Who was Patrick Dunlea?

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Great story meggsy. I am following with interest. Imagine how he would have reacted if he had known how much interest his life would hold 150 years later
Jim
The 28th of june is my birthday
 
Great research and very interesting to read. Apart from mercury there is also insanity caused by a social disease prevalent in gold mining towns.

He may have arrived in the colonies via another port and traveled overland. However, that would probably be a big search.

I suppose one question, is have you yet come to any reason as to why you were drawn to this grave and memorial?
 
I am trying to work out what type of tree it is ? Perhaps it grew out of a flower arrangement with foliage from seeds or like a cutting. Perhaps it was planted and is native to his home land which would be a nice gesture. Here is a valley oak that a quick search on google says grows in county cork. Looks a little like your tree.
1565485145_6a00e553dc10f6883401a511d9106c970c.jpg
 
Goldfreak said:
I am trying to work out what type of tree it is ? Perhaps it grew out of a flower arrangement with foliage from seeds or like a cutting. Perhaps it was planted and is native to his home land which would be a nice gesture. Here is a valley oak that a quick search on google says grows in county cork. Looks a little like your tree.https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/10082/1565485145_6a00e553dc10f6883401a511d9106c970c.jpg

What's that green stuff on the floor all around? :p
 
MegsyB007 said:
The odd tree

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/13534/1565430620_grave2.jpg

https://www.prospectingaustralia.com/forum/img/member-images/13534/1565430642_grave.jpg

And as for the odd tree Normally trees have branches that angle upwards from the trunk, but this one had some lower branches sticking straight out of the trunk, like someone had drilled a hole through it and stuck two branches in the hole! And the other branches went in every which way - up, down, and some even curled around!

It was peculiar, to say the least

See how the lower branches stick straight out from the trunk? Other branches grow downwards, others grow up, and some even curl around.

The tree looks dead in this photo, but its not, as you can see by the trunk in the upper photo. It is still alive and growing.

This photo was taken in winter, so its lost its leaves and I dont know what species it is. I would like to find out though.

Its a kind of crazy looking tree, right? And maybe its been effected by the fires to look this crazy or maybe not

Have you got a close up or clearer photo of the tree, from what I can see it looks like a Black Wattle at least the branch growth suggests it is. If it is a Black Wattle they tend to die off after 8 to 10 years. I've had them grow in clusters where multiple trees sprout from the one root system once dead they are very brittle and sharp hard wood when broken. Even a small dry limb as thick as your thumb if broken can go straight through a light truck tyre as happen to me :| I'll head up there at the end of the month and have a look, it'll be the earliest chance I'll get.
 
Looking forward to the next installment, Megsy. We recently researched the great grandfather's arrival from Ireland and life as a store holder on the goldfields in the Golden Lake area (near Ballarat).
 
Greenhornet_au said:
Meggsy, this is great stuff, I'm loving it but have not shown it to Kato yet.

Very much looking forward to the next chapter :)

Mercury, VD's, lead hat bands and even just genetic conditions...
Not to mention medicines loaded with opium and cocaine, were plenty of things that could make a man lose his mind back then.
 
Thank you all for your encouragement and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far.

And I love that you're doing some investigating of your own too!
Sorry about the quality of the photos of the tree. The sun was heading down below the horizon and it was getting darker by the minute, so they're not the best, I'm sorry.

Interesting thought of it being an Irish tree planted there, but I don't think so. Although they do have a similar look to them, I must say.
I think RM Outback might be on track with the black wattle. What few dried up leaves were left, were a bit 'wattle-ish', now I think about it.

And yes, there were a few things that could have caused his insanity, including all those mentioned. Although I'd like to think a good Irish Catholic boy was well behaved, but there's no guarantee he was a good Catholic boy in the wild old goldfields either!

And Greenhornet, best you don't read this to Kato, I'd say. Just trust me on that for now, mate...

OK. Moving on to Patrick's big brother James...
 
Next I searched for James Dunlea, to find out his story, and found a bit more information last night his home town!

James was born in Ballynageehy, County Cork, Ireland in 1831. He was baptised on July 31st of that year, and thats as close as I can get to his actual birthdate.

His dad, Edmond, was a farmer in Ireland, and I assume that James worked on the familys farm too - mostly because he said he was a farmer on the immigration passenger list... :p

James left Liverpool aboard the Fulwood on 9th October 1854 and arrived in Melbourne on the 10th December 1854, aged 23. This was quite a fast trip, they were between two and four months, so two months was good! And it was a very controversial time in the Colony The Eureka Rebellion happened a week before his arrival.

I found a marriage record from October 1855 when he married Ann Nicholson, who was on the same ship as James with her family.

Anns dates are all over the place. She said she was 16 on the ship in 1854, which made her birth year 1838. Then her marriage was in 1855, which would have made her 17 at the time. But her grave says she was born in 1841, which made her 13 on the ship and 14 when she got married. Hmm Best we just leave that there, I reckon!

They lived in Williamstown and James had a licenced general store there in Nelson Place, thats not there anymore. A big ugly block of apartments is there now.

Unfortunately Ann died 21 years later in October 1876, at age 35 (I think!), without having any children.
 
I then found another marriage for James 16 months later, in February 1578, to Margaret Conroy, who was related to Ann.

Margaret Conroys father was married to Margaret Nicholson, who I think was Anns older sister! (You work it out!). His sister-in-laws daughter? So he would have been her uncle by marriage! I think thats right

Margaret was 21 years younger than James. She was 25 and James was 46 when they were married in 1878.

Anyway, he bought a new house, and they lived in Beaconsfield Parade, St Kilda, in a house named Shandon. Check it out

1565519122_shandon_361_beaconfield_pde_st_kilda.jpg


Nice huh? (Personally, Id take the two terracotta pots off the steps, because they spoil the lovely curvature line of the balustrade, but thats just me). It is a beautiful Italianate mansion (about to be painted again from the look of it) that Id love to own! I love symmetry, and that hits all the right notes for me. Just beautiful And that viewing platform on the roof overlooks a lovely public garden, and beyond that is the beach.

Anyway, thats where Patricks big brother James lived with his second wife Margaret, and they had three daughters and one son.
Florence Marie, born 1878, Reginald James, born 1880, Ellie Margarita, born 1883, and Anna Carmella, born 1891.

Florence and Ellie both married doctors and Anna remained single.

Their only son, Reginald, married Margaret Murphy and had two daughters and one son, who sadly died at 14 years old in 1931. Dont know why, theres very little information about John James Dunlea. All I know is that hes interred with his parents in the Melbourne General Cemetery now, and his Aunty Ellies grave, with her husband, Dr John Cahill, are beside his grave too.
 
This family was high society; their engagements and weddings were reported in the newspapers, and the charity events they hosted and attended, and the births of their children. They lived in Toorak, St Kilda, Armadale and Caulfield all suburbs on the right side of the Yarra back in those days.

In 1860 James owned James Dunlea and Co. his wine, spirits and general store at 170 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne.

In 1866 he went into partnership with James Nicholson (Anns brother) and the name changed to Dunlea & Nicholson and moved to 107 Elizabeth Street.
I found a listing from what was like the Yellow Pages back then the Sands & McDougalls register - from 1867.

1565519517_sands_amp_mcdougalls_1967.jpg


It shows he also kept his licenced store in Nelson Place, Williamstown, from when he lived there with his first wife, Ann.
 
I also found a rather interesting photo of Elizabeth Street from December 1862, and although I cant pinpoint his store, it was in this street, at this time, and apparently they had this same situation in 1860, 1862 and 1863.

1565519638_flooded_elizabeth_st_1860.jpg


Yes, thats a rather nasty flood, apparently from a storm that I read was a 24 hour deluge of heavy rain that flooded the Yarra River and the City of Melbourne! I hope all his stock was up off the floor. This happened three times in four years! Youd like to think he learnt his lesson after the first time it happened, if not the second time

And a small aside here That little sign on the shop on the left there, says WC Dean oils colours. That was the original store, established in 1854, of a very well known art supplies store, still in business today, now called Deans Art Supplies. Ive shopped there myself a few times over the years, but I didnt know it had been around for that long!

When Patrick died, James obviously took over the store that he had in Graytown too, so he was doing quite well for himself, being a merchant with three stores, rather than a miner on the goldfields. Thats not to say he didnt start out on the goldfields and got some money together to start his businesses, of course Which I think is quite possible. I dont think a farmers son would have had a lot of money to buy into businesses. Arriving in 1854, that was still fairly early in the gold rush and there was a lot of alluvial gold still to be found then.

Hed also invested in some gold mining companies over the years, as listed on his estate accounting when the share certificates were found, but they were all closed by the time he died. They were the United Gleeson Sailor Bill Gold Mining Company; Gladstone Reef Gold Mining Company; New Argus Gold Mining Company and Yorkshire Gold Mining Company.
 

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