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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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...

How Austin Phelan Met his Wife

Dad's father Phillip Stanley Phelan was one of twelve children (eight boys and four girls) born to Joseph Phelan and Mary Gasperino. By the time Dad was eight years old, he had five uncles and three aunts surviving. As I have mentioned previously, I don't recall hearing much about them from him when I was growing up, and certainly not Austin George Phelan, who was the youngest of the boys in the family. Austin was born in Benalla in 1904, lived in the Essendon area all his life, like many of the Phelan clan, and worked as a brewery employee. But it is how he came to meet his wife Sara that proved to be of most interest once I started digging. As you can see above, Austin was listed as the 'co-respondent' in the 1931 divorce case between John Carnegie Lovick and his wife Sara Annie Lovick. In other words, he was the 'other man' who had become involved with a married woman (who would later ultimately become his wife). Officially John Lovick was petitioning...

The Wreck of the Nashwauk

Back in October, I wrote about my Italian ancestor Antony Gasperino 'jumping ship' from the General Hewitt at Portland, Victoria in 1856. A little over a year before Gasperino's unconventional arrival, his future wife Hannah Hourigan (sometimes known as Hannah Hogan) had her own eventful introduction to Australia. Hannah was born about 1837 in Cork, Ireland; her father Matthew was a blacksmith but we do not know the name of her mother. Possibly Hannah was orphaned at a young age and with Ireland reeling from the devastation of the potato famine, was one of many single girls enticed to improve her lot by emigrating to Australia. And so on 14 February 1855 at Liverpool, 18-year old Hannah was one of 130 single Irish servant girls boarding the Nashwauk : an 18-month old, three-masted wooden-rigged sailing ship carrying 300 emigrants bound for South Australia.* Captained by Archibald McIntyre, the Nashwauk had an uneventful 89-day voyage to reach Gulf St Vincent. Having...

Phelan and Atkin Family History

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