Sunday, February 4, 2018

Week 4 - Invite to Dinner - 52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks

Time has flown and I am a little late with my Week 4 post - the prompt for which is 'Invite to Dinner'.  How to choose??  I'd like the chance to chat with (read - interrogate) just about every ancestor, especially ones with blank spaces in their details in my tree, along with every one I've heard an interesting story about (mainly for some verification).  So it was hard to choose one and justify that choice.
I eventually settled on my great great grandfather David Mulholland.
David Mulholland was born in Belfast, Ireland around 1930 and emigrated to Australia on the ship Phoebe Dunbar, arriving in Melbourne on 25th December 1854.  He left first wife, Mary Hides, behind in Ireland and had nothing to do with her or their children afterwards, settling with fellow Irish immigrant Eliza Jane McCrae in the country town of Eurobin, where he took up farming land.  I have never found any record of the two marrying, and family legend has it that they tried to marry bigamously but the ceremony was cancelled by the appearance of David's first wife's brother.  Their 15 children, 8 of whom died during childhood, are interchangeably named Mulholland or McCrae at various times.  They are one of those confusing families where children's names are reused after one died young, with 2 named Henry, 2 named David, 2 named Thomas and 2 named Margaret!  I would love to get the full story 'from the horse's mouth'.
My great grandmother, Pricilla Veronica Mulholland, was child number 10 born to David and Eliza, and, like all her siblings, does not appear in the Birth registry under any name.  She married James Nicholas Clark  on 3 August 1898 under the name Mulholland.
David Mulholland died in 1902, and the will he left behind was a classic example of sexism and favouritism.  There are seven children from the relationship living at the time.  Eldest son David, an engineer in nearby Talangatta, receives 50 pounds cash.  Sons Henry and James, who worked the family farm with their father, receive half the land, half the cattle and half the remaining cash (over 500 pounds).  Unmarried daughter Jane receives 20 pounds and the charity of her siblings for the rest of her life.  Daughter Priscilla (Mrs Clark) receives 10 pounds cash.  Daughters Ellen (Mrs Stoddart and Mary (Mrs Pape) receive a shilling each.  And wife Eliza Jane?  Under the terms of the will, she is allowed to dwell in the family home for the rest of her life, with an allowance of five shillings per week from each of the farming sons Henry and James.  The house is to be inherited by James after her death - she can't sell up and move into town, she owns nothing, and there is no allowance for inflation or unexpected expenses.  She may, however, do as she wishes with the furniture.
On his death record David Mulholland's parents are listed as David Mulholland and Margaret (McGee).  This family is one of my brick walls - I have never been able to trace them further back in Ireland.  A project to work on (one of many I revisit periodically) and one of the reasons I would love to be able to invite my great great grandfather David Mulholland to dinner. 

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