One Day, Two States, Two Weddings

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?

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A Sacrifice, By Any Name

Prologue Before launching into today's story, I thought I might give an update on how my research is going. I started this blog back in 2019 as a way of communicating some of the more interesting stories about past family members, as I embarked on a 'redo' of all my original research. Having completed my Family History Diploma the year before, I'd learnt the importance of verifying information, and my family tree had plenty of information with no proven sources. Across the last four years I have completed the 'redo' of seven lines of the family: Phelan, Gasperino, Cowan and Davenport on Dad's side, and Atkin, Collins and Kenny on Mum's. I have also done a lot of work on the remaining maternal line, Lawless. But this line's Australian history goes back an extra generation, and has not just one but five brothers who emigrated here, so it represents by far the largest chunk of work to get through. As of now, I estimate that I've completed about 85%...

General Hewitt and the Man from Elba

I have always enjoyed saying I'm 1/16th Italian. I've often been asked if I have a European background, so it's fun to be able to provide that answer. Though so far, my DNA test is showing no evidence of this background! Nevertheless, it is true, my family does have one Italian ancestor. He was my 2x great-grandfather and his name was Antony Gasperino. His arrival in this country dates back to the 1850s, in quite unusual circumstances, on a ship named the General Hewitt . But before we even make our way on board that ship, what little we know of Antony's early life deserves a mention. Antony (presumably Antonio in his native land) Gasperino was born on the island of Elba in 1836. From his marriage certificate we know that his father was Lawrence (Lorenzo) Gasperino but his mother's name is not recorded. On his death certificate her name is listed as 'not known'. It's strange that even the informant at the time of his death (his son Joseph) would not kno...

Tommy Roundhead: The Most Lawless Lawless of All

With the number of Lawlesses in my family tree, it was only a matter of time until I found one that truly lived up to the name. At first, I was incredulous at the discovery of this man's litany of 'drunk and disorderly' and obscene language charges, incurred far and wide. But upon closer reading of a handful of his convictions, I realised there was a darker and more disturbing side, and that this was perhaps a very troubled individual. Mugshot of Thomas Lawless from the records of the Bathurst Gaol Thomas Lawless was the second child of Patrick and Catherine (Kitty) Lawless. He was born about 1844 in Macedon, Victoria, but currently we know little about his early life. However, the Ancestry website revealed several 'hints' to NSW Gaol Description and Entrance Book records for a Thomas Lawless born about 1846 in Victoria, so thought I might be onto something. I had to be careful though, as there was more than one Thomas Lawless in the colonies around this time. A sea...

Phelan and Atkin Family History

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