfall kept under wraps by PP, Fr Bill Kennedy, lest the Archbishop should garnishee it or other sources wither away. Another miracle ? The fire broke out on the feastday of St Mary McKillop – although fully exposed to the fierce force of the fire, a picture of Mary McKillop was left unharmed !
3 Fr Bill Kennedy was PP of St Joseph’s for close on twenty years, about the same length of time as at St Thomas’s, Kambah, where he had been the first PP. Retiring in 2016 to live in Lanigan House ( named after his great-uncle, Bishop Lanigan), he remained active as chaplain to Serra and in the diocesan archives. Now (2024) in his early nineties, he has lived to see and to baptise his great-great nephew, Charlie Kennedy ! We Byrne/Carey mob link with the very large Crookwell- district-based Kennedy mob through the marriage of my mother’s eldest sister (Mary Kennedy nee Byrne) to Father Bill’s uncle, Jim. There is a further link with Fr Bill’s sister who married a Carey descendant, very distinguished poet and dramatist Patrick Coady ( his grandmother, Matilda Carey (married to John William Coady) was herself the granddaughter of my great great grandmother Matilda Byrne who married John Carey) See below.
4 The SMH death notice, Wed.,Apr.17,1996, p.36 lists the children born to Kevin & Judy. I am cautious about naming living individuals for reasons of privacy, but in this case the details are in the public domain and so I list them here as many of you with connections to Canberra may recognise folk to whom you are thus related without your being aware of it …
Patricia Cummings ( m.David) Genevieve Maria King (m. John)
Kevin Mark (m.Kerry) John Francis (m.Michelle) Judith Chapman (m. Mitchell)
Elizabeth Koteczky (m.Stephen ) Maria Horgan ( m.Mark) Gerard ( m. Lisa)
Scintillating Siblings
#1 – THE TYRRELLS
One of the highlights of our 2001 ‘James Byrne’ get-together at Daramalan was the Saturday night Ceili, three Tyrrell sisters starring with their magnificent singing, accompanied by their Dad, Ken.
Katherine, Romola, Maree, twins Warwick & Virginia < Rita GORMAN (m. K.Tyrrell, 1955) < James T.GORMAN ( m. ET Hanly, 1917) < Sarah Mary BYRNE (m. Philip Gorman, 1874) < John BYRNE (m. Mary Dowd, 1846) < James BYRNE & Sarah FRANKLIN (m.1812)
All five have excelled in the music sphere in varying degrees, both in their singing and playing the piano, as well as proficiency with other instruments. Their expertise has expressed itself in educational programs, performances and ABC concerts.
Eldest of the siblings is Sr Katherine Anne Tyrrell RSJ. It was she who sang the Responsorial Psalm at the Mass celebrated by Pope John Paul ll at the Randwick Racecourse in Jan.1995 to mark the beatification of Mother Mary of the Cross MacKillop. She was charged also with training choristers drawn from various schools for a song selection as a prelude to the Randwick ceremony. With Sr Margaret Therese Cusack, she performed the vocals for the hymn Australia’s Holy One, among the 2010 Canonisation Hymn Compositions. Katherine also played the part of the saint herself in a production of the play Fire in the Red Land (by Sr Margaret Therese Cusack RSJ) . In 1979, all five ) recorded the hymn Walk Humbly With Your God, a major motif in the play. In recent times, Katherine’s apostolate has concentrated on ministering in Vocations at Province level and as Executive OTicer at National level.
In 2016, I (JTF) was privileged to attend the function to celebrate Sr Susan Connelly’s Golden Jubilee. Susan shared with Katherine the magnificent singing that contributed so much to the Mass.
The Tyrrell home was a veritable cradle for the burgeoning talent – in Katherine’s own words ‘one most enjoyable family act growing up was singing “Happy Birthday” to one of our household. With Mum and Dad, there were seven parts creating our own harmonies or we would purposely choose diTerent keys in order to be challenged to the end in keeping our own keys…especially interesting to sing in clashing keys … who could last.’ The Tyrrell family and her many friends were greatly saddened in June,2023, with the untimely death of Romola Clare Togher nee Tyrrell in her sleep. While folk were aware that she was suTering from a heart condition, it came as a shock to all who loved her so much, especially husband Patrick and children Micaela and Matthew. She was just 66. May she rest in peace. Among many expressions of condolence was the 20 July Facebook tribute : West Australia Opera dedicated its Otello opening night to Romola ‘with appreciation from the many artists you supported’. There was another also from her old Josephite school, Mount St Joseph, Milperra : ‘so proud to number her among its illustrious alumnae’. Romola was a highly regarded soprano. On concert platforms, she sang Mozart, Bach & Handel compositions with leading Australian and New Zealand choral associations and Symphony Orchestras. She regularly recorded pieces for the ABC and for 2MBS-FM as well as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra. The Australian Ballet engaged Romola to perform Songs of Auvergne as accompaniment to Of Blessed Memory . Her operatic appearances included Micaela in Carmen, Countess Stasi in The Gypsy Princess, Yum Yum in The Mikado and Ilia in Idomeneo. These performances took her to South Australia, Western Australia, Dunedin (NZ) as well as Sydney.
With great managerial skill, Romola was a founding member of The Song Company and Voiceworks and in 1998 joined her husband Patrick in establishing PTAM ( Patrick Togher Artists Management), an organisation that has furthered the careers of sixty or more folk who have contributed so much to Australia’s artistic culture.Maree Annette and Virginia Rita have had success in their public appearances, with Virginia however departing from the local scene back in 2009 when she and family (husband Mark, sons Brandon Kenneth, Dean Mark and Nicholas Austin) moved to Canada The Tyrrell family were once again griefstricken with the death of 25 yr old Brandon in March,2024, His death, in Oakville, Ontario, resulted from severe head injuries sustained in his falling on a slippery ice-covered surface. May he rest in peace.
Warwick Anthony, started his extraordinary career straight from school, aged 18. He enjoyed nine years as Principal Trombonist with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra before moving on for three years with the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Over the years, he has won many national and international competitions. He has performed as concerto soloist in many countries e.g. South Africa, the UK, Japan, and Hong Kong as well as nationally. As a trained singer and actor, Warwick spent three years fulltime with the Australian touring productions of Cabaret and Jolson. His mastery of several instruments, along with his singing, acting and conducting expertise, has seen Warwick hold teaching positions in several tertiary institutions – Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and Adelaide. He has also shared his great talent in mentoring students in many regional schools, particularly in Queensland. Quite recently, he undertook the conducting of the Sydney Mens Choir – well equipped for the role, given that among his many qualifications he holds a Master of Music (Conducting) degree ( Syd Uni.) Warwick’s Facebook posts allow us a glimpse into his private life. He exults in posing with two of hischildren (Isabella as bride in 2020 and one of his sons) and most especially his first grandchild (2023).
SCINTILLATING SIBLINGS # 2 – the McCaughans
McCaughan siblings < James McCAUGHAN, Genevieve La’Brooy < Daniel McCaughan, Monica DOYLE < William DOYLE, Annie Smith < Michael Doyle, Amelia WORTHINGTON < James Worthington , Mary Teresa BYRNE < James BYRNE, Sarah FRANKLIN
Another set of siblings, descendants of James Byrne & Sarah Franklin, with at least eight of the ten blessed with an extraordinary musical talent and figuring very prominently in highlyacclaimed performance and production. Most of the family have been much involved in the work of Artes Christi Australia Inc. which aims to promote ‘the true, the good and the beautiful – to seek the face of Christ through the arts’. At a later date, I hope to write more detailed notes of the di9erent siblings, once I have contacted the family to obtain their approval of the content of my material.
A CAUTIONARY TALE : Next time you are chatting to a fellow passenger on the bus, avoid any disparaging comments about your rellies – you never know ! A case in point : Some years back,I was browsing through an alphabetical list of the members of the Sydney Uni. Science Facultyonly to find an interesting juxtaposition – Brian McInnes immediately above James McCaughan, both descendants of James Worthington and his wife Mary T. Byrne ( daughter of our common ancestors James Byrne & Sarah Franklin) who married James Worthington. When I mentioned this to Brian, he was amazed : he told me he had been close friends with Jim since 1971 when they began their collaboration in First Year Studies, Brian as Acting Professor and James as Senior Tutor , a close friendship with the family over fifty & more years with no inkling of any kinship !
Footnote : In this case of Brian & Jim, fortunately no record of either launching into any disparaging comments…
SCINTILLATING SIBLINGS #3 – the PASFIELDS
Zara, Katie < Michael PASFIELD,Jodi < Desmond PASFIELD OAM, Patricia Faith < Henry W. PASFIELD, Mary Guimelli < William H.A . PASFIELD. Mary Larter < George Pasfield, Ellen CAREY < John CAREY, Matilda BYRNE < Michael CAREY, ………? / Patrick BYRNE, Sarah BEST.
The two sisters have achieved great success with their ice-skating prowess, both at the national and international level. For instance, Zara performed well as a Junior, winning Bronze in 2009 and 2011, and again a Bronze at the 2011 Winter Games in New Zealand. Even more significant was her becoming the Australian National Champion the following year. A radical change saw Zara’s enrolling in the UTS, for eventual graduation in 2017 with a degree in spatial and interior architecture. In a very short while she teamed up with a Peruvian artist, Renzo Larriviere, cofounding a Sydney-based design studio Atelier Sisu . They were soon favoured with commissions both here and abroad, winning several awards for their creative work. In the last few years, Sydneysiders have enjoyed their spectacular inflatable installations as features of the annual Vivid displays – the most recent (23 May -14 June,2025) being their Elysian Field transforming Tumbalong Park.
Very much a change of pace for Zara’s sister Katie as well : in her younger years, Katie provedherself a proficient figure-skater. In 2016, she won Bronze in the 2012 Australian NationalChampionship (repeating similar success in 2015). 2014 saw her win Silver in the Skate DownUnder Competition. In 2017 & again in 2018, Katie won a Bronze medal in the Australian NationalChampionships. Also in 2018, she achieved Silver in the Reybjevik International. Then came theshift to academia… Hard work gained her the degree ‘Doctor of Veterinary Medicine’. Currently,she is attached to a Vet.clinic in Weston (ACT) after working in Sydney at Terrey Hills
Both gained much of their figure skating expertise from their very talented father Michael (b.1961). His initial interest was whetted when Sr Kristen RSJ took her St Mel’s Campsie Primary class just ‘down the road’ on an excursion to the Canterbury Ice-skating rink. He was hooked and so began his own spectacular career … So, dear reader – correction – ‘researcher’ – google away on the Pasfields – especially if you are lucky to catch their ‘skating’ videos – and, most especially, if you can catch one showing Michael in the days when he was part of the ‘Torville & Dean’ troupe.
SCINTILLATING SIBLINGS # 4 – the BYRNES
James Byrne, father of Ethel & Lorna (& eight other children) was my grandfather Patrick’s slightly older brother ( 1855-1940) – my great-uncle ( JTF) Ethel, Lorna < James BYRNE, Margaret Crennan < Patrick BYRNE, Mary CAREY < James BYRNE, Sarah FRANKLIN / John CAREY, Matilda BYRNE < Michael CAREY, …………../ Patrick BYRNE, Sarah BEST (Roberts,Reculist, Catapodi, Brown, BYRNE,Sykes )
Born at Cookardinia where her father was the school principal, Ethel attended West Maitland GHS, winning a scholarship to Sydney University. Graduating MB,Ch.M in 1919, she was appointed as junior resident medical olicer at Newcastle Hospital ( a close association with the hospital that was to last throughout her life). She played a major role in the 1919 influenza epidemic and the surge in tuberculosis cases in 1920. For eight years, Ethel acted in the capacity of resident pathologist, resigning in 1928 but continued as consulting pathologist while conducting a successful private practice. She also supervised pathology services at Cessnock, Kurri Kurri and Maitland Hospitals. She was olicially praised for her ‘valuable and zealous work’ in combatting epidemics of diphtheria (1929) and of infantile paralysis as well as diphtheria in1931-1934. During this time, Ethel directed the anti-tuberculosis dispensary in King St and continued as Director when the clinic was transferred to Newcastle Hospital. In 1943, Ethel was elected a member of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Four years later, she was appointed physician and tuberculosis olicer to Newcastle Hospital, being the sole physician at the chest unit which opened at Rankin Park. Rankin Park Hospital (formerly ‘Lambton Lodge’) was built in wartime 1942 , given the potential need to evacuate patients from the very vulnerable Newcastle Hospital . Part of the Rankin House site was Byrne House ( so named in honour of Ethel) which provided accommodation and rehabilitation for male tuberculosis patients. In the 1960s and 1970s, it operated as an institution that catered for unmarried mothers about to give birth – and exposed to what normally amounted to forced adoption. Ethel, already deceased in the 1950s, was thus spared the appalling treatment now being recounted by women who were victims in that period : SEE ‘ lachlanwetherall.com Rankin Park Hospital / A bit of this, a bit of that’.
In 1955-56, Ethel visited Canada, USA, Britain and countries in Europe to study recent developments in the treatment of tuberculosis. A case really of dying ‘with your boots on’ : her death followed shortly after. This ‘short, slim woman with a gentle and charming personality’ died on 5 November, 1957, at Royal Newcastle Hospital and was cremated with Anglican rites.
Based mainly on : Margaret Henry ‘Byrne,Ethel (1895-1957) Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol.13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp.326-327
Lorna, the youngest, emulating Ethel, also gained a scholarship to Sydney University, following her grounding in Currabubula PS, Quirindi Superior School and West Maitland GHS. Lorna and Margaret Brebner were real pioneers, the first women to graduate (in 1921) the university’s Agricultural Science dept. After several years with the Department of Education, Lorna was invited in 1927 to join the NSW Department of Agriculture’s ‘Better Farming Train’. Equipped with machinery and farm animals, the train carried experts to selected venues to oler advice on rural matters. Lorna lectured on family life, leadership and community involvement. The same year, she was olicially transferred to the Department of Agriculture as organiser, women’s section , Agriculture bureau – the first woman on the professional stal of the department. She gave talks(1923-24), made regular broadcasts (1932-36) and compered two programs (1939-40) for the ABC on radio 2FC. A Carnegie Corporation grant in 1936 enabled her to study rural extension programs overseas which motivated her to establish the same model for young country people.
Lorna joined the Women’s Australian National Services in WW2, acting in an advisory capacity to the land section in 1940. In November, 1941, she enrolled in the AWAS (Australian Women’s Army Service) holding the rank of Major from January, 1942. Within a short time, Lorna was second-in-command of the AWAS. This was later recognised with her frequently taking a prominent part in Anzac parades. After the war, she married Commodore Hal Hayter RAN. Following his death just three years later, she gradually returned to public life and, by 1953, she was broadcasting regularly for the ABC. Her ‘Farm and Home’ program ran each week as the fifteen minutes’ slot ‘Country Hour Women’s Session’ which she hosted for 12 years. From 1961-1971, she was the women’s editor of the ‘Land’ newspaper. She took an active part in Sydney University alairs as a member of the standing committee of the Syd.Uni.Convocation and President of the university’s Agricultural Graduates Association. She was also a member and later Fellow of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and in 1978 became a Fellow of the Hawkesbury Agricultural College. During this time too she acted as a public relations officer for the Red Cross, as a keen supporter of the CWA and as a board member of the YWCA. Add tothese positions her memberships of the Society of Women Writers and the Journalists Club.
So she certainly deserved the public recognition of her manifold service with the CBE awarded her in 1980. Lorna died on 15 July 1989 in Mona Vale Hospital and was cremated. An avenue of trees bearing her name was planted at a memorial service in the grounds of the Hawkesbury Agricultural College, as also near her childhood home at Currabubula. The Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology sponsors the Lorna Byrne Leadership awards for students in agriculture in NSW.
Much of the above content is based on the article in ‘Australian Dictionary of Biography’ Vol.17.
You may have noticed the death of Dr Neil Inall PhD. last year ( 6 Sept.2024) at the age of 91. Best remembered, among his other TV programs, was the extremely popular Countrywide. His lifelong interest in rural alairs parallels in some degree that of Lorna who was his aunt, Neil’s mother being Lorna’s sister Eileen (1890-1986).
SCINTILLATING SIBLINGS # 5 the SULLIVANS
Clare, Joan, Deidre < Stanhope A.Sullivan , Amy Clare WHYTE < William H.WHYTE, Catherine E. BOYD < William H.WHYTE, Mary Anne Brunker nee McGREAVY / James BOYD, Margaret GOOLEY < George WHYTE, Margaret GRAYHAME / James McGREAVY, Margaret TYNAN /,,,,BOYD, ………… / Philip GOOLEY, Margaret RYAN.
On pp. 25,26 of her beautifully written memoir ‘I Remember’, Feb.2002, pp.70), Clare (Dorothy Clare,1918-2012) writes of the excellent singing expertise of two of her four sisters – Joan (1919- 1963) and Deidre (1927-2021). Along with a friend, Marie Searle, they composed the trio known as ‘The Sullivan Sisters’. Coached by Madge Dwyer, they sang quite regularly on the ABC – for example, Clare tells us (p.26) of their winning the highly popular Thursday evening Amateur Hour and the Catholic Weekly, 15.2.1945, reminds its readers that, with the return of Deidre from visiting her fiance’s parents in Maryborough, the trio would be resuming their regular Saturday afternoon program Stairway to the Stars on the commercial station 2SM. The newspaper report of Deidre’s Feb.1946 wedding (to Cpl Kevin Logan) makes special mention of the fame of the ‘Sullivan Trio’. While I cannot see any documentation, I presume Deidre’s departure with her newlywed to live in Childers , Queensland would necessarily have brought the threesome’s public career to a close With my having yet to establish it (or not), Clare may have been part of the group in the very early days (before her 1942 marriage to Charles) but she does not say as such in her memoir… Certainly she was gifted with a beautiful singing voice, much appreciated over many years with her frequent visits to the residents of Our Lady of Consolation Home at Rooty Hill. In her own twilight years, when she herself became a resident there, I am sure she would have continued to entertain her fellows in like fashion. This Sullivan / Connelly gift isreflected these days in the talent displayed by Clare’s eldest daughter, Sr Susan Connelly RSJ
PATRICK JAMES COADY – 1928-1999 – Noted poet and dramatist.
Patrick COADY < Cyril COADY, Mary Jane (Jenny) Jeffrey < John W. Coady, Matilda CAREY < John William CAREY, Honorah Tobin < John CAREY, Matilda BYRNE < Michael CAREY, Patrick BYRNE,Sarah BEST.
John William Carey ( 1827-1914 ) – brother of my great-grandmother Mary Carey ( 1828-1910 )
Patrick was born in Wagga Wagga. I can glean little (as yet !) of his early years . On 28 January,1952, Patrick married Pauline Kennedy (sister of Fr Bill Kennedy (See above) in St Mary’s, Crookwell. They had two daughters and three sons. Sadly, their youngest daughter, Jane Elizabeth, born in 1964, died in 1988, just less than two years after her marriage to Ian Harris.
In the 1950s, Patrick was prominent in the group which produced the first issues of Quadrant, the magazine which, along with other objectives, sought to promote Australian literature. The first editor (1956-1967), was James McAuley, a highly regarded poet and close friend of Patrick. In the 1960s, Patrick’s own achievements received tangible recognition with his promotion to President of the Poetry Society of Australia
In addition to his poetry, Patrick wrote radio plays, short stories, essays and literary criticism – most published to wide acclaim in highly regarded magazines, both in Australia and overseas. The quality of his writing was acknowledged with his winning many awards and his admission to the Fellowship of Australian Writers (NSW), an organisation seeking to promote Australian literature. He was active in the FAW, especially in preparing and presenting a number of seminars on the principles underlying the writing of poetry, aimed primarily at fledgling wordsmiths. Further recognition came with the ABC’s devoting one of its Poets Tongue programs to Patrick’s verse.
Patrick died on July 21 and was buried in Woronora Memorial Park (Banksia Lawn, # 2183).
Patrick obviously took a keen interest in family history. On a visit to London in 1983, we find him diligently searching for the street where our ancestor, recently widowed Sarah Best, was living with de facto Peter Catapodi and their daughter Caroline. He recorded his quest in the very meaningful poem Searching for Sarah – 23 October,1983, introduced with reference to key features in Sarah’s life :
Sarah Best : born c.1774. Sentenced at the Old Bailey, 6 December, 1797 to seven years’ transportation for theft of a counterpane. Died 28 October,1853. Buried at Spring Valley, NSW. Great-great-great grandmother of Patrick Coady.
The sun, a timid stranger staring through grey clouds,
barely warms my back as I walk from The Strand to Clerkenwell
between the faded faces of brown old buildings
which dribble the rust of past upon my shoulders.
Webs of scaffolding are glued upon Old Bailey bricks
where weekend workmen are blasting old dirt to dust.
Flaunting a tourist map as a badge of ignorance
I go searching these foreign streets for a mother’s home
and find the place at last. The indictment was carefully worded :
the street, the number, even the building’s name was nicely noted.
It is such a little street, Rosomon Street, just one block long,
even its existence lost, except for a blur in London A to Z.
Hawkers shout their Sunday bargains, wave inviting hands,
while cockney ladies screech above the barrows, saving 20p.
I try to take a photograph, but the sun’s an enemy to the lens
so the only picture kept is a dim print upon the memory.
( An aside : when my dear niece Sarah went on a similar search in 2006 ( kindly assembling a collage of photos of the locality (incl. the Exmouth Market nearby) for a Sykes / Best reunion), one photo shows the sign ‘Rosoman St’. I have also noted ‘Rosomond St’ elsewhere. (JTF)
You can find other ‘family’-oriented poems in Patrick’s collection of poems ‘Words’, first published in 1994 by DominicPress, Cronulla, especially ‘Collector Cemetery’ and ‘Goats at Spring Valley’. Most poignant of all are his heart-wrenching ‘Poem for a Daughter’, his beloved Jane, victim of Leukemia, and ‘Rags of Sorrow’
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