Phelan and Atkin Family History

Roadside sign in Allans Flat, near Yackandandah, showing a photo of the Honour Boards (listing the three Brownes who served) from the Allans Flat School, now housed in the Anglican Church. Three of the nine sons (and eleven children overall) of John Browne and Mary Browne (nee Phelan) saw action in the Great War with. One would pay the ultimate price, one would be severely wounded, and sickness would prevent the other from seeing any action. Percy and William were born in Melbourne, Phillip in Beechworth. All three boys were students at the  Allans   Flat   School  (near Yackandandah) as the family resided in the area from the mid 1890s through to the untimely death of their mother in 1910. Their father John worked in the mining industry as a sluicer at that time, in the area where the waterhole stands today. By the time the boys enlisted in the AIF, the family had spread out with Percy and Phillip residing in Footscray with their father John who had...

In an earlier post I told the story of my grandfather Stan Phelan's experience in World War One, as well as that of his brothers Cecil and Gerald. Also serving was one of their uncles, Edward Phillip Phelan (known as Phillip). Phillip was the youngest of Jeremiah and Mary Phelan's ten children, born in Macedon in 1878 (his parents being about 57 and 45 respectively).  Little is known of Phillip's early years, though he is mentioned twice in the Woodend Star in July 1902. First he was appointed joint secretary of the newly-formed Macedon Football Club, then a week or so later he was one of several to provide entertainment at a function to honour the town's departing police constable - singing no less than five songs (as a side note, many of Phillip's siblings featured in the social pages at that time: John and James served as MC at all manner of social events, Frank occasionally sang, while Agnes was very active in the Macedon Dramatic Club). V ery soon however, Ph...

When you research as extensively into family history as I have, you will inevitably come across the odd quirky coincidence. In this case while researching the descendants of my 2x great uncle William Thomas Phelan, I located a wedding notice in The Age of his only grandchild Patricia Tobin to American World War Two 'Ace' James Mugavero, in Sydney on 16 September 1944. And then I just happened to observe the wedding notice directly above - it was my aunt Marie Atkin to Jack Larkin at St Mark's in Yarragon - their wedding having been held on the exact same day! This was of course five years before my own parents would tie the knot, but I think they might have met by 1944: I wonder whether this coincidence would have been known at the time?

Mary Eleanor Phelan was the first-born child of our Irish ancestors Jeremiah Phelan and Mary Wilson. When I first started researching the Phelans, I found on Ancestry a marriage record between a John Browne and a Mary  Ann  Phelan in 1885, and while the different middle name was a bit odd, I thought it had to be the right record based on the date. Now that I am going over my research again, I am verifying information where there is any doubt around a life event (ie. birth, death or marriage), by purchasing the appropriate certificate from the Victorian BDM website. So in this case I decided to order the 'historical image' download of John and Mary's marriage certificate. Due to a technical problem with the website at that time I was unable to receive the download, and in the meantime I stumbled upon a second index entry for a marriage between a John Browne and a Mary Phelan (no erroneous middle name) that occurred just a year later in 1886. I now felt I had probably found...

Last night I went along to see the film Happy Sad Man at the Nova in Carlton. What is it about? Well, from the film's website, "Happy Sad Man is a charming and uplifting insight into the lives of five very different Australian men... [It] gives unforgettable voice to the complex emotional landscapes we can all traverse... Touching, funny and tender, this must-see documentary is set to shine a light on and change the dialogue around masculinity and mental health today." As it happened, the film's producer and director, Genevieve Bailey was there to say hello to audience members afterwards. One of the early discoveries I made in this genealogy research was that Genevieve and I are related, distantly (but not too distant - second cousins once removed, to be precise!). At the time of this discovery, she had just completed her first feature film, the wonderful I Am Eleven , which introduces audiences to a selection of eleven year-old children across the globe. I got to ...

As a youngster I was told that my grandfather, Phillip Stanley Phelan, had been a Prisoner of War in the First World War but that was about the extent of the story. I never knew my grandfather, and chances are that even if I had, I might not have got many details from him, as plenty of men who lived through that horrific experience didn't like to talk about it. Even when my interest in genealogy began I didn't have a huge interest in the war. However once I got looking at the records, I wanted to make sense of them and began to delve deeper into the stories. While Stan is my only direct ancestor to have served in the conflict, he was one of three sons of Joseph Phelan who enlisted, one of whom would pay the ultimate price. I also discovered many more relatives on Dad's side of the family who took part. One day I may write something more comprehensive about the experiences of all my relatives who served - there were many on Mum's side as well - but for now my post will ...