The Killion, Quinn and Hand Families of Port Macquarie and Kempsey and their Feeney Family

Jane Feeney, our many times great-grandmother, had five children with John Killion and five children with Thomas Seward.  James and Richard, the last two children, were twins and died shortly after birth.  The other eight children lived to be adults and seven had children. Thomas, the third chid, was the first of the Killion children to succumb to bronchial illness and the first of the adult children to die.  So on 19 December 1917, 100 years ago, Thomas died at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney with the cause of death recorded as "broncho pneumonia".    Thomas was buried the following day in the Catholic section of Waverley Cemetery.  Mary Jane, his wife, and Annie Lyons, their daughter, where also buried there in 1940 and 1975, respectively.  Sadly, the cemetery is not well maintained which is interesting as you pay $10.25 for sheet showing the burial site - included to save others the cost!  Many descendan...

We're back with more information about the Killion, Quinn and Hand families.  We're also welcoming members of the families of Edward and Thomas Feeney but more on that in the next post..... Henry Joseph (Harry) Porter died 98 years ago today.  He was the victim of "an unprovoked one punch attack" in George Street Sydney a few days short of his 32nd birthday. Harry Porter was the second son and fourth of the five children of Henry and Rose (nee Killion).  He was born on 30 November 1887 in Kempsey.  The family had moved to Sydney in the early 1900s and lived in Glebe.  Harry enlisted for the First World War on 8 September 1914 but these papers are marked as "deserted" on 23 November 1914.  He re-enlisted on 27 July 1915 and joined the 4th Infantry Division of the 20th Battalion.  He is described as 5 feet 5 3/4 inches, 136 lbs, ruddy complexion, blue eyes and light brown hair with tattoos on both forearms.   Harry served...

We have very few details of John and Jane's marriage other than the births of their five children. Edward John (Jack) was born about 1854 and Rosanna (Rose) about 1855.  However, we can't find any birth or baptism registrations for Jack or Rose.  Jack's granddaughter had his birth date recorded as 20 October 1854. Thomas was their third child.  His birth registration shows he was born on 10 April 1857 at "North Shore opposite the Town of Port Macquarie", John shows his occupation as "settler" and there were two "previous issue", John and Rosanna "both living". Mary Jane, their fourth child, was born on 25 October 1859. Margaret, was their fifth child.  Her birth registration shows she was born on 10 February 1862 at "North Shore, Port Macquarie".  Again John is shown as a "settler" and the previous issue are John (9), Rosanna (6), Thomas (5) and Mary Jane (2). Edward John is top ...

It appears that John Killion was living in Port Macquarie and working for John Dillon by 1837.  Eleven years later, in 1848, John obtained his conditional pardon. Just over a year later, Jane Feeney arrived in Port Macquarie.     On Monday 29 September 1851, the 45 year old John married the 18 year old Jane at the home of William and Elizabeth Killion.  William McKee, a minister of the "Scots Church", performed the ceremony and William and Elizabeth were the witnesses.  John and Jane's marriage registration shows that she's a member of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland and he's a Roman Catholic. Martyn Killion's research has uncovered references to John and Jane in the diary of Robert Heath Hall which is held at the Port Macquarie Historical Society.   Hall was transported to Van Diemen's Land in 1827 and transferred to Parramatta in 1838 with a ticket of leave.  He was subsequently twice imprisoned at Port Macquarie, and finally pardoned i...

In our last post, we left John Killion in 1834 when he was assigned to John Dillon of Sydney after his arrival.  From the attached newspaper article, it seems that between 1834 and 1837, John Dillion relocated from Sydney to Port Macquarie. NOTICE TO CORRESPONDENTS. (1837, November 9).  The Sydney Herald (NSW : 1831 - 1842) , p. 2. Retrieved August 2, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12856337 As there's no record of John Killion's reassignment, we're assuming that he moved with John Dillon to Port Macquarie between 1834 and 1837.  The area was expanding during the 1830s with free settlers permitted to move to the region.  The 1841 New South Wales Census shows John Dillon of Port Macquarie has 3 male bonded males who are "in private assignment".  We're confident that John Killion was one of these men. https://www.records.nsw.gov.au/searchhits_nocopy?id=18&surname=dillon&firstname=john&residence=macquar...

John Killion is the patriarch of the Killion branch of the family - the descendants of Edward John (Jack) Killion, Rose Porter (nee Killion), Thomas Killion, Mary Jane Newton (nee Killion) and Margaret Gersbach (nee Killion). Few details remain about John's life. We're looking for more information to enrich John's story including his birth family and early life in Ireland. What follows is based on the research of Martyn Killion, our family historian.   John was born about 1806 in Athlone, County Westmeath, Ireland. Athlone is in central Ireland on the River Shannon about 120 kms west of Dublin.  Athlone between Dublin and Galway Althone Castle and River Shannon The only things familiar to John when he left Althone in 1883 On 01 March 1833 in the Assize (County Court) at Mullingar, Westmeath, John was found guilty of "assault on the habitation of Jas. (James) Scanlon" and convicted to transportation for life. Mullingar Courthou...

On 11 August 1907, our many times great grandmother, Jane Moran (nee Feeny) died in West Kempsey. Jane was survived by Charles Moran, her third husband, and eight of her ten children - Edward John (56), Rosanna (54), Mary Jane (52), Thomas (50), Margaret (48), William (43), Annie (31) and Matilda (30). Her twins, James and Richard, had died in as infants in 1873.  The following day, 12 August 1907, Jane was buried at the Church of England Cemetery, West Kempsey. Jane's headstone in West Kempsey Cemetery  Local and General News. (1907, August 15). The Macleay Chronicle (Kempsey, NSW : 1899 - 1952), p. 4. Retrieved August 10, 2017, from  http://nla.gov.au/ nla.news-article18150976 Family Notices (1908, August 11). The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 6. Retrieved August 10, 2017, from  http://nla.gov.au/ nla.news-article15017038

In our last post, we followed Jane from the South Dublin workhouse to Port Macquarie staying at Hyde Park Barracks in Sydney after she disembarked from the Digby in 1849. If you're ever in Macquarie Street with a few hours to spare, a visit to Hyde Park Barracks is highly recommended. You'll find Jane's name inscribed on the Australian Monument to the Great Irish Famine. In the Museum, there's a wonderful display on the Irish girls includ ing the story of a girl who also arrived aboard the Digby. You can read more information about the Irish orphan girls  here. The 18th Annual Commemoration at the Great Irish Famine Monument will take place on Sunday 27 August 2017 at 12pm. At a small cost, you can attend the event and visit the Museum. You can get the  information  here.

We're still assembling our stories of Jane, John, Thomas and Charles, so stay tuned!   However, we couldn't let today pass without remembering John Killion - husband of Jane and father of Jack, Rose, Thomas, Mary Jane and Margaret. On 21 July 1864 - 153 years ago, John died at his home on the North Shore, Port Macquarie.  John was 59.  He'd been married to Jane for just 13 years.  She was 33 when John died and their five children ranged in age from 11 to 2!   The cause of John's death was asthma which he'd suffered for 3 years.   By now, we're all aware that John's five children died from bronchial related illness.  It's tempting to ask how many of John's descendants are asthmatic......but let's just say it's "the Killion curse"! Today seems a good chance to find out how many cousins have a "Killion Family Tree" prepared by Martyn, our family historian, in the mid 1980s.  I have an original and three c...

Jane Feeney is the matriarch of our family - the  hundreds of  descendants of Edward John (Jack) Killion, Rose Porter (nee Killion), Thomas Killion, Mary Jane Newton (nee Killion),  Margaret Gersbach (nee Killion), Annie Quinn (nee Seward) and Matilda Hand (nee Seward). Very few details remain about Jane's life.  We've relied on the records that exist which allow us to follow her voyage from Ireland to our young colony. Times were hard in Ireland between 1845 and 1852.  We know it as the time of the Irish Potato Famine.  Although, the Irish refer to it as the Great Famine or Great Hunger.  While pototo crops were ravaged throughout Europe, the impact was most severe in Ireland where there was mass starvation, disease and immigration.  During this period, about one million people died and the same number emigrated from Ireland to England, Scotland, South Wales, North America and Australia. ...