Margaret Esther Mary Ryan and Thomas William O’Brien

Bill’s Parents

This is the story of Margaret Ryan and Thomas O’Brien, Bill’s mother and father.

Margaret Esther Mary Ryan was born on the 8th of April 1851, less than a year after her parents had arrived from Ireland. Some records show her middle name as Esther, and many say Ester, but since Tom’s probate papers use “Esther”, I’ll stick with that unless other evidence comes up. Some records also show her place of birth as Boorowa, NSW, but given the information about her grave here, and some of the entries at Ancestry.com, I feel pretty confident that it was actually Fish River, Upper Lachlan Shire, NSW, which is about 80 kilometres from Boorowa.

Margaret’s father, Patrick Ryan was 28 years old when Margaret was born, and her mother, Ellen, was 26. You can read more about Ellen and Patrick here. Compared to other antecedents, it appears that Ellen and Patrick weren’t really putting in the effort, as Margaret was the middle child of just five (possibly 6) children. And you call yourself 19th century Irish Catholics!!

Two of Margaret’s siblings had been born in Ireland and travelled to Australia with their parents as free settlers in 1850. They were Mary who was three years old and Jeremiah who was one. It’s tough enough doing a 24‑hour flight with a couple of toddlers but imagine 4 months on a sailing ship. It’s sobering to know that of the 5 infants on board (ie children less than 1), 4 of them had died during the journey.

I believe Margaret may also have had another brother, Patrick, who was also born in Ireland, but he may have died as a child before the Ryans left for Australia. I also believe that Jeremiah may have died as a child – I don’t believe he was one of the “infants” who died during the journey, as the definition of an infant is less than 1 and Jeremiah was around 18 months or more when the ship left Ireland. So if he did die as a child, it would have been in Australia.

Anyway, Margaret and her remaining two sisters – Catherine and Jane - were born in New South Wales.

Margaret grew up in Yass, NSW and was 18 years old when her parents moved from there to Binalong, NSW with her father, Patrick, taking up the licence of the Golden Fleece Inn in Binalong.

Margaret’s husband to be, Thomas William O’Brien, was born on the 2nd March 1845 in Berrima, NSW, where his father John was working as a constable.

When Tom was just two years old, the O’Brien family moved to Western NSW, eventually settling at Cowabee station, which I imagine is in the area now known as Cowabbie.

Later on, in the early 1870’s, the Sands Country Directory apparently showed Tom as a farmer at Cowabee, although I’m yet to find an additional reference to that, other than a mention by Shayne O’Brien in his book entitled “The O’Brien and Flanagan Family History”. The Sands also shows Tom’s father, John O’Brien, as a grazier at Cowabee.

I don’t where and when Tom and Margaret met, but they married on 21 of January 1872, at Ryan’s Hotel in Binalong, when Margaret was 20 and Tom was 26. Their marriage certificate (shown below) says that they were married according to “the rites of the Church of Rome”, ie as Catholics. But as noted towards the end of this story, at least one source has them buried in the Church of England section of Randwick Cemetery. At some point, I’ll go and visit to sort this one out.

It seems odd that a Catholic marriage was held at a Hotel, but I guess that Margaret’s dad, Patrick (who ran the pub) would have given them a good deal – well, at least you’d hope so.

In fact the whole thing seems a bit odd, with the marriage certificate looking like it was completed by one person – even the signatures appear to be in the same hand. Also, Tom and Margaret’s ages are just shown as “above 21 years”, and Patrick Ryan is the only one of the 4 parents to have his name included, the other three simply shown as “unknown”. It also refers to “Ryan’s Hotel” in Binalong, when it was actually called the Golden Fleece Inn, and from Patrick’s story here, you can see that his licence on the Golden Fleece wasn’t renewed the year before in 1881. Apart from that it’s all perfect!!

But married they were, with the service being performed by Father Michael Slattery, who was assigned to the Goulburn parish at the time. The witnesses were John Ryan and Anne O’Brien.

Margaret and Tom had 11 children during the 18 years from 1872 to 1890. They were John Joseph Patrick O'Brien (1872-1932), Mary Louisa O'Brien (1874-1935), Ellen Maude O’Brien (1875-1967), Patrick Dennis O'Brien (1876-1945), Laura Agnes O'Brien (1879-1974), Ada Margaret O'Brien (1880-1954), Annie Josephine O'Brien (1882-1962), May Catherine O'Brien (1884-1983), Lillian Angela O'Brien (1886-1973), Thomas Bede O'Brien (1888-1974) and Cyril Ignatius O’Brien (1890-1907).

The Thomas Bede O’Brien referred to above is the second last of the 11 children, and of course that’s Bill, who sits at the centre of our story, along with his wife Irene. You can read more about Bill and Irene here.

So, in 1872 we see the young couple married, farming at Cowabee and with their first son, Patrick, having been born. I’m, not sure what happened between then and 1878, but it would seem someone called Bartley had some cause to bring an action against Tom, with that action resulting in a financial judgment in Bartley’s favour and the forced sale of Cowabee. The following report appeared in the New South Wales Government Gazette of Tuesday 15 of January 1878:

In Supreme Court of New South Wales. Sheriff's Office, Sydney, 11th January, 1878.
Bartley v. O'Brien.
By virtue of the Act 5th Victoria No. 9, on Wednesday, the 20th day of February, 1878, at noon, unless the writ of fieri facias herein be previously satisfied, the Sheriff will cause to be sold by public auction, at the Court House, Wagga Wagga,—
All the right, title, and interest of Thomas O'Brien, the defendant herein, of, in, and to the equity of redemption of him the said Thomas O'Brien, of, in, and to 320 acres of land, in the District of Lachlan, selected by the said Thomas O'Brien at Wagga Wagga, on 9th October, 1873, and known as Cowabee.
Also, alike interest in the whole of the sheep and cattle running upon the said land, as mortgaged to the Bank of New South Wales.
Terms, cash. CHARLES COWPER, Sheriff. John Davidson, Plaintiff's Attorney, Goulburn.

Supreme Court judgment against Tom O’Brien

For those whose Latin may just a wee bit rustius, a “writ of fieri facias” is a court ordered writ of execution to enforce the payment of a debt when judgment has been entered against the debtor.

Just what happened following that direction from the Court has proved a little difficult to find. But it would appear that Cowabee was sold, as Tom and Margaret moved to Temora, NSW, where Tom became the mail contractor. As you’ll see below regarding his and his brother’s obituaries, Tom may have worked in that capacity alongside his brother William.

Rear: William O’Brien (Tom’s brother), either Bridget or Agatha (Tom’s sisters) and John O’Brien (Tom’s brother)
Front: Tom and Margaret O’Brien

Gwen (my Mum) received a copy of the above photo from Cyril (her brother), along with some details which included the fact that the photo was taken in June 1921, when Tom was 76 and Margaret was 70. The photo had been sent by Margaret to Bill and Irene, and there was a notation saying it was from “Mum”. Bill’s brothers William (left) and John (right) were 70 and 72 respectively. There was no note to say which of Tom’s sisters was in the centre, but only two sisters were alive at that time - Bridget (71) and Agatha (67), so it must be one of them. Yet one more mini-project for further investigation.

Possibly the last photo of Margaret and Thomas

By 1922, Margaret and Tom celebrated their golden wedding anniversary, as noted in this article in the Temora section of the Daily Express of Saturday 21 January 1922:

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas O'Brien will celebrate their golden wedding today. The old couple, who have resided in this district for a number of years, were married at Binalong on January 21, 1872. The consummation of fifty years of wedded life is to be fittingly marked by a function held in their honour at the residence of their son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. George Arnold, tonight.

Tom died just three years later, on 25 May 1925, aged 80, with the place of his death shown as “Eastbourne” Neptune Street, Coogee, NSW, which was the home of his daughter Laura.

This is a short obituary for Tom from the Sydney Morning Herald of Tuesday 26 May 1925:

O'BRIEN.-May 25, 1925, at the residence of his daughter, Mrs. G Arnold, Eastbourne, Neptune Street, Coogee, Thomas, beloved husband of Margaret O'Brien, late of Temora, aged 80 years.

Sydney Morning Herald Tuesday 26 May 1925

A second death notice appeared on the previous page of the same edition of The Sydney Morning Herald:

O'BRIEN.–The Relatives and Friends of Mrs. MARGARET O'BRIEN and FAMILY are kindly invited to attend the Funeral of her beloved HUSBAND and their FATHER, Thomas, to leave his Daughter's (Mrs G. Arnold) residence, Eastbourne, Neptune Street, Coogee, THIS TUESDAY, at 3 p.m., for Catholic Cemetery, Randwick. CHARLES KINSELA, Funeral Director.

The Mrs G Arnold mentioned in the two notices above, is Tom’s daughter Laura who’s Bill’s older sister, and who’d married George Arnold. Laura was the mother of Betty Viazim (nee Arnold) who became a successful milliner, a story that you can read about here.

This is another obituary for Tom which appeared in the News of Our Neighbours section of the Cootamundra Herald of Friday 29 May 1925.

After an illness of several months Mr. Thomas O'Brien died at Coogee on Monday. The deceased was 81 years of age [actually 80], and was one of the best known men in the Temora district, and was popular with everyone. At one time he owned Cowabbie Station; but resided at Temora for a number of years, and for a long time had the contract and drove the Morangorell Temora mail.

It’s interesting to note the obituary of Tom’s brother William, who died two years earlier – this comes from the Temora section of the Albury Banner and Wodonga Express of Friday 26 January 1923:

An old and respected resident of Temora and district succumbed to pneumonia and old age at the local hospital on Thursday night in the person of Mr. William O'Brien, who for many years has been the contractor for the Temora mail service. The late Mr. O'Brien was born at Gundibingal station, which was held by his uncle, and where he was practically reared.
When attaining manhood estate, he assumed the management for 10 years of Cowabbie station, (then owned by his father) since then he has been associated with hotel keeping at Stockinbingal, Scrub Yards, and Cootamundra until settling in Temora as a mail contractor. His wife (who predeceased him nearly two years ago) was a Miss Noonan of Stockinbingal, and of the issue of the marriage the following children survive: — Messrs. Alfred, Thomas, and William O'Brien (of Temora), whilst two sisters of deceased in the persons of Mesdames Mullins and Dunn residing at Manly and Coolamon respectively. A brother, Mr. Thomas O'Brien also survives.

Albury Banner and Wodonga Express, Friday 26 January 1923

You can see that both obituaries refer to the brothers as having been mail contractors in Temora, hence why it seems logical that they worked together. Particularly given that the Government Gazette of 17 September 1926 refers to Tom as “retired mail contractor”.

Tom’s wife Margaret was 74 when Tom died. You’ll see that her obituary from 1939 transcribed below refers to her moving to Auburn in Sydney, 16 years before her death, that would put her there with Tom in 1923, which is two years before Tom’s death. So the couple may have either moved from their Auburn home to Coogee to live with Laura and her children, or perhaps they were just visiting Laura when Tom died.

Whichever way, by the time of Margaret’s death 14 years later, her daughter Laura had moved to Robert Street in Marrickville, NSW, as that’s the place given for Margaret’s death on the 1st of August 1939, aged 88. Margaret had apparently moved in with Laura when she was 86 years old in 1937.

There’s some confusion regarding two addresses in Robert Street which requires further investigation, and cousin Tony Strachan has shed some light on this, which I’ll build in here shortly. From various Ancestry.com family trees and this entry in www.findagrave.com it seems that in 1939 Laura was living at 41 Robert Street, Marrickville with her mother Margaret.

This is Margaret’s obituary in The Gundagai Independent (NSW: 1928 - 1954) of Thursday 17 August 1939:

Old residents of Temora regret the death of Mrs. Margaret O'Brien, 88, wife of the late Thomas O'Brien. She died at the home of her daughter Mrs. G. Arnold, Marrickville with whom she spent the last two years of her life. Deceased had lived at Sebastopol and Temora for 35 years, before leaving to reside at Auburn 16 years ago. In 1925 her husband died at the age of 80. There are a family of eleven, 47 grandchildren & 35 great grandchildren.

It mentions there being “a family of 11”, referring to Margaret’s children, although by the time she died in 1939, three of those children had pre‑deceased her – Cyril in 1907, John in 1932, and Mary in 1935. Thankfully Bill (aka Thomas Bede) lived on, for without him, there’s no me…and then where would I be?

Margaret and Tom are buried next to one another at Randwick General Cemetery, although as mentioned above Findagrave says that they’re in plot 101 in the Church of England section, which seems odd. That requires a bit more investigation.

Tom and Margaret’s headstones are shown below. The inscriptions read:

My Beloved Husband and our Dear Father Thomas O’Brien, Died 25th May 1925, aged 80 years, RIP.
And our Dear Mother, Margaret O’Brien, Died 2nd August 1939, aged 89 years, RIP

Written by Rob Landsberry, last updated 17 May 2023

References:

https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/239715450/margaret-mary_ester-o'brien

Ireland The Riverina And Beyond – The O’Brien and Flanagan Family History – by Shayne O’Brien