Category Archives: Ireland

Francis Irvine – Immigrant, Bootmaker, Shopkeeper & Baptist elder.

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By Rod Irvine. Edited by Bobbie Edes Within our Killyleagh siblings, the eldest two brothers John (b 1841) and Francis (aka Frank, b 1844) were likely responsible for the Irvine family coming to Queensland; they were the ‘trend-setters’.[1]&[2] On Saturday 13 May 1865, just as the American Civil War was in its final convulsions, they departed Liverpool on the modern clipper Melmerby arriving at Brisbane in September of that year.[3] It is not unlikely that John and Francis heard directly … Continue reading

Killyleagh Siblings – Alexander and Sarah Irvine.

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Alexander Irvine Alexander son of James & Sarah Irvine of Ballytrim was the couple’s 11th and final child born on 4 April 1859 according to the family bible. The two-week-old baby was baptised on 19th April 1859 at 1st Presbyterian Church, Killyleagh, Down and noted as being 14 days old.[1] Alexander travelled to Australia with his aged parents and older brother John Irvine, who had returned to Killyleagh to escort the party on the long journey to Australia in 1888. … Continue reading

Mary Ann Irvine and her Parkinson family.

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My last blog was about John Irvine, written from the (fictional) memories of Mary Parkinson as related to a friend.  Despite this approach to the story, the happenings were real, very real and would have had a life-long effect on Mary Ann, one of John Irvine’s younger sisters. Mary Ann’s story begins on a cold winter’s day on the outskirts of Killyleagh, about 3 klms from the village itself in the townland of Ardigon. Her mother Sarah had already borne … Continue reading

John Irvine – Bootmaker and preacher.

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The shot rang out in the quiet stillness of the farming community of Mt Thabor, just east of Warwick in South East Queensland.[1] The cows in the paddock opposite were mildly disturbed and the native birds squawked off in alarm. Mary knew the sound, as after all, her husband Clement Parkinson was a farmer and such is the necessity of country life. However, this shot on 5 June 1909 was different and more importantly she could smell the gunpowder. The … Continue reading

Where was he from?

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By Bob McAllister. Beginning family history researchers quickly come to rely on a very small set of good quality documentary records relevant to any particular ancestor. So we are accustomed to wringing every last drop of information from each record that we do find. That is one of the reasons why I am so embarrassed to look back at my earliest searches to see the gems that I overlooked, failed to recognise the significance of, or simply ignored on first … Continue reading