Walker genealogy

2 Charles Walker and the Hickey family This chapter is divided into seven parts:

• I start with the arrival in NSW of my great-great-grandfather Charles Walker [1807-1860]. He was allegedly born in Cork, but I know nothing of his background.

• Our earliest patriarch in NSW was Charles’s father-in-law: Patrick Hickey [1786-1858], tried in Tipperary in 1828 for the crime of cattle stealing and transported for life in 1829. Eight years later, in 1837, his wife Elizabeth Brerton [1784-1850] went out to join up with her husband, taking their children with her. One of these children was Charles Walker’s future wife, my great-great-grandmother Ann Hickey [1822-1898].

• The third part of this chapter describes the existence of the Walker family on the outskirts of Braidwood, at a place in Reidsdale known as the Irish Corner.

• Many people named Hickey lived in the Braidwood area at that time. This fourth part attempts to determine which local Hickey individuals might have been related to Ann.

• The fifth part presents the families of the offspring of Charles and Ann. They had eleven children, and we have some data on nearly all of them.

• I then present a few recent photos of Reidsdale, taken by by Peter Hakewill.

• Finally, I examine the hypothesis that our Braidwood patriarch Charles Walker might not have been a Catholic Irishman.

The story of Charles Walker ‘s family is continued in chapter 3 of my monograph, where I examine their relationships with the Braidwood bushrangers.

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part I — Charles Walker, steward aboard the Caroline Charles Walker came to New South Wales at the age of 26 as a steward aboard the barque Caroline, which left Cork on Monday, 15 April 1833, and reached Sydney over three and a half months later, on 6 August 1833. Figure 2-2 shows the crew list, with the name of Charles Walker in the sixth position. Although the Caroline is described at the top of the crew list as a “female convict ship”, there were no convicts on this voyage, merely the families of convicts in NSW and free settlers.

Barque Caroline

As illustrated in figure 2-1, a barque has two tall masts with rectangular sails (like a brig) then a third mast with triangular sails.

Figure 2-1: Drawing of a typical barque.

The barque Caroline was built at Cochin in India by John Crookenden and registered at the port of Calcutta on 21 November 1825. The stern of the Caroline looked rather different to the vessel in the above illustration because she had a raised poop deck where people could stroll around in the fresh air. Her stern was square, making the ship quite roomy in this area. The description “carvel (caravel) build with quarter galleries” suggests architectural elegance and easy access to the high space (almost seven feet) between decks.

The owner of the Caroline was a Newcastle-upon-Tyne banker, William Chapman, and a man from Calcutta, Eliot MacNaughten. Four years before the voyage that brought Charles Walker to New South Wales, the Caroline had carried Thomas Henty’s three sons (James, Stephen and John) and their prize Spanish merinos to Western Australia. That voyage has been described

by Marney Bassett in her book, The Hentys. The Mitchell Library in Sydney has a set of letters written by a cabin passenger on the Caroline, Henry Camfield.

The Caroline was totally wrecked in New Zealand, near Invercargill, on 1 April 1860.

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Figure 2-2: Crew list of the Caroline, on which the ship’s steward Charles Walker reached NSW in 1833.

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part II — Hickey family in Tipperary Patrick Hickey, his wife Elizabeth Brerton and their seven children lived in the Tipperary townland of Borrisleigh, whose location is shown here:

Figure 2-3: Map, dated 1837, of a part of North Tipperary.

This map comes from Lewis’s Atlas, comprising the Counties of Ireland, published by S Lewis & Co, 87 Aldersgate Street, London (27 September 1837). Borrisleigh, also referred to as Burris Leath or simply Borris, must not be confused with the bigger town named Borrisoleagh or Burrisoleagh whose name appears in the upper lefthand corner of figure 2-3. The townland of Borris/Borrisleigh lies to the east of Thurles, in the barony of Eliogarty. Today, it is known as Two Mile Borris, and is located near the main Dublin-Cork highway.

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Hickey family in Borrisleigh, Tipperary

The Hickey family in Ireland was probably composed as follows: Patrick HICKEY b 1782 Ireland 1

2

Mary HICKEY b 1817 Borrisleigh

3

4

Margaret HICKEY b 1819 Borrisleigh

William HICKEY b 1818 Borrisleigh

Elizabeth BRERTON b 1784 Ireland 5

6

Ann HICKEY b 1822 Borrisleigh

Elizabeth HICKEY b 1821 Borrisleigh

7

John HICKEY b 1827 Borrisleigh

Michael HICKEY b 1825 Borrisleigh

Figure 2-4: Hickey family in Borrisleigh, Tipperary.

Much of this data remains fuzzy, since dates vary from one record to another. However, unless more precise elements were to be found, I believe we should accept the information in this chart, since it is probably a satisfactory reflection of reality.

Patrick Hickey transported for cattle stealing

When Ann Hickey was a little girl, her father was arrested for cattle stealing. He was tried in the assize court of Clonmel on 7 April 1828, and sentenced to transportation to New South Wales for life. No record of Patrick Hickey’s trial exists in Ireland, since transportation registers compiled before 1836 were destroyed in the Four Courts fire of June 1922.

Towards the end of 1828, Patrick Hickey left Cork aboard the Governor Ready, and he arrived in New South Wales on 16 January 1829. In February of that same year, he was assigned to a Braidwood pioneer, Captain John Coghill, who was no doubt the first person to purchase land in the Braidwood region from the colonial government, as distinct from the system of free grants. The dates at which Coghill purchased his properties are known. So, we have a good idea of the places where Patrick Hickey lived and worked during his first seven or eight years in New South Wales. In Coghill’s bookkeeping concerning a property he bought in 1827, he speaks of Gillamatong, which is the name of an isolated and clearly visible mountain just south-east of Braidwood. We can assume that the convict Patrick Hickey worked in that vicinity.

Application concerning Patrick Hickey’s wife and children

On 17 September 1836, Patrick Hickey lodged an application requesting that his wife and children be brought out to New South Wales at the expense of the British government. The application was signed by John Coghill, who stated that he had been employing Hickey since February 1829. Coghill added: I am satisfied that he is both able and willing to maintain his family.

In July 2005, a fellow-researcher, Pamela Punch (descendant of the Mullumbimby Walkers), succeeded in finding the application at the NSW State Archives, and she has informed me that Patrick Hickey indicated the names and ages of his seven children, in 1836, as follows: Mary 19................. born in 1817 Margaret 17.......... born in 1819 Chapter 2

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Michael 14............ born in 1822 William 13............ born in 1823 Nancy 11............... born in 1825 John 9..................... born in 1827 Elizabeth 7............ born in 1829

In this list, I have appended the years in which the children would have been born according to the ages supplied by their father. Although I was influenced by this list when I was compiling the chart in figure 2-4, I am convinced that Patrick Hickey’s data contains errors, since certain indications differ significantly from information in later records. For example, Patrick Hickey referred to a daughter named Nancy, born in 1825, who was probably Ann, born in 1822. The date of birth he suggested for William was probably four or five years too late. I believe, too, that Elizabeth was born, not in 1829, but eight years earlier. As a convict who may not have had a good recollection of family dates back in Ireland, Patrick Hickey was no doubt ill-equipped to draw up a precise list of the names and ages of the seven children he had not seen for seven years. Besides, it is not unlikely that Hickey was illiterate, which would account for the approximate nature of his family data submitted, through Coghill, to NSW authorities.

Ticket of leave

In February 1837 (five months after the above-mentioned application was made), the Bungonia Bench recommended the granting of a ticket of leave to Patrick Hickey.

Bungonia is located a few dozen miles to the north of Braidwood, not far from Goulburn.

The pioneer Dr David Reid resided with his wife and four children at a farm named Inverary Park near Bungonia. As early as 1828 (before the arrival in NSW of Patrick Hickey and Charles Walker), Reid was employing assigned convicts down at his second sheep property, on the upper reaches of Jembaicumbene Creek, at a place that would later be known as Reidsdale (future homeplace of the Walker family). David Reid was a typical case of an absentee landlord, who called upon overseers to look after his flocks. He was also a kind of judge.

There was no proper court house in Braidwood until 1837. Before this date, cases involving free men and convicts accused of serious or repeated offences were taken to the nearest court at Inverary, Dr Reid’s home near Bungonia, a journey of 50 miles.

— Sue Murray and Netta Ellis, Early Days in the Braidwood District 1822-51

Patrick Hickey’s ticket-of-leave, dated 3 June 1837, is shown on the following page.

It stipulated that he should remain in the County of St Vincent, which is the vast zone surrounding the Braidwood area. This document provides us with a physical description of Patrick Hickey: 5 feet 8 inches in height, fair complexion, light brown hair mixed with grey, and grey eyes. We learn too that he had a scar over his left eye.

So, Patrick Hickey was a free man, awaiting the arrival of his family. I suspect that Elizabeth Brerton and her children reached Sydney on 9 October 1837 aboard the Charles Kerr, but I have not been able to verify this hypothesis.

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3 June 1837 37/827 29/38 Patrick Hickey Governor Ready Young 1829 Tipperary Labourer Tipperary 7 April 1828 Life 1786 5 feet 8 inches Fair

Light brown mixed with grey

Grey

Scar over left eye

Norfolk Island transported

Restored 46/672

St Vincents Bungonia February 1837 Figure 2-5: Ticket of leave granted to Patrick Hickey in 1837.

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part III — Walker/Hickey family As early as 1838, Charles Walker was apparently starting to think about the idea of purchasing his own property in the Braidwood region, for his name occurs in the list of men who sent off a petition on this question, described as follows: The letter, addressed to the Honorable The Colonial Secretary, on 18th October, 1838, asking that His Excellency the Governor may be pleased to cause the township to be surveyed, was signed by Andrew Badgery, James Coutts, Patrick Goulding, William Bennison, David Williams, J. L. Wallace, Alfred Watts, William Watts, James Liddell, Thomas Cowper, John Burke Josh, Linde Jones, James Dunn, A. W. Kinlay, Samuel Rawson, Charles Townshend, Charles Walker, Joseph Dalbs and John Lambie.

At that time, Charles Walker was probably learning the art of sheep-grazing as a casual employee (or jackeroo, as they would be called later on) on one of the big properties in the Braidwood district. As a former steward on a convict ship, Walker would have surely been well received by local British landowners, many of whom—like the Englishman Captain John Coghill who had employed Patrick Hickey—were retired seafarers. Maybe Walker was even working on one of the sheep properties of David Reid, the man in Bungonia who had signed Patrick Hickey’s ticket-of-leave.

Marriage of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey

In what circumstances did Charles Walker meet up and fall in love with 16-year-old Ann, daughter of the ex-convict Patrick Hickey? Maybe he met her through Coghill, who had played a role in bringing the Hickeys to New South Wales. Coghill now owned the Strathallan property, north-east of Braidwood, and he had been residing there during the construction of a fine brick cottage on a farm slightly south-east of Braidwood, called Bedervale.

The Walker/Hickey marriage took place on 8 July 1839 at Lake Bathurst, to the north of Braidwood in the direction of Goulburn. Here is a transcription of the church document: Page 193

O 10

New South Wales, Roman Catholic Marriages solemnized in the Parish of in the County of in the Year 1839 No. 1

I, Charles Walker, do hereby declare that I am a Member of, hold Communion with, the Roman Catholic Church.

Charles Walker I, Anne Hickey, do hereby declare that I am a Member of, hold Communion with, the Roman Catholic Church.

Anne Hickey

I, John Fitzpatrick of Goulburn, Minister of Goulburn, do hereby declare that Charles Walker of County St Vincent N S Wales and Anne Hickey of County St Vincent were joined together in Wedlock by me, on the eighth day of July 1839 at Lake Bathurst in the Presence of Thomas Woods and Catherine Nolan.

Witnesses, Thomas Woods, Catherine Nolan, John Fitzpatrick Figure 2-6: Church record of the Walker/Hickey marriage in 1839.

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Charles Walker and Ann Hickey would have been aged respectively about 32 and 17. Their addresses are indicated simply as County St Vincent, and they both declare that they are Catholics. There are two witnesses: Thomas Woods and Catherine Nolan.

Less than a fortnight after Ann’s marriage, her sister Mary married John Salmon at Lake Bathurst on 17 July 1839.

Patrick Hickey sent to Norfolk Island

In November 1839 (just a few months after the marriage of his daughters Ann and Mary), Patrick Hickey was charged at the quarter sessions in Campbelltown with receiving stolen goods. On 16 December 1839, he was sent to Norfolk Island. Two and a half years after the issue of the ticket of leave presented in figure 2-5, somebody has added an obliquely-written note that says “N Island Transported”.

Land sale at Braidwood

A tourist leaflet available in Braidwood contains the following information: The town was surveyed in 1839 and the first land sale of allotments was held in 1840. A record of this sale in the form of an oil painting 6 ft x 4 ft is held by the local Historical Society in their museum.

Here is a poor-quality photo of this painting of the sale that took place on 9 July 1840:

Figure 2-7: Land sale at Braidwood on 9 July 1840.

It is quite possible that Charles Walker was one of the attendees portrayed in this painting.

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Let us look at several zooms on this painting. First, the auctioneers:

Figure 2-8: Auctioneers in the Braidwood land-sale painting.

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Figure 2-9: Central figures in the Braidwood land-sale painting.

Let us zoom in on the central individual, reading a document. On his left shoulder, an excited attendee has posed his right hand. Some of us Walker descendants have the impression that this red-bearded individual in green pants could well be our Braidwood patriarch Charles Walker.

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Figure 2-10: Man in green pants in the Braidwood land-sale painting.

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Figure 2-11: Onlookers on the left in the Braidwood land-sale painting.

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Figure 2-12: Onlookers on the right in the Braidwood land-sale painting.

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Census of 1841

Before his death in 1840, David Reid was dividing his Jembaicumbene property into 40-acre allotments, which he put up for sale. Charles Walker became a landed proprietor by purchasing some of this land, near the place that would come to be called Irish Corner.

The 1841 census data on Charles Walker’s household at Reidsdale can be found at the State Archives of NSW, location X946, page 71, microfilm 2129. Here is this data: Return n° 21 Charles Walker residence at Reidsdale (St Vincent) 6 persons Age 1 male less than 2 years old 1 male either 14 or over and less than 21 3 males either 21 or over and less than 45 1 female either 21 or over and less than 45 Marital status 1 married male 4 single males 1 married female Religion 1 Church of England 5 Roman Catholic Civil status 1 male born in colony 2 males arrived free 2 males bonded, holding tickets of leave 1 female arrived free Occupation 1 "landed proprietor, merchant, bankers, professional people" 3 "shepherds and others in care of sheep" 2 others Figure 2-13: Census of 1841 concerning Charles Walker at Reidsdale.

Here is my interpretation of the identity of the six individuals present when the census inspector dropped in:

• Obviously, the “landed proprietor” is Charles Walker, who is one of the two males who arrived free in NSW.

• In the “others” category, one of the two is Ann Hickey, wife of Charles Walker, who is the female who arrived free.

• Also in the “others” category, there is the “male born in colony”, John Walker, the first child of Charles and Ann, born on 22 July 1840 in Braidwood.

• The other “male arrived free” might be one of Ann Hickey’s brothers: Michael, William or John. He is one of the three “shepherds and others in care of sheep”.

• There are two ex-convicts with tickets-of-leave working as shepherds, one of whom declared himself to be a member of the Church of England.

Few households in Reidsdale appear to have returned data for that 1841 census. A search for

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the argument Braidwood in the State Archives reveals only 63 households. So, it is a rare chance to find this data about our ancestor Charles Walker. Apparently there is data, too, about Charles Walker’s brother-in-law and neighbor, John Salmon.

Prosperity followed by depression

We know nothing about the exploits of Charles Walker as a sheep farmer.

Braidwood’s period of pastoral prosperity had come to an end in 1837 because of a terrible drought that endured for six or seven years. The monetary value of a sheep dropped from sixteen shillings a head in 1837 to half a shilling in 1843. An Irish settler named Henry O’Brien invented a simple method for boiling down sheep carcasses for tallow, for the production of candles and soap, and this process set a bottom value, once production and transport costs were deduucted, of six shillings a head, even for sheep that were about to die of starvation. So, smelly boiling-down vats went into operation throughout the sheep country around Braidwood.

A symbolic victim of the crisis was the man behind Braidwood: Dr Thomas Braidwood Wilson, a former surgeon superintendent on convict ships. In 1836, with his wife and two children, he had settled on a property that came to be called Braidwood Farm. He strived to encourage good relationships between free settlers, convicts and aborigines, and he attempted to introduce productive agricultural techniques. One of his amusing innovations was ploughing competitions between local farmers.Well, in November 1843, Dr Wilson died suddenly and prematurely of apoplexy, a ruined man.

Fate of Patrick Hickey

Meanwhile, a second-offender such as Patrick Hickey could not have chosen a more favorable moment to spend time on Norfolk Island, since his imprisonment coincided with indepth reforms of the convict colony introduced by an exceptional Scotsman named Alexander Maconochie, whose work is presented at length in The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes.

In 1844, 62-year-old Patrick Hickey, described as a “steady elderly man”, was released from Norfolk Island. He returned to Braidwood and received a second ticket of leave in 1846, shown in the figure on the next page. A note was added to the first ticket of leave stating that it had been “restored”.

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46/672 25 April 1846 Patrick Hickey

Governor Ready 1829

Tipperary

Life

Allowed on petition per Governor’s minute on papers registered 46/3029

7 April 1828

Braidwood

Figure 2-14: Second ticket-of-leave granted to Patrick Hickey in 1846.

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Gold

A neighbor of the Walkers at Irish Corner, Mrs Baxter, discovered gold on 5 October 1851 at Major’s Creek, near a small bridge on the road to Braidwood. The following figure provides an overview of the road links between Braidwood, Reidsdale, Major’s Creek and Araluen.

Braidwood

Major’s Creek Road

Jembaicumbene

Araluen Road

Reidsdale Road

Jembaicumbene Creek & Swamp Monga Lane

Reidsdale

Major’s Creek

Araluen Figure 2-15: Road links to the south of Braidwood.

Rapidly, thousands of miners flocked to the region. Mrs Baxter used the money she made out of gold to buy a farm at Irish Corner. A year or so later, her horse-drawn cart, full of vegetables, capsized and killed her. Mrs Baxter’s farm at Irish Corner was taken over by Marcus Lyons, whose daughter Anne would later marry one of the Walker sons.

In a newspaper article on the goldfields written by a miner named Richard Kennedy in 1852, he states that both Charles Walker and John Salmon had claims (mining licenses) at a place named Bell’s Paddock, Chapter 2

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... which at this time was fenced in and used as a horse paddock by Dr Bell, and in this paddock he had a water hole sunk in the early part of the 1840s by government men, of whom he had a considerable number assigned to him, for the purpose of storing water for his horses.

A digger named Jack Elward, who was working out his claim there, went up to the paddock and took a dish of stuff out of the heap of heath, thrown up from the hole, which had been lying on the surface for some years. Out of this dish, he repanned over an ounce of gold.

We know nothing about the exploits of Charles Walker and John Salmon as gold-miners.

Farmers’ Home tavern

It is not unlikely that Charles Walker was able to set up his tavern, The Farmers’ Home, with money made on the goldfields. This establishment is mentioned by Richard Kennedy: Charlie Walker afterwards kept a pub at Irish Corner,

At that point in the sentence, Kennedy (who writes in a rambling fashion) introduces the subject of music, but without stating explicitly that The Farmers’ Home employed musicians: ... the first musician that came on the fields was Joe Lee, better known as Joe the Fiddler and at Wilson’s pub he would play two nights a week and the diggers would muster up in good numbers for a dance. There were no professional dancing girls in those days and the amusement was always carried on most respectfully.

I would imagine that Charles Walker created his tavern on land he had purchased initially for sheep farming. The name of the tavern is intriguing. I suppose it is intended to suggest that farmers should feel at home there. In Australia: Her Story, Kylie Tennant gives the impression that this name was common in sheep-farming environments: In the inn-yards of the Farmer’s Home, the Square and Compass, the Woolpack, they [wool-buyers] argued and shouted and drank the bargain through.

But why would Charles Walker have chosen such a name at a time when sheep-farming had become a thing of the past in the Braidwood region?

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Charles Walker’s publican’s license for 1857 is shown here:

Figure 2-16: Charles Walker’s publican’s license (1857).

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My transcription of the document is presented in the following figure:

Certificate to authorize the Granting of a License New South Wales to wit At the annual Licensing Meeting of Her Majesty’s Justices of the Peace, acting in and for the district of Braidwood holden at Braidwood on the 21st day of April in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty seven, pursuant to the Act of the Governor and Council passed in the thirteenth year of the Reign of Her present Majesty Queen Victoria, intituled “An Act to Consolidate and Amend the Laws relating to the Licensing of Public Houses, and to Regulate the Sale of Fermented and Spirituous Liquors in New South Wales”, for the purpose of considering applications made to us for Licenses, pursuant to the said Act, we being the Majority of the Justices assembled and the requisite notices of application for a General Publicans License having been proved before us to have been duly served and posted, do, in virtue of the power vested in us, hereby authorise the Colonial Treasurer, or other proper officer, to issue to Charles Walker of Reidsdale the License in the said Act called a General Publicans for the Farmers Home situate at Reidsdale in the District of Braidwood until the first day of July 1858 and we do hereby certify that we are satisfied the said Charles Walker is a person of good fame and reputation, and fit and proper to be licensed as aforesaid; and also that we have taken from the said Charles Walker and his sureties, Henry Lees of Braidwood District and Phillip Maher of Reidsdale a Recognizance in the sum of Fifty Pounds each, according to the form prescribed in the said Act of the Governor and Council.

Given under our bands and seals the 21st day of April at the place aforesaid.

Signatures of three Justices of the Peace.

I cannot decipher the first two signatures, but the third JP is Robert Maddrell.

Figure 2-17: Transcription of the license shown in the previous figure.

The above license is the first of three that can be seen on microfilm at the State Archives.

The other two are for the periods July 1858 to June 1859, and July 1860 to June 1861. In the case of that final license, signed on 17 April 1860, a month before Charles Walker’s death, his sureties are George Baxter and John Salmon (the husband of Ann Hickey’s sister Mary), both of Reidsdale. Would George Baxter be related to the woman of that name who discovered gold at Major’s Creek?

Here are the references of these three documents at State Archives:

• License signed 21 April 1857 for the period 1857/58: location 7/1508, reel 1239 #34.

• License signed 20 April 1858 for the period 1858/59: location 7/1509, reel 1240 #332.

• License signed 17 April 1860 for the period 1860/61: location 7/1513, reel 1242 #983.

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Location of Charles Walker’s property and inn

In 1981, Margaret Lochhead (a Walker descendant and family-history researcher whose place in our family tree will be described later on) informed me that the location of the Farmers’ Home inn is known. She had just visited Reidsdale, and she spoke to me in a letter of “two houses attached to [the Walker] property”.

• In 1981, one of these houses belonged to Maurice Maher and his wife Marge. This is the place where the Farmers’ Home used to be located. When Marcus Lyons acquired the property, after the death of Charles Walker, he called it Gleneally (the name of his birthplace in Ireland). Although I do not have all the details, I believe that Maurice Maher [born 1905 in Braidwood] was a son of William Maher and Elizabeth Lyons [married 1896 in Braidwood], and that the latter woman would have been a descendant of Marcus Lyons, probably a grand-daughter. The man who lives at Gleneally today is Ian Maher (no doubt a descendant of Maurice and Marge), who kindly sent me the basic maps of Reidsdale.

• The other house mentioned by Margaret Lochhead belonged, in 1981, to people named Gowen. I believe that this would be an old white house further to the south, at Fairview, which used to be a Kennedy and Hickey homeplace in Reidsdale. I shall return to these questions later on.

In the map on the next page (sent to me by Ian Maher), we see places I have just mentioned:

• The cross marked Gleneally indicates the location of Charles Walker’s inn, alongside the Monga Lane, and just to the south of the Jembaicumbene Swamp. (On the map, the term Reidsdale is incorrect at this place.)

• To the south, at the place correctly indicated as Reidsdale, the Sawyers Ridge Road extends alongside the old Reidsdale cemetry, the white Kennedy/Hickey house at Fairview, and Saint Bernard’s RC church.

Figure 2-19 shows an aerial photo of places in the map.

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Figure 2-18: Modern map of Reidsdale.

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Figure 2-19: Aerial photo of Reidsdale.

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David Reid’s sale of his Jembaicumbene estate

I pointed out earlier on that David Reid, before his death in 1840, was dividing up his Jembaicumbene estate into 40-acre blocks, and that Charles Walker became a landed proprietor by purchasing some of this land. I received (from Ian Maher of Reidsdale) a photocopy of a map that appears to indicate the identity of purchasers of Reid’s land.

Figure 2-20 shows the blocks in the northern part of Reid’s former estate, just below the Jembaicumbene Swamp. I have the impression that Charles Walker and his brother-in-law John Salmon were joint buyers of some four or so 40-acre blocks in the north-eastern corner, alongside the track called Monga Lane, representing a total area of 176 acres and 26 or 28 perches. In figure 2-20, the location of the Farmers’ Home was indicated to me by Ian Maher.

Their neighbors were named Lloyd, Wisby, F McMahon, J McMahon and Higgins.

The remaining two-thirds of Reid’s former estate, south of the section shown in figure 2-20, are presented in a north to south order in figures 2-21, 2-22 and 2-23. The following names of purchasers are indicated: J Barrett, Burnell, J & S Birch, Dempsey, W & T Hickey, R Harens, Cannon, Manning and Tyler. Some of these names are associated with more than one property division, but I do not know if they are the same individuals or rather two people with the same name.

Elsewhere in this map, it is stated that the land to the west of the Reid estate belonged to a certain Captain Hawker. This individual was a personal friend of Dr Reid, and that is how he became the proprietor of land on the edge of Reidsdale. Another of Reid’s friends who obtained land in this fashion was a certain Sir Michael Seymour. It is somewhat shocking to learn that neither of these two distinguished Braidwood land-owners ever had an opportunity of rearing sheep or fossicking for gold, for the simple reason that they never even set foot in the colony of New South Wales!

Units of square measure

In the map of David Reid’s former estate, it is amusing to discover the old-fashioned units of square measure named roods and perches. The basis of this system is a linear unit of 5.5 yards (just over five meters) known variously as a pole, a rod or a perch. So, a square whose side is one pole long has an area that is generally referred to as a square perch, or simply (as in the Reidsdale map) a perch. This area is equivalent to 5.5 x 5.5 = 30.25 square yards. Forty square perches constitute an area referred to as a rood, and four roods are an acre. In other words, there are 160 square perches in an acre.

These quaint old units are simple to manipulate... provided that you use a computer!

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1 acre = 0.4047 hectare = 4 roods 1 rood =40 perches 1 perch = 30.25 square yards

Walker & Salmon

acres.roods.perches

Lloyd

Wisby

F McMahon

Farmers’ Home

J McMahon

Higgins

176 acres 0 roods 26 perches

Figure 2-20: Northern blocks of David Reid’s former estate below the Jembaicumbene Swamp.

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J Barrett

Burnell J & S Birch

Dempsey

W Hickey Cannon

W & T Hickey & R Harens Figure 2-21: Blocks of David Reid’s former estate located just to the south of those in the previous figure.

Later on in this chapter, I shall refer often to the landowners whose names appear at the bottom of this chart. I believe that “W Hickey” in the middle designates William Hickey, a brother of my ancestor Ann Hickey, wife of Charles Walker. On the other hand, the neighbors “W & T Hickey”, no doubt William and Thomas Hickey, were probably not related to us at all.

Cannon & Manning Harens

M Tyler

Figure 2-22: Blocks of David Reid’s former estate located just to the south of those in the previous figure.

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Barrett

Figure 2-23: Blocks of David Reid’s former estate located just to the south of those in the previous figure.

Irish Corner

Ian Maher informs me that the name Irish Corner designated the region to the right of the north/south road that runs down the middle of the map in figure 2-18. So, for Charles Walker at the Farmers’ Home, just to the south of the Jembaicumbene Swamp alongside Monga Lane, Irish Corner was in fact located on the opposite (eastern) side of the road. Of course, the neighborhood designated by this expression may have varied over the years.

The following figure shows a map, sent to me by a fellow-researcher, Peter Mayberry. This map is said to represent Irish Corner in 1859.

Figure 2-24: Irish Corner in 1859.

For the moment, I am unable to orient this map with respect to other Reidsdale maps I have seen. Where is the north? The map includes references to individuals and entities. It mentions Captain John Coghill (the first settler to buy land in the region, and the purchaser of Braidwood Farm after Wilson’s death) and his son-in-law and inheritor Robert Maddrell (one of the justices of the peace who signed Charles Walker’s pub license in 1857, and the patriarch of a Braidwood dynasty). The name of the absentee land-owner Captain Hawker also appears at the top of the map. Here are the graphic details as I see them: Chapter 2

Charles Walker and the Hickey family

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• A road or track (represented by a narrow pair of parallel lines) enters the map in the middle of the lefthand side, and extends horizontally to the center of the map.

• The road then turns upwards through a 45° angle and separates at a Y-shaped junction into two roads that disappear at the upper edge of the map.

• Another road runs down from the place where Captain Hawker’s name appear, and joins the main road in the vicinity of the Catholic church.

• A creek runs down from the upper edge of the map, and its branches cross the roads.

The following figure provides an enlarged view of the lefthand half of this map.

Figure 2-25: Enlarged view of the lefthand half of the previous figure.

On the lefthand side, a Phillip Mahar is mentioned. Should we read this name as Maher?

Would this be the homeplace of the Phillip Maher of Reidsdale who was one of Charles Walker’s sureties for his license in 1857? The map indicates the location of a Roman Catholic church and school, alongside what appears to be an Anglican church and school.

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Early 20th-century map of an area to the north of Reidsdale Peter Mayberry gave me this copy of a more recent map:

Figure 2-26: Area to the north of the Jembaicumbene Swamp.

Elsewhere on this map, I noticed explicit references to relatively recent dates: 1914, 1916 and 1918. But it mentions landowners of a much earlier epoch: D F Coghill (no doubt David Coghill, who died in 1847), Robert Maddrell, Henry Lees (a surety for Charles Walker’s license in 1857) and Michael Walker (third son of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey).

This map shows Jembaicumbene Creek, the swamp, Monga Lane coming up from Elrington and curving round to the east, and the Reidsdale Road running up in a north-westerly direction and crossing Bedding Ground Creek.

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Postal service conducted by Charles Walker

A big book has been compiled at Braidwood by Roslyn Maddrell on the subject of the mail service between 1835 and 1900. This publication contains all kinds of press cuttings, some of which I have been using in this monograph.

The following mail contract is mentioned for 1856:

Charles Walker; on horse back from and to Braidwood, Mullenderee and Moruya via Araluen; once a week; ÂŁ150.

Children of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey

Charles Walker and Ann Hickey had eleven children: Ann HICKEY b ~1822 Borris, Tipperary d 9 Aug 1898 Braidwood

Charles WALKER b ~1807 Cork d 21 May 1860 Reidsdale

m 8 Jul 1839 Lake Bathurst 1

2

3

John WALKER b 22 Jul 1840 Braidwood

4

5

6

7

Johannah WALKER b 1 Aug 1846 Irish Corner

Mary Ann WALKER b 1 Aug 1841 Braidwood

8

9

Patrick WALKER b 29 May 1845 Reidsdale

11

James WALKER b 21 Sep 1855 Reidsdale

Margaret WALKER b 4 Nov 1849 Reidsdale

Michael WALKER b 8 Apr 1843 Jembaicumbene

10

Catherine WALKER b 10 Oct 1857 Reidsdale

Charles WALKER b 20 Jun 1851 Moruya

Teresa WALKER b 13 Dec 1859 Reidsdale

Elizabeth WALKER b 13 Dec 1853 Reidsdale

Figure 2-27: Offspring of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

The Roman Catholic parish registers for Goulburn (copies held at the Genealogy Society in Sydney) contain records for the births of John, Mary, Michael, Patrick, Johannah and Margaret.

The record for Charles Walker came from Moruya, while the records for the last four children came from St Bede’s Church in Braidwood.

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Child #1 — John Walker 22 Jul 1840

Braidwood

error in year of birth

Thomas Woods

Ellen Cornant ?

Figure 2-28: Child #1, John Walker, born 22 July 1840.

The records for John and Mary Walker, and also the record for Margaret Salmon (daughter of Ann Hickey’s sister Mary), are dated 22 September 1841. In the registers of the RC parish of Goulburn, these records are numbered respectively 193, 191 and 190. The parents’ abode is Braidwood. I do not recognize the names of the godparents.

Child #2 — Mary Walker 1 Aug 1841

Braidwood

Edward Sharky

Maria Williams Figure 2-29: Child #2, Mary Walker, born 1 August 1841.

Child #3 — Michael Walker 8 Apr 1843

Jembaicumbene

John Hickey

Catherine McMahon Figure 2-30: Child #3, Michael Walker, born 8 April 1843.

The date of baptism is 20 May 1843, and the record number in the register is 175. The abode of the parents is indicated as Jembaicumbene. The godfather, John Hickey, is probably Ann’s brother. Catherine McMahon is probably a member of a neighboring family at Reidsdale (see figure 2-20). The final item in the record (not visible in the above figure) is the name of Michael Brennan, the priest.

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Child #4 — Patrick Walker Patrick Carey

29 May 1845

Eliza Hickey Figure 2-31: Child #4, Patrick Walker, born 29 May 1845.

The date of baptism is 14 September (1845), and the record number in the register is 719. The godmother, Eliza Hickey, is probably Ann’s sister.

Child #5 — Johannah Walker Irish Corner

1 Aug 1846

James Brunton

Catherine Brunton

Figure 2-32: Child #5, Johannah Walker, born 1 August 1846.

The date of baptism is 5 November (1846), and the record number is 1102. The family abode is indicated as Irish Corner. We encounter the name Brunton, which will be present in several ways in the life of the Hickey and Walker families of Reidsdale. The initials at the end of the record (not visible in the above figure) are those of R Walsh, no doubt the priest.

Child #6 — Margaret Walker John Mara

4 Nov 1849

Catherine Grady

Figure 2-33: Child #6, Margaret Walker, born 4 November 1849.

The date of baptism is 27 January 1850.

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Child #7 — Charles Walker

20 June 1851

Frank McMahon Bridget Brunton

Figure 2-34: Child #7, Charles Walker, born 20 June 1851.

This document, dated 4 August 1981, was sent to Margaret Lochhead by the parish priest.

The godfather is a neighbor (see figure 2-20). The godmother is another member of the Brunton family, already encountered (see figure 2-32).

Child #8, Elizabeth Walker Simas (Thomas ?) Ahern

13 Dec 1853

Catherine

Figure 2-35: Child #8, Elizabeth Walker, born 13 December 1853.

The records concerning the last four Walker children were obtained by Margaret Lochhead at the Braidwood RC church at Easter 1981. The baptismal date is 6 January 1854. I do not recognize the male sponsor. As for the female sponsor, this could be Catherine Brunton, wife of Ann Hickey’s brother William. The priest was Edward O’Brien.

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Child #9, James Walker

21 Sep 1855

John McMahon

Elizabeth Wisby

Figure 2-36: Child #9, James Walker, born 21 September 1855.

The baptismal date is 14 October 1855. The sponsors are neighbors (see figure 2-20).

Child #10, Catherine Walker

10 Oct 1857

Philip Maher

Sarah Maloney

Figure 2-37: Child #10, Catherine Walker, born 10 October 1857.

The baptismal date is 8 November 1857. The male sponsor is the neighbor mentioned in Charles Walker’s 1857 pub license (see figure 2-16).

Child #11, Teresa Walker 13 Dec 1859

William Maher

James Maher

Catherine Hickey

Figure 2-38: Child #11, Teresa Walker, born 13 December 1859.

The baptismal date is 22 December 1859. The male sponsors are members of the Maher family, mentioned already. The female sponsor could be Catherine Brunton, wife of Ann Hickey’s brother William (see figure 2-35).

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Death of Ann Hickey’s mother

Ann Hickey’s mother, Elizabeth Brerton, died in 1850, and her grave is located in Braidwood cemetery:

Figure 2-39: Tombstone in Braidwood Cemetery.

Here is the inscription (top four lines on the tombstone) concerning Elizabeth Brerton: Sacred to the memory of ELIZABETH HICKEY died 30th October 1850 aged 66 years.

I have never seen a death record for Elizabeth Brerton. There are two vague references in the NSW online indexes:

Figure 2-40: Death records for Eliza Hickey.

I found a copy of the first record at State Archives in the Rocks, but it is irrelevant. Maybe I should request a copy of the second record from NSW BDM. There might be a church record at Goulburn or Braidwood.

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Death of Ann Hickey’s father

Ann Hickey’s father, the ex-convict Patrick Hickey, died in Braidwood on 5 April 1858. Here (in four parts) is a copy of his death certificate:

Figure 2-41: Death certificate of Patrick Hickey (part 1/4).

The death occurred at Reidsdale (described as “near Braidwood”), and Patrick Hickey is designated as a farmer. Where exactly was he living in Reidsdale, and what land was he farming? Was he living on his own, or with members of his family?

His age is given as 76, which means that Patrick Hickey was born in 1782. This is why I indicated that year in the chart of figure 2-4, rather than the year of 1786 mentioned in Patrick’s ticket of leave (figure 2-5).

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Figure 2-42: Death certificate of Patrick Hickey (part 2/4).

It is not suprising that the 76-year-old ex-convict died if he had been suffering from asthma for 18 months and receiving no medical assistance.

The data in the central column is incomprehensible. Maybe the person who filled in the document simply interchanged inadvertently the second and third items, in which case that person intended to state that the father of the deceased was also named Patrick Hickey, that the father’s occupation was unknown, and that the mother of the deceased was named Elizabeth Brer(e)ton. But it is more likely that the person who filled in the document was confusing the wife and the mother of the deceased.

The informant was a Braidwood bricklayer named James Dunn. Why was this task not performed by a member of the family of the deceased? Maybe, by this time, the old ex-convict had been more or less abandoned by his family.

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Figure 2-43: Death certificate of Patrick Hickey (part 3/4).

The record was established by a certain Isaac Archibald.

In the third column, we discover that the informant, James Dunn, was also a witness of Patrick Hickey’s Catholic burial on 6 April 1858. This strengthens the impression that the deceased might have been abandoned by family members.

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Figure 2-44: Death certificate of Patrick Hickey (part 4/4).

The time spent in New South Wales, 28 years, indicates an arrival date of 1830. As stated in Patrick Hickey’s first ticket of leave (figure 2-5), he came on the Governor Ready, which arrived in New South Wales on 16 January 1829.

The absence of data concerning Hickey’s marriage and his children strengthens the impression that no family members contributed to this registration.

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Death of Charles Walker

Charles Walker died at Reidsdale on 21 May 1860, aged 53. Here (in four parts) is a copy of Charles Walker’s death certificate:

Figure 2-45: Death certificate of Charles Walker (part 1/4).

Figure 2-46: Death certificate of Charles Walker (part 2/4).

Death at such an early age after six days of delirium tremens suggests that Charles Walker might have been an alcoholic. It is strange, on the other hand, that a publican’s license would have been delievered to an individual who was known to be an alcoholic.

It is surprising to see that the data for this death registration was apparently provided by a neighbor, James Maher (sponsor at the baptism of Teresa Walker, see figure 2-38), rather than a member of the family.

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Figure 2-47: Death certificate of Charles Walker (part 3/4).

Figure 2-48: Death certificate of Charles Walker (part 4/4).

Notice the curious mistake concerning the given name of Charles’s wife, and the absence of knowledge of the place of marriage. This leads me to wonder if Ann Hickey might not have been absent from their home when Charles went on his fatal drinking spree.

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Obituary of Charles Walker

An obituary of Charles Walker appeared in The Braidwood Observer a few days after his death:

Figure 2-49: Obituary of Charles Walker.

The attendance of “about 300 persons� at the funeral of Charles Walker suggests that he was a well-known local figure.

In a publication named Back to Braidwood, there was an article on the origins of the GUOOF (Grand United Order of Oddfellows) in Braidwood. It was stated that the Dispatch newspaper gave the date of the foundation of the local lodge as 1856.

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Remarriage of Ann Hickey

After her husband’s death, Ann Hickey continued to run the Farmers’ Home, as seen in this newspaper advertisement:

Figure 2-50: Advertisement for the Farmers’ Home.

On 2 September 1862, the widow Ann Walker married Thomas Peter Gleeson at St Bede’s Catholic Church in Braidwood. Their witnesses were John O’Brien and Caroline Lyons.

Their son Thomas Peter Gleeson was born on 6 October 1863. At that time, the father stated that he was a carpenter, and the family lived at Tudor Valley, Braidwood. Like Ann Hickey, Thomas Gleeson came from Tipperary. Born around 1829, Gleeson was six years younger than his wife.

Ann’s husband died on 7 March 1898, making her a widow for the second time.

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Death of Ann Hickey

Ann Hickey died on 9 August 1898. Here is her death certificate:

Figure 2-51: Death certificate of Ann Hickey (part 1/4).

The registrar Hyde has inserted a note on the stub of the record stating that the expression “married woman” in column 3 should be replaced by “widow”.

The age of the deceased is stated as 76, indicating that she was born in 1822.

Figure 2-52: Death certificate of Ann Hickey (part 2/4).

The informant, the deceased’s nephew William McCarthy (who signed with an X mark, witnessed by the registrar Hyde), was the son of Ann’s sister Elizabeth (see figure 2-69).

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Figure 2-53: Death certificate of Ann Hickey (part 3/4).

The first witness might be a member of the undertaker’s family. The second witness, Michael Joseph O’Connell, was a son-in-law of the deceased, the husband of Catherine Walker.

Figure 2-54: Death certificate of Ann Hickey (part 4/4).

The period of 61 years in New South Wales confirms that Elizabeth Brerton and her children arrived in 1837.

The deceased son was James Walker, the South Grafton publican, who had died in 1894.

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Walker/Hickey tomb in Braidwood cemetry

Charles Walker and Ann Hickey are buried together in Braidwood cemetry. This might suggest that Ann’s second marriage was not looked upon favorably by the Walker offspring, who decided to have her buried alongside their father.... but this is pure speculation on my part.

Figure 2-55: Braidwood tomb of Charles Walker and his wife Ann.

Here is a transcription of the text: Gloria in excelsis deo Of your charity pray for the soul of CHARLES WALKER who departed this life 22nd May 1860 aged 53 years.

Requiescat in pace.

Also his beloved wife ANN who died 9th August 1898 aged 76 years.

May her soul rest in peace.

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The grave includes an unusual footstone:

Figure 2-56 : Footstone attached to the tomb shown in the previous figure.

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part IV — Reidsdale Hickey context In this fourth part of the chapter, I attempt to identify the relatives of our Ann Hickey.

Family context of Ann Hickey

The following chart presents information I have been able to obtain concerning the structure of the family of Patrick Hickey nd Elizabeth Brerton in New South Wales: Patrick HICKEY b 1782 Ireland d 5 Apr 1858 Reidsdale 1

John SALMON

2

Mary HICKEY b 1817 Borrisleigh d 4 Jun 1854

m 17 Jul 1839 Lake Bathurst

Elizabeth BRERTON b 1784 Ireland d 30 Oct 1850 Braidwood

3

4

Margaret HICKEY b 1819 Borrisleigh Thomas BRUNTON b ~1783 d 1860 Braidwood

William HICKEY b 1818 Borrisleigh d 18 Sep 1901 Reidsdale

5

6

7

Michael John HICKEY HICKEY b 1825 b 1827 Borrisleigh Borrisleigh ?

Catherine BRUNTON b 1820 d 10 Sep 1901 Braidwood

m 24 May 1847 Bungendore James McCARTHY b 1820 Cork d 3 Sep 1899 Reidsdale

Elizabeth HICKEY b 1821 Borrisleigh d 11 May 1918 Braidwood

m 21 Jun 1846 Braidwood

Charles WALKER b ~1807 Cork d 21 May 1860 Reidsdale

Ann HICKEY b 1822 Borrisleigh d 9 Aug 1898 Braidwood

m 8 Jul 1839 Lake Bathurst

Figure 2-57: Family of Patrick Hickey and Elizabeth Brerton in New South Wales.

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Family of Ann’s sister Mary Hickey

Mary Hickey married John Salmon shortly after the marriage of her sister Ann and Charles Walker, and the Salmon family lived alongside the Walkers at Reidsdale.

John SALMON

Mary HICKEY b 1817 Borrisleigh d 4 Jun 1854

m 17 Jul 1839 Lake Bathurst

Margaret SALMON b 19 Oct 1840

John CONNOLLEY

Johannah Mary SALMON

m 1869 Braidwood Figure 2-58: Family of Ann Hickey’s sister Mary.

I obtained the data concerning Mary’s death from a microfilmed record I examined at State Archives in the Rocks. The age of the deceased was indicated as 30, which does not agree with her birth date suggested in Patrick Hickey’s application of 1836. Her abode is indicated by an illegible name that looks like Saferindy.

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Family of Ann’s brother William Hickey

Here is the family of William Hickey and Catherine Brunton: Thomas BRUNTON b ~1783 d 1860 Braidwood William HICKEY b 1818 Borrisleigh d 18 Sep 1901 Reidsdale

?

Catherine BRUNTON b 1820 d 10 Sep 1901 Braidwood

m 24 May 1847 Bungendore 1

2

Catherine HICKEY b 14 Jun 1848 Reidsdale James CAHILL

3 Mary HICKEY b 3 Jul 1852 Reidsdale d 8 Dec 1855

4

5

John HICKEY b 1856

6 Patrick HICKEY b 1862 d 1862

7 Thomas HICKEY b 1862

William HICKEY b 1861

Elizabeth HICKEY b 1850 d 23 Jun 1886

8

James HICKEY b 1866

m 1875 Figure 2-59: Family of William Hickey and Catherine Brunton.

As indicated earlier on, in figure 2-32, William Hickey’s future wife was a witness at the christening of Johannah Walker in 1846.

At the State Archives in Sydney’s Rocks area, there is a microfilmed copy of the RC church record concerning the marriage of William Hickey and Catherine Brunton, performed at Bungendore by a priest named Michael Kavanagh from Queanbeyan. This record states that William Hickey came from Reidsdale, and Catherine Brunton from Bungendore. The witnesses were Patrick Hofferman of Reidsdale and Mary Ann Quigley of Sand Hills.

William and Catherine had eight children. On several early birth records I found at the State Archives, William Hickey is designated as a farmer living at Reidsdale. Of the eight children, four died while their parents were still alive.

William and Catherine lived until they were respectively 83 and 81, and they died within eight days of each other. They were buried in the same tomb as William’s mother (figure 2-39) and their infant daughter Mary.

Here is the text concerning their daughter:

Also MARY HICKEY died 8th December 1855 aged 3 years & 6 months.

And here is the text concerning the Hickey parents: Also CATHERIN HICKEY died 10th September 1900 aged 82 years.

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Also WILLIAM HICKEY died 18th September 1900 aged 84 years.

Curiously, the tombstone (whose inscriptions appear to have been executed by the same stonemason, maybe well after the deaths of the various individual) contains errors. Besides the missing “e” at the end of Catherine’s given name, the year of death of both William and Catherine should be 1901, not 1900.

The second daughter, Elizabeth, married James Cahill in 1875. She died in 1886. Her grave, erected by her brother John, imitates a tree trunk. It is located alongside that of her parents.

Figure 2-60: Tombstone of William Hickey’s daughter Elizabeth.

Here is the transcription: Gloria in excelsis deo In memory of ELIZABETH CAHILL youngest daughter of WILLIAM and CATHERINE HICKEY of Reidsdale who died June 23 1886 aged 36 years.

Erected by her affectionate brother JOHN HICKEY Requiescat in pace.

In the above photo, the tomb of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey can be seen just behind that of Elizabeth Cahill.

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Death certificate of Catherine Brunton

Catherine Brunton died on 10 September 1901. Here is her death certificate:

Figure 2-61: Death certificate of Catherine Brunton (part 1/4).

Since Catherine was 81 when she died in 1901, we can conclude that she was born in 1820.

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Figure 2-62: Death certificate of Catherine Brunton (part 2/4).

Catherine’s father, Thomas Brunton, was a blacksmith.

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Figure 2-63: Death certificate of Catherine Brunton (part 3/4).

The witnesses of Catherine’s burial were Donald Grant and Edward Torpy.

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Figure 2-64: Death certificate of Catherine Brunton (part 4/4).

Catherine Brunton’s birthplace was Naas in county Kildare, located midway between Dublin and the town of Kildare. She arrived in New South Wales around 1838, at about the age of 18.

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Death certificate of William Hickey

William Hickey died on 18 September 1901. Here is his death certificate:

Figure 2-65: Death certificate of William Hickey (part 1/4).

As in birth records concerning his children, William Hickey is described as a farmer settld in Reidsdale. Since William was 83 when he died in 1901, we can conclude that he was born in 1818.

William Hickey’s farm was no doubt the property indicated at the bottom of figure 2-21, in the middle, whose owner is designated as W Hickey.

In that same map, the owners of an adjoining property are designated as W & T Hickey and R Harens. I have no reasons to believe that the latter Hickeys, probably named William and Thomas, were related to the family of the ex-convict Patrick Hickey.

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Figure 2-66: Death certificate of William Hickey (part 2/4).

William ’s father is designated as Michael Hickey, which is surely an error. And he is described as a laborer. William’s true father, the ex-convict Patrick Hickey, had been dead for 43 years, and his last occupation (stated on his death certificate) was a farmer. So, it is possible that the informant, George Higgs, was unaware of the true identity of the deceased’s father. Besides, William had a deceased brother named Michael (see figure 2-57), and it is possible that Higgs imagined that this Michael had been William’s father.

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Figure 2-67: Death certificate of William Hickey (part 3/4).

The witnesses of William Hickey’s burial were George M Styles and George Higgins. The latter name appeared already in figure 2-20, indicating that he was a Reidsdale neighbor.

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Figure 2-68: Death certificate of William Hickey (part 4/4).

William Hickey’s birthplace was no doubt the townland of Borrisleigh in Tipperary. If he had been in New South Wales for 65 years, this would mean that he arrived in 1836. As I explained earlier, the convict Patrick Hickey lodged an application on 17 September 1836 requesting that his wife and family be brought to join him in New South Wales. I therefore suspect that it was probably in the following year, 1837, that Willim Hickey set foot here.

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Family of Ann’s sister Elizabeth Hickey

Elizabeth Hickey married James McCarthy, and they had numerous offspring: James McCARTHY b 1820 Cork d 3 Sep 1899 Reidsdale

Elizabeth HICKEY b 1821 Borrisleigh d 11 May 1918 Braidwood

m 21 Jun 1846 Braidwood 1

2

3

Joseph McCARTHY d 1849

4

5

6

Ann McCARTHY b 10 Apr 1855 Dampier d 10 Apr 1906 Braidwood

Mary McCARTHY b 23 Mar 1847 d 24 Jun 1878

7

9

Patrick McCARTHY b 12 Oct 1862 Braidwood

John McCARTHY b 9 Aug 1857 Braidwood d 1932 Goulburn

William McCARTHY b 17 May 1850 Reidsdale d 19 Nov 1945 Young

8

Michael McCARTHY b 15 Mar 1866 Braidwood d 12 Jan 1949 Braidwood

Margaret McCARTHY b 14 Jul 1860 Braidwood

Charles McCARTHY b 1 Feb 1869 Braidwood

Figure 2-69: Family of Ann Hickey’s sister Elizabeth.

The data used to create the above chart was obtained recently from a fellow-researcher: my fourth cousin Michael Toohey, descendant of William McCarthy [1850-1945].

The McCarthy/Hickey marriage record indicates that both the groom and the bride resided at Reidsdale, but there is no indication of the groom’s occupation. The witnesses were Patrick Riley of Braidwood and Eliza Hickey of Reidsdale. The latter witness was no doubt the bride’s mother, Elizabeth Brerton. It is interesting to note that the groom, the bride and the witnesses all signed by X marks.

The baptismal record for William McCarthy indicates that his father was a farmer at Reidsdale. Later on, settled at Nelligen, William McCarthy was the informant (see figure 2-52) concerning the death of his aunt Ann Hickey in 1898.

The baptismal record for Charles McCarthy suggests that his father James, still a farmer at Reidsdale, would have been born in Limerick in 1822. This record also suggests that the child’s mother, Elizabeth Hickey, would have been born in Limerick in 1828. I consider this data as erroneous, and prefer to retain the information proposed by other records.

The death record of James McCarthy indicates that he was born in Cork in 1820 (the data I have used in the above figure) and that he reached New South Wales in 1846 (the year of his marriage). Witnesses were E Torpy (see figure 2-63) and W Gardiner.

The death record of Elizabeth Hickey, who was 97 when she died, states that she was born in 1821, and reached New South Wales in 1838.

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Other Reidsdale Hickey-Quigley-Brunton people

Peter Mayberry sent me the following data, without explaining where it came from: Michael Hickey b Limerick aged 34 Living at Reidsdale father John Hickey (living) & mother Mary Dwyer (dead) married 21 Aug 1868 Braidwood Mrs Mary Ann Brunton [Widow in 1854] b Donegal age 34 Living Sand Hills near Bungendore father James Quigley (dead) & mother Sarah McPhelon (living)

Here is an expanded graphical transcription of this data: Sarah McPHELON

James QUIGLEY John BRUNTON d 1854

1

Mary Ann QUIGLEY b Donegal

m 1848

LW = RC Cooma, Monaro, Queanbeyan...

1

2

James BRUNTON b 1849

Angela BRUNTON b 1850

John HICKEY

3

4

Sarah BRUNTON b 1852

Mary DWYER

Michael HICKEY b ~1834 Limerick living Reidsdale b d m NSW BDM record exists

John BRUNTON b 1854

2

Mary Ann QUIGLEY b ~1834 Donegal widow BRUNTON living near Bungendore

m 21 Aug 1868 Braidwood Figure 2-70: Reidsdale Hickey-Quigley-Brunton people.

John Brunton senior, who died in the same year (1854) that his fourth child was born, was possibly a brother of Catherine Brunton, who married William Hickey in 1847.

As noted earlier on, Mary Ann Quigley of Sand Hills was a witness at the marriage of William Hickey and Catherine Brunton (see figure 2-59). At that time, Mary Ann Quigley would have been an adolescent, not yet married to her first husband.

I also noted earlier on that Catherine Brunton was a witness at the christening of Johannah Walker in 1846 (see figure 2-32). The other witness was a James Brunton, but this could not be the man of that name in the above chart. It is more likely that the witness at the Walker christening in 1846 was a brother of John Brunton senior and Catherine.

I have no reasons to believe that the Hickeys whose names appear in the above chart, John and his son Michael, were related to the family of the ex-convict Patrick Hickey. They were possibly relatives of the W & T Hickey designated in figure 2-21 as owners of land in Reidsdale.

These questions could be explored by obtaining some of the BDM records whose existence is indicated in the above figure.

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More Reidsdale Hickey people

I drew up the following chart using miscellaneous data: John HICKEY b Castleconnell, Limerick

b d m

Bridget BARRETT b Limerick

Thomas HICKEY b ~1811 Castleconnell m NSW ~1838 1859 farmer d 14 Oct 1859 Reidsdale

NSW BDM record exists

Mary MAHER

m ~1829

John HICKEY b ~1832 Ireland d 1896 Sydney

Patrick EGAN

Maria

Patrick EGAN b 1831 ~1860 butcher 1869 petition d 19 Dec 1871 Braidwood

Catherine HICKEY b ~1838 d 1898 Nowra

m 1853

Thomas EGAN b 1854

Mary EGAN b 1856 Braidwood

John EGAN b 1860 Braidwood

William EGAN b 1864 Braidwood

Daniel EGAN b 1868 Braidwood

Figure 2-71: More Reidsdale Hickey people.

The Thomas Hickey in this chart is no doubt one of the landowners designated in figure 2-21.

And, as I have already said, I have no reasons to believe that any of the Hickeys whose names appear in the above chart were related to the family of my ex-convict ancestor Patrick Hickey.

They were almost certainly Reidsdale neighbors of the Walker/Hickey couple and the Hickey/ Brunton couple, but not relatives.

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Reidsdale petition of 1869

In 1869, many Reidsdale citizens signed a petition concerning a problem of the local postal service. Here are several Hickey signatures:

Figure 2-72: Five Hickeys (two Williams, two Johns and a James) signed a Reidsdale petition in 1869.

It appears that, at Reidsdale in 1869, there were at least two William Hickeys, two John Hickeys and a James Hickey. Handwriting in the petition suggests at times that a single individual may have signed on behalf of others, no doubt because the others were illiterate. It is easy to associate the Hickey signatures in the petition with individuals in Reidsdale, as follows: • One of the William Hickeys would be our relative, the 51-year-old husband of Catherine Brunton.

• The other William Hickey might be the neighbor whose property, shown in figure 2-21, is said to belong to W & T Hickey & R Harens. But there is no proof that this individual was still alive at the time of the petition, in 1869.

• One of the John Hickeys would be Ann’s brother, aged 42.

• The other John Hickey could be the 37-year-old son of the late Thomas Hickey, whose name appears in figure 2-71.

• As for the James Hickey in the petition, did somebody sign on behalf of the 3-year-old son of William and Catherine? If so, we should then admit the possibility that the second William represents somebody signing on behalf of the 8-year-old son of William and Catherine.

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part V — Walker offspring In this fifth part of the chapter, I present a genealogical chart for each of the eleven children of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

Child n° 1 of Charles and Ann: John Walker Catherine MULLONEY

Phillip MAHER

Margaret MAHER b ~1839 Cronen (Tipperary) d 11 Sep 1921 Mullion Creek, Orange

John WALKER b 22 Jul 1840 Braidwood d 31 Oct 1928 Mullion Creek, Orange

m 13 Jan 1861 Reidsdale 1

2

3

Agnes WALKER

4

5

6

Charles WALKER b 18 Apr 1865 Reidsdale d 14 Jul 1899

Catherine WALKER b 8 Oct 1861 Reidsdale d 20 Jan 1941 Orange Ann WALKER b 3 Apr 1863 Reidsdale d 29 Nov 1899

7

8

9

Ellen WALKER b 16 Feb 1875 Reidsdale

Philip WALKER b 25 Oct 1867 Reidsdale d 27 Apr 1941

John WALKER b 3 May 1877 Reidsdale d 31 Oct 1928

Mary WALKER b 10 Feb 1873 Reidsdale d 27 Jul 1892

Stanislaus WALKER b 5 May 1882 Orange d 24 Jul 1944 Dover Heights

Figure 2-73: John, first offspring of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

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Child n° 2 of Charles and Ann: Mary Walker Susan ?

Thomas ROWLAND

Isaiah ROWLAND b ~1826 Sydney

Mary Ann WALKER b 1 Aug 1841 Braidwood

m 30 May 1860 Braidwood 1

2

Mary ROWLAND b 1863 Sydney d 1863

Mary ROWLAND b 1865 Sydney

3

Susan ROWLAND d 1867 Orange

4

Milicent ROWLAND b 1870 Orange

Figure 2-74: Mary, second offspring of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

Notes • Isaiah Rowland was a surveyor.

• This was the second marriage of Isaiah Rowland (source Margaret Lochhead).

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Child n° 3 of Charles and Ann: Michael Walker Anne HARMAN

Andrew LYONS

Marcella

Mathew NOLAN Ellen NOLAN b 1831 d 1921 Braidwood

Marcus LYONS b ~1826 Glendalough, Co Wicklow d 6 Dec 1897 Braidwood

Anne LYONS b ~1853 Co Wicklow d 22 Mar 1910 Milton

Michael WALKER b 8 Apr 1843 Jembaicumbene d 16 Jul 1932 Murwillumbah

m 17 Sep 1871 Araluen 1

2

3

4

Charles WALKER b 1872 Braidwood

5

6

7

8

Ellen WALKER b 22 Jul 1881 Ulladulla

George WALKER b 25 Jan 1875 Broulee Edward WALKER b 18 Aug 1876 Merricumbene Marcus WALKER b 3 Jul 1878 Araluen

9

10

11

12

Matthew WALKER b 1889 Milton

Monica WALKER b 1883 Dowling

Kathleen WALKER b 1890 Milton

William WALKER b 10 Jul 1885 Milton

John WALKER b 1892 Milton

James WALKER b 26 Jun 1887 Milton

Lucy WALKER b 1896 Milton

Figure 2-75: Michael, third offspring of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

Notes • Mary Bone is a descendant of offspring n° 8, James.

• Offspring n° 5, Ellen, is named Marcella (see maternal great-grandmother) by Mary Bone and Marcellina by Peter Mayberry.

• Peter Mayberry indicates the birthplace of George as Merricumbene, and that of Ellen/ Marcellina and William as Brooman.

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Child n° 4 of Charles and Ann: Patrick Walker Ann KEEFE

Thomas MURPHY

Bridget MURPHY b 1857 d 1893 Maclean

Patrick WALKER b 29 May 1845 Reidsdale d 16 May 1941 Mullumbimby

m 1873 Moruya 1

2

Thomas WALKER b 7 Jul 1874 Grafton d ~1891

3

4

Sylvester WALKER b 21 Mar 1878 Grafton d 16 Feb 1949

James WALKER b 18 Apr 1876 Grafton d 17 Nov 1967

5

6

Joseph WALKER b 14 Sep 1882 Grafton d 1966

John WALKER b 6 Sep 1880 Grafton d 1958

7

8

9

Patrick WALKER b 17 Dec 1886 Maclean

Charles WALKER b 6 Nov 1884 Grafton William WALKER b 26 Apr 1889 Maclean d 6 Nov 1990 Mullumbimby

Ann WALKER b 18 Aug 1891 Maclean d 1905

Figure 2-76: Patrick, fourth offspring of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

Notes • The marriage certificate indicates Broulee rather than Moruya.

• The graves of Patrick Walker, his wife and their son Thomas (who died at the age of 17) are in Maclean. Some members of the family are buried in Mullumbimby.

• John Walker married Emily Tarlinton at Bega in 1907. They are the parents of Len Walker in Billinudgel. I once exchanged letters with his wife Doreen.

• I see in the NSW BDM files that a James Walker married Nora Tarlinton at Bega in 1901, and a Charles Walker married Mary Tarlinton at Bega in 1911. Is it conceivable that three brothers married three sisters?

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Reidsdale Catholic School

The following short article in a Braidwood newspaper probably dates from January 1859, when prize-winning “Master Patrick Walker� was 13 years old:

Figure 2-77 : Article on Reidsdale Catholic School.

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Child n째 5 of Charles and Ann: Johannah Walker Caroline ?

Joseph MOULDER

Johannah WALKER b 1 Aug 1846 Reidsdale

Edward MOULDER b 1844

m 1867 Orange 1

2

3

Joseph MOULDER b 1868 Orange

4

5

6

Edith MOULDER b 1881 Forbes

Caroline MOULDER b 1870 Orange Amy MOULDER b 1876 Forbes

7

8

9

Charles MOULDER b 1887 Condobolin

Henry MOULDER b 1883 Condobolin Eliza MOULDER b 1885 Condobilin

Joseph MOULDER b 1890 Condobolin Catto MOULDER b 1892 Condobolin

Figure 2-78: Johannah, fifth offspring of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

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Child n° 7 of Charles and Ann: Charles Walker Mary O’KEEFFE b 26 May 1859 Preston (Lancaster) d 19 Oct 1933 Grafton

Charles WALKER b 20 Jun 1851 Moruya d 22 Dec 1918 Grafton

m 1 Apr 1877 South Grafton 1

2

3

Florence WALKER b 1878 Grafton

4

5

6

James WALKER b 1885 Grafton

Michael WALKER b 1879 Grafton

7

John WALKER b 1892

Catherine WALKER b 9 Nov 1886 South Grafton

Charles WALKER b 10 Dec 1882 South Grafton d 11 Nov 1937 South Grafton

Alice WALKER b 1889

Figure 2-79: Charles, seventh offspring of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

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Child n° 8 of Charles and Ann: Elizabeth Walker Catherine

Charles ROLLS

Elizabeth WALKER b 13 Dec 1853 Reidsdale d 1905 Hillgrove

George ROLLS b 1845

m 1877 South Grafton 1

2

George ROLLS b 1878 Grafton

3

4

Charles ROLLS b 1882 Grafton

Annie Maria ROLLS b 1880 Grafton

5

6

Catherine ROLLS b 1888 Grafton

May ROLLS b 1884 Grafton

7

8

James ROLLS b 1892 Grafton

Alice ROLLS b 1889 Grafton

Elizabeth ROLLS b 1894 Grafton

Figure 2-80: Elizabeth, eighth offspring of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

Notes • Hillgrove, the place where Elizabeth Walker is buried, is a mining town between Armidale and Ebor. There are old black-and-white photos of the mines on the web.

• It is possible that offspring n° 7, James, married Lillie Layton in 1915 in Hillgrove.

• Data from Colin Borrott-Maloney indicates that Elizabeth, in 1898, was linked to a man named Guy Fawkes. He is described as her second husband, but a note contradicts this by stating that they never married. I do not know the origin of this data, but it might be based upon a misunderstanding. Near Armidale, there is a river called Guy Fawkes.

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Child n° 9 of Charles and Ann: James Walker Elizabeth O’KEEFE b 1862 Paterson d 4 Jun 1942 South Grafton

James WALKER b 21 Sep 1855 Reidsdale d 8 Jun 1894 South Grafton

m 1882 Grafton

Charles Lawrence WALKER b 1884 Maclean d 28 Apr 1970 South Grafton

Thomas STONE

Alacoque Alethea STONE b 1897 Taree d 3 Feb 1963 South Grafton

m 1918 Granville 1

Margaret WALKER

Kate

Michael WALKER b 1887 Grafton d 7 Nov 1954 South Grafton

2

Elizabeth WALKER

Figure 2-81: James, ninth offspring of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

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Child n° 10 of Charles and Ann: Catherine Walker Michael Joseph O’CONNELL b 10 May 1858 Stony Creek, Krawarree d 14 Nov 1920 Redfern, Sydney

Catherine Mary WALKER b 10 Oct 1857 Reidsdale d 18 Apr 1939 Surry Hills, Sydney

m 9 Jul 1879 St Bede’s RC, Braidwood 1

2

3

James O’CONNELL b 27 Dec 1879 Braidwood d 3 Apr 1884 Braidwood

4

5

6

Charles O’CONNELL b 16 Aug 1883 Braidwood d 22 Apr 1900 Braidwood

Charles O’CONNELL b 12 Dec 1881 Braidwood d 13 Dec 1881 Braidwood Esther O’CONNELL b 2 Apr 1886 Braidwood d ~1981

John O’CONNELL b 1885 Braidwood d Apr 1933

7

8

9

Cornelius O’CONNELL b 20 Oct 1889 Braidwood d 1933 Sydney Theresa O’CONNELL b 26 Mar 1891 Braidwood d 1932 Redfern

Elizabeth O’CONNELL b 23 Sep 1888 Braidwood d 26 Oct 1888 Braidwood

Jane O’CONNELL b 13 Jun 1893 Braidwood d 1971

Figure 2-82: Catherine, tenth offspring of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

Notes • The spelling of O’Connell with an O is used in NSW BDM certificates. This is the same family whose bushranger relatives were named Connell. I shall no doubt end up using both names, retaining Connell for the bushrangers and changing to O’Connell in the case of individuals whose name is spelt as such in BDM certificates.

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Child n° 11 of Charles and Ann: Teresa Walker John ELLIGOTT

Teresa WALKER b 13 Dec 1859 Reidsdale

m 1889 Sydney Figure 2-83: Teresa, eleventh offspring of Charles Walker and Ann Hickey.

Notes • Should this woman’s given name be spelt as Theresa?

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part VI — Recent photos of Reidsdale

Figure 2-84: Signpost on the Araluen Road.

Figure 2-85: Dirt road to Reidsdale.

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Figure 2-86: Reidsdale property.

Figure 2-87: Great Dividing Range viewed from Reidsdale.

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Figure 2-88: Fairview house of Kennedys then Hickeys.

Figure 2-89: St Bernard’s Church.

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Figure 2-90: St Bernard’s Church.

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part VII — Doubts about the Irishness of Charles Walker Ever since I started researching my mother’s people, I have been surprised by the relatively small amount of information that existed concerning the patriarchal Charles Walker of Braidwood. In the beginning, four elements in the archives concerning Charles Walker gave me the impression that he might have been a significant resident of the Braidwood region: • His inclusion in the list of 19 men who had sent a letter to the Colonial Secretary in 1838 requesting that the township be surveyed.

• His census data in 1841, depicting Charles Walker as a landed proprietor employing a couple of ex-convicts as shepherds.

• His obtention of a publican’s license for the Farmers’ Home.

• Finally, his obituary in The Braidwood Observer.

But none of these elements told us anything whatsoever about the man himself or his origins, supposedly in Ireland.

It was only in April 2004 that a fellow-researcher, Colin Borrott-Maloney, unearthed a major element of information: the fact that Charles Walker had reached New South Wales in 1833 as a steward aboard the barque Caroline. And this enabled us to dismiss the possibility that our Charles Walker might have been an Irish convict, like his future father-in-law Patrick Hickey.

But we still knew remarkably little about Walker’s origins.

I was always intrigued by the age disparity between Charles Walker and Ann Hickey. When they married at Lake Bathurst in 1839, he was 32 and she was only 17.

More recently, two other fellow-researchers, Elizabeth Cook and Pamela Punch, have informed us that Charles Walker’s future wife, Ann Hickey, was the daughter of an ex-convict from Tipperary, Patrick Hickey. The question about my ancestor’s origins could be rephrased in a new light: Who was this 32-year-old Braidwood gentleman, former steward on a British vessel carrying families of convicts, who had fallen in love with a 17-year-old daughter of an Irish convict? My initial reaction was to imagine that the Irish steward Charles Walker had first set eyes upon his future loved one during the 1833 voyage of the Caroline. But that was not the case, since Ann Hickey only arrived in New South Wales some four years later, in 1837. Apparently, we have a quite different situation: that of a future Braidwood landowner who has suddenly become infatuated by an adolescent Irish girl who has just arrived in the locality.

I try to imagine, too, what must have been taking place in the head of Ann Hickey. After years of stigma in Tipperary as one of the seven children whose father had been transported for life to the Antipodes for the vulgar crime of cattle stealing, the Irish adolescent now found herself desired by a 32-year-old ex-steward named Charles Walker who was hobnobbing with distinguished English landowners—such as Captain John Coghill and Dr David Reid—who were determining the future of Braidwood. The parents of Ann must have been somewhat dumbfounded, too, by the speed at which things were evolving. Besides, a Braidwood settler with the un-Irish name of Salmon had demanded the hand of their eldest daughter, Mary.

Consequently, to bring them back to a certain reality, Patrick Hickey and Elizabeth Brerton no doubt appealed to the sole moral authority that they could possibly recognize in this strange new world of New South Wales: the Roman Catholic Church. One can imagine that they agreed upon the idea that their lovely daughters should be swept away by New World grooms... but only if these gentlemen were in fact bona fide Roman Catholics. So, in the church record of Ann’s marriage (figure 2-6), we find that the main accent is placed upon a declaration of this kind from the two partners. But was Charles Walker really a Roman Catholic Irishman?

My initial doubts concerning this question stem from the obvious fact that Walker is not a

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typically Irish family name, and that the given name Charles is even less typical. In the British Isles, at the start of the 19th century, the name Charles might have been associated with the recent episode of the Stuart descendant Charles Edward, the Young Pretender [1720-1788].

Charles was the given name of Cornwallis, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who had sent General Joseph Holt [1756-1826], leader of the 1798 rebellion in Wicklow, to exile in Australia. In Cork, in 1807, it is hard to imagine an Irish Catholic mother calling her son Charles.

A major interrgation concerning Charles Walker’s background appeared for the first time in a letter to me, dated 24 November 1980, from Len and Doreen Walker of Billinudgel: Now there is a story Len’s father used to tell about two Walker brothers. One, named John, went to Scotland, was the founder of Johnnie Walker whisky, who, he said, was an ancestor of this family of Walker. The other man, a great grandfather, possibly a Charles.

This anecdote was unexpected and exciting. Is it possible that our Charles Walker [1807-1860] was a brother of the famous John Walker [1805-1857] of Kilmarnock, inventor of whisky? Before examining such an audacious question, which might be referred to as the Scottish hypothesis, let us look at the individuals evoked by Doreen: John WALKER [1805-1857]

Charles WALKER [1807-1860] Patrick WALKER [1845-1941]

storyteller

John Albert WALKER [1880-1958] Len WALKER

Figure 2-91: Individuals concerned by the whisky hypothesis.

Doreen’s letter of 1980 states that the story of the Scottish hypothesis used to be told by Len’s father: John Albert (Jack) Walker [1880-1958], fourth son of the Brunswick Valley pioneer Patrick Walker [1845-1941]. According to Doreen, Jack Walker’s story affirmed that the whisky inventor was our ancestor, and that the other brother, “possibly a Charles”, was “a great grandfather” (of Len). Doreen says that the whisky inventor “went to Scotland”, but does not say from where.

There is no mention of Ireland in Doreen’s anecdote.

Jack Walker had ample time to talk about family history with his father, for they both lived in the Mullumbimby district for decades. The Scottish hypothesis is therefore an orallytransmitted family legend that the adolescent Patrick Walker probably heard for the first time from his widowed mother in the setting of The Farmers’ Home in Reidsdale.

Since we have no Irish records whatsoever concerning our ancestor Charles Walker, the obvious starting-point for evaluating the plausibility of the Scottish hypothesis consisted of looking into John Walker genealogy. I decided to start the ball rolling by contacting the Johnnie Walker company itself, which is now part of a huge group called Diageo. In May 2006, I received the following reply from Christine Jones, who is in charge of archives at Diageo: Dear William, Thank you for your message. It has been forwarded to myself at the Diageo Archive where we look after the historical records of all Diageo’s brand companies, including Johnnie Walker.

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Unfortunately, we have very little information regarding John Walker’s family. We know that he was born at Todriggs, Riccarton on 25th July 1805, son of Alexander Walker and Elizabeth Gemmell, both of Riccarton Parish, who had married on 11 May 1804. We know that Alexander Walker died c1819 but we don’t know if John had any siblings.

I suggest that you contact the South Ayrshire Council archives to see if they can search the parish registers for you. If your search is successful, please let me know, so that we can add this information to our files.

Good luck with your research !

Kind regards, Christine Diageo Archive Manager

This reply leaves the road open for research, while indicating that Diageo would be interested in seeing the outcome of such research. So, the ball is now in our court. Meanwhile, before contacting genealogical sources in Scotland, it is interesting to reflect upon other aspects of our Scottish hypothesis.

Ever since learning in 2004 that Charles Walker had worked his way to New South Wales as a steward aboard a “female convict ship” (as the Caroline is described at the top of the crew list, figure 2-2), I wondered how a young Irishman from Cork could have obtained such a job. As I indicated near the start of this chapter, the owner of the Caroline was a Newcastle-upon-Tyne banker, William Chapman, and a man from Calcutta, Eliot MacNaughten, and the name of the master was Alex McDonald. Would it be normal for such individuals to call upon the services of a native of Cork as a steward aboard a convict vessel, in 1833, when Ireland was in a constant state of unrest, bordering on civil war, and the English were sending shiploads of Irish political prisoners to New South Wales? In such a climate, the idea of employing an Irish steward on a vessel such as the Caroline would have been looked upon, by Irish deportees, as a provocation.

And the Irish crew member in question would have stood the risk of being killed or maimed.

The Scottish hypothesis implies that Charles Walker was in fact a native of Scotland and probably, like the whisky inventor, a Protestant. His hiring as a steward by Alex McDonald would have probably taken place in England or Scotland, and Charles Walker’s only link with Cork was the fact that this was the port of departure for the voyage to New South Wales. But why would Charles Walker have lied about being an Irish Catholic? An obvious motive is the likelihood that the parents of Ann Hickey might not have accepted the marriage of their young daughter with a Scottish Protestant. Charles may not have been particularly concerned about religion, which would have made it a simple matter to tell the priest that he was a confirmed Catholic from Cork.

Consequently, our Scottish hypothesis implies a negative evaluation of the behavior of Charles Walker, since we are suggesting in an explicitly derogatory fashion that he was a liar.

Now, many researchers consider that, when we are faced with a family legend of a negative kind, it probably reflects the truth, because descendants of the deceased person would rapidly squash such a legend if its derogatory content was totally fictitious. In other words, the fact that the Scottish hypothesis has survived for well over a century, in spite of its implication that our ancestor was a liar, suggests that Charles Walker’s descendants were incapable of eradicating this legend, which is therefore probably true. After all, to eliminate immediately the Scottish hypothesis, if indeed it were fictitious, all they had to do was to obtain proof of the fact that Charles Walker was born in Ireland and brought up as a Catholic. And that element of proof would have dispelled forever the notion that Charles Walker might have been a liar. But nobody ever obtained such a proof... maybe because it did not exist. Conclusion: The Scottish hypothesis is probably not fictitious.

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