JOHN CLEARY AND JOANNA CLOHESY
A marriage born in the journey of John Egan of Borrisoleigh?
John Cleary married Joanna Clohesy - daughter of Tipperary farmers
Edward Clohesy and Brigid Ryan - in Daylesford on 18 June 1870.
Records indicate her husband had emigrated from Anglesboro, County
Limerick in October 1863 with his brother Dinny on the Great
Australia. Among those on the Great Australia was 17 year old Ellen Daly. Was she one of the Dalys of Anglesboro? And was Michael Ahern an Ahern from the Boro Road, Anglesboro?
Joanna - Johanna on the shipping record and elsewhere - appears to have arrived on the City of Melbourne at age 20 years in April 1864. On the boat was 38-year-old, Mary Ryan, presumably the same Mary who witnessed her marriage. Was she an aunty? The 1911 Irish census carries the names of various Clohessys and Clohesys living in Borrisoleigh Tipperary from where local Irish squatter John Egan had emigrated. Maybe this was Johanna's birth place?
The 1911 Irish census identifies Michael (78 years) and Bridget (65 years) Clohessy in the parish of Glenkeen, townland of Killamoyne, Borrisoleigh. There were four children, Edward, Thomas, Michael and Margaret.
There was one Ryan, 93-year-old Thomas in the same townland and a cluster of other Ryans in other parts of this (Glenkeen) parish. It could be that the Clohesys came to the Blampied area as a result of stories coming back to Borrisoleigh about the success - gold and land - of the Borrioleigh born, John Egan
Ryans of Tipperary
With Mary Ryan aboard the the City of Melbourne were the following Ryans; Ann aged 7, Daniel aged 8, Patrick aged 10, John aged 11, Joanna aged 17, James aged 20, Ryan aged 22, Julie aged 25 and William Ryan aged 28. Were they all cousins? Was Mary single or maybe a widow? Were Julia and William a couple?
Joanna Cleary's brother Paddy appears to have arrived on the Lord Raglan in 1862. He married Ann Smith in Wellington around 1872 at age 43 years. She was from Dublin and some twenty years younger.
Dinny Cleary had fought in Italy in the Pope's Irish Brigade against Garibaldi.
Whether John did likewise is unclear. I'm still researching that
question. John died in September 1881 at 39 years of age and is
buried in the Eganstown Cemetery. Joanna, who died in 1904 is with
him, as is their daughter Mary. Joanna's brother Patrick was a publican
in Blampied.
 |
| The original Cleary house - now on the Kangaroo Hills road
- having been moved, probably around 1943, when the farm was
sold to Matthew Rieniets. |
On 11 March 1875 an inquest was held at the Mount Prospect
Hotel into the death that day of their daughter Mary Ann
Cleary. She was one year and eleven months old. Senior Constable Connell described the girl's father as John Cleary,
publican at the Shamrock Hotel. Doctor George Roche
(from Cork) certified the death and Sergeant Conlon of Blanket Flat
witnessed the statement.
The jurors include Thomas ?, Thomas Jones, Charles Poole, Edward Morrissey, Charles Whitlish, John Morgan, Charles Way? Robert Stewart, David Learman, Dennis Crotty, William Chatfield, Gaetano Tomasetti and Auguste
Blampied. Morrissey, Crotty, Whitlish and Chatfield signed their name with an x. As coincidence would have it, in 1883 the inquest into the death of August Blampied (juror in the Cleary inquest) was held at 'Mr P Clohesy's Shamrock Hotel'. John and his brother-in-law probably ran the pub together.
Joanna's evidence is poignant:
'I was in the kitchen at about 12 O'Clock, noon, when I heard a scream behind me, on turning around I observed the hands and halfway up to the elbows of the deceased in a boiler of boiling water. The boiler was standing on the brick hob on one side of the fireplace...I took the deceased into the sitting room and put salad oil to the wounds and afterwards flour ...after 10 O'Clock as the child began to grow worse I sent for Dr Roche...he'came a few minutes after seven this morning...said nothing could be done ..owing to the shock...the boiler was an ordinary three or four gallon...for washing...and was not more than half full...the child seemed very lively yesterday afternoon and we did not apprehend fatal results until about ten O'Clock...
One wonders why Dr Roche was so tardy. Dr George Roche died on the
24/1/81 aged 51 and is buried at Creswick.
 |
| Joanna Cleary, Tipperary immigrant and wife of John Cleary.
Undated photograph. I have been unable to locate the birth
parish of Joanna and her brother, Patrick Clohesy. I suspect
they came from the same Tipperary village as their cousins,
the Ryans. Mary Ryan, who witnessed her marriage and Thomas
Ryan a nephew, probably hold the key. |
Joanna Cleary died in 1904, twenty six years after the birth of her last child, John Joseph. Records vary as to her age. In her death certificate, nephew Edward Clohesy gave her age as 68 years. This would have her born in 1838 and make her 4 years older than her husband. It would mean her last child was born when she was 40 years of age. However, if her marriage records are right she was born in 1842, the same year as her husband and was 62 years of age when she died of senile debility, chronic bronchitis, and exhaustion.
Joanna's Will offers some telling insights into class relations at the time:
1. All that piece of land being lots 48 and 49, Block B, Plan
No. 2617 and being Crown Allotments 48 and 49, Section B, Parish
of Bullarook, County of Talbot, containing 129 acres, 3 rods and
3 perches, or thereabouts, upon which is erected a weatherboard
farmhouse containing 6 rooms, outhouses and fencing.
(Annual assessment of Shire of Creswick, 115 pound.)
2. Also that piece of land being lot 95 A, 95 A1, and 95 B being
Crown Allotments 95, Section B, Parish of Bullarook, County of Talbot,
containing 174 acres, 0 rods and 3 perches, upon which is erected
a small weatherboard cottage containing 4 rooms (let to a tenant
at 2 shillings per week) and also fencing.
(Annual assessment of Shire of Creswick
40 acres valued at 12 pound per acre = 480 pound
134 acres valued at 6 pound per acre = 804 pound = 1284 pound
The 129-acre block alongside the Mt Prospect Cemetery was part of
a 7,302-acre parcel of land, owned by George Stuart Hepburn of the
Smeaton Estate, Edmund Kirby, of Alfredton near Ballarat County
of Grenville, Stock Agent and William Austin Zeal of Bank Place
in the City of Melbourne, Civil Engineer.
Zeal would make an interesting research project. Born in England
and trained as a surveyor and engineer, he arrived in Melbourne
in 1852 and worked briefly on the Castlemaine goldfields. After
a stint as a railway engineer he soon took to politics, and between
1864 and 1901 spent thirteen years in the state parliament. In 1901
he was elected to the senate.
In William Mitchell, who was to become President of the Legislative
Council in 1870, he found a commercial ally in the acquisition of
pastoral runs. Of course his devotion to making money on the backs
of small selectors was enough for him to be knighted in 1895. And
yes, he died in Toorak, at the ripe old age of 82 years.
The epoch following the goldrushes was a time when gentlemen could
plunder the countryside and the parliament was no more than a vehicle
to cement their interest in land. The corruption of the parliament
was reflected in the following question by Mr Hood to the Postmaster-General
in the Legislative Council in January 1858. (See my book Cleary
Independent):
"Was there a petition presented to the Board of Land
and Works complaining of the conduct of the District Surveyor
in changing what were originally two allotments of land into one,
immediately previous to the sale in Captain Hepburn's run?
Were these allotments withdrawn in consequence of such petition?
Were the same lots Gazetted for sale one month afterwards, with
compensation to the extent of 900 pounds put on them, and was
the land finally sold in one or two lots, and who was the purchaser?
On what grounds were other two lots withdrawn from sale,
and why were they put up at a sale in another district? Why was
the petition of the inhabitants of Creswick against the removal
of the sale from that place to Castlemaine disregarded? Is it
true that Captain Hepburn was allowed compensation for fences
removed from a public road, and put up between land previously
purchased by him?
Is it true that the lots were of a larger size close to Captain
Hepburn's pre-emptive right (or wrong) than on the remainder of
the survey?"
It was probably no surprise that William Zeal was appointed to
the position of Postmaster-General in 1892. The purchase of land
by small selectors was a goldmine for local investors such as Zeal
and financiers of the Henry Cuthbert ilk.
A Ballarat solicitor and prominent member of the Masonic order,
Cuthbert was born in Ireland and was later knighted. His social
and economic interests - Ballarat Times, Turf Club, The Golden Fleece
Hotel and the Anglican Church - put him in a privileged class. He
was elected to the Legislative Council in 1874. Was it any wonder
Joanna Cleary's son, John Joseph, grew up with a strong socialist
streak?
The last page of Joanna's Will is telling:
Liabilities:
Amount due to Robert Richardson of Ballarat, Gentleman, upon
first mortgage over lot No 1 of said real estate= 1400/0/0 pound
Amount of interest due thereon from 1st of September 1903 to
13 January 1904 at 4+1/2% = 23/4/10
Amount due to Sir Henry Cuthbert of Ballarat upon his first
mortgage over the Lot No 2 of said real estate and 2nd mortgage
over said Lot No 1 = 1000/0/0
Amount of interest due from 15th September 1903 to 13 January
1904 at 4+1/2% = 13/3/10
Johannsens and Son of Allendale for timber = 6/1/7
W, S, W Pitcher of Kingston = 2/7/0
J Cushing, Draper, Creswick = 7/10/9
G and G Haintz, Rockylead Butchers = 7/15/5
(The Haintz family is buried in Mount Prospect)
Minogue Brothers, Storekeepers of Smeaton = 11/7/0
W Minihan, wages (blacksmith?) = 10 pound
M and P Clohesy, (Clohessy) blacksmith, Blampied = 3/1/0
W P Northcotte, Creswick = 6 shillings
John Stewart and Co, Newland produce = 0/4/6
M Connors, Eganstown Bread = 15 shillings
Summary of estate = 2485/16/1
Assets = 4027/15/0
Liabilities = 2485/16/1
Balance of duty = 1541/18/1
This is the property marked...
After payments of all my debts, funeral and testamentary expenses,
I give, devise and bequeath unto all my real and personal estate
of every description to my two sons, Michael J Cleary and Edward
Cleary. I hereby devise the said Michael J and Edward Cleary out
of the said estate to this brother John Cleary 200 pounds and to
each of their sisters Bridget and Annie Marie Cleary 150 pound each
to be paid not later than 10 years after my decease.
And I hereby appoint thereby appoint the due said Michael and Edward
Cleary executors of this my last will and testament whereof I have
hereunto set my hand this 26th day of December in the year of our
Lord 1903.
Signed Joanna Cleary
NOTE: I suspect that this is Patrick Kelly - born in Knockanure,
Borrisoleigh, Tipperary on 6 March 1836 - father of the Patrick
Kelly in the photo below.
 |
| This photo, bearing the words Kelly, Cleary, Ryan on the
board (top left), is undated. To the best of my knowledge
it features Jack Walton (far right), Patrick Kelly, 'Tinga'
Walsh and Mick Cleary (b1871), unknown woman, and an unknown
man standing, who appears in other family photos. The men
playing cards are also unknown, as is the location. |
 |
| Mick 'Punga' Cleary, born in 1872 to John and Joanna Cleary
of Mt Prospect. The first born, he was named after his grandfather,
Michael Cleary, of Anglesboro, County Limerick. The word Punga
I understand is aboriginal for sun. Maybe his fair hair was
the reason for the nickname. |
 |
|
Mick Cleary lived at Blampied (Mt Prospect) until 1920
when he sold his farm to Bob Blain. The 129-acre farm runs
alongside the bluestone bridge just beyond the Swiss Mountain
Hotel . This photo is taken from the Mt Prospect cemetery,
which borders the farm.
The farm was later bought by the Rieniets family. All that
remains is an old chimney. Mick married Maggie Dwyer in
1905. His daughter Molly Campbell provided me with many
stories. |
 |
| The chimney of the old house as seen from the road. Was
this where young Mary Ann died in 1875? |
An interesting letter:
I have a GG Uncle Thomas Patrick kelly who married Elizabeth (Queenie)
Dwyer at Mt. Prospect in 1916.
Her sister Margaret Dwyer married a Michael Cleary (born Blampied)
in 1905.
I was wondering if there was any connection to your Clearys.
I see you also mention the name Heagney - my mother's maiden name
was Heagney and they came from around the Kooroocheang, Smeaton,
Creswick, Franklinford areas. They originally came from Gortanumera
(near Portumna), Galway, Ireland.
My great grandfather Matthew Heagney (born Franklinford 1864) and
his wife Catherine Mary (nee Kelly - born at Brandy Hot - Eganstown
in 1872) after living for a time in KOOROOCHEANG, where their daughter
Ellen was born, spent some years as owners of the Victoria Hotel
at ROCKY LEAD, now called ROCKLYN, where their sons Matthew and
Patrick were born. The family then moved to DEAN, where Denis, John
& William were born, before settling in CRESWICK where Tom,
Kathleen, Rita and her twin sister Joanna were born. They were married
in 1891 at St. Josephs Church, Mt. Prospect
Their son Denis later played football for Creswick and played in
a combined Ballarat League Team which defeated a visiting VFL Team
in 1922 (I have the photo of the team). He moved from CRESWICK to
GEELONG to play with the Geelong Football Club in the V.F.L. (he
was brought down by the Geelong Football Club). He was coach of
the 1923 Geelong Reserves Premiership side, and was a player in
the Geelong Football Club's first Premiership in the V.F.L. in 1925.
Denis Heagney wore number 29 and played 6 senior games between 1925-1926.
If the families aren't connected I am sure they would certainly
have known each other.
Regards,
Terry Kearney
Yes, they are connected. The Mick Cleary in the photo above is
the same person listed in Terry's email. Patrick Kelly was Thomas
Kelly's brother.
Phil Cleary
Hi Phil, I have just come across your very interesting site. I
am a
great niece of the mentioned Matthew Rieniets. After reading your
history (knowing the landmarks!) I felt I needed to make contact.
My other side of the family HEALY and RYAN were also on board "The
Great Australia" and settled in Rocky Lead. William Denis HEALY
married Ellen RYAN from Tipperary in Ballarat after meeting on board
the "Great Australia".
There were other Healy's on board too and settled in the area. William
and Ellen had 13 children the youngest Edmund married Louisa of the
area) I wondered if your RYAN was related to mine?? We probably
have a
conection with Clare CLEARY nee RIENIETS?
Raine
shadesofthepast@iinet.net.au
