PATRICK MULLOY AND MARGARET GORMLY.

Patrick Mulloy

PARENTS:                         James Mulloy and Bridget

DATE of BIRTH:                   About 1814   

PLACE of BIRTH:                  County Cavan, Ireland

DATE of DEATH:                   22nd September 1884

PLACE of DEATH:                  "Foxborough Hall" Wagga, the home of his brother in law, the Hon James Gormly

PLACE of Buriel:

OCCUPATION:                      Post Master, Policeman, Farmer

SPOUSE:                          Margaret Gormly

DATE of MARRIAGE:                19th February 1846

PLACE of MARRIAGE:               Picton, NSW 

MARGARET GORMLY

PARENTS:                      Patrick Gormly and Mary Dockry

DATE of BIRTH:                About 1827 

PLACE of BIRTH:               Elphin, County Roscommon, Ireland

DATE of DEATH:                1906

PLACE OF DEATH:

PLACE of BURIAL:

OCCUPATION:

CHILDREN:                                                             John 1846, Mary A 1848, James 1850, Sarah 1853, Anne 1855 (Married John Vincent Breed), Frances Joseph 1858 (Married Charlotte Mary Power), Patrick John 1861, Thomas Lewis 1865, Mary Jane About 1873 (Married Henry Barnett Watson)

PATRICK MULLOY AND MARGARET GORMLY.

Patrick Mulloy was born to James and Bridget Mulloy in 1814 at Swanlinbar, County Cavan just 36 miles north-east of Elphin, County Roscommon, where Margaret Gormly was born in 1825. He was an assisted migrant to Australia, arriving on the 'Runnymede' at Sydney on 30 August, 1841.

The ships' manifest stated that he was in very good health, could both read and write, was a Catholic and had been a farmer in Ireland. He carried references from Father Howden and two others.

Margaret Gormly arrived in Australia with her parents, Patrick and Mary (Dockery) Gormly in the "Crusader" on 15 January, 1840; she was 14 years of age.

The first public record of Patrick is as a Police Constable at Picton; at this time the small police presence at Picton was controlled by Chief Constable Thomas Hildebrand, John Fitzpatrick was the Lock Up Keeper and there were 3 Constables, including Patrick Mulloy, who were paid at the rate of 2/6d per day.

The original gaol was a two roomed wooden structure surrounded by a tall wooden stockade and built on the site where Patrick would conduct the Post Office from mid-1853. It would appear that Patrick was transferred from Sydney, following an incident at Picton gaol in 1843.

Mounted Police had arrested the bushranger William Westwood, known as "Jacky Jacky" and his two accomplices. They were lodged in the Stonequarry Gaol but Westwood's mother had provided a -Bible to her son with a sharp hack­saw blade concealed in the spine. During the night the outlaws cut a hole through the gaol door and escaped, taking three police horses, guns and other valuables.

As a result of the escape, Major Antill resigned from the Magistracy for five years and the local gaolers were replaced by police constables from Sydney.

Picton, whilst not a large town in the 1840's, was an important location between Campbelltown and Berrima on the track south. It lay in close proximity to the Burragorang Valley which was a notorious retreat for bushrangers and cattle thieves. An important aspect of the Constables' duties was to provide escort; these duties were noted, in a Select Committee report to Parliament in 1847, as "heavy."

In 1847, and after considerable agitation, the dilapidated Picton gaol was replaced by a stone watchhouse with a shingle hip roof and only one small window. There was a central fireplace in the constable's room with a cell on either side. By 1849 the Picton plan had become the standard plan used by the Colonial Architect's office for lock-ups and escort stations in the country areas of NSW.

Father John Grant from St. Bedes Church, Appin married Patrick and Margaret Gormly at Picton on 19 February, 1846. The witnesses to the marriage were Miles Bourke and Anne Keogh, both of Picton.

The 1846 Census recorded 120 persons living at Picton; 72 males and 48 females. There were five hotels, four storekeepers, four butchers, one miller, one baker and twenty three houses. One acre town allotments sold for an average of 8 pounds each.

John was the first child born to Patrick and Margaret on 22 December, 1846 but died two days later on Boxing Day.

The following children were born in the period to 1864, before Patrick and Margaret left the area for Wagga Wagga:

Mary       Born 22 January, 1848 and baptised by Father Grant at St. Bedes, Appin. Mary married Ben Doalman at Hay in 1870. They had one child, Mary Josephine, who was born in 1872. Doalman died in 1903; he and Mary are buried at Hay.

James     Born 3 November, 1850.   Died    April, 1853.

Sarah     Born 24 May, 1853.       Died

Anne       Born 18 April, 1855 at Picton and baptised by Father H. Garnett at St. Bedes. Anne married John Vincent Breed, at St. Michael's Cathedral Wagga Wagga, on 17 February, 1885. Most of their married life was spent at Condoblin; living at 'Beaconsfield' on the Palesthan Road. She died on 4 June, 1920 and is buried at Condoblin.

Francis Joseph    Born 2 December, 1858. Francis died on 30 April, 1932, aged 74, and is buried at Yerong Creek.

Patrick John      Born 19 October, 1861 and died 2 months and 7 days later, from inflammation, on 27 December, 1861, and was buried in Upper Picton.

The death certificate for Patrick states that the children living were Mary 13, Anne 6 and Francis Joseph 2. The deceased children were John, James, Sarah and Patrick.

As the family was expanding, Patrick's career was progressing at a moderate pace; on 8 March, 1850 he was appointed Bailiff of the Court of Petty Sessions at Picton and in 1853 he resigned from the Police Force to take up his appointment as Post Master, Picton on 1 June, 1853.

Prior to his appointment there had been postal facilities available from a number of temporary sites but when Patrick replaced Mrs Hildebrand he conducted the business from an office in his store on the old gaol site on Argyle Street, near the bridge over the Stonequarry Creek. This office was practically destroyed by the record flood of May, 1860, which also washed away the adjoining Stonequarry Bridge.

Historical notes from Australia Post record "that P. Mulloy had a small farm and a boarding house when he succeeded Mrs Hildebrand as Post Master."

Shortly after Patrick's appointment as Post Master the telegraph line was opened to Picton in 1857 and the overland telegraph line to Melbourne was completed in 1858.

The office of Post Master at Picton seems to have been somewhat controversial during the second half of the 19th Century and Patrick's tenure was, towards the end of his term, no exception.

Australian Archives (NSW) hold the original copies of correspondence between Patrick Mulloy and the Post-Master General, Mr. W.H.Christie, relating to the payment of a surety. This correspondence commenced in September, 1862 and continued until satisfaction of the surety in July, 1864. The letters also contain detail on some aspects of family life and Patrick's commercial activity.

The appointment as Post Master required the surety of Patrick Mulloy in the sum of one hundred pounds plus two additional sureties for fifty pounds each. The further sureties were given by John Martin a storekeeper and William Campbell, both of Picton. The document was signed by all parties on 1 June, 1853.

The Post Master General had claimed an amount of 24 pounds 15 shillings from Patrick; there is nothing in their correspondence to explain the reason for the claim.

The first letter from Patrick is dated 16 September, 1862 and states:

some place far away where they could get food for them in order to keep them alive. And the Bailiff can do nothing at present.

I wrote to my brother in law in Wagga, James Gormly, Mail Contractor for the amount that I owe to the G.P.O. I have no doubt but he will send it, if not I will sacrifice some of my horses to pay the amount I owe. I don't wish to do it now as it would be nothing but a sacrifice. I hope this statement will satisfy the Post Master General at present. I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obdt. servant,

P. Mulloy."

Again on 18 November, 1862 and with a degree of concern:

"Sir,   It was with no little surprise, as well as regret, that I learnt from my sureties Messrs Campbell and Martin, that I am likely to lose my situation as Postmaster owing to the non payment of the 24.15.0 owing by me to the Gen. Post Office.

You are doubtless aware of the recent afflictions which have come upon me owing to a series of disastrous Floods during the past few years, which swept my property totally away, and ruined my family and it seems strange considering my position and length of servitude (viz 10 years) that you see the necessity of acting so strictly. But to comply with your wishes I must try energetically to liquidate the debt if with your usual leniency you would allow me time, namely three months or at least to the 1st January to do so."

Comments written on the letters by the Post Master General and his staff are not always clear to read but seem to indicate that the money owing relates to stamps supplied by the G.P.O. to Patrick Mulloy as Postmaster, Picton and which may have been lost with other possessions during a flood. Some comments suggest an amount of sympathy for Patrick's position but the decision has been taken to replace him with a prominent land owner in the district, Mr. E.G.Larkin.

On 15 December, 1862, Patrick wrote again to the Post Master General,

"Sir, I have received from you on Saturday last, with no small degree of astonishment, a document stating that Mr. E.G.Larkin is to succeed me on 1st. January next, as Post Master of this Town, but omitting to state what are the reasons which have led to my dismissal.

If through any gross dereliction of duty or non conformity with the Rules of the Department I had rendered myself, in your opinion - unfit to hold any longer this office I would at least expect to receive (in

compliance with customary formality in such cases) a notice directing my attention to the prevailing errors or neglect, and calling for me to show cause why I should not be dismissed from the Public Service.

The reverse has, however, been the case and I now find that without even a single chance of defending myself or _,of making amends, I am (after 9 1/2 years service to postal duties) thrown infirm and penniless upon the mercies of a bitter world, with a poor helpless family clinging, despairingly around me; while he who is to succeed me, is above the wants of 20 pounds per annum, which was all to me.

During the above period, I never recollect to have lost one letter, even amid the floods, when my valuable property washed away with the current, posted letters were preserved - and in the dispatch and delivery of letters every attention was paid, as might be ascertained from the Reports of the several Insprs. (Inspectors) who have from time to time visited the Office.

I am, it is true, indebted to the Accountant at the Gen. Post Office, a small sum, and the non payment of this, is probably the cause which has led you to adopt this course. In order to show my desire to pay this sum, I would beg to direct your noting to me, that the monthly stipend has not been drawn, in order to cover .... the amount owing.

If this method of liquidating it does not meet your satisfaction and you feel disposed to retain me under your service, I propose to remit to you immediately the "Pro. Note" of Mr. W.B.Campbell, Mail Contractor, payable in March next.

Hoping that in dispassionately reconsidering this matter, the necessities of a poor helpless family may increase your wonted sympathy.

I remain, Sir, very dutifully yours,

P. Mulloy

P.S. A reply is most respectfully solicited."

We do not have a copy of the Post Master General's, Mr. W.H.Christie's reply, however, Patrick was quick to reply on 20 December, 1862:

"Sir,   I have yours of the 18th instant in which you state in a general manner the errors which have caused my removal from the Office of Postmaster. I find that I have nothing to gain in replying, but still as I am charged with things of which I am not guilty, it behoves me in vindication of my character to rebut and deny the same. In the first place any man is likely to make mistakes -

some unfortunately do with their eyes open - but I have every reason to believe that I gave as little inconvenience to your Department as any Postmaster in connexion therewith.

Secondly, with regard to the trouble given .. sureties, that as you are aware was unavailable - and I promised to settle what I owe on the 31st March next.

Thirdly, Instead of giving annoyance to the Public, I was too obliging, if anything and the selfsame parties on whose base misrepresentations you rely are those who have shared most of the favors, as Postmaster, I was able to bestow.

I am ten years now connected with your Department and as the connexion is on the point of being undone, it may not perhaps be too much to ask only - one favor.

That is - to write to the Bench of Magistrates, Picton -and ask them; first, my general character and secondly, do they or not think that I am a fit and proper person to conduct the management of the Post Office of this Town. By so doing you will confer a favor on yours respectfully,

P. Mulloy "

By now Patrick had been replaced as Postmaster by Larkin on 1 January, 1863. The correspondence continues to the Post Master General, on 26 January, 1863:

"Sir, I received your letter of the 22nd instant in regard to my acct. In reply to your letter I beg leave to state, if you give me time to the end of the Quarter, I will not give you or your Department the least trouble after that time nor my Sureties. I have good stock if they were in order for sale; how at that time I ask from you, one horse will pay what I owe you and at this present time it would take four or perhaps five and the reason is the season being so dry and no food for cattle or horses.Now we have had first rate rain during the last eight days and every prospect for good grass and the horses will be fat in 6 or 7 weeks. I have hundreds of pounds due to me besides which during the last 12 months I did not ... 10 pounds. I have seven ... I gained on Patrick's Day last year and there they lie, yet I will pay before 31 March without fail if you be kind enough to give me that time. I wish to know did I get credit for all the cash I sent to your Office for stamps. I have the honor to be, Sir, your most obedient servant,

P. Mulloy "

The Post Master General has written across the above letter .. "I feel disposed to give Mr. Mulloy the time he asks for."

Patrick was not able to honour his undertaking to pay by 31 March and was quick to write from Picton on 1 April, 1863:

"Sir, I much regret that I am not up to my word with you according to the promise to pay the Dept that I owe you on the 31 March but as I have to attend to other business that I cannot avoid, as far as this week goes. I am collecting a lot of horses to bring to Sydney Market the week after next and I will call at your office and I will discharge the debt but if I can sell here I will send the amt by Post . I cannot but return my sincere thanks for the indulgence you have given me and hope as you were so kind I only ask this fortnight."

There appears to have been continuous rain in the period leading up to Patrick's next letter on 22 April, 1863:

"Sir, I drop you these few lines to let you know that I am disappointed in getting in my horses as I said in my last note and the reason is that my horses run on Mr. Antill's Run and the family being away from home last week at Wollongong I could not allow the men that I had employed to bring them in without his permission and now the weather is such that no man can bring horses out of the Bush until the weather dries up. As they told me yesterday they would not venture their lives up and down ranges until the weather gets dry.

You may think I am making a fool of you, I know perfectly well that is impossible. I am more anxious to pay the Dept than you are to receive it, but I cannot help it just now. As soon as I get them in there is no more trouble which will be as soon as I possibly can. It is raining here since Saturday and is now no sign of it giving over.

P. Mulloy."

There was no further correspondence through 1863 but by the beginning of 1864 the Department was clearly losing patience as evidenced by the contents of the letter from Patrick dated 22 February, 1864:

"Sir, I have to acknowledge receipt of a letter from the "Crown Solicitors Office" intimating that unless I shall pay the sum I owe to the Gen. Post Office ( 17 pounds ten shillings and two pence ) immediately, proceedings will be taken against me for its recovery. You will remember that I always expressed my willingness to pay it as soon as I possibly could, but I regret to say that the time has not yet come, for if 17 shillings instead of 17 pounds were to liquidate the debt, I could not at the present time find the means of paying it. When I promised to pay before, I anticipated better times, but unfortunately three successive years of bad crops has completely impoverished the districts of Picton and Camden, so there is little or no money in circulation, and if I do not get money, I surely cannot pay it.

At first I thought it useless to write, but then again considered that it might be well to make you aware of my humble position, in order that you might see the futility of proceeding against a man that has nothing to pay and, of course cannot pay. In fact I could scarcely find sufficient funds to bring me to Sydney and back. I must admit that your conduct towards me was always marked by kindness and leniency, and it is to be hoped that you may now in the "hour of need" prevent the rigours of the law from throwing, scattering, myself and Family abroad to the mercies of an unforgiving world.

I have spent upwards of 17 years in the service of the Gov. of this Colony and have always been able to meet my liabilities punctually and honestly until very lately, which I intend to do in this also, as soon as I possibly can.

Hoping that the long services of an old and faithful servant may receive, at your hands, whatever consideration they deserve.

I am, Dear Sir, Yours very faithfully,

P. Mulloy "

On 23 February, 1864 the Post Master General called for a Report, from the Picton Postmaster, on the financial circumstances of P. Mulloy. Two days later Mr. Larkin reported:

"I believe that had Mulloy been less improvident he would have been enabled to have paid the amount due by him to the General Post Office, but at the present time he is in very distressed circumstances barely obtaining a living for himself and family by keeping a boarding house. "Not­withstanding the circumstances, Patrick was able to satisfy the debt in full by 30 July, 1864.

The Journals of the Australian Historical Society support Patrick's descriptions of floods and crop failures in the Picton District. Following the flood in May, 1860, there was a severe drought through 1862 then another flood in February, 1863 which came down the Stonequarry Creek and washed away the scaffolding for the railway viaduct, then in the course of construction. The Hawkesbury River at that time rose twenty-seven feet.

Crop failures certainly affected the local economy; the most important calamity occurred in 1860-62 when rust appeared in the wheat forcing farmers to abandon this grain and turn their attention to dairy products.

In the days before the railway reached Picton in 1863, the enormous coaching and carrying trade brought money to the town and gave employment to many people; when the first railway tunnel in Australia was completed at Picton in late 1863 and enabled the railway to be pushed through to Mittagong in 1867, it was obvious that there would be a decreasing dependence on the horse as a mode of transport. No doubt the coming of the railway influenced the sale of James Gormly's large coaching business to Cobb & Co. in 1872.

Whether any or all of these factors influenced the decision of Patrick and Margaret to leave Picton, we do not know. Whatever the reason, they had moved to Wagga Wagga by 22 September, 1865 when Thomas Lewis was born. Patrick gave his occupation, on the Birth Certificate, as an Accountant.

Thomas was to die in 1867, shortly before the birth of Bridget Teresa on 15 October. The family was now at the Gumly Gumly Station of John Peter, which stood on the bank of the Murrumbidgee about 5 miles (8 km) east of Wagga Wagga and adjoined Best's Wagga Station.

The Peter family were well known to and were staunch friends of James Gormly and his father, Patrick. Before he deserted his wife and went home to his native Scotland, John Peter had become the largest pastoralist on the Murrumbidgee; his wife, who died on 23 September, 1884 (two days after Patrick Mulloy) gave John Peter his start, helped him accumulate property, was a capable station manager and most active with stock.

The next record of their movements is at Yerong Creek where Patrick purchased two parcels of land, 120 acres which was selected on 10 February, 1876 and a further 52 acres selected on 20 July, 1882. The former parcel of land is situated on the north bank of Yerong Creek about two miles west of town.

The family lived on the 120 acres which had a frontage to the creek. The property is in a rich and fertile area which is ideal for wheat and other crops. The land has a slight slope to the south where it borders on the densely treed banks of Yerong Creek. Across the creek from the property is Yerong Creek Cemetery where the only surviving son of Patrick and Margaret, Francis Joseph, is buried with his wife, Charlotte Mary.

Patrick was active in local affairs and signed a petition for the establishment of a school for the town on 6 April 1881; an earlier application for a school contained an undertaking, from the petitioners, that their children would attend the school when it opened. The Mulloy children nominated to attend were, Teresa 13, Jane 11 (my grandmother) and Jessie 8.

There is no birth certificate for Jane and Jessie nor is there an official record of the subsequent deaths of Patrick and Margaret. The explanation for this omission was given to me by officers at Wagga Wagga Court House, in September, 1992; who stated that a flood at Wagga in the mid 1880's ruined all the records held in the basement of the Court House.

The School Master appointed to Yerong Creek was an Englishman named John Plomer who left the school late in 1881 following the violent assault and rape of a pupil, Elizabeth Baxter 11, the daughter of a railway fettler. In April, 1882, Plomer was found guilty and sentenced to hang; the sentence was later commuted to "life in prison with the first three years to be spent in irons."

A family tragedy was reported in the Goulburn Herald on Thursday 14 February, 1884:

"A painful accident, which will it is to be feared prove fatal, occurred on Sunday last to Miss Theresa Mulloy, a young woman of seventeen years of age, and daughter of a selector at Yerong Creek. About two o'clock on that day a room attached to the homestead caught fire. Miss Mulloy was the only grown-up person present with the exception of her father, who is an invalid. In endeavouring to subdue the flames, the young woman's underclothing caught fire. She ran with her clothes ablaze to a creek to procure water no less than eight times, and by her almost superhuman efforts, succeeded in extinguishing the fire.

In the meantime a child had gone for assistance, and Mr. John V.Breed was early on the spot, and conveyed the injured woman, who had fainted from the severity of the injuries received, to Foxborough Hall, where three doctors were soon in attendance. The medical gentlemen endeavored to alleviate the sufferings of the unfortunate girl, whose body is burnt from the ankle up to the shoulder-blades, and it is impossible to understand how she bore the pain of her burns during the time she was running to and from the creek for water."

The following Saturday, the Goulburn Herald carried a short report: "The Wagga Wagga Express reports that Miss Teresa Mulloy, who was severely burned while quenching the fire which had broken out in the house of her father, a selector at Yerong Creek, on Sunday last, died from the effects of her injuries on Monday evening at Foxborough Hall."

Foxborough Hall was the home of James Gormly, at Wagga Wagga, the brother of Margaret Mulloy who was the mother of Theresa. The distance from the homestead at Yerong Creek to Foxborough Hall in Wagga is about 55 km (33 mile). My grandmother ran to a nearby homestead to bring John Breed; who was engaged to marry Anne Mulloy at the time.

Later the same year, The Wagga Wagga Advertiser, Tuesday 23 September, 1884 carried a report on the death of Patrick Mulloy:

"We regret to have to chronicle the death of a very old and respected resident of this district, Mr. Patrick Mulloy, of Yerong Creek, who breathed his last at the residence of Mr. James Gormly, Foxborough Hall, on Sunday evening last. The deceased gentleman had attained the ripe age of 73 years. The funeral is announced to move from Foxborough Hall at 3 o'clock this afternoon."

Patrick left his entire estate to his son, Francis Joseph Mulloy who married Charlotte Mary Power on 16 February, 1885. The following day, Anne Mulloy married John Vincent Breed; both couples were married at St.Michael's Cathedral, Wagga Wagga by Father D. Walsh.

My Grandmother, Jane Mulloy ( who took the name Mary in her adult life ), married Henry Barnett Watson in 1889. Watson was born in Boston, Mass., USA about 1864 and came to Australia in the mid 1880's. She died on 4 November, 1951, aged 81 years, and is buried at Forbes.

                                             Researched and Written by John Best.

Post Office Declaration               Unmarried Male Immigrant

for Patrick Mulloy

                   ------Supplied by John Best-------

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