Death Certificate of David Healy, father-in-law of Anthony Corvan

Newly arrived- Death Certificate of James Healy, husband of Mary Louisa Corvan.

 

 

Anthony Edward Corvan's Death Certificate.

Auckland Hospital Records.

Anthony Corvan's first appearance in the Auckland Provincial Hospital records was in February of 1872.He was admitted on February 22 and released on February 29, and the cause of his being admitted was 'contusion'.
When you consider that he had already faced the local Court on January 26 and February 16 of 1872 for drunkenness, it doesn't take much imagination to figure out just how Anthony acquired his 'contusion'...falling down drunk would certainly be top of the list of possible reasons. The following month he was sentenced to six months hard labour in Mount Eden Gaol for habitual drunkenness.
The records for Auckland Hospital provide fabulous additional information...for example, at the time of Anthony's first admission, he was 53 years old and his occupation was "cook". His place of abode was Auckland and, surprisingly since he was a Catholic, his religion was given as Church of England.

Two and a half years passed before Anthony was admitted as a patient to Auckland Provincial hospital again. Like the first time, he was admitted under the name 'Anthony Cowan'. He was still living in Auckland with "cook" as his employment, and was 55 years old.He was admitted for rheumatism by Dr. Kenderdine on August 25, 1874, and released on September 2. Anthony was 55 years old, and again stated that his religion was Church of England.
Anthony had spent twelve months prior to that August in Mount Eden Gaol, having been sentenced to 12 months imprisonment with hard labour on July 19, 1873. He had been found guilty of being a common vagrant with no visible means of support, and since he had 35 previous convictions recorded against him to that point in time, he received a gaol sentence.

Almost two years later Anthony was again in hospital, this time with colic. He was admitted on May 6, 1876, and released on May 12.His age was incorrectly given as 60 years and his employment as 'labourer'. This time his religion had changed again to 'Wesleyan'. Again, Anthony was admitted to hospital after a long stint in gaol. On April 14, 1875 he had been sentenced to another 12 month's imprisonment for having no visible means of support and being "a convicted idle and disorderly person'.
Several days after being released from hospital Anthony was again sent to Mount Eden for nine days for drunkenness.Just over two weeks later he was back behind the stone walls of Mount Eden Gaol for six month's incarceration for vagrancy. The Court stated " Four previous convictions were recorded against him,and this was his 45th appearance before the Court.Sentenced to six month's imprisonment."
The year 1878 saw Anthony being admitted to Auckland Provincial Hospital in November for "general debility". He was admitted on November 1 and released on November 11. His age was given as 60 years, his employment 'labourer' and his religion for the second time was Wesleyan.
Because the online Auckland newspapers cease in 1876, I have no more accounts of his court and gaol appearances. Anthony does, however, appear in the Hospital registers in 1879 and twice in 1892. There is an entire decade- 1879 until 1892- where I have found no mention of Anthony at all.

On May 2, 1879, Anthony was admitted to the Auckland Provincial Hospital for dislocation of his shoulder.His patient details were the same as for his previous visit-living in Auckland, 60 years old, a labourer and Wesleyan.He was discharged as a patient on May 13, 1879.
Almost 13 years pass before we find Anthony in hospital again. On March 10 he was hospitalised in Auckland Hospital for "hysteria".For the first time, his surname was almost written correctly as "Corvin" rather than "Cowan". Records show that he was 73 years old,a native of England,religion Church of England,his occupation was back to being a cook, and he had been in New Zealand for 30 years. His residence was given as "care of Mrs Hamilton, Khyber Pass".He was released on March 18, 1892.
Khyber Pass was in an area just south east of the main part of Auckland, which is now known as the suburb of Newmarket.

The last record of Anthony 'Corvin' confusingly states that he was admitted to the Auckland Hospital on March 10, 1892(the previous entry had him being admitted on March 10 1892 and being discharged on March 18). This time his injury was very serious, especially for a man of his advanced years.Anthony fractured the neck of his femur(thigh bone), a very serious injury to a 73 year old man these days with modern medical advances, let alone an old alcoholic in 1892 whose diet over the years had most likely been atrocious.
Wikipedia states "In the vast majority of cases, a hip fracture is a fragility fracture due to a fall or minor trauma in someone with weakened osteoporotic bone.Femoral neck fracture (sometimes Neck of Femur (NOF),denotes a fracture adjacent to the femoral head in the neck between the head and the greater trochanter. These fractures have a propensity to damage the blood supply to the femoral head, potentially causing avascular necrosis( which is blood loss to an area of bone, causing bone tissue death and collapse of the bone).Hip fractures are very dangerous episodes especially for elderly and frail patients. The risk of dying from the stress of the surgery and the injury in the first few days is about 10%. If the condition is untreated the pain and immobility imposed on the patient increase that risk. Problems such as pressure sores and chest infections are all increased by immobility. The prognosis of untreated hip fractures is very poor."
Anthony Corvan was in hospital for six months with this hip injury.Information given in his admission record is as follows:
Discharged: 23 September, 1892
Native of: England
How long in NZ: 30 years
Age: 73
Occupation: Hawker
Late residence: care of Mrs. Hamilton,Khyber Pass
Religion: Church of England
Disease: Fracture of neck of femur
Days in Hospital: 197

If Anthony was unable to adequately care for himself before the accident that broke his hip, I shudder to think how he survived for the next few years.
Luckily for him, he was admitted into the Costley Home.On 24th April,1890, the Costley Home for the Aged Poor in Auckland had been opened by the Governor, the Earl of Onslow. There were six wards with accommodation for 178 males and 58 females. The 148 people were admitted when the Home was opened. It was described thus: " The Home is beautifully situated on thirteen acres of volcanic soil, and is surrounded by undulating and charming scenery."
The Costley Home Committee Minutes Book has three mentions of Anthony..twice referred to as 'Corrin' and once as 'Corvin'.

September 25, 1894: Inmates under review. Committee began examination of all cases of men in the home and dealt with the following as noted:
Anthony Corrin (seen) Remain in home Chronic

23 October 1894:Committee met at the home at 2.30 p.m. Inmates under review:
A Corrin Remain Chronic

23 January 1895: Committee met at the home at 3.00 p.m. Patients under review:
A Corvin to have three days leave to look for work

There were no more entries for Anthony in the records of the Costley Home, so at the moment his activities in the thirteen months between leaving the Home and his death are unknown.
I am awaiting with great anticipation Anthony Corvan's death certificate. Potentially it offers so much promise, but realistically a death certificate is totally dependent on the informant who gave the information and how well he knew the deceased.I have a fear that many of the columns will be filled in with the word that genealogists dread..."Unknown"

Drum Roll Please...Anthony's death has been found!!!

The brick wall has come tumbling down around our ears, all thanks to a marvellous New Zealand researcher by the name of Jeni Palmer who has located when and where our Anthony Edward Corvan died. It is so wonderful to be able to complete his story with a definite ending, but there are still so many gaps to fill in his tale that I'm sure this particular ancestor will keep us busy for years!
Getting down to business...Anthony Edward Corvan died in Auckland on February 15, 1896, at the age of 77 years. Because my last sighting of him was in an 1879 newspaper, stating that he wasn't in a particularly healthy mental state, I am amazed that he lived for another 17 years beyond that point.
The reason for me not being able to find Anthony myself in the New Zealand death index became clear when Jeni explained the following:
"I found his death registered in 1896 aged 77 years. It is written as CORVIN on the microfiche but as CORRIN in the online registers."
'Corrin' is one of the many Corvan variations that I usually search under-in this instance I must have neglected to use it. Unfortunately, the NZ index search requires you to use a surname, so I couldn't search for any Anthonys who had died post 1879. Using this method has allowed me to pick up Anthony Corvan in other index searches as it is not a particularly common name.
Jeni Palmer also checked records from the Auckland Hospital, and more treasures were to found here. It seems as though Anthony was admitted to the Auckland hospital at least seven times between 1872 and 1892, for conditions ranging from rheumatism to a fractured neck of his femur.
In 1894 Anthony appears in the records of the Costley Home, which was a home for the aged poor in Auckland.He was still there in January of 1895, and then died the following year. I have applied for his death certificate, which should arrive next week, hopefully containing more precious information.

No luck with the Orphanage research.

No luck with finding the Corvan girls in a Victorian orphanage in the period 1860-1862, I'm afraid. I have enquired about the existence and whereabouts of records from 1856-1860, and will hire a researcher if need be to prove once and for all whether Rosa, Ellen and Mary did indeed spend time in an orphanage. Every cell in my body believes it to be so...I've just got to find the proof!

Corish deaths in the London Gazette-Rosa and Richard.

Marriage Certificate of Rosa Corvan.

8. Rosa Corvan, the final child of Patrick and Ann Corvan.

Rosa Corvan was the sister of my great-great grandfather, Anthony Corvan. She was born in London in c. 1825, the daughter of coal merchant Patrick Corvan.
Rosa was married at the age of 23 years to an Irish printer, Edward Corish, who was a year older than her. They were wed in the St. Aloysius Chapel, in the district of St. Pancras, London, on Wednesday, August 2, 1848, witnessed by Rosa’s brother, John Corvan of 1 Stanhope Terrace, and Garrett French, of 60 Worship Street, London.
The 1851 P.O. directory has the following entry:

“ 60 Worship Street: ‘Baker & Basket’, Garrett French”
I presume the ‘Baker & Basket’ is the name of a public house or inn.

In 1865 another directory showed “The Baker & Basket Public House at 60 Worship Street, E.C. (prop. G. French)”.

At the time of her marriage, Rosa had been living at 1 Stanhope Terrace, St. Pancras, which was the same address given by her brother. Her husband was residing at 13 St. Johns Square, Clerkenwell, and it was noted that his father Peter Corish was a mercantile clerk.

From the ‘London Times’ newspaper:
MARRIAGES: On the 3rd inst., at the Catholic Chapel, Clarendon Square, Somerstown, by the Reverend A.E.McClean, Mr. Edward Corish, of Dublin, to Rose, the youngest daughter of the late Mr. P. Corvan of Bloomsbury.”

Not much has been found as yet about Rosa and Edward Corish. For years I couldn't locate them in the 1851 census, then tonight looked up Edward Corish in the 1852 London Post Office Directory....
"Edward Corish, Lord Wellington P.H, 5 & 6 Baalzephon Street,Bermondsey."

From here I did a Google search on "Baalzephon Street", and found a reference to a Thomas Horder who lived at 30 Baalzephon Street in the 1851 census. Using Ancestry.com.au, I found Thomas Horder in the 1851 census, then just wandered down his street until I found Edward and R. Corish,with "Corish" looking for all the world like 'Parish' written underneath the original name which has been incorrectly written and then scribbled out.No wonder I couldn't find them!
(The 'Duke of Wellington' was a Public House)

In the 1861 census, Rosa and Edward are living at No 2 Grosvenor Park North, Lambeth. Their details were as follows:

Edward Corish/ head/ 36/ licensed victualler/ b Ireland
Rosa Corvan/ wife/ 30/ b London.


The 1871 Census has them living at 102 Lancaster Rd, Kensington . Edward Corish, 48, is noted as being the Irish-born head of the household. His occupation is "house property ???". His wife, 41 year old Rosa Corish, was stated as having been born at Bloomsbury, Middlesex. Also living with them was a 19 year old London-born servant girl, Margaret Dillon.


They appear in the 1881 census as the only people living at 131 Ladbroke Grove Road, London. Edward was noted as being a retired licensed victualler, aged 56, who was born in Ireland.
Rosa was born in Bloomsbury, London, and was aged 52 according to the enumerator, although I think she snuck a couple of years off her age!
Rosa Corvan Corish survived her husband by three years. Edward Corish died in the December ¼ of 1881, and the index gives his birth year as c. 1824. His death was registered in the Kensington district.
Rosa Corish died in the September ¼ of 1884, and her death was registered in the Pancras district. Her age at death was given as 54 years, suggesting a birth year of 1830.
There is no suggestion that Rosa bore Edward any children.

There was another Corish family who I am sure was related to Edward Corish. Richard Corish was born in Wexford, Ireland, in c.1826-29. He was also a licensed victualler, like Edward, and he and his wife Catherine(or 'Kate') had three children named Edward William(born Surrey in 1862); Catherine Mary(Kate) born in Surrey in 1865 and Rosa Mary born Surrey 1867.
In the 1871 census, the family was at 7 St. Andrews Hill, St Ann Blackfriars, London. Richard was a 42 year old licensed victualler, his wife Kate was 33, and his children aged 8,5 and 4 respectively.
Catherine Corish died in Chelsea in 1879. In the 1881 census, her widower husband Richard was the licensed victualler at the 'Man In The Moon' Public House at 392 Kings Road,Chelsea. His 18 year old son Edward was living with him and working as his assistant.His daughters, Kate and Rosa Corish, were away being schooled at Notre Dame Covent at Broadwater in Sussex, aged 15 and 14.
Richard Corish died in 1886. His daughter Rosa Mary Corish married John Bellord in 1887 and died in Hampstead in 1901 at the age of 35 years.
Perhaps Edward and Richard Corish were brothers- about the same age within a few years, both Irish, both licensed victuallers, and Richard's children were named Edward and Rosa...too coincidental, I think. Added to those facts is another connection that I just found moments ago when browsing through the London Gazette...

" Notice is hereby given that the partnership subsisting between us, the undersigned, carrying on business under the firm of Corish and Bellord, as Licensed Victuallers, at the Lord Wellington Public House, Baalzephon Street, County of Surrey, is this day dissolved by mutual consent. Dated 11 August, 1854.
Edward Corish
James Bellord."

When Richard Corish died, one of his executors was Edmund Joseph Bellord, and his Solicitors were Lickorish and Bellord of London.

Marriage Certificate of Mary Louisa Corvan

The Children of Patrick and Ann Corvan in London Continued.

7. MARY LOUISA CORVAN
Mary Louisa Corvan was born in c. 1823, the daughter of Patrick and Ann Corvan. She was the first of three Corvan siblings to be married in consecutive months of 1844…she was wed in May, her brother Anthony in June and brother John in July.
The purchase of Mary’s marriage certificate back in 2003 provided a very unexpected piece of information…her husband was James Healy, the undertaker brother of my great-great-great grandmother, Mary Healy.
Mary Louisa Corvan was about 21 years old when on May 21, 1844, she married James Healy. James’ address was given as 154 High Holborn, and his occupation as ‘undertaker’, indicating that he took over his father’s business after the latter’s death some month’s before. David healy had died at this address in 1844.
Mary had been living at 16 Adam’s Row, where her brother Anthony was residing and continued to live for some years after.The marriage took place at Saint Aloysius Chapel, St. Pancras, London, where Mary’s brother John Corvan was wed two months later. Witnesses to the ceremony were John Corvan, of 15 Buckeridge Street,Bloomsbury, and Thomas Parker, of 57 Museum Street, Bloomsbury.
The 1851 census picked up Mary Louisa and her husband James living at 154 Holborn, London. Their household was as follows:
Head: James Healy, married man, 33 years of age. Occupation undertaker. Born St. Giles, Middlesex.
Mary L. Healy, wife. 28 years of age. Born St. Giles, Middlesex.
Catherine McDornat ( Spelling?) Servant. Unmarried, 40 years of age. Born in Ireland.

Their neighbours on either side were a 50 year old painter named John Shepherd and his wife, Sophia,aged 40, and a last maker named James Bread,31, with his wife Maria.

No children have yet been found born to James and Mary Healy, mainly because Healy is such a common name. There is no sign of them in the 1861, 1871 or 1881 census, or those in 1891 and 1901. I haven't as yet devoted a great deal of time searching for Mary and her family, being preoccupied with her brother Anthony, but plan to revisit her story once this blog is complete.

POST SCRIPT: Today (September 4, 2009) there arrived in the mail a death certificate from the U.K for a James Healy that I had gambled on being ours.To my great delight it did belong to our James, which then of course saddened me because the poor fellow had died in 1852 aged only 33 years. The full details given on his certificate are as follows:
On March 9, 1852, at 154 High Holborn, James Healy, 33 years, an undertaker, of bronchitis, certified. The informant was his wife, Mary Healy, present at the death, 154 High Holborn, Bloomsbury, and she registered the event on March 16, 1852.
Knowing that Mary Louisa Corvan Healy was a widow, I searched for marriages in the period to 1861( since I can't find her as 'Mary Healy in the 61 census) There are several marriages for Mary Healy/Healey, but I can't pinpoint any one specifically.
There is a death for a Mary Healy of Holborn in 1854 that I may take a risk on and purchase- I really would love to know what happened to her.

The end- thus far- of Anthony Edward Corvan's story.

That finishes the family of Anthony Edward Corvan and Mary Torsa Healy down to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren...for the moment, anyway. I am waiting the results of two lots of research- one in Melbourne amongst the orphanage records of 1860 to 1863 for Rosa and her sisters, and the other in New Zealand involved in hunting down once and for all the final ending of Anthony Edward Corvan. Until then, it's back to London, where I will take up again with the remainder of Anthony's siblings...next in line is, I think, his sister Mary Louisa Corvan.

From the Brown Album...

Top: Marg Oakley with her cousin Beryl Burke(daughters of Ivy and Lillian Brown)

2nd top: Cousins Beryl Burke and Marg Oakley with a friend.

Middle: My mother Marg Oakley and her best friend Delma Clancy being bridesmaids for somebody's wedding.

2nd bottom: My mother Marg Oakley and her little sister Helen Lorraine.

Bottom: Ivy Ellen Brown Oakley and her husband Norm at the wedding reception of their younger daughter, Helen Lorraine Oakley in 1970, Yarrawonga.

From the Brown Family Album...

Top:A gathering of Brown cousins, c. 1947. Back: Kevin Burke (son of Lil Brown); Johnny Brown (son of Ed Brown); Patricia Nicholls (daughter of Margaret Brown).
Middle: Beryl Bourke (daughter of Lil Brown); Allan Brown (son of Jack Brown)Front: Margaret Oakley (daughter of Ivy Brown); Junee Brown (daughter of Ed Brown).

2nd Top: Allan Brown, long lost cousin and son of Jack Brown and Ann Norton.

2nd Bottom: Unknown cousin; Lil Brown Burke, her daughter Beryl and sister Ivy Brown Oakley. In front is Marg Oakley, Ivy’s elder daughter.

Bottom: Norm Oakley holding daughter Margaret with his hand on the shoulder of niece Pat Nicholls; Ivy Brown Oakley; her niece Beryl Burke and Beryl’s brother Kevin Burke. Taken c. 1942

More Brown Photos...

Top: Kevin Bourke, son of Lil Brown, with his son Gary.

2nd Top: Junee Brown with her father Edward Brown and her uncle Jack Brown.

2nd Bottom: My Nan Oakley- Ivy Ellen Brown.

Bottom: My maternal grandparents- Norman Meabry Oakley and Ivy Ellen Brown..."Bing and Ive"

Random Brown family photos

Top: George Nicholls, husband of Margaret 'Marj' Brown.

2nd Top: Sisters-in-law Marj Nicholls and Barbara Mann Brown with their niece, my mother Marg Oakley. taken 1942.

2nd Bottom: First cousins- Patricia Nicholls, Johnny Brown and Beryl Bourke.

Bottom: Ann Norton Brown, wife of Jack Brown Junior.

Les Brown WW2 Photos.

Above: Les and his parents- Charlotte Willett Brown and Jack Brown.

Betty Peacock Brown, wife of Les Brown.

8. The final child of Jack Brown and Charlotte Willett-Leslie David.

Above: My great-Uncle Les Brown.

Leslie David Brown was born on November 2, 1921-22, at Yarrawonga, the final
child born to Jack Brown and Charlotte Willett.
Known as ‘Les’, he did all of his schooling in Yarrawonga. He was only sixteen when WW2 started in September of 1939, and was desperate to join the Army and fight overseas. He tried to lie about his age and join before the age of eighteen, but
wasn’t accepted for enlistment until June 6, 1940.When WW2 erupted, the minimum age for enlistment was 20, not dropping to 18 until mid-1942.
By viewing Les Brown’s enlistment papers(online at the National Archives of Australia site),we can see that he had to move his year of birth back to 1918 so he would be accepted. Leslie David Brown enlisted at Caulfield on June 6, 1940. At the time he had been living with his sister Lil Burke at Hovell Street, Yarrawonga.
Les served for a total of 2,025 days, from his enlistment on 6/6/1940 until his
discharge on 21/12/1945. His service in Australia totalled 61 days, while his active service overseas was 1,659 days.
Les’s war record revealed some very interesting information about his life as a
soldier. He was described as being 5 ft 11 inches tall, hazel eyes on one page, blue
on another, fair hair, and his only distinctive mark was a scar on his back, midline,
which was noted as being an axe wound! I’d love to know the story behind that wound, it being nigh well impossible to axe yourself in the middle of the back!
After Les was formally enlisted, he travelled to Puckapunyal for training camp. He got himself into strife on two occasions, both for being absent without leave(AWOL), and forfeited one day’s pay on the first occasion (July 7 1940 2358 hours to 2140 hours 8/7/1940) and two day’s pay on the second ( December 27 2359 hours to December 29 1940, 0640 hours).
Les Brown sailed out from Sydney for Indonesia with his unit on April 7,
1941.He had four days in hospital with otitis media (ear infection), then rejoined
the 2/2 PNR Btn on May 25, 1941.
On June 20, Les was unofficially reported as a Prisoner of War (P.O.W), but he
was released by his captors the following month and rejoined his unit on July 26,
1941.
Les seems to have had eight trouble-free months, until in March of 1942 his unit
embarked on the ‘S.S Orcades’, headed for Batavia.
On April 28, 1942, Les was reported missing in action again in Java, and this time
his luck had run out. He remained a POW until October 1945-three and a half
horrific years.
Service Number :VX23478
Rank : Private
Unit : 2/2 Pioneer Battalion
Casualty : Prisoner of War
Location of camp: Moulmein, Burma
Source: Prisoner of War capture cards or letter
Theatre of war: Java
Those Australians unfortunate enough to be incarcerated at Moulmein were put to work on the Burma Railway, also known also as the Death Railway, the Thailand-Burma Railway and similar names, a 415 km (258 mi) railway between Bangkok, Thailand and
Rangoon, Burma (now Myanmar), built by the Empire of Japan during World War II, to
support its forces in the Burma campaign.
At the time of Leslie’s reported missing in action status, his sister Ivy Oakley was pregnant with her first child. The baby was born on May 4, 1942, and with Les still missing, presumed dead, Ivy paid tribute to her much-loved brother by naming the child after him. The trouble with this loving gesture was the sex of the baby...it was a girl, so my mother was registered ‘Lesley Margaret Oakley’, but known throughout her entire life as ‘Marg’.
Les was lucky in that he survived the atrocious conditions in the Japanese Prisoner of War camps, although when he came back to Australia after the end of the War he was like so many of the other P.O.Ws- a frail and ill ‘walking skeleton’. When he recovered enough to work, he joined his sleeper cutter brothers at Warburton, where he drove logging trucks as he slowly regained his strength.
While living at Warburton, Les Brown married Betty Peacock. He was an excellent
footballer and both played for the local team and captained them.
Les and Betty’s first child was a daughter, Wendy Margaret Brown. She was born in
August or September 1951, at Yarra Junction. Tragically, her parents only had eleven short months with their baby daughter. On August 30, 1951, in her Main Street, Warburton home, Wendy Brown passed away from complications arising from meningitis and influenza.
Her death certificate states her parents were Leslie David Brown, a motor driver, and Betty Madeline Brown formerly Peacock.
Wendy Margaret Brown was buried in the Warburton Cemetery on September 1, 1951.
Les and Betty went on to have a family of six children- Wendy; Allan; Annette; Linda;
Norman and Noel.
After his logging job had finished, Les and his family moved to Albury NSW, where he
became an interstate truck driver for the company H.R Hanel. He worked there for many
years, then moved to Sydney to manage a truck depot for Hanels.
Leslie David Brown died on September 29, 1981, aged 60 years (or 59- the lying about his age during WW2 has resulted in me not knowing the exact year of his birth!)

7.Robert Corvan Brown

Above: The four Brown brothers- left to right Bob, Jack, Ned and Les (and an unknown shadow of someone taking the photo!)


Robert Corvan Brown was born in Yarrawonga, Victoria, on August 4, 1919, at Yarrawonga. He was the seventh child born to Jack Brown and 34 year old Charlotte Willett. His unusual middle name, ‘Corvan’, came from the maiden name of his paternal grandmother- Jack Brown’s mother was a tiny English woman named Rosa Constance Corvan.
Known as ‘Bob’, he was raised and educated in Yarrawonga, and worked for most of his adult life as a sleeper cutter with two of his brothers, Jack and Ned, in East Gippsland.
In 1938,at the age of 19, Bob married Barbara Mann, and the couple lived at Nowa Nowa, living in a dirt-floored shanty on the banks of the Little Boggy Creek.
My mother loved her ‘Aunty Barb’, and always spoke of her with great affection.
She kept in contact with her even after Barb and Bob separated and later divorced.
Bob was shockingly burnt in an accident whilst sleeper cutting at Nowa Nowa. He walked past an open fire with a chainsaw that was leaking petrol. The petrol ignited and the chainsaw exploded, igniting Bob’s clothing in the process. Despite suffering the most horrific burns, Bob managed to walk out of the forest where he had been working alone and drove an old Anglier car to a local pub for help, staggering into the bar wearing only his blackened boots and hat.
Bob was kept in the intensive care unit at Bairnesdale Hospital for a long period,
and for the rest of his life he carried dreadful scars on his back and neck.
Bob and Barb Brown did not have any children, and after they separated Bob became a bit of a nomad, moving around and pitching a tent in places as varying as the banks of the Murray River near Yarrawonga, and the back yard of the Oakley home in Yarrawonga (the latter being dubbed the “Stagger Inn”) After his wife Belle died, Bob’s brother Ned also would join him in his tent settlements. I remember as a child visiting them in a fabulous set up on the banks of the Murray downstream from Mulwala- they were master bushmen, and their tents were very large and extremely comfortable.
Bob Brown raised a family with his new partner, Doreen Bryan from Mulwala, and they had four children, one son and three daughters.
1) Maxwell Brown: married Vicki Sheridan. Two daughters, Cheree and Jodi-
Lee.
2) Raelene Brown: married Neil Davis. Lives with her family in Yarrawonga.
3) Terri Brown:
4) Deborah Brown:

Amongst other things, Bob Brown worked as a carpenter whilst living at Mulwala.
He died at Beechworth and was buried at Yarrawonga.
My father reported that Bob was a champion cyclist as a young man. He raced at the Essendon Board Track in Melbourne, and apparently defeated legendary Billy
Guyatt on occasion.

Photos of my grandmother, Ivy Ellen Brown Oakley

Top: Nan as I remember her, Saturday lunchtime down at Burkey's Hotel, Yarrawonga.
.

Middle: Ivy Brown Oakley with her elder daughter Margaret, 1942.

Bottom: Ivy Ellen Brown with her new husband Norman Meabry Oakley and her in-laws Harry meabry Oakley and Olive Jessie Bishop Oakley

Marriage certificate of Ivy Ellen Brown

6. My grandmother, Ivy Ellen Brown.

Above: My great-grandmother Charlotte Willett Brown with her daughters Lil, Marj and Ivy, my grandmother.

My grandmother, Ivy Ellen Brown (above) was born on Friday, April 27, 1917, at
Yarrawonga, Victoria. She was the sixth child and fourth daughter born to 44 year old John George Brown, labourer, and his 33 year old wife Charlotte Willett. Her siblings at the time of her birth were John 10; Edward 9; Lillian 6; Eileen dead and Margaret 2. Her birth certificate notes that her birth was attended by Dr. S.C. Jamieson and Mrs Smart.

Ivy attended Yarrawonga Primary School and Yarrawonga Elementary High, and when she
married in 1927 at the age of 19, her occupation was given as ‘home duties’, insinuating that she was still living at home. Ivy married 26 year old Norman Meabry Oakley at St. Cuthbert’s Church of England, Yarrawonga, on Saturday, April 24, 1937, just three days before the bride’s twentieth birthday. They were married by Anglican priest William Joseph Chesterfield, and Ivy’s brother Edward Semer Brown and Norman’s brother Harry Gordon Oakley signed the marriage certificate as witnesses.
Unlike her two sisters Lil and Marj, Ivy did not have her first child in the year following her marriage. In fact it was a long five years before first daughter Margaret would appear- she was born on Monday, May 4, 1942, at Lynch Street, Yarrawonga. Second daughter Helen Lorraine arrived seven years later.

It would not have been easy for Ivy to marry into the Oakley family-the two were
miles apart in every way. Ivy’s heritage was derived from hard working miners
and sleeper cutters, whose financial situations in every generation had necessitated
them sacrificing education for work just to survive.
The Oakleys were very well educated and had come from moneyed backgrounds, even though they may have struggled financially between the wars like so many others. Harry Oakley, Ivy’s father-in-law, had been born in Shropshire, England, and had emigrated with his music teacher sister Jean in 1887. His Oakley grandfather back in England had been very wealthy, and had been a part owner of the famous grocery store Fortnum & Masons until his death in 1861, after which his eldest son John Oakley remained a partner until well into the 1890s.
Harry’s wife, Olive Jessie Bishop, was born in Ballarat to English emigrant parents- her mother Bertha Hughan had been born in London and emigrated in 1850, and her father Henry was from Stamford in Lincolnshire, arriving in Victoria in the early 1860s.Both Henry and Bertha had received excellent educations, and had ensured their six children, including eldest daughter Olive Jessie, were also very well schooled. In turn, Olive placed great importance in making sure that her two sons, Harry (known as ‘Gordon’) and Norman, were also well educated. Norman had won a scholarship to Albury High School, where he achieved excellent results. When he left he followed in the footsteps of his elder brother and took up carpentry and building, over the years establishing a very successful business known as “H.G & N.M Oakley”. Many businesses and homes around Yarrawonga and Mulwala were built by the Oakley brothers during the period 1960s-1980s.

 Ivy died suddenly on March 3, 1982, at Yarrawonga Hospital.
A memorial service was held for her at St. Cuthbert’s Church Yarrawonga, followed by a family cremation at Albury. Her ashes were placed in a memorial wall at the Albury Crematorium, but are now being held in my father’s home at Albury, along with those of her husband Norman and her daughter Marg.

5. Margaret Brown

Above:Top: Margaret Brown with her namesake, my mother Margaret Oakley, daughter of Margaret's sister Ivy Brown. Taken c. 1942
Middle: Margaret Brown
Bottom: Sisters Marj and Ivy Brown, Beechworth.

Margaret Brown was born in Yarrawonga in October 1914, the fifth child and third daughter born to Jack Brown and Charlotte Willett.
Known to her family and friends as “Marj”, she was educated at Yarrawonga Primary School. On October 24, 1931, at St. Cuthbert’s Church of England, Yarrawonga, Margaret Brown married Yarrawonga mill hand George Edward Nicholls. George was born on November 24, 1904, at Yackandandah.
Their first child, Patricia Marion was born the following year at Yarrawonga.
Another child- a son- was born, but died in infancy. George William Nicholls was born in September 1933 at Yarrawonga. He died four months later on New Years Day, 1934, in the district hospital, Piper Street,Yarrawonga.
Baby George’s cause of death was given as ‘Acute colitis, 3 days, and cerebral toxaemia 5 hours’ by his doctor, Dr. Fairley. He was buried in the Church of England Section of the Yarrawonga Cemetery on January 2, 1934.
The informant on the death certificate was his father, George Nicholls, of Telford Street, Yarrawonga.
Patricia Nicholls, known as ‘Pat’,lost both of her parents while still a young girl. Her father enlisted in the Army in WW2 (service number VX78159,enlisted Caulfield, Victoria) and died as the result of an accident whilst in a training camp in Melbourne. He was travelling on the back of a truck and fell from it when he slipped, dying from the resulting injuries.
The information given below was taken from the Australian War Memorial website:
“ VX 78159. Private George Edward Nicholls, aged 37. Unit R.R.D, Army. Died 31 March,
1942, Australia. Buried Yarrawonga Cemetery, C of E portion, grave 301.
Usual place of residence: Yarrawonga, Vic.
Occupation: Flour mill hand.
Birthplace & parents: Yackandandah, Victoria. Harry & Alice Marion Nicholls.
Wife: Margaret Nicholls.
Roll of Honour: Yarrawonga, Victoria.
Next of Kin: Margaret Nicholls, c/- N. Oakley, Murphy Street, Yarrawonga.”
Marj was widowed at the age of 27, and her daughter Pat was a month away from her tenth birthday. Just five years later, aged 14 years, Pat lost her mother as well.
They had been living at 21 Pakenham Street, Echuca, when Marj was struck down with a
terrible headache. She sought medical treatment, and it was discovered that her systolic blood pressure was 220, which was severely high. She was in the Echuca District Hospital when a fatal cerebral haemorrhage occurred- Margaret Brown Nicholls had died at the age of only 32 years.
She was buried in the Anglican section of the Echuca Hospital on March 23, 1947, and her daughter Pat went to live with relations- first her mother’s brother Jack and his wife Ann, and then with Marj’s sister Ivy Oakley and her family in Yarrawonga.
After completing her schooling at Yarrawonga, Pat Nicholls worked as a book keeper. She was 24 years old when she married Michael John Ritchie (known as ‘John’) at St. Mary’s Church, Caulfield, on January 19, 1957.

Pat and John Richie had two children- Vicki Margaret Ritchie and Peter John Ritchie.

4.Eileen Olive Brown.

Eileen Olive Brown was born at Yarrawonga, Victoria, in 1912, the fourth child and second daughter born to Jack and Charlotte Brown.
She was most likely named after her father’s sister, Eileen Brown, who had died in 1909 at the young age of sixteen. Poor baby Eileen also wasn’t destined for a long life....on August 2nd, 1914, at Bundalong, she died of pneumonia and heart failure aged only two years.
She had contracted pneumonia in late July, and had been seen by Dr. J.P. Hogan on July 31, but did not respond to treatment and died two days later.
Her father, J.G Brown, labourer of Bundalong, registered his daughter’s death on August 3, the day that she was buried in the Bundalong Cemetery. E. Finnemore was the witness recorded on Eileen’s death certificate.

3. Lillian May Brown.

Above: My Aunty Lil in the background, her partner Bill Eccles, and daughter Beryl O'Brien. Photo taken at the wedding of Lil's niece, Helen Oakley, at Yarrawonga in 1970.

Lillian May Brown was born on November 30, 1909, at Yarrawonga, Victoria,the third child and first daughter born to 36 year old John Brown and 24 year old Charlotte Willett.
Known as ‘Lil’, she received her education at Yarrawonga Primary School and remained in Yarrawonga for most of her adult life. For many years Lil worked as a cook at the Royal Mail Hotel in Belmore Street, Yarrawonga. In 1927, aged only 17, she married 24 year old Victor James Giovanni.
Victor was the Australia-born son of Italian immigrant Ciss (or Cici) Giovanni and his wife Elizabeth Cross. Ciss and Elizabeth were married in Crookwell in 1901. Their daughter Lila was born in Crookwell in 1901, James Victor in Wyalong in 1903 and John E in Temora in 1905. The NSW birth index online records cease in 1906, so further issue is unknown at this point. Ciss’s naturalisation paper’s, however, state that he was the father of three boys and two girls.
James Giovanni was 24 years old when he married Lillian May Brown in the Sacred Heart Catholic Church at Yarrawonga on August 1, 1927. His occupation and that of his father was given as ‘labourer’. James’ usual and present residence was Yarrawonga, as was Lil’s.
Because Lil was only 17, her father’s permission had to be given for the marriage to take place. He would have readily given this, because Lil was already pregnant with her first child.
Father Meyer married the young couple, and witnesses to the marriage were Lila Kernaghan and John George Brown (the latter presumably being Lil’s father and not her eldest brother who went by the same name). Investigation has shown that Lila Kernaghan was Lil’s sister-in-law. Lila Agnes Mary Giovanni married John Kernaghan in 1920, and had with him a family of five sons and two daughters (and yes....this John Kernaghan IS a member of the famous Kernaghan Country music family tree- he was the first cousin of Lee Kernaghan’s grandfather, George Patrick Lawrence Kernaghan, with George’s father being the brother of John’s father).
Both Lil’s husband and father-in-law anglicised their names. The surname they chose was ‘Burke’, with Ciss becoming ‘John Burke’ and his son Victor James Burke (but known around the town of Yarrawonga as ‘Bung Burke’).
“Bung’ worked at the local slaughter yards, Hicks’ Abattoirs, which was located at the River Bends downstream from Yarrawonga, and he and Lil had three children together during their marriage- Jack (John Edward), who died in infancy; Kevin and Beryl.
Lil and her husband separated, and Lil lived for many years with local man Bill Eccles in a defacto relationship. His full name was William John Eccles, and he was the son of James Eccles and Frances Jones. I spent many happy hours as a child with Aunty Lil, and it was a huge treat to be taken to her house for a visit with my mother and grandmother. She was a wonderful lady, quite little in stature like her mother Charlotte, with a ready laugh.
Baby John Edward Burke was born in 1928 at Yarrawonga. He died the following year,
aged only one. His cause of death was “pertussis” (whooping cough); gastroenteritis 3 weeks,convulsions & exhaustion 24 hours”, and he was buried in the Catholic section of the Yarrawonga Cemetery on February 17, 1929.It is interesting to note that the family name here was spelt ‘Bourke’, even by Victor James Bourke the father who signed the death certificate as informant, yet in most other occasions was spelt ‘Burke’.
Lil’s son Kevin married Dawn Moore of Tungamah, and the couple had two children,
Dianne and Gary. Kevin was a butcher at Yarrawonga and later Wagga.
Lil’s daughter, Beryl Burke, married Kevin O’Brien. They lived in Yarrawonga for many years and raised a family of two sons and three daughters- Martin, Megan, Tracey, Adam and Justine. The O’Brien family moved to Perth in the late 1970s, and Lil went with them. Her partner Bill Eccles had died in Yarrawonga in 1972, aged 62, and her ex-husband Victor James Burke died in Yarrawonga in 1978.

2. Edward Semer Brown

Top: Daughter of Edward and Bella Brown, Junee Brown, on her wedding day with husband Rod Waites.
Edward Semer Brown (pictured above with wife Belle and children Johnny &
June) was born in Woodend, Victoria, in 1907, the second of eight children born
to Jack Brown and Charlotte Willett.
He was educated at Yarrawonga Primary School and Elementary High, and as a
young man and adult worked at various jobs, including labouring, painting and
sleeper cutting with his brothers in East Gippsland.
Known always as ‘Ned’, Edward Brown married Isobel Rosalie Willett, who was his first cousin twice removed (she was the daughter of Ned’s great-uncle,Stephen Willett, and Stephen’s second wife Elizabeth Hickford...one of a mere eighteen children born to Stephen by two wives!) They were married in 1932, when Belle was 21 and Ned 25.
Three children were born to Belle and Ned Brown:
1. John Edward “Johnny” Brown born 18 December, 1932, Yarrawonga. Johnny served in the Korean War from April 30 1953 to April 6, 1954 with the 2nd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment,
2. Robert Maxwell Brown b c. 1936-7 in Yarrawonga. Robert died when aged only four years, on March 12, 1941, at Mooroopna Hospital. His usual place of residence was 57 Welsford Street, Shepparton, and his parents were named as Edward Semer Brown, painter, and Isobel Rosalie Willett.
Robert’s cause of death was given as “Pulmonary tuberculosis, some days or weeks, and mitral stenosis, some years. The latter is a narrowing or blocking of the opening of the heart’s mitral valve, which separates the upper and lower chambers of the left side of the heart.
Robert Brown was buried in the Church of England section of the Shepparton Cemetery on March 13, 1941.
3. Patricia June “Junee” Brown b c. 1942.Pictured above with husband Rodney Waites. ‘Junee’, as she is known, was only 14 years old when her mother died in 1957. She went to live at Telford Street, Yarrawonga with her aunt and uncle, Ivy and Norman Oakley, for a time.
Junee and Rod Waites were blessed with a beautiful son named Dane in 1974,and their lives have been devoted to him and his conquest to battle Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism. Junee’s book, ‘Smiling at Shadows’ is a wonderful portrayal of parents’ love and devotion to their child, and fascinating for me to read of a side of my family whom I hardly knew. Following is a passage from the book depicting Junee’s life before the death of her mother:
“ A visit to Echuca on the Murray River, where the old paddle steamers are moored, revived happy memories of the time I had spent on a steamer with my parents. They had worked transporting red-gum timber to the saw mills and backloading general supplies to timber cutters and small settlements.
In late Autumn, when the water level was too low for navigation, we’d move to an encampment of tents on a sweeping sandbank. I remembered my mother carrying me over the sand to swing in a rubber tyre hanging from a tree. I remembered soaking rabbit droppings and squishing the mess through my fingers to make mudpies in the absence of mud. My mother had died when I was twelve, and I found myself listening for the sound of her voice in the gentle murmuring of the river.”
Isobel Rosalie Willett Brown died on May 26, 1957, at Lakes Entrance, Victoria. I
don’t know why she was away from her usual family home at Nowa Nowa, in East Gippsland, where her husband and his brothers worked as sleeper cutters, although it may simply have been that the nearest hospital was at Lakes Entrance.
The cause of her death as determined in a post mortem carried out by Dr. B. Stratford was a basal aneurysm. Her children John Edward and Patricia June were aged 25 and 14 years respectively.
Isobel Brown was buried in the Church of England section of the Orbost Cemetery on May 29, 1957. Sadly, it was the second family funeral the Browns would have attended in the matter of four months....brothers Jack and Ned Brown both lost their wives in 1957- the former buried wife Anne in January, and the latter farewelled wife Belle in May.

Children of John George Brown and Charlotte Willett.

1.John George Brown.
John George Brown was born on June 23, 1906, at Wangaratta, the first child born to newlyweds Charlotte Willett, 21, and her husband Jack, 32. He was a young child when the family moved to Bundalong and then Yarrawonga, and attended the Yarrawonga Primary School for his education.
Like his father, John was always known as ‘Jack’, and as an adult for years worked as a sleeper cutter with his brothers in the forests of East Gippsland. At the age of about 28 he married Anne Elizabeth Norton, and they had one child, a son named Allan James Brown, who was born c. 1936.
My mother remembered her Aunty Anne as a wonderful lady, and my grandfather Norman
Oakley thought the world of her. Unfortunately, my branch of the family has sadly lost touch with their son Allan, who was a very successful industrial chemist.
Jack Brown ended his years at Yarrawonga, living at 51 Hume Street with his sister Lil and Lil’s partner Bill Eccles. He died there of cancer of the liver and pancreas, aged 60, on April 28, 1967, and was buried in the Yarrawonga Cemetery the following day.

Birth, marriage and death certificates of John George Brown.

Back to John George Brown, second child of Rosa Corvan and Robert Brown.

Above: The only photograph that I have of my grandfather John George "Jack" Brown. He was the father of my maternal grandmother, Ivy Ellen Brown.

Jack Brown was born was born on 24 October, 1873, at Bagshot, near Bendigo in central Victoria. He was the second child and eldest son born to 37 year old miner Robert Brown and his 22 year old wife Rosa Corvan.
Jack was educated at the small state school at Kamarooka, and was 19 years old when his father Robert died suddenly in 1894. It would have fallen to young Jack to help his mother raise his younger siblings, and to bring in a wage to assist in supporting them all.
John George Brown had been residing in Bendigo, and working as a labourer when
he married Charlotte Willett in the Yarrawonga Methodist Church on March 30, 1906.
Information on the marriage certificate stated that John George Brown,
bachelor, 31 years old ( he was actually about to turn 33 that year), born Bendigo
to Robert Brown, miner, and Rosa Corvan, married Charlotte Willett, spinster, 21
years old, born Peechelba to Seymour Willett, miner, and Ellen Dives.
The minister was George A. Wong, and witnesses were Richard Stephens and
Maggie Wong.
Charlotte was about six months pregnant when she married Jack Brown- their
first child John George was born three months later on June 23, 1906. Charlotte
was in fact keeping up a Willett family tradition....she herself was an illegitimate
child; her grandmother Ellen Dive was about four months pregnant when she
married Semer Willett in 1863, and Semer’s mother Isabella Standen was 4 to 5
months pregnant with daughter Maria when she married James Willett in 1838. At
least their husbands could be certain of the fact that their new wives were fertile
and capable of producing the large families that were the norm back then!
Charlotte and Jack Brown were living at Rowan Street, Wangaratta, when their
son was born. Jack Brown’s occupation was given as ‘labourer’, his age as 32 and his
birthplace as Bendigo. Charlotte was 21 and born Peechelba.

At some stage during the next few years Jack and Charlotte moved to
Bundalong and then Yarrawonga, and most of the rest of their family were born in
either of the two towns:- Edward in c. 1908; Lillian in 1909; Eileen b c. 1912,
Margaret c. 1915; Ivy Ellen in 1917; Robert in c 1920 and Leslie c. 1922.
Jack worked in labouring jobs around the district, and all of the children were
schooled at the Yarrawonga State School. Eileen Olive Brown did not survive
childhood- she contracted pneumonia in late July of 1914 and died four days later
on August 2, 1914, aged only 2 years.
My mother, Lesley Margaret Oakley (daughter of Ivy Brown and known always as
Margaret) died in 2005, and she had very fond memories of her ‘Nanny Brown’(Charlotte
Willett), who lived with Ivy and her family for extended periods. As they grew older, Jack and Charlotte found that they had ‘irreconcilable differences’, and while never divorcing,they separated and lived apart. When my mother was a little girl (she was born in 1942) Jack lived in Murphy Street, Yarrawonga, and since Ivy and her family lived right next door in the early years of their marriage, so did Charlotte! My mother remembers loving both of her grandparents and visiting Jack through the dividing fence. He would spy Charlotte bending over hanging out the washing on the clothesline, and bribe my mother to scoot back and pinch her on the bottom whilst she was bending over.
Electoral Rolls follow the movements of the Brown family up until 1938:
1914: John George Brown, Bundalong, labourer
Charlotte Brown, Bundalong, Home Duties.

1919: As above.

1924: As above

1931: John George Brown, Lynch Street, Yarrawonga, labourer
Charlotte Brown, Lynch Street, Yarrawonga, home duties.
Edward Semer Brown, Lynch Street, Yarrawonga, labourer.
John George Brown Jnr, Lynch Street, Yarrawonga, labourer.

1934: John George Brown, Hovell Street, Yarrawonga, labourer
No sign of Charlotte
John George Brown Jnr, Telford Street, Yarrawonga, labourer.
Isabella Roslie Brown, Telford Street, Home Duties.

1936: John George Brown, Hovell Street, Yarrawonga, Labourer.

Charlotte Brown, Telford Street, Yarrawonga, Home duties.
Edward Semer Brown, Telford Street, Yarrawonga, labourer.
John George Brown Jnr, Telford Street, Yarrawonga, labourer.
Isabella Roslie Brown, Telford Street,Yarrawonga, Home duties.

Charlotte was opposed to excessive drinking, which was unfortunate as her
husband and sons were very hard working timber cutters who all enjoyed a beer or
two. At the time of her death in 1961 she was living at 51 Hume Street,
Yarrawonga, which was the home of her eldest daughter Lil. She was 76 years
old, and died in Yarrawonga Hospital after suffering from hepatic carcinoma for
six months.

Jack Brown had predeceased his wife by 12 years. He died on October 17, 1949, in the Wangaratta Base Hospital, aged 75 years. His cause of death was "cerebral thrombosis, one month, and atheroma, years" (Atheroma definition: "A deposit or degenerative accumulation of lipid-containing plaques on the innermost layer of the wall of an artery")
Jack Brown was buried in the Yarrawonga Cemetery on October 18, 1949.On his death certificate his remaining children were listed as: John 43; Edward 42; Lillian 40; Eileen deceased; Margaret deceased; Ivy 32; Robert 30 and Leslie 29.

Death Certificate of Eileen May Brown