RootsChat.Com
Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: agnieszka on Sunday 05 September 10 19:57 BST (UK)
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I'm hoping to find some information about my Uncle Paddy.......Patrick Collins was born 1916+ not sure where. I think he was brought up in Ireland by his aunt Bridget Collins, married name Foley
He joined the Royal Navy and was based in Gosport, Hampshire.England in the 1950s.
He married a Patricia and had a girl and a boy born in the 1950s
I believe the family immigrated to Australia late 1950s or 1960s but don't know where they lived
I think Paddy was a Captain in the Australian Navy.
I think he retired to the Broken Hill area of New South Wales.
I would appreciate any help that anyone could give me in researching my family history.
Thank you
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Are you able to tell us his parents names and whereabouts he was born?
Also did he have any middle names.
thanks Jenn
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Hello Jenn.
Thanks for replying.
Patrick's mother was Catherine Collins from Dublin, I think. She was unmarried. I believe she came to UK to avoid the Magdalene laundries in Ireland. I don't know where and when Paddy was born.
My Gran never spoke about her past but she took me to visit Uncle Paddy, Aunt Pat and the children in Gosport, Hampshire, England in the 1950s. It was a great adventure for me as we lived in Scotland and Gosport was so far away!
Paddy and Pat came home from Australia several times, by boat I think.
I found a death for a Patricia Collins age 50, died in 1964, buried in Wellington Law Cemetery NSW and wondered if this was my Aunt Pat. The notice says birth unknown.
Regards
Agnes
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thanks for that
when you say they came home wheeabouts in the UK would that have been
Jenn
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The National Archives (australia) has the following immigration entry which looks possible but I can't see a mention of wife or children, and you say he was in Gosprt in the 50s. ???
Patrick COLLINS, born in Dublin, Ireland on 27 August 1922; Mother: Mrs James COLLINS - Application dated: Shanghai, 2 April 1946
(Naval Service No.: D/JX 7305856)
Unfortunately this is not digitised.
Search as a Guest on Namesearch
http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/recordsearch/index.aspx
Judith
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COLLINS. - Patrick 1919-2008 Beloved husband of Pat for 63 years. Loving father/father-in- law of Janet and John, Brian and Leanne. Respected and much loved grandfather of Emma and James. Fair winds and smooth seas sailor
from the Melbourne Sun Herald.
forgot to add in 5/8/2008
http://tributes.heraldsun.com.au/HeraldSun-AU/Obituaries.asp?Page=ArchiveSearch
Jenn
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Well found Jenn - I think that knocks out the Patrick b 1922 in my previous post.
Judith
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Jenn excellent find and you are a very generous chatter ;D
I found a death for a Patricia Collins age 50, died in 1964, buried in Wellington Law Cemetery NSW and wondered if this was my Aunt Pat. The notice says birth unknown.
Agnes
Death Reg from NSW for the above.
http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/Index/IndexingOrder.cgi/search?event=births
40387/1964
COLLINS Patricia
Father Nicholas Mother Mary
District Orange
A possible birth if Patrick was born in England however there is a 2nd given name initial on this birth registration :-\
COLLINS Patrick J Reg Dec qtr 1919 Berwick: Cumberland, Northumberland/Westmorland. 10b/1085
Mother's Maiden Surname - COLLINS
According to the death notice on 8 May 2008, Patrick and Patricia had been married for 63 years so married c1945. I have searched the 1944 and 1945 marriages in the UK and so far not having much luck.
Cheers
Cando
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I wonder if there is a funeral notice for Patrick Collins that would match up with the family tribute which was dated the 5/8/2008?
might lead to establishing this Patrick Collins as a strong possibility
Jenn
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I'll be at the National Library later in the week so will have a hunt for the Funeral Notice which hopefully may be in the same day's paper. Some-one else may beat me to it though!! ;D
Judith
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Hello Jenn, Judith and Cando. You are wonderful. I believe you have found my Uncle Paddy.
Thank you so much. You filled in the blanks and confirmed what we thought we knew. In my last post I wasn't sure how much I could say because of confidentiality etc.
I remember my cousins' names as Janet Susan and Brian John. I felt intimidated as I had only one!
My Gran Catherine Collins married William Dunlop in Montrose,Angus,Scotland in 1927. She had two more children,William Dunlop and Sarah McGraw Dunlop, my mother.
I found a marriage of a Patrick Dunlop to a Patricia Lumsden in Gosport, Hampshire in Dec 1945. I wonder if this is Pat and Paddy's marriage?
Is there any info about Janet and Brian's marriages?
Finally, I would love to be in touch with them. Is there a protocol for this?
Many, many thanks. I had a wee greet on receiving your news.
Agnes
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Hi Agnes
When I get to the National Library (not till Thurs though!) and IF there is a funeral notice it should give the name of the undertakers. Some undertakers will pass on information about who arranged the funeral - some won't for privacy reasons. We'll keep our fingers crossed. ;D There may be other notices as well which may help.
Judith
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Good on you JudB you are allways willing to go the extra mile
the Australian Whites pages on line
http://www.whitepages.com.au/wp/busSearch.jhtml
have a number of B J Collins in Victoria.
I could get past to page 5 to see if there were any BJ and L Collins
Jenn
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From: Herald-Sun, May 8, 2008 (Melbourne paper)
Funeral for Patrick COLLINS was at John Allison/Monkhouse Frankston Chapel, 30 Frankston-Flinders Rd, Frankston on Tuesday May 13, 2008 at 2.30pm. Private Cremation.
John Allison Monkhouse, Frankston ph 97837722, monkhouse.com.au
The only death notice in that issue of the newspaper is the one Jenn has already given.
Herald-Sun, May 9 2008
Death notice
ROYAL NAVAL ASSOCIATION
COLLINS - Patrick.
The Members of the Port Phillip Branch mourn the passing of our esteeemed shipmate Patrick Collins Lt Cdr RN (RAN)
Nothing in later papers.
My husband is a member of the RNA but in Canberra ACT rather than Victoria. There is this link for 'overseas' branches
http://www.royal-naval-association.co.uk/overseas.html
but I can't find a phone number for the chap listed as the Port Phillip secretary. I am at the library at the moment but will phone the Canberra secretary later to see if there is a contact for the Port Phillip Branch. I would think they could be very helpful to you.
Otherwise an email or letter to the undertakers might be useful.
Adding: On the 2008 electoral roll is Patrick COLLINS 12 Onkara St Frankston, 3199. No other COLLINS at that address.
Sue, I can't see later entries on the White Pages (phone directory) either :(
Judith
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I feel it is the right man. ;D
JudB does the library carry the actual phone books for MElboure/Victoria
I have tried again and cannot get past the first 5 pages
Jenn
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COLLINS Patricik 88 years Lyn
dbrook 3975 Died 7 May 2008 was cremated at Bunurong Memorial Park. There is no grave or memorial.
No Patricia listed so possibly still living :-\ Have checked whitepages and nothing for that post code.
Cheers
Cando
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Hmm
According to Googlemap and the post code site there is a Lynbrook and a Lyndhurst with post codes 3975 but no Lyndbrook. However I see Lyndbrook mentioned on google.
I wonder if he was in a nursing home? The electoral roll I am using is dated Jan 31, 2008 so Patrick was still alive and would, presumably, still be on the roll. Perhaps it was never changed if he moved. ???
Judith
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Sorry Judith it is LYNBROOK :-[
The address would be where he last resided not necessarily his home. I note that on the Probate advertisement search facility in Vic, both my parents who were residents of Victoria and died at a hospital in South Australia are listed as resident in SA and the post code.
Cando
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Judith, thank you so much for all the trouble you go to.....and you too Jenn.
Uncle Paddy seems to have been highly respected in his career. It was very touching to read the tributes to him.
It is so good to learn more about this part of the family. With leads from his Naval file I was able to follow up info here in UK. After years of searching I discover that Paddy was born only a few miles from where I live!
He joined the Australian Navy from the Royal Navy in the 1960s. I hope I'll find out more about his career by following up your links.
Incidentally , my niece Claire recently married a Lieutenant Commander in the Royal Navy.
Regards from Agnes
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Hi Agnes
Have just phoned the lady here who is the local secretary for the RNA. She is going to try and find a contact for the Melbourne Branch.
Fingers crossed!
Judith
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Hudith once again ou have gone the extra mile and maybe there will be living relatives
It was rather sad to find that Paddy had only died 2 years ago but I now feel very rather happy that perhaps Agnes will find living relatives and fill in the blanks
good luck Agnes
JEnn
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Once again many thanks Judith, Jenn and Cando. You have gone to a lot of effort for me. I have passed on the info to other members of the family who are also interested in Pat and Paddy.
It is quite an emotional journey for me as I never understood why we really never knew this part of the family. I suppose attitudes were quite different at the time when these events were unfolding.
Regards from Agnes
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Hi,
I hope this thread is still open and that you receive this message!
My name is Emma and the Pat and Paddy you speak of are my Nanna and pop!!
By chance I have stumbled on this website and saw this discussion about my grandfather. Unfortunately, the notice you have already discovered is correct, Pop sadly died approx 4 years ago and we miss him dearly. He was a wonderful man and highly regarded in the navy. The address you found for Onkara st was correct, but my nan moved out shortly after pop died, hence no correspondence would've been answered. Pop was in a nursing home when he died, so the address wasn't correct in the newspaper. However, Nanna (Pat) is still alive (soon to turn 90 years old!) as are my mum (Janet) and my uncle (Brian).
I do hope you receive this and we can communicate further!
King regards,
Emma Clark-Kennedy
P.s I believe he retired a lieutenant commander, not a captain. He also served in the royal navy before the royal Australian navy. I'll have to ask Nanna for more details!
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Hello Emma.
I was delighted to hear from you and hope we can keep in touch.
I have been studying the family history for the past few years.
Catherine Collins, my grandmother was your Pop's mother.
Your Pop and Nan were Aunt Pat and Uncle Paddy to myself and my two brothers.
When I was about nine years old my Gran took me to Gosport to visit Pat and Paddy and their children. Uncle Paddy was then serving in the Royal Navy.
Emma we can send each other private messages by using the green scroll icon where you write messages. This allows us to talk about family matters between us. The site removes messages sometimes if they are giving info about living relatives.
I can send you the bits of family history that I have researched. I will also send you a private message giving you my email address and more info
Thanks for getting in touch and let's keep in touch.
Agnes
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hello there Emma and Welcome to rootschat
How wonderfull family contact
Emma you need to send three posts before you can do pms ( prive messages the green scroll)
so if you reply to this message to get your three posts up that will e good
kind thoughts Jenn
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Thanks Jen!