Thomas Killion - 1857 to 1917
Thomas is the middle child and younger son of John and Jane Killion. He was born on 10 April 1857 on the "North Shore opposite the Town of Port Macquarie" - the site of the Killion farm. On Thomas's birth registration, John shows his occupation as "Settler" and age "about 50". While, Jane is aged 25.
Little is know about Thomas's young life in Port Macquarie and Kempsey. In October 1876, when Thomas was 19, he was injured in a horse riding accident at Long Flat, about 50 kms west of Port Macquarie.
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| MACLEAY RIVER. (1876, October 28). The Maitland Mercury and Hunter River General Advertiser (NSW : 1843 - 1893), p. 11. Retrieved May 23, 2017, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18812063 |
By 1880, Thomas had moved from Port Macquarie to the Kempsey area. The 08 December 1880 NSW
Police Gazette reports that Tom Henry Oakes alleged that Thomas had stolen a horse. The following week, we read that "Suspicion no longer attached to Thomas Killion" as the horse "has been found straying". Thomas is described as "5 feet 10 inches high, age not stated, slender build, fair hair and complexion; a labourer". Thomas was 23.
On 09 June 1886, Thomas married Mary Jane Wood at "the residence of the bride", Summer Island on the Macleay River, NSW according to the "rites of the Wesleyan Methodist Church". Mary was the daughter of Henry Wood and Mary Ann Steele. She was born on 09 October 1856 in Sydney, NSW.
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| Summer Island is highlighted in red |
Thomas and Mary Jane had nine children - George, Annie, Henry William Thomas (Tony), Maude, Ida, Hastings (Austie), Amy, Albert and Raymond. All the children were born around the Kempsey area. Only the youngest child, Raymond, died as an infant. At this time, we can't find any trace of Tony after 1935 when he was living at 16 John Street, Woollahra, NSW.
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| Family of Thomas and Mary Jane Killion |
The 1913 Electoral Rolls show Thomas and Mary Jane living at Urunga, NSW which is at the mouth of the Bellinger River.
It's not clear when Thomas and Mary Jane moved to Sydney but, by 1917, they were living at 38 Hopewell Street, Paddingtion, NSW. Thomas died on 19 December 1917 at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW. Aged 60 years, Thomas was the first of the five children of John and Jane Killion to die. The cause of death is recorded as "broncho pneumonia". In less than 2 years, four of the five children had died from bronchial related illnesses, leaving only the oldest son, Jack, who died in 1923.
On 20 December 1917, Thomas was buried at the Catholic Cemetery, Waverley, NSW.
By 1930, Mary Jane was living at 3 Hopewell Street, East Sydney with Ida and Albert, two of her children. In 1934, Mary Jane and Albert were living at 18 1/2 Glenmore Road, East Sydney.
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| Mary Jane Killion (nee Wood) and, clockwise top right- Annie, Ida, Amy, Maude, Hastings (Austie) and George |
On 15 October 1940, Mary Jane died aged 84 and, the following day, her funeral left her residence at 5 Renny Street, Paddington for the Catholic Cemetery, Waverley. Annie Lyons (nee Killion) died on 07 December 1975 and is buried with her parents. Her husband, Absalom Lyons died 52 years before Annie and is buried at Frederickton Cemetery, Kempsey Shire.
