When my sister Sue first looked into our family history some 25 years ago, her biggest discovery was probably the divorce of Mum's maternal grandparents, Nicholas and Margaret Lawless. For years Mum and her siblings had believed that their grandfather had died in an electrical accident. However this was not so: the reality was the marriage had ended in a divorce newsworthy enough to have made papers across the country! The year was 1905, so divorce was still seen as scandalous - being Roman Catholics wouldn't have helped - and making this case even more notable was that the petitioner was Margaret. In those days, divorces were harder to be won when instigated by the wife.
Nicholas and Margaret Lawless, possibly on their wedding day
Nicholas Lawless had been born in Gordon near Ballarat in 1868, but sometime around 1888 his family moved to Gippsland, as that area was opening up to farming. Similarly Margaret Catherine Kenny, who had been born in Warrnambool in 1875, had moved as an infant to Gippsland, the Kennys being one of the pioneering families of the town of Trafalgar. Sometime around 1895 the two met, love blossomed and they were engaged. Nicholas decided to enter the police force and was appointed a constable in November 1895, and the two were married at Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church in South Melbourne on 12 February 1896*. From here, I shall let Margaret Lawless' petition to the divorce court in August 1905 continue the story...
With Nicholas having being served notice of the petition for divorce by Margaret's brother James Kenny in September, but failing to appear at the jurisdiction hearing on 21 November, the decree nisi was given on that day. As alluded to above, the press reported the circumstances of the case widely, and the Chief Justice's comments make for interesting reading:
"The respondent was a worthless, shiftless brute, who seemed to have no trouble in life but to drink himself to death, and possibly it would not be the worst thing that could happen if he would do that as quickly as possible. He had been given opportunities that would gladden the soul of any decent person, and he had an industrious and desirable wife, who took the whole burden on herself. She was such a success that she supported him and his belongings. If she had not been a woman of industry and resource she would have found herself in the gutter. The only reparation that could be made her was to acquit her as soon as possible of the burden of her husband." (Weekly Times, 25/11/1905)
The marriage was officially dissolved on 7 June 1906, and as those in the family know, Margaret would remarry, to Edward Sheehan in 1911, and continue to run hotels and boarding houses. Although she was Mum's grandmother, she would always be known to her as 'Aunt Sheehan' until her death in 1946.
But what of Nicholas Lawless? With more and more records, especially electoral roll records, becoming available online, I have been able to track his whereabouts with what I believe is reasonable certainty. In November 1906, he passed written and practical examinations to become a lineman with the Postal Department. In March 1908 he spent two months in the Royal Melbourne Hospital after a workplace accident - he was 'strapped to a telephone pole, when the pole fell and he came with it'. I suspect this event might be the source of the 'electrical accident' story that was circulated among the family! He is recorded as living in Little Collins Street around this time.
By 1913 Nicholas has found himself as a storeman in the Stores branch, we know this because a Commonwealth Government Gazette in January 1914 records that his employment in that role was terminated. Perhaps the bottle played a part again? From here it appears that he moves around, trying his hand at a variety of jobs. He is listed as a labourer for a few years, living in Geelong North (1914) then Hawthorn (1915). In 1916 it appears he takes a job as a farm hand in Clematis, but by 1919 he is a labourer again, first in Seddon, then Sunshine. He remains in Sunshine, employed as a machinist, but continues to change addresses within the suburb. Nicholas' final job was apparently a flour miller - this is recorded on his death certificate in 1940, after he passed on 15 June at the Home of the Little Sisters of the Poor in Northcote. Cause of death was a cerebral anaemia, myocarditis (inflammation of the heart) and chronic nephritis (kidney disease). Interestingly the death certificate refers to him as 'unmarried' - there is no reference to his former wife and children. One wonders whether he was ever able to contain his battle with alcoholism, but either way I feel he probably lived a lonely life.
As sad as Nicholas' life may have turned out, the other side of this story shows what a strong woman we have in Margaret Sheehan; her first marriage was obviously an ordeal, but she didn't let that define her. With sturdiness and resourcefulness she was able to provide for and raise two daughters who went on to have large, strong families of their own, and she is someone my family can be proud to have in our history. 
*One little mystery. On Nicholas Lawless' birth certificate he has no middle name. On the marriage certificate, he has the name 'John' inserted between his first and last name. But by the time of the divorce, and through to his death, his name is Nicholas Michael Lawless.
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