A 'Painful Accident'? You're Not Kidding!

Perhaps it stands out when compared with the tendency of today's media to sensationalise, but the understatement of much of the reporting of yesteryear is remarkable. Take the following 'painful injury' to Martin Clohesy, a farming contractor of Leongatha, as reported in the Great Southern Star on Friday 5 February 1915.

Martin Clohesy was a cousin of my great-grandfather Nicholas Lawless (as shown in the chart below), who some readers might remember was a hopeless alcoholic and ultimately divorced by my great-grandmother Margaret. You can read about that elsewhere in this blog. Martin was married and had two children at the time of the horrific incident, and had other relatives in the Leongatha district - including the Cantys mentioned in the article - so presumably his family were able to lend plenty of support in his farming work (he was later listed in the electoral roll as an 'onion grower').

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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...

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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