The WEDEMEYERs of Eastern Australia, Chapter 6

The "WEDEMEYERs of Eastern Australia" section of this site is divided into 10 chapters, and also appendices extending over 5 pages (sections). Please read in sequence by following the links at the bottom of each page or use the "Quick Nav" at top right. If you wish to select individual chapters, please click on the top left link to the Sitemap page. Please note the WEDEMEYER photo galleries here.

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GHL's wife: Elizabeth DAVIS:

Introduction

GHL's Wife Elizabeth DAVIS b.1830
Photo: Courtesy B & Y Kemp

Elizabeth DAVIS is pictured on the right. A combination of records suggests the following:

 

Please review the following evidence to see if you reach the same conclusions.

 

Origins

Elizabeth was recorded with the birth place of "Mullingar", which was the same place given in the death certificate for her brother in Gayndah, William DAVIS (d. 1899). "Mullingar" was probably the Mullingar Poor Law Union (PLU), rather than Mullingar town. Irish immigrants to Australia typically gave their origin as their PLU rather than their town or townland. If only they gave their townlands!

The Irish Poor Law Act of 1838 set up the Mullingar PLU in 1839, which included both the Mullingar Town as well as 652 surrounding townlands (392 square miles). A new workhouse was built in Mullingar town and commenced operation at the end of 1842, It was on a 10 acre site and designed for 900 pauper inmates.

Higginbotham, P. Mullingar, Co. Westmeath; Feb 2006. Note: Peter Higginbotham has kindly given permission to use his photo of the Mullingar Workhouse (see below), which is also presented on his website. His definitive site provides more information on the workhouse system, as well as the Mullingar workhouse.

Pauper Immigration

Elizabeth’s obituary said in part:

When but a mere child she reached Gayndah in 1851, arriving by one of the sailing vessels that took months to cross the ocean, having been booked from Ireland and placed in the care of the ship's officers, and safely reached her relatives, the DAVIS family, well known people throughout the Upper Burnett.

Source: Death of old resident. Bundaberg Mail, Bundaberg. May 2, 1921

This gives us the clue that Elizabeth was part of the female orphan emigration scheme.

Co. Westmeath was not as badly affected as other counties in the Great Famine, though its population dropped from 141,000 in 1845 to 110,000 in 1851. Large numbers died, emigrated, or were placed as paupers in the workhouses. Our Elizabeth would have been placed in the Mullingar workhouse, to be eligible for pauper emigration.

Mullingar Workhouse Mullingar Workhouse site: general view, 2000.Courtesy Peter Higginbotham.

More than 4,000 female orphans arrived in Australia from workhouses throughout Ireland, between October 1848 and August 1850, as part of Earl Grey’s Pauper Immigration Scheme. The aims were to reduce the number of paupers in workhouses and to increase the relative numbers of women in the Australian population.

Trevor McClaughlin provides a register of about 4,000 of the Irish Famine orphans who came to Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Hobart from 1848 to 1850.

There were only two DAVIS names: Charlotte DAVIS arrived on the ‘Inconstant’ in Adelaide, South Australia, on 7 Jun 1849. No further details about Charlotte. Note that there were 40 orphans from the Mullingar PLU on the ‘Inconstant’ and 30 more Mullingar PLU orphans on the other ships. The other DAVIS is probably ours! Margaret DAVIS on the ‘Tippoo Saib’, arriving 29 July 1850 Sydney, NSW, from the Mullingar PLU.

Source: McClaughlin, T. Barefoot and pregnant? - Irish famine orphans In Australia. Melbourne: Genealogical Society of Victoria, 2001; 2: 123, 272 – 275, 399.

The NSW State Archives shipping microfilm listed Margaret DAVIS amongst the orphans on the ‘Tippoo Saib’ 29 July 1850 Sydney arrival, Board of Immigration shipping list:

Number: 167. Name: Davis, Margaret. Age: 16. Calling: Nursemaid. Native Place and County: Killare W. Meath. Parents: John and Ellen. (father living at Killare). Religious Denomination: RC. Read or Write: neither. Relations in the Colony: None. State of bodily health, strength, and probable usefulness: good. Any complaint regarding treatment on board the ship: none.

Source: NSW State Archives. SRNSW No. 4/4919 – Reel 2461.

…… are Margaret & Elizabeth DAVIS the same??

We now compare Margaret’s data from the Sydney Immigration Board (above) with Elizabeth’s data in her various Australian vital records.

# Category Margaret Elizabeth
i Arrival Sydney, 29 Jul 1850, ‘Tippoo Saib’. Could reach Gayndah in 1851 Arrived Gayndah 1851 (Obituary)
ii Parents John & Ellen DAVIS John & Ellen DAVIS (recorded in marriages, death)
iii Origin: Mullingar PLU Parish Killare, Mullingar PLU* (father lived here when she emigrated, presumably mother was dead) Mullingar (PLU?) (at birth of youngest child)
iv Religion: RC Yes Yes (at burial)
v Christian name Margaret † Elizabeth (second name??)
vi Date of birth 1834 (age 16 at immigration) 1830, 1839, 1840, 1841, 1844, 1848 ‡

 

Additional notes on table:

iii) * See here for a map and details of the civil parishes of Kilcleagh, Killare and RC parish of Tubber & Rosemount.

v) † Different Christian names: It was common practice to baptise RC girls in a village with a first name of Mary or its derivative Margaret, and the girls were known by their second name… perhaps this occurred in Elizabeth’s case?

vi) ‡ Different dates of birth: Elizabeth provided a large range of DoB’s throughout her life. The inference is Elizabeth chose her DoB to suit the circumstance. Elizabeth’s earliest DoB of 1839 given at her first marriage would mean that she would have been aged 11 at her 1850 migration, which was too young to travel "unattended" as her obituary claimed. The proportions of the ages of the 260 orphans on the 1850 voyage of the ‘Tippoo Saib’ were: Age 13: 2%. 14: 7%. 15: 8%. 16: 28%. 17: 29%. 18: 17%. 19: 8%. 20: 1%… which gves our Margaret (Elizabeth?) the typical orphan immigrant age.

A possible birth of our Elizabeth DAVIS in the Irish Family History Foundation (I.F.H.F.) records gives an 1830 DOB record in the Parish of Kilcleagh, Co. Westmeath, resulting in an age at immigration of 20 in 1850… just within the range of accepted orphan emigration. However an impoverished 20 year old could easily pass herself as aged 16, and then be approved for the emigration programme. See here for a map and details of the civil parishes of Kilcleagh, Killare and RC parish of Tubber & Rosemount.

Conclusion: High probability that Margaret and Elizabeth are the same people.

Irish orphan girls scheme in Australia

Irish newspapers watched these events with interest. A County Armagh newspaper wrote on 7 Feb 1850:

By official report, two hundred and nineteen female Irish orphans were sent by the ship Earl Grey to Sydney. Of these girls thirty-seven had been despatched to Moreton Bay, and twelve to Maitland, and one hundred and ten had obtained places in Sydney.

Two hundred and thirty Irish orphan girls, all upwards of fourteen years of age, and eight children, arrived at Port Adelaide in October 1848, after a voyage of ninety-one days, without one death. At the end of fourteen days from the date of arrival, not one orphan fit for service was unemployed; seventy applicants could not be supplied, and two hundred more girls would readily have met with situations.

For respectable domestic servants, dairymaids, and girls accustomed to farm work, the demand in Australia is almost unlimited. Labourers, Mechanics, Shepherds, Hutkeepers, Stockmen, Bullockdrivers, Small Settlers, Small Squatters, Workingmen and Gentlemen, are all in want of wives! But, ladies thinking of Australia, or the Western States of America, and the bounteous crop of husbands there, must understand that the salt of a happy colonial life lies in the mystics of the pie or pudding, the roast and the boiled; in the whole art of washing and ironing, in the secret of training a raw country girl into a light handy servant, of pulling down insolence and encouraging good humour.

Source: Lurgan, Portadown and Banbridge Advertiser and Agricultural Gazette. Lurgan, County Armagh: 7 February 1850. Note: Kindly transcribed by Alison Causton.

Note this report mentions that positions were being found for the orphans in Moreton Bay after they landed in Sydney. The Moreton Bay region was the name given to the present day Queensland before it separated from NSW on 10 Dec 1859. McClaughlin refers to the significant number of orphans in the Moreton Bay region, still under the control of the distant Orphan Guardian Board in Sydney. He quotes the figures:

"…in 1851 the total white female population in Brisbane was 1,053 and the orphans were about 10% of that total".

Source: McClaughlin, T. Barefoot and pregnant? - Irish famine orphans In Australia. Melbourne: Genealogical Society of Victoria, 2001; 2: 123, 272 – 275, 399.

Relatives in Gayndah

It is most likely that Elizabeth was transferred from Sydney to Moreton Bay and then somehow travelled to the Upper Burnett area to live with her DAVIS relations… if her obituary is correct. Note however, that Margaret (Elizabeth)’s statement to the Immigration Board says, in answer to the question… "relatives in the colony?", "None".

Verification of Elizabeth's origins through her brother

We have also found Elizabeth’s brother, William DAVIS, bootmaker of Gayndah (d. 4 Nov 1897). Have a look at the following table which summarises the evidence which shows that William DAVIS & Elizabeth WEDEMEYER (née DAVIS) are siblings. You will see that they were born in the same area, have a father with the same name & occupation, mother with the same same (allowing for CREEVY / GREEVY / CREVY and first names Ellen and Eleanor), and there is even a bit of oral history to clinch their relationship… and finally William's baptismal record which co-incides with a record for Elizabeth in the same parish!

Was William DAVIS brother to our Elizabeth?
Person Source Data
Elizabeth WEDEMEYER (née DAVIS) Obituary. 1851… from Ireland…reached her relatives, the DAVIS family, well known people throughout the Upper Burnett.
William DAVIS Oral history through his grandson William Otto DAVIS. "Grandfather DAVIS’s sister married a ‘WHITAMERE’ and they lived at Mount Perry". An apparent reference to the marriage of Elizabeth DAVIS & Louis WEDEMEYER & their move from Gayndah to Mt. Perry.
Elizabeth WEDEMEYER (née DAVIS) ‘Tippoo Saib’ shipping list. Ψ Native Place and County: Killare W. Meath (PLU Mullingar).
Elizabeth WEDEMEYER (née DAVIS) ‘Tippoo Saib’ shipping list. Parents named: John DAVIS & Ellen DAVIS
Elizabeth WEDEMEYER (née DAVIS) 1862 marriage Parents named: John DAVIS (a shoe maker) & Ellen CREEVY
Elizabeth WEDEMEYER (née DAVIS) Birth of daughter Margaret Henrietta (Maggie). Birthplace: Mullingar, Co. Westmeath.
Elizabeth WEDEMEYER (née DAVIS) 1898 Marriage of Elizabeth WEDEMEYER to Charles PAAP Parents named: John DAVIS (a boot maker) & Eleanor CREVY.
William DAVIS Death certificate. Where born: Mullingar, Ireland.
William DAVIS 1861 Manchester Census. Where born: Co. Westmeath.
William DAVIS 1856 marriage at Manchester Father named: John DAVIS, a shoemaker.
William DAVIS 1832 birthrecord † Parents John DAVIS & Ellen GREEVY.
(Ψ RC Parish of Tubber & Rosemount)
Elizabeth DAVIS 1830 baptismal /
birth record ‡		 Parents John DAVIS & Eleanor McGIN. [McGIN is Eleanor's mother's surname?] (Ψ Civil Parish of Kilcleagh, contained at least in part in the RC Parish of Tubber & Rosemount)

Further notes on table:
†  William DAVIS, b. 29 Oct 1832, (RC) Parish of Tubber & Rosemount; rel. RC; father: John DAVIS; mother: Ellen Greevy; sponsors: Dermot Laffy, Bridget Wise.
‡  Elizabeth DAVIS, b. or bapt. 19 May 1830, (Civil) Parish of Kilcleagh; rel. RC; father: John DAVIS; mother: Eleanor McGIN; sponsors: Peter McGIN, Bridget Crosby.
Ψ See here for a map and details of the civil parishes of Kilcleagh, Killare and RC parish of Tubber & Rosemount.

 

Review of Evidence

Dr Perry McIntyre kindly reviewed my research in this chapter and said:

FABULOUS work. I'm absolutely convinced of your terrific research, reasoning and documentation and have just put a very brief summary of Elizabeth/Margaret Davis on our website with a link to your website. Congratulations and welcome as an orphan girl descendant.

Dr Perry McIntyre, Historian & Adjunct Lecturer & Chair of the Great Irish Famine Commemoration Committee [GIFCC], Global Irish Studies Centre, University of NSW.

More about William DAVIS

Elizabeth & William DAVISElizabeth & William DAVIS. Courtesy: Tom Jones.

William arrived in the Australian colonies on 8 Apr 1862, on the ship ‘Montmorency’ (12 years after our Elizabeth), and is pictured below with his wife, also named Elizabeth (née POYNER). Elizabeth WEDEMEYER (née DAVIS) maintained contact with the Gayndah DAVIS family. "Mrs DAVIS" of Gayndah helped deliver Elizabeth’s first child, and is possibly Elizabeth (née POYNER)? William DAVIS’ son Jack (b. 14 Jan 1870 Gayndah) married one of Elizabeth WEDEMEYER’s daughters. Details of William, as well as his migration and his descendants, can be found here.

 

First DAVIS relatives in Gayndah

I am searching for DAVIS’s who would have been in Gayndah when Elizabeth arrived, and before William DAVIS’ arrival in 1862. The earliest reference (1858) found, which relates to DAVIS in Gayndah:

"Abduction- Our little town, on Monday last, was all in commotion occasioned by a father seeking his lost child; it turned out a man named George Davis had bolted with her. She was scarcely sixteen, not very good looking, and very deaf, her name is (Clara) Wilson. A warrant was issued for Davis, and two policemen tracked them some 50 miles, when, according to the police, they seem to have taken the scrub for it, the police, however, returned without them."

Source: Moreton Bay Courier. Jan 16, 1858. More on this story appeared in the Moreton Bay Courier. Jan 27, 1858; 2, and also in the Moreton Bay Courier. Feb 10, 1858; 2.

The next reference found (1867), was after William DAVIS' arrival. The first year in which Gayndah rates were levied was in 1867. In that year, our William DAVIS (occupier — sect. 12 allot 7) and a Richard DAVIS (owner — sect. 12 allot 7) were in Meson Street, almost opposite Louis WEDEMEYER's lodging house and at the intersection of Meson and Warton Streets. William also owned back-to-back properties in Bamboo Street (sect. 32 allot 7) & Montgomerie Street (sect. 32 allot 14). The Bamboo Street property is 2 doors up from the turn-off to Nanango Street.

Sources: Gayndah Municipal Council Rate Book 1867-1874 (Ref QSA A/24904), Gayndah Municipal Council Valuation Register 1867-1873 (Ref. QSA A/24890).

Later, the Electoral Rolls listed the following DAVIS voters in Gayndah:

DAVIS, George, 1874-1878. Was this the George who ran away with Clara Wilson?

DAVIS, William,1870-1871 at Meson St., allot 7 sect 12, then 1874-1884 at an unspecified freehold. Note that William's allot 7 sect 12 is the same property on which Richard paid rates in 1867 (mentioned above), indicating at the least a business relationship, if not a family relationship.

DAVIS, Richard, 1879-1883. Richard was then listed on the Auburn roll in 1884. Auburn Station is 100 km in a WSW direction from Gayndah. What are Richard DAVIS' family relations? There is a DAVIS tradition that William's grandson was named Richard after a great uncle... were the above Richard and William brothers? Similarly there is the suggestion that this Richard set up a butcher's shop in Eidsvold, which is the nearest main settlement to Auburn Station. Perhaps Elizabeth arrived in Gayndah in 1851 to live with Richard's family before William came to Gayndah to join them? Any help with this puzzle would be most welcome.

Source: Queensland Electoral Rolls, 1860-1884.
CD-ROMs, Toowoomba and Darling Downs Family History Society.

 

Early married life

On 27 Sep 1862 Elizabeth DAVIS married George Henry Louis WEDEMEYER in the "House of Mr WEDEMEYER", Gayndah. Information on a wife is rare, and Elizabeth was no exception. The only insight on her early married life was in her obituary where it said:

"She was one of the earliest Burnett residents, and had shared in its varied transformations from dense scrub and forest, and almost unforbidding (sic) wilderness, to a land of close settlement and the building of the fine town of Bundaberg."

Source: Death of old resident. Bundaberg Mail, Bundaberg. May 2, 1921

Elizabeth must have had a hard and varied life. She helped her husband with his various occupations in Gayndah, Drummers Creek, Yarrol, and at Walla. All this in the “wild colonial days”, when life was difficult, particularly in lodging houses in pioneering towns, hotels in the new mining areas and farming in virgin forests.

 

Elizabeth’s later life with her daughters

Life changed at home in 1884 for the WEDEMEYER daughters and their mother! Their father was probably mostly absent from the "Southern Cross" Hotel to work on his Selection. Elizabeth said: "My husband had made application for leave of absence (to the Licensing Board?) from his said house." GHL conceded that: "Trade was very dull", and also said that: "I put the house into the hands of an auctioneer, Mr Stone, to sell it at auction on the twenty-sixth or on the thirtieth day of May (1884) next." Matters resolved themselves on 23 Apr 1885, when the hotel burnt down.

The inquiry on the fire investigated the possibility of the WEDEMEYERs burning down their own hotel, where statements by GHL, Elizabeth and their eldest daughter, Minnie give us insight into what life was like in the hotel, as well as events on the night of the fire. Following the fire, the family moved to GHL’s Walla Selection… shortly after on 5 Oct 1885, GHL died. The separate stories of the three sons show how they subsequently kept the WEDEMEYER Selections and land going with their work as carriers. The nature of the new home for Elizabeth and her daughters was shown in a report by the bailiff on 8 Apr 1888. It said that GHL’s 160 acre selection was occupied by the selector (Elizabeth Wedemeyer, widow of GHL Wedemeyer) and family, used for grazing horses and cattle. It had a garden of 5 acres planted with fruit trees, with a milking yard, stockyard and horse yard. The improvements were: 3 room slab house, kitchen, shingle roof: £60, Railing: £21/3/-, 2 stockyards & piggery: £40, 50a forest land cleared, stumped & ploughed: £20. Total: £111/3/- . Transfers: Transmission by death from GHL to Elizabeth Wedemeyer on 10 Mar 1888.

Following this report, Elizabeth received a "Deed of Grant" of this Selection on 30 Apr 1890, for a payment of £20. (Qld State Archives Reference: LAN/AG195). Note also the present day photos and description of this Selection in Chapter 5.

The Deed of Grant now released the family from having to live on the Selection, particularly with the poor seasons for farmers at that time. It is probable that in 1890 Elizabeth and the girls went to Eidsvold to either work there or live with eldest son Harry. In 1890, Harry’s obituary said he had a Selection near the Stockman Battery, "where he lived happy and comfortable with his wife and little ones, two of his brothers and a sister (Maggie). Two other sisters (Minnie & Elizabeth (Jnr)..have situations in Eidsvold". His sisters with "situations in Eidsvold" were probably in one or other of the many hotels. When Minnie & Elizabeth (Jnr) married, they described themselves as "housemaids".

Following Harry’s accidental death on 27 Dec 1890 at Spring Gully, Elizabeth and her daughters remained in Eidsvold for a short while. Then there is the record of Maggie leaving Eidsvold School at age 13 in December 1891. The four women probably went to Bundaberg at this stage, and the Bundaberg link is shown as follows: Information from the Gin Gin Rate book shows that Mrs E. WEDEMEYER from Bundaberg owned freehold land at Walla in 1893. A Timber Licence for firewood was gazetted on 3 Nov 1894 for E. WEDEMEYER of Bundaberg… perhaps this applied to her land at Walla? Elizabeth (Jnr) WEDEMEYER was recorded living at East Bundaberg in 1894 at the time of her marriage to Jack DAVIS. Perhaps Minnie met her husband David STRONG at Bundaberg before she married him in Sydney in 1896. Maggie may have followed Minnie, and was recorded marrying her first husband in Sydney in 1899.

 

Elizabeth’s Second Marriage

Elizabeth re-married to 60 year old Charles PAAP (widower) on 28 Jul 1898 in the Church of England church at Bundaberg. At that time she said she was only aged 50, when in fact she was probably aged 68, a little older than her new husband. Charles was a shoemaker, as was Elizabeth’s father and first husband. He was born in 1839 at Rostock, Mecklenburg, Germany, and in 1898 he also lived at East Bundaberg i). Regrettably, the marriage did not last long. Charles died of heart disease on 12 Jan 1899, after 168 days of marriage ii). He was buried in the Bundaberg Cemetery, location A2, grave # A455 xi). There is no memorial on his grave xiii).

Elizabeth may have been subsequently more closely associated with the PAAPs rather than the WEDEMEYERs at the end of her life. Electoral rolls showed that Elizabeth PAAP lived in Princess St Bundaberg in 1903-1908, with the occupation of home duties. Then, in 1913, she was recorded in Princess St with Auguste PAAP (home duties) and Henry Charles Victor PAAP (labourer). There was no street numbers and thus no way of knowing if they lived in the same house iv). However, Henry & Auguste's marriage certificate showed that Henry had been born in Clermont Qld to a father, Charles Victor PAAP iii). Was Henry a stepson to Elizabeth? In 1919 Auguste & Henry were still in Princess St and Elizabeth was now in Woondooma Street iv). Elizabeth would have been sick at this stage, since she died of cancer on 1 May 1921, a year after her diagnosis v). Henry & Auguste continued living in Princess St until they died… Henry died in 1967 and Auguste in 1960. Electoral rolls gave their street number as #49 in 1949 iv). This location is now an industrial site occupied by “Merv Dick Spray Painting”.

Elizabeth was the informant of her husband Charles' death. Regrettably, she did not give any information in his death certificate about Charles' earlier marriage or the children of this marriage ii).

So far, all the information from the PAAP family matches with WEDEMEYER research and the Charles PAAP from Bogantungan was the same man who married our Elizabeth WEDEMEYER (née DAVIS). See the PAAP family history section beneath for more information.

Elizabeth continued to hold the WEDEMEYER hotel land in the name of PAAP, or variants of that name. The Mt Perry rate book shows that GHL WEDEMEYER's widow Elizabeth WEDEMEYER (now PAAP) exercised her dower right (portion of a deceased husband’s real estate allowed by the law to a widow for her life) and was recorded variously as owner and occupier in the names of PAAP, PABST, PAABST, WEDEYMEYER of Bundaberg / Drummers Creek x). See details here. Note that the German pronunciation of PAAP, PABST, PAABST is similar… hence probable confusion by the locals.

Sources:
      Listed after PAAP family history section below.

PAAP Family History

There is a record of a criminal case relating to Charles PAAP and his earlier wife. Charles PAAP was charged with maliciously wounding Julius JONES, at the Drummond Range (near Bogantungan), on the 29th December, 1882. Drummond Range (a gold mining area) is 90km SW of Clermont, and 90km W of Emerald. Reading the press report of Charles' trial leaves one with sympathy for Charles, and the feeling that Charles would have got off the charge with a better defence lawyer. Charles' family was split… his wife (probable name below) left him for Julius JONES after Charles was arrested, and his daughter Freda gave evidence for the defence. The fact that Charles was a cripple was used to support his plea that he used a knife in self defence. The jury found him guilty “with strong recommendation to mercy”, and Charles was sentenced to 4 months hard labour vi), vii), xiv). The local press made very strong and sympathetic editorial comments on Charles' sad situation xii).

PAAP oral history tells us that Henry Charles Victor PAAP told his family that he walked from Bogantungan to Bundaberg with his father Charles and a horse. They arrived at Bundaberg when Henry was aged two (in 1883), which was a difficult trek since Charles was crippled with a club foot. Henry was told that his mother had died (1896?). Charles was able to get a job in Bundaberg as a cobbler viii). This would mean that Henry and Charles left Bogantungan in the same year that Charles would have finished his gaol sentence.

No further information has been found about Charles PAAP. However, Charles' Bogantungan wife probably left records, even though her name was not given in Charles' court case. An important link was given when Charles' daughter Freda said that "Jones is living with my mother now (Jan 1883)" ix). When a Julius JONES was married one year later on 6 Jan 1884 at nearby Bundaberg xv), it was no leap of logic to suggest this marriage involved the same people, unless Julius led a very complicated life! If Charles wife was in a de facto relationship with Charles, then there was no obstacle to her later marriage to Julius. It was the same Julius, since the Julius who married, was born in Gotha, Germany; and the Bogantungan Julius spoke a foreign language… in the court case a witness said; "Jones spoke in his own language, and I asked him to speak so as we could all understand" ix). Julius JONES is a rare name in Qld, and rarer still, if of non-English speaking extraction; moreover, Bundaberg is accessible to Bogantungan. Julius' bride was described Ann WHITEHEAD: Condition: Widow. Birthplace: Kilkenny, Kilkenny, Ireland. Profession, trade or occupation: -- Age: 39 years. Usual place of residence: Bundaberg. Parents: Father’s name and surname: Dennis BRODDERICK (sic). Mother’s name and maiden surname: Mary SHEY (sic). Father’s occupation if recorded: Blacksmith. At that time Ann signed with her "mark" xv). which would put the spelling of her parents in doubt. An Ann WHITEHEAD died on 15 Aug 1896 at Bundaberg Hospital, with parents Denis BRODERICK & Mary SHEA xvi)… did Ann revert to her earlier married name of WHITEHEAD if her marriage to JONES failed, or did she find that her previous husband WHITEHEAD was still alive? Julius died at Homebush Qld on 23 Jul 1907, 10km SW of Mackay xx), xxi).

An Ann BRODERICK emigrated to Keppel Bay Qld (near Rockhampton) on 25 Jun 1863 on the ship 'Beejapore' xviii) … DOB ~1841 in shipping documents, DOB ~1845 from later documents. "The bulk of her ('Beejapore') immigrants hailed from County Tipperary having been brought out to Queensland through some arrangement with Bishop Quinn, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Brisbane" xvii)…a). This is probably "our" Ann, since her birth place of Kilkenny (townland Castlecomer?) xvi), xix), xv) is the adjacent county to Tipperary. One year after she emigrated, Ann married Thomas WHITEHEAD on 15 Jun 1864 at Rockhampton. At the time of Thomas' marriage he was a carrier, aged 25, from Lennoxtown Stirlingshire Scotland xix). Ann's children to Thomas were Susan on 20 Jul 1867 & John on 1 Oct 1869. Thomas WHITEHOUSE died on 7 Mar 1917, Kuridala Qld xxii). Perhaps Ann believed Thomas had died when she married Julius in 1884? Thomas probably lived in Rockhampton at least until 1868 xvii)…b). His occupation as a teamster with bullock wagons (carrier) meant he was away from home for months on end xxiii), which would have not helped his marriage to Ann.

Was Ann BRODERICK "our" de facto wife of Charles PAAP before he married Elizabeth WEDEMEYER? Ann's death certificate only acknowledges her marriage and children to Thomas WHITEHEAD xix)… no mention of her bigamous marriage to Julius JONES xv), no mention of Charles PAAP and their children ix). The lack of certainty at the moment is in accepting that if Charles PAAP's de facto was living with Julius JONES in Jan 1883 ix), then the same person married him one year later xv). Ann was buried in the Bundaberg RC Cemetery xix), xxiv) in an unmarked grave xxiv), xxv), not too far from Elizabeth WEDEMEYER's grave (see photo below).

Sources:
      i)  Marriage of Elizabeth WEDEMEYER & Charles PAAP. Reg# 1898/000155. Registrar of BDM, Qld.
      ii) Death of Charles PAAP. Reg# 1899/288. Registrar of BDM, Qld.
      iii) Marriage of Henry Charles Victor PAAP & Auguste GROTHERR. Reg# 1908/ 000185. Registrar of BDM, Qld.
      iv) Electoral rolls.
      v) Death of Elizabeth PAAP. Reg# 1921/8858. Registrar of BDM, Qld.
      vi) Constable Malone arrived from Bogantungan. Morning Bulletin; Rockhampton; 13 Jan 1883; 2.
      vii) Maliciously wounding. Morning Bulletin; Rockhampton; 31 Jan 1883; 3.
      viii) Pers.comm. present day PAAP descendants; 2012.
      ix) Maliciously wounding. The Capricornian; Rockhampton, 3 Feb 1883; 6, 7.
      x) Mt Perry rate books: 1880 - 1904. Transcribed and communicated by Pat Smith.
      xi) Bundaberg regional cemeteries burial list. See here.
      xii) Current notes. The Capricornian; Rockhampton, 3 Feb 1883; 8.
      xiii) Pers.comm. Bundaberg cemeteries supervisor; 8 Oct 2012.
      xiv) Charlie Paap. Depositions etc received into the Crown Law offices, during 1883. Criminal Depositions; Qld State Archives; item: ID95005; page 285.
      xv) Marriage of Julius JONES & Ann WHITEHEAD. Reg# 1884/000073. Registrar of BDM, Qld.
      xvi) Death of Ann WHITEHEAD. Reg# 1896/000339. Registrar of BDM, Qld.
      xvii) The Wiki of Central Queensland history. See here.
        a) Fitzroy 1920. The ship "Beejapore". See here.
        b) Rockhampton post office directory 1868. See here.
      xviii) Eileen B. Johnson.They Came Direct: Immigration Vessels to Queensland: Beejapore 1863. Tinana Qld; 2005.
      xix)  Marriage of Thomas WHITEHEAD & Ann BRODERICK. Reg# 1864/000371. Registrar of BDM, Qld.
      xx)  Orders to administer the following intestate estates. Townsville Daily Bulletin; 3 Oct 1907; 4.
      xxi)  Death of Julius JONES. Reg# 1907/C2504. Registrar of BDM, Qld.
      xxii)  Death of Thomas WHITEHEAD. Reg# 1917/000284. Registrar of BDM, Qld.
      xxiii)  Police Court Rockhampton: Thomas WHITEHEAD a witness. Rockhampton Bulletin; 14 Jul 1864.
      xxiv)  Bundaberg Catholic burials 1881-1995. Bundaberg Genealogical Association.
      xxv)  Bundaberg Catholic monumental inscriptions. Bundaberg Genealogical Association.

 

Elizabeth’s Death

Elizabeth died of cancer on 1 May 1921 in the General Hospital, Bundaberg, after 12 months illness. She was buried in an un-marked grave in the Catholic cemetery, Bundaberg, next to the Shalom College, in #533C, Section 4. Then, in 2006, her great granddaughter, Alice McArthur, erected a memorial headstone. See the photo below.

Elizabeth PAAP Headstone Grave of Elizabeth PAAP, Bundaberg Cemetery.
Photo: Deborah McArthur, 2006.

The Story Continues