FOOTNOTES CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

[1] All details regarding the voyage, and the O'Neill family who were passengers aboard the "Tasman" were obtained from the shipping records held at the Geelong Historical Records Centre.
An assisted immigrant had their voyage subsidised from the UK by the Victorian government for the purpose of being employed on their arrival.

[2] Stated on the shipping records referred to in the previous footnote. On her death certificate Mary's birthplace is recorded as County Meath whilst her baptism is recorded in the Clonmellon (Co. Westmeath) registers. This apparent discrepancy is explained by the fact that Clonmellon is virtually on the border of the two counties. On her own death certificate, Bridget's birthplace is given as Westmeath, Ireland; perhaps it was at Castletown-Delvin where she was also married.

[3] Information obtained from the death certificates of Bridget O'Neill and Mary Watkins. I have attempted without success to obtain details of the marriage of Denis O'Neill and Bridget Quinn in Delvin. Records there are incomplete and do not cover the time at which the marriage would most probably have occurred. In fact no reference to the O'Neill or Quinn families in the parish registers could be found at all. The reference to Chieftain O'Neill was recalled by my mother who remembered her own mother often speaking of it. The story of Bridget's rescue from the carriage was recalled by Mrs Eileen Brasher (formerly Carr), a first cousin of my mother.

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Ancestry of Margaret Watkins, my grandmother

[4] The details regarding the Chapman family and Clonmellon were supplied through the kindness of Rosetta Carroll whom I met when I called at Clonmellon presbytery seeking information in regard to the family. Her letter which she wrote to me after my visit and in response to my questions contains much interesting information and I have reproduced parts of it below:-The Chapman's came to KilIua about the 18th century. They were Cromwellians.... They enclosed a square mile of land for their demesne and built a stone wall around it They planted a wood all around the boundary. They built the castle where the ruins still remain. The part with the two towers being the first. There were two additions added on to it later as the heirs took over.... The Chapmans made four avenues leading to the castle. The main one from Clonmellon being the old Dublin road, they made part of it into an avenue and put the "grand gates" across it They made a road, now the Kilrush road, so that the people had to go around that way if they wanted to go to Athboy. They couldn't cross the demesne. They built a lodge at the entrance to each avenue, the one on the Clonmellon side was an imitation castle, the one on the Kilrush road was arched across the avenue, the living room on one side and the people living in it had to cross the avenue to go to bed on the other side. The lodge on the Athboy side had two busts outside, one of Wellington and one of Nelson with an angel blowing a trumpet on top of it The lodge on the Kells road was just an ordinary single storey house. The people living in the lodges had to open and close the gates when the "gentry" went through. There is an old cross built into the demesne wall close to the churchyard gate where Mass was said in the penal times.

At the time of the "big wind" Sir Thomas Chapman cursed God for sending the wind to knock the trees in the woods and for spoiling the beauty of Killua. There were so many trees knocked down that they were carting timber out of it for four years. One of the Chapmans built Clonmellon about 1800 and modelled it on a street in Paris with trees on both sides. There is no history attached to Clonmellon as there was nothing there until the Chapmans built houses there for their followers. They brought Protestants and turn-coats in and gave them the land around about The Catholics had to live in mud huts at the back of the houses where they couldn't be seen, some of the remains of the huts are still there. Chapmans built an "Office", now the Clonmellon Hall, in 1813. They put iron railings outside. In the rooms over it was stored the Indian meal at the time of the famine. The meal was boiled there and rationed out to the people one pound per person, and let down with a rope from the windows... The office was where the people had to pay their rent The Sir was there on rent day. To terrify the people who couldn't pay there was straw strewn in the hallway and the people had to take their boots off before going in with their rent so that they wouldn't make noise to disturb the "great man". If the people wanted any concessions they had to see one of the Protestants first, they could not go direct to the Sir.

The Chapman's owned hundreds of acres of land all round Clonmellon and let small farms to sub-tenants. All the best jobs on the Killua estate were held by Protestants brought in by the Chapmans. The steward, under-stewards, men in charge of workers, butlers, ladies maids, footmen, wood ranger - all Protestant. They employed about forty workmen at six shillings a week. Anyone found poaching or trespassing on the estate had to leave the country. The bailiff and his gang of "Grippers" were there also to seize cattle, sheep or horses for non-payment of rents. The workmen had to cross the fields to get to work so they weren't allowed to use the avenue. The main avenue from Clonmellon was screened on both sides with laurels and woods at the back. Round the castle were flowerbeds and clumps of trees and shrubs planted all over the demesne. They had the Union Jack flying over the castle when they were "at home".

There was a curse put on the Chapmans by the Parish Priest of Clonmellon for soupering. They used to give clothes and food to the people to try and "turn" them. The priest cursed them and told them there wouldn't be one of them left in Killua and that Killua would be a rookery for rats and crows. He also cursed any Catholics that took any gifts off them at the time the curse was put on them. Dora Chapman, a sister of Sir Montague's was a young girl learning to ride. She was on an old quiet pony when it turned around and started biting her out of the saddle.... The Chapman's filled in a river at Clonlough and on this soil built 24 stone houses. These were slated houses. They let these houses out at 10d per week. They were built about 200 years ago and the masons that built them got 4d per day. In time the houses sunk down and were condemned and demolished.

Sir Montague Chapman used to propose himself as councillor and expected his tenants to vote for him. He gave his permission to people to use the avenue to go to Mass in Clonmellon and to do their shopping (no cars or carts allowed) He married his cousin Miss Eleanor Chapman from Southill near Delvin. They had no family. He died in 1910 and she around 1920. They are both buried in Killua churchyard. He willed Killua to a Featherston~Haugh from Knock-shee-ban. He was killed in the 1914 war as was also his younger brother. Killua was sold afterwards to a Mr Hackett who cut down and sold all the trees until Killua was a wilderness"

I learned more about the Chapmans on my further visits to Clonmellon in 1995-96. Apparently one of the family eloped with the governess of his children who subsequently bore him a son. The governess was known as 'Mrs Lawrence' and her illegitimate son was later to gain fame as T E Lawrence better known to history as 'Lawrence of Arabia'.

One more interesting connection between Clonmellon and Australia was the fact that in 1848 over 200 people from the parish left for Australia in two ships bound for South Australia. Although this occurred at about the same time as the emigration of Bridget and her family there does not appear to be any direct connection between these events. Apparently the Chapmans owned property in Australia and it is possible that some of their tenants were offered assistance to emigrate, perhaps with the assurance of employment in South Australia at a time when the effects of the famine were beginning to be felt in Ireland. Perhaps the alternative would have been eviction in Ireland. Whatever the reasons what is known is that the population of the Clonmellon parish declined by over a thousand people in the five year period prior to 1851

In the course of my research I met and was welcomed by many friendly and wonderful people in the Clonmellon district, but I was unable to locate any O'Neills or Quinns who were related to those mentioned in this story.

[5] Details supplied by Rosetta Carroll. Names of sponsors for the baptisms of the Neill children are shown in brackets
James, bap 25 Jan 1815 (Michael Neill, Mary Coffey);
Dennis, bap 17 Nov 1820 (James and Bridget Mulligan);
James, bap 19 Nov 1822 (William Coffey, Margaret Quinn) with parent's abode given as Clonlough;
Dennis, bap 10 Apr 1826 (Thomas Coffey, Judith Quinn) with parent's abode given as Clonlough. A death of a Dennis Neill of Kilrush is recorded in the Clonmellon register on 14 Jun 1828. He is described as 'young'. Possibly the child of Denis and Bridget
Thomas, bap 9 Jul 1827, (Thomas Lenehan, Peggy Leonard)with parent's abode given as Clonlough;
Mary, bap 12 Apr 1830, (John Coffey, Ann Quinn) with parent's abode given as Clonmellon and
Patrick, bap 23 Apr 1833, (Thomas Mulligan, Mary Leonard.) with parent's abode given as Kilrush

[6] Details from the shipping records of the "Tasman".

[7] Details of the marriage of George Watkins and Mary O'Neill were obtained from the marriage records held at St Mary's Church in Geelong.

The descendants of Denis and Bridget O'Neill have been extensively researched by James O'Reilly from Western Australia. James is married to Amelita Hawke a descendant of George Watkins and Mary O'Neill through their son Thomas and his daughter Louisa.

[8]Death certificate of George Watkins.

A George Watkins, son of George and Elizabeth was baptised on 5 Mar 1823 in Hammersmith, London. His date of birth was given as 28th Oct 1821. The couple also presented another son for baptism on the same day. Frederick had been born on 15 Oct 1822 so it would seem that the parents were somewhat tardy in arranging for the baptism of their children. It is quite likely that the event refers to the subject of this story.

[9] Remarks of Margaret Watkins recalled by my mother.

[10] Names were obtained from the death certificates of George and Mary and the years of birth of each of the children initially estimated from the ages recorded thereon. Dates were confirmed from the index of births held at the Geelong Historical Records Centre although I was unable to locate an entry for either Thomas or Louisa. The date of birth of Margaret was obtained from my mother although the event was registered in 1871 according to the index. The actual property belonging to George was rectangular in shape and comprised the north-east quarter of the block bounded by Horseshoe Bend Rd, Smith St, Drews Rd and Reserve Rd. His allotment was marked on an 1878 map held at the Geelong Historical Records Centre. (Reference C/65 GHRC L5307 1878)

[11] This story was recalled by my mother, who in turn remembers it being told by her own mother Margaret Watkins (Cassidy).

[12] Death certificate of Bridget O'Neill. The age of 75 yrs given for Bridget on her death certificate, is inconsistent with her age of 49 years recorded in the shipping records thirteen years previously. Presumably if she was at least 18 at the time of the birth of her first child it would seem much more likelythat Bridget was 65 or 66 years old at the time of her death.

[13] The information regarding George Watkins Jr. was obtained from the "Geelong Advertiser" of April 1st 1895.

[14] The details regarding George and Mary were obtained from their respective death certificates. The information is also recorded on the headstone of their grave which is located in the Catholic section of the Eastern cemetery. An obituary for George Watkins appeared in the "Geelong Advertiser" of Sept 9th 1907 which read as follows:-The funeral of the late Mr George Watkins a very old and respected resident of Geelong took place yesterday afternoon and was largely attended. The remains of the deceased were interred in the Catholic portion of the Eastern Cemetery. The pall bearers were Messrs W Charlton, W Nicholson, W H Payne, H McManus, J Sloper, P Sceney, D Walsh, and J Abraham and coffin bearers were A Baldock, A McDonald, W Collins and F O'Brien. The Rev.Fr.Gleeson conducted the burial service and Mr Wm Wellington was the undertaker."

One of the pallbearers, Daniel Walsh was a long-time friend and also a witness to the will made by George in April 1905. He stated that George could read but not write. Probate was granted to his son-in-law Thomas Delahunty and George's estate which was valued at 451 pounds was divided among his surviving children. Information obtained from the Victorian Public Records Office. Ref No. 104/683.

Church and presbytery at Clonmellon photographed in 1988