Hi I am seeking assistance with information about my great grandfather. we have come up against a brick wall. He came to Australia to work on the railway from Ireland. We want to find out 1 what date he left 2 the port he left from 3 the name of the ship he was on 4 the date he arrived in Australia 5 the port he arrived in We have his birth & death details, death certificate, details of his parents & all his siblings. Thomas Fitzgerald born 1858 in Dingle kerry Ireland died 1930 in Brunswick Victoria Australia Wife Johanna Lennen Father Robert Fitzgerald Mother Johanna Herlihy
Thomas Fitzgerald Middle name possibly Joseph. Born: circa 20/november/1858 in Boherbrack, Kinnard, west Lispole on the Dingle Peninsula in Co Kerry Ireland. Arrived in Australia ?? must have been here to start work by 03/01/1884 as per employment records Married 1884 marriage cert # 598 Buried in Family plot at Melbourne General Cemetery with son Robert who died age 12. Also with son Anthony and 2 granddaughters plot # 962 Death certificate #12743 Date : 10 december 1930 Address: 25 Barry street Brunswick Name : Thomas Fitzgerald Occupation: Railway Employee Gender: Male Age: 70 years Cause of death & duration : Carcinoma of stomach (6 months), Toxaemia Parents names & occupation: Robert Fitzgerald (occ. Farmer) Johannah Fitzgerald Nee Herlihy When and where buried: 11 december 1930, Melbourne General Cemetery where born: Kerry, Ireland (additional research found specifically Boherbrack) How long in Australian states: 52 years in Victoria Where and at what age married, to whom : Fitzroy, 24 years , Johanna Lennon Issue in order of birth and ages: Mary 45 Robert deceased Julia 39 James 37 Cecelia 35 Veronica 33 (birth name actually Johanna Veronica called Vera by the family) Meletine 31 John 29 Anthony 27 Robert 23 Gerald 21 3 potentially relevant entries in the Griffiths valuation re “Robert Fitzgerald” (father of Thomas) in the Kinnard Parish Boherbrack, Gowlane Beg and Gowlane Ard. (all extremely close) Railway Employment (info viewed in person at NAA in Melbourne circa 2008) Victorian Railways started in 19/03/1856 by Victorian Parliament trains did not run until 1859. Anecdotally Thomas loved trains and came out here specifically to work with the trains, later in life took his Grandchildren to see “Puffing Billy” a steam train that runs in the Dandenong Ranges. Microfiche, SLV Victorian Railway Employees 19th Century, FITCH-IRVINE 03 (complied by Bob Thornton Aug 1988) Name: Thomas Fitzgerald Dept: 8247 Birth date: (blank) Appointed: 03/01/1884 Grade: labourer / Ganger Branch: Engineers Locations/comments: Gen 2 married st.5.78 (possibly salary? ) Source: R84 (department print of tri-annual staff lists, 1884) G89 (tri-annual staff lists from the Government Gazzette) NB the above Triannual indexes are notoriously inaccurate, published between 1884 - 1929. Second source Index to Railway employees 1899, entry 2511, page 120, no additional Info. Siblings source unknown. John Fitzgerald Born 27 July 1851, Kinard, Co Kerry, Ireland Died 27 May 1914 Springfield, Hampden, Massachusetts, USA Married Catherine Welch (born Ireland circa 1855) 11 November 1880 in Springfield, USA Garrett Fitzgerald Born 19 June 1853, Kinard, Co Kerry, Ireland Died 21 March 1891, Kinard, Co Kerry, Ireland * newspaper article* Married Johanna Dowd (daughter of Thomas Dowd and Mary Sullivan 04/ nov/1849 in Glin, Co Kerry) 23 February 1876, Kinard, Co Kerry, Ireland James Fitzgerald Born 22 July 1855, Kinard, Co Kerry, Ireland Died after 1911 Kinard, Co Kerry, Ireland Married Catherine Moriarty ( daughter of John Moriarty & Bridget O’Connor) 06 February 1889, Kinard, Co Kerry, Ireland **According to this source Thomas was born on 19 July 1857 - but uses a birth record with mothers maiden name listed as O’Donnell** Robert Fitzgerald Born 08 May 1859, Kinard, Co Kerry, Ireland Died 23 March 1922 in Chicago, Cook, Illinois, USA. Married Mary Ray circa1893 in Illinois, USA. (she was born in Illinois, USA) Daniel Fitzgerald Born 25 June 1861, Kinard, Co Kerry, Ireland Died 14 September 1925 Danville, Vermillion, Illinois, USA Married Katherine M. (She was born in april 1870 in Ireland) Maurice Fitzgerald Born 15 December 1863, Kinard, Co Kerry, Ireland Mary Fitzgerald Born 08 August 1866, Kinard, Co Kerry, Ireland Died July 1934 in Northamptonshire, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA Married John Ruddy (police officer, son of Patrick Ruddy and Bridget Dunn) on 17 May 1891, Amherst, Hampshire, Massachusetts, USA Will & Testament: Estate left to his wife Johanna with executor being his son in law John “Jack” William Henry Evans.
I have moved this thread over to Empire and Commonwealth in the hope that our members in Oz who have access to immigration records can help.
FindMyPast has the following information: Thomas Fitzgerald, aged 24 (so born about 1858) departing from Plymouth, England on 28th April 1882 on board the Western Monarch and arriving at Maryborough on 6th August that year. This is a transcript from the Queensland Assisted Immigration list 1848-1912. I am not saying that it is him, but it does come up close. If he landed in Queensland, then he would have enough time to get over to Melbourne to start work in the January of 1884, having gone through any recruitment process. However, it is a transcription and there may well be further information on the original paperwork.
