Women's History Month; My Paternal Great-grandmothers.

 Mary TORP(H)Y

   Mary was born 17 Dec 1834 in Ballyinakill, Co Galway, Ireland to Matthew Torp(h)y and Bridget Good. Bridget and four of her children, including Mary arrived in 1850 on the ship Lloyds, her three other children would arrive in 1853.

My next record for Mary is when she marries Thomas Abberton in St Peter and Pauls church, Goulburn on 22 July 1854. As Thomas was also from Ballyinakill, I could guess that they knew each other back home.

Mary was a farmers wife and helped run the post office at Mummel, near Goulburn.

In 1914 she travelled to Sydney for the funeral of her second son, Thomas and whilst there on 3 July, she passed away, aged 79.

Mary's legacy; 15 children, 63 grandchildren and 82 great-grandchildren, that I know off! Of her 15 children, 13 of them reached adult hood and 11 married. Of those births, there were four sets of twins. A remarkable lady.

Mary, with her husband Thomas.

Ann ENRIGHT.

My second paternal great-grandmother is another Irish lass, this time from Dublin. Born about 1829, to John Enright and Mary Anne Halpin, she arrives on the Chowringhee in November 1855, with her sister Charlotte. They are aged 26 and 18 and their parents are listed as deceased. The voyage took 121 days due to 21 days of constant head winds in the British Channel.

I next find Ann marrying Henry Nicolls in Goulburn. How she came to be there and how they met remains a mystery. Their marriage is very short as in July 1863 Henry dies leaving her with two small children, Louisa, born 1860 and Frederick born 1863.

Ann seems to live a quiet life, I know she was living with Louisa in 1894, when Louisa was expecting her third child.

Ann dies in Sydney in 1916, supposedly aged 99.

Ann's legacy; 2 children, 13 grand children and 23+ great-grandchildren, that I know off.

Now what of Ann's sister Charlotte, my research has only turned up her death in January 1889.