Phelan and Atkin Family History

In my last post I looked at Alma Collins, who was a diagnosed schizophrenic and spent much of her life in mental institutions. Alma was the only one of the first four children of Alfred Charles Collins and Annie Elizabeth Parker to survive infancy. But Alfred and Annie would go on to have six further children: Violet, Thomas, Alfred, Annie, Joseph and May. I have yet to uncover what became of May, but the other five siblings all married - however Alfred, Annie and Joseph would each have to endure divorce before finding more successful second marriages. Coming from an extended family in which divorce has been rare, I was quite surprised to discover this, particularly as these divorces occurred between the mid-1930s to the early 1950s, when divorce was not as common as it is today. Thanks to PROV (Public Records Office Victoria), the files on two of these three divorce cases are available to be read. Not surprisingly they do not paint a pretty picture on the early years of marriag...

Kew Asylum in 1894, known as the Kew Mental Hospital during Alma Collins' time. Later it would be known as Willsmere, and today is a residential apartment complex. My recent research into the Collins family has revealed them to be a somewhat troubled bunch. I've already written about matriarch Anne's drink-induced death and her son Thomas' dodgy cattle deal with William Atkin. As far as I can tell, daughter Lydia turned out ok - just as well given she is my direct ancestor! And while youngest son Alfred Charles Collins seems to have led an uneventful life as a butcher in the inner suburbs of Melbourne, life would not be easy for many of his children. Firstly I should mention the sadness that Alfred and wife Annie must have endured in losing three of their first four children in infancy. Alfred Charles Collins (named after his father) died at 5 months in 1894, while a second son Alfred and twin daughter Ruby died within a day of being born in 1896. In between was bo...

As mentioned in my previous post, several of the Collins family relocated to Gippsland following the death of their mother in March 1884. Thomas Henry Collins was working as a butcher in the town of Yarragon, where his sister Lydia Ann Collins - my great-grandmother - would meet my great-grandfather William Atkin. In September 1886 William and Lydia were married at St James' Cathedral in Melbourne (now the St James 'Old' Cathedral, relocated to West Melbourne in 1913-14). Those who have had read the thesis I wrote for my Family History Diploma in 2018 may recall the story that follows. William, aged 22, was granted a slaughtering license early in 1887 and bought the butcher shop formerly held by his 26-year old brother-in-law Thomas. However both were soon embroiled in a controversy that would play out in a Warragul courtroom. Collins had purchased cows from farmers who were under the impression that he was still running the business, and had paid for them with a cheque ...

Annie Collins name can be found on this memorial to pioneers' graves at the Seymour Pioneer Park Happy 2020 to all Phelans and Atkins out there! Having finished work on the Phelans for the time being, I have decided to switch my research back over to Mum's side of the family. The New Year finds me working on the Collins branch of the tree. Lydia Ann Collins, shown in the wonderful portrait at the end of this post, was Mum's paternal grandmother, the wife of William Atkin. Lydia was one of five children of Joseph Edmund Collins and Anne O'Regan. It hasn't always been easy to find information about this family, and even now some questions remain. One thing that there is no doubt about however is how Anne Collins met her end - the subject of today's post. Joseph Edmond Collins hailed from Sussex and was a butcher by trade. He came out to Australia in the late 1850s and found his way to Stanley in northeastern Victoria, where he ran a butcher's store ...

In the centre foreground is believed to lie Raymond William Phelan (Springvale Cemetery) Raymond William Phelan was the only son of William Thomas Phelan, a prominent identity for many years in the Victorian Railways, and older brother of my great-grandfather Joseph. During my original research on the Phelans, I discovered through available BDM records that William and his wife Caroline had four children: the first, Irene, was born in Seymour (1889), while the next three, Raymond (1891), Kathleen (1892), and Caroline (1899) were all born in Ascot Vale. It was also straightforward enough to find that Irene had died unmarried in 1966, Kathleen the same at the young age of 20 in 1912, while Caroline married a John Tobin (they had one daughter Patricia) and lived until 1971. Raymond however had me stumped. The only obvious record in the death index of a Raymond Phelan was from 1951, but the information provided stated his age at 70 (ten years too old) with parents named Robert and...

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...