Joseph Stafford (my 2xgreat-grandfather) was born c 1840 in the town of Wexford, County Wexford, Ireland.  His parents were Roman Catholics named Peter Stafford - a tailor - and Mary Whitty. The town of Wexford is located in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Ferns.

To view a map of the diocese and further details about the parishes click here:

Little is known about Joe's early years, however his daughter Kate described him as a seafaring man.  His association with the sea started from a very early age when he served as a "powder monkey" on board a ship during the Crimean War.  Joe would have been in his early to mid-teens at this time and his job would have entailed carrying the powder to the cannons on deck.

To learn more about the Cusack/O'Neill family follow this link:

Follow this link to visit the Queensland State Library and see Brisbane in 1870 and at other time periods.

It is not known how or when Joe came to Australia, but by the 1860s he was living in Brisbane in the newly founded colony of Queensland where he formed a relationship with Bridget O'Neill (aka Bridget Cusack).

Joe and Bridget lived in Brisbane where they are alleged to have owned a block of land in Edward Street, Brisbane, near to what is now the entrance to the Botanic Gardens.  The story goes that they were conned into selling by unscrupulous lawyers.  It is believed that an iron foundry owned by the Smellie family was later built on the site.

In 1866, the birth of their first child, a daughter named Kate Ellen (married Johannes Ammenhauser), saw them living in the Brisbane suburb of Spring Hill, at that time on the very fringe of the developing township.  Two years later when their son William Alfred was born, their address was stated as Boundary Street, Spring Hill.  A second daughter, Maud Mary (known as Mary, married Ernest Adolphus Sutton Ward) was also born in Brisbane.  After this time however, Joe and Bridget moved to the township of Bundaberg on the Burnett River, where their remaining children were born.  These were James, Alice (married Frank Edward Collingwood), John, Clara Theresa (married Andrew von Nida), Thomas and Stephen (known as Henry).  At the time of Stephen's birth in 1883 their address was stated as Woondooma Street, Bundaberg.

Joe it seems, had a varied career, but always he maintained some contact with the sea.  He is variously described as a seaman, a mariner, a puntman, an owner of coal hulks and a ship's captain.  He is also reported by family sources to have worked at Walker's Shipyard in Maryborough and to have had some association with the lighthouse at Burnett Heads.

The grave of Joe and Bridget Stafford and their son John.

By 1886 Joseph and Bridget appear to have once again been living in Brisbane.  It was in this year that they were officially married at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane, using the names Peter Joseph Stafford and Delia Bridget Neill.  Witnesses to the ceremony were Helena Daly and Mary Murphy.

Their young son John, died some two years later in 1888 and was buried at Toowong Cemetery in a grave he would later share with his parents.

During the late 1880s and 1890s the Staffords lived at a variety of Brisbane addresses, including Victoria Street, Fortitude Valley,  North Street and then York Parade, Spring Hill and possibly also, Stratton Street, Fortitude Valley.  By 1895 however, Joe was found to be living on board the Ship Lochiel where he was working as a watchman.

By the time of his death in March 1906, Joe was once again in Brisbane.  He died at the Diamantina Hospital, South Brisbane.  The cause of his death was stated as cerebral softening.  Bridget certified his death, this time stating her address as Leichhardt Street, Spring Hill.  Joe was buried at the Toowong Cemetery with his son John.

His wife Bridget died almost six years later in February of 1912 suffering bronchitis and heart failure.  She also was buried with her husband and son at Toowong Cemetery.

 

 

 

 

KATE

The eldest of Joe and Bridget's children - Kate - spent her married life living at Maryborough.  In 1887 she married Johannes (Jack) Ammenhauser, the son of German political and religious refugees, Conrad Ammenhauser and Catherina Fischer.  Jack worked as one of the local undertakers in Maryborough from 1890 until his death in 1926.  He had premises located in Adelaide Street from which he jointly ran his undertakers business and a newsagency.  He was also an active member of the Odd Fellows Lodge.

Kate Ellen Stafford c1886

Kate and Jack had six children, born between the years of 1887 and 1897.  Their eldest child, a daughter named Anastasia May died as an infant.  Next born was John Joseph (Johnny - married Mary Martha Skehan), followed by  Evelyn May (married Robert Dash), Mabel Adelaide (married Francis Cooper Hartridge), Ruby Alice and Ruth Mary (married Allan Patrick Ryan later in life).

Ruby was a victim of the influenza epidemic which swept the world following World War I.  Johnny and his wife Mary did not have children, nor did Ruth and Allan or Evelyn and Robert whilst Mabel and Frank had only one son, John who married Doylys Lysaght, the cousin of prominent Lysaght researcher, Professor Thomas Lysaght, now of Austria.

For further details on Lysaght family research world wide please follow this link:

Following Jack's death in 1926 Kate moved back to Brisbane to live with her daughter Ruth after which she lived with Mabel and her family.  Kate contracted pneumonia which lead to her death in 1962.

WILLIAM

William (my great-grandfather), married Bridget Josephine Barry (an Irish immigrant from County Tipperary) in 1898 at St. Stephen's Cathedral, Brisbane.  Bridget was the sister of Thomas Joseph Barry, a co-founder of the well known Barry and Roberts Department Stores which operated across Queensland for most of the 20th Century.

For more information on my Barry family follow this link:

William Alfred Stafford (front) with wife Bridget and daughter Bernice.

William was a piano tuner/piano repair man, a trade he later shared with his eldest son.  Will and Bea, or Bib as she was also known, raised four children.  The eldest, Alma Marguerite was born at Brisbane in 1901, followed little more than a year later by a brother named John Raphael Michael (Jack) who was born at Kangaroo Point.  A second daughter, Bernice Mary was also born in Brisbane, however not long after her birth the family moved north to Rockhampton where their youngest son Thomas Joseph (Barry) was born.

The children attended school, the boys at the local Christian Brothers College, where in 1912 Jack won third prize in his Christian Doctrine class, receiving a copy of "The Life of General Gordon" for his efforts.

At some point the family moved back to Brisbane.  They lived at Highgate Hill from where William and his son Jack would travel into Western Queensland tuning pianos for a living.  In 1924 William and Bridget's eldest daughter married Charles Robert Eldred.  They raised one daughter.  Alma died in 1958.  Her sister Bernice, married Francis (Frank) Fowler, and moved to Geelong Victoria, where they raised a family of three.  Bernice died in 1979 and her husband Frank, some years earlier in 1957.

For further details on members of the Walker family see this page:

Barry, their youngest son married Freda Ellen Taylor in 1932 and raised a family of two. For many years Barry managed one of the Barry and Roberts Department Stores owned by his Uncle and namesake, Thomas Joseph Barry.  Barry died in 1985.

The last of William and Bridget's children to marry was Jack (my grandfather).  He married Nora May Walker (known as May) in Brisbane in 1943.  Immediately after their marriage Jack and May moved to Geelong, Victoria where Jack's brother-in-law Frank was able to find him work.  Not long after their move to Geelong, Jack's parents died - William in 1945 and Bridget the following year.  They were buried together at the Nudgee Catholic Cemetery, Brisbane.  May and Jack's two children are Michael and my mother, Christine.

During the 1960s Jack developed health problems and did in 1963, May lived a further 32 years, dying in 1995.

 

CLARA THERESA

Clara Stafford (known as Clare) married Andrew von Nida in 1901, the descendant of German immigrants to South Australia.  Clara and Andrew's ten children were born between the years 1902 and about 1918 in Queensland and New South Wales.  They were:  Elsie Gladys (married Harold Neighbour), Jack Grayson (married Evelyn May Weller), Alwin Andrew (married Eileen Kelly), Donald Stafford (married Doris Ileane Seeney), Hector Leonard, Dudley Essington, Norman Guy (married 1:  Norma Eileen Hoy, married 2:  Mary Elva Ann ?), Eileen M. (died in infancy), Irene N. and Robert Lester.

At least two of Clara and Andrew's sons showed considerable talent on the golf course.  They were Jack and Norman.  Norman (or The Von as he was known) became one of Australia's golfing legends, winning the Australian Open three times, the Australian PGA four times and the Philippines Open twice, as well as numerous tournaments in Britain where he received the Vardon Trophy in 1947 and a record amount of prize money.  His list of achievements also includes numerous wins in Australian events as well as coming close to winning the British Open on about three occasions during the late 1940s.  The Von was well known, not only for his playing ability, but for his flamboyant dress style, his feisty temperament and his many brushes with the press during his playing days.

Although now legally blind, he is still able to play golf using specially marked fluorescent golf clubs and balls.

If you would like further information on the Stafford family, have information which you would like to contribute or think you might be related please email me:

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