Tracing Family Branches

I came across the following newspaper article on Trove and believe that it may involve my second great aunt Mary Donnelly.  Mary was twelve years old in 1882 and lived in Cooyal.  One of twin girls born to James Donnelly and his wife Mary nee Gallagher in 1870, she never married.  Mary lived in Cooyal on the family property for many years with her parents, then she moved with her mother to a house in Lewis Street, Mudgee.  She died on the 3rd March 1937 at the Mudgee District Hospital and was buried at the Mudgee General Cemetery, in the Roman Catholic section on the 4th March 1937 (see here ).  I have previously mentioned her in blog posts  here , here , here , and  here . Returns of criminal cases heard at the Quarter Sessions at Mudgee on 2nd of August 1882 show that James Garbutt plead guilty to Indecent Assault and was sentenced to imprisonment with hard labour in Mudgee Gaol for eighteen months.  NSW State Records have a gaol photograph an...

Today's snippet involves my first cousins twice removed Sylvester Gervase Donnelly and Frances Eulalie McGuiness nee Donnelly and their partners. Source: MENDOORAN (1946, January 17). Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1942 - 1955), p. 4. Retrieved  from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article100317846 Transcript: Police Sergeant McGuinness and Mrs. McGuiness are at present the guests of Mr. S. G. Donnelly (brother of Mrs. McGuiness) and Mrs. Donnelly, and will also spent a short holiday at 'Bone Bone,' the home of Mr. and Miss Buckley.

Margaret Annie Ferguson formerly Donnelly nee Buckley was the wife of my second great uncle Edward Donnelly.  Born in Denby in 1874 to John and Mary Buckley.  She married Edward Donnelly in 1896 and together they had two children Sylvester Gervase Donnelly and Frances Eulalie Donnelly.  In 1908 at the age of thirty four Edward died and she was left a widow with two young children to raise.  In 1929 aged fifty five she married Joseph Samuel Ferguson.  Joseph died in 1949. Margaret died on the 17th of February 1955 and was buried at Coonabarabran.  Her burial details and photograph of her grave site can be found here . Source: OBITUARY (1955, February 2). Gilgandra Weekly (NSW : 1942 - 1955), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article100346420 Transcript: OBITUARY. The death occurred at a private hospital in Tamworth of Mrs. Margaret Ann Ferguson 80.  Mrs. Ferguson was born at Denby in the Teridgerie district, and was the...

I was very excited to find today's Trove newspaper article, not only because it helped me to fill in more of my relatives life story but because it actually has photographs of the relative in question. Sylvester Gervase Donnelly is my first cousin twice removed and I have mentioned him in previous posts here , here , here , here  and here .  I wondered how he became a farmer as the electoral roll of 1936 has him as a labourer, then in 1943 his occupation changed to farmer and he remained that for the rest of his life in the electoral rolls I have found.  This article helps to explain how he transitioned between the two.  It was very interesting to find out that the son of a man, whose ill health denied him the chance to follow his father into farming went on to become a farmer. Source: Sharefarmer Son of School Master Scores at Mendooran (1937, November 19). The Land (Sydney, NSW : 1911 - 1954), p. 9. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10418...