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Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: tabily on Monday 13 June 11 00:08 BST (UK)
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Hi.. I am looking for Honora Meehan.
She was Born 1830 in Drumgoon Co Cavan, Ireland. Living with her brother Patrick Meehan in 1841 census (wrongly labelled as her father) in Liverpool. Lancashire, and I can't find her in the 1851 England Census. ???
In April 1855 she came to Australia on the Simmond with her brothers Patrick Meehan and family, Patrick McNally (Step-brother) and family. Her parents were Owen Meehan (convict sent to Australia in 1831) and Rose Hand (died before 1831) ..after that I can’t find her.. Help!
Thanks
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Hi, I found a Patrick McNALLY living in Mudgee in 1863 but no MEEHAn
terry
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Hi :)
The ship is the SIMOND.
Where did her family settle in NSW?
http://www.bdm.nsw.gov.au/cgi-bin/Index/IndexingOrder.cgi/search?event=births
3683/1877
HIGGINS John
MEEHAN Honorah
District Murrurundi
There is a death for an Honora HIGGINS, parents unknown in 1882 in Sydney.
Pure speculation :)
Cheers
Cando
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Thanks for the tips..
This family is proving tricky.
Honora Meehans father Owen Meehan, was a convict and settled and died in Liverpool NSW (He was transported when she was about 1 and her mother died around the time she was born)
Honora's Brother Patrick Meehan (and family) also settled/died in Liverpool, NSW
I have no idea what happened to her uncle Patrick McNally, his wife Elizabeth and children, Rose, Nicholas and Honora. I believe I have one child Margaret McNally who married in Yass and died in Waratah.
I have discounted the John Higgins/ Hanorah Meehan as they seem to be well documented on quite alot of family trees on ancestry.
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Is this your Owen Meehan in Nov 1857? Do you know whether he had a daughter called Ann, or if it could be a nickname for Honora? http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/13003354?searchTerm=meehan
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Hi Lin up..
Thanks for that... that is really really interesting. Owen was living in Moore Bank, near Liverpool at that time and Ann's age is very close to Honora's (I could imagine someone not liking that name??!)
I don't know all the names of Owens children or what happened to them all. His wife was dead and most of the kids were young when he was transported.
I will look into it further.. thanks so much :D
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My pleasure! :) Though I didn't catch Ann Meehan's age in that article... but I agree it could be a nickname if this is your Owen & there's no other daughter known as Ann.
Also out of interest, I noticed there was a Hugh Meehan age 24 on the Simonds with Honora et al in 1855 -- was he a younger brother? Is that's so, knowing where he ended up may give another lead re: finding Honora's whereabouts.
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Hi there..
I did see Hugh..I am sure he must be related, but I am not sure how.. possibly my Owens nephew? He is also from Drumgoon, Co. Cavan, with the same last name and on the boat with them all....
This family seems to get here then disappear!
thanks for your help! ;D
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All this mystery is very intriguing isn't it! Actually I just found, at the time of his arrival Hugh's parents were stated as Hugh (already in Sydney) & Bridget (dec'd).
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Yes.. these Meehans are very very interesting! I can't find a death for Hugh with those parents.. or a Hugh Senior anywhere..
and just FYI Owen married a 4ft tall Irish murderess :o.. facinating!
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Oh now that's juicy! :o ;D Re: Hugh jr -- it looks like he seems to have died in Victoria in 1898. I checked on the VIC BDM website here https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/index-search?action=getHistIdxSearchCriteria & using that search form interestingly there seems to have been an Honora Meehan who died in VIC the year before in 1897...? Probably a long shot to be your Honora I guess, but if you run out of leads...
Edit: The VIC BDM index also includes an Honora Meehan's birth, so looks like probably a dead end, sorry. :'(
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hello Tabily :)
(I belong to the same Meehan tree as Tabily). A quick note, I've got to get back to the study, no time for genie for a while.
I wonder if it was Owen's grandaughter who stole from him? Grandaughter Ann Meehan was 17-18 y.o in 1857.
I haven't come across many Owen Meehan's, one that was a convict before this one, died before 1855 on either Lord Howe Is or Norfolk Island (where he was working as some kind of police constable). I noticed an Owen Meehan arrived in ?Sydney Australia 1857 with his wife as an immigrant. They are the only Owen Meehan's I've ever found! I don't know where he was living, but was only with his wife.
The chances of this being the correct Owen are high, especially considering it is the right place in Sydney.
There are two Hugh MEENEN deaths in NSW bdm. Neither of them might be them.
Our Meehan's have had incredibly weird spellings, Meenen is a mild variation!
One in the year of Hugh Jnr arrival ...
1855 Hugh MEENEN 44 yrs old (so born abt 1811) no parents listed, district is blank.
if this is one of them would have to be the father, Hugh Junior was in his 20's
1873 Hugh MEENEN father: James J, Mother: Rose District: Paddington
This doesn't match with Hugh MEEHAN Jnr parents.
Could be Hugh Senior.
I wonder if Hugh MEEHAN Snr who was already in the colony in 1855 was a convict?
It would be interesting to find his details of where from, wife etc.
I've only had time for a glance ...
convict Hugh MEICHEN 1820 per Neptune.
Just a titbit - a Hugh MEEHAN operated a sawmill at Freshwater Cover early 1800's.
Lyn
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Re: Hugh jr -- it looks like he seems to have died in Victoria in 1898.
I checked on the VIC BDM website here https://online.justice.vic.gov.au/bdm/index-search?action=getHistIdxSearchCriteria & using that search form interestingly there seems to have been an Honora Meehan who died in VIC the year before in 1897...? Probably a long shot to be your Honora I guess, but if you run out of leads...
The above death in 1897 is not your Honora:
MEEHAN Honora age 91 yrs d. 1897 SKIPTON #3163
Father: Unknown
Mother: Unknown UNKNOWN
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That's excellent information, Lyn & Merlin! Good suggestion re: the Ann Meehan in 1857 also possibly being Owen's granddaughter.
Back at the drawing board, could these be some leads to follow up?
1. Do you know where Owen Meehan was buried or if he left a will (maybe in a probate file?) ? Maybe you could check to see whether there's a Honora buried nearby or mentioned in the will?
2. Another family member not previously mentioned here also was brought out by Owen Meehan on the Simond in 1855: Rose Mul(l)holland age 34 (parents Hugh & Mary), a sister of Owen Meehan & a widow. (see http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/60179326?searchTerm=meehan and http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/12968080?searchTerm=meehan). Maybe her whereabouts could add a lead re: where Honora ended up?
3. Possibly a huge long shot -- but I noticed a "Nora Mehan" in Connecticut, USA in 1870. (ref: https://www.familysearch.org/search/image/show#uri=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.familysearch.org%2Frecords%2Fpal%3A%2FMM9.1.i%2Fdgs%3A004259463.004259463_00009 (4th row))
Sounds a long way away, but she's the right age (40), from Ireland, no sign of any family, and also can't read or write (which is the same as your Honora declared in 1855 when she went to Australia). Maybe worth further investigation?
Update re: Rose Mulholland
Rose appears to have been married to Philip Mulholland, who seems to have died before she arrived in Australia per the Simond in 1855. Two of their sons appear to have also come out to Australia, in May 1859 on the "Palmyra" - Hugh b.c.1835 (d. 1901 in Ryde NSW) and Philip b.c.1847 (d. 1932 in Hurstville NSW). This information may help you locate Rose? [Also found that, like Rose, Patrick McNally similarly stated in 1855 age 40 that his parents were Hugh & Mary, both dec'd (though he was listed as Owen's step-brother, while Rose age 34 was listed as a sister of Owen).]
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Hi Tabily. I'm not sure if you're still searching, but I have found Honora.
She is buried in Hartley Vale in the Blue Mountains, Australia. I visited her grave yesterday and have attached a picture.
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Hi
Just wondered if anyone is still following this post. The Hugh Meehan (1830-1898) mentioned earlier is my husbands 2 x ggrandfather.
I can see that Owen Meehan paid the deposit for family members to come to Australia. They are listed as:
Patrick Meehan (30) - Owen and Rose's son. He appears to have died in 1860 crossing a river while drunk.
Susan Meehan (30) - Patricks wife - her name is actually blank on list but is Susan
Rosanna Meehan (16) - Patrick and Susan's daughter
Anne Meehan (14) - Patrick and Susan's daughter
Michael Meehan (12) - Patrick and Susan's son
Susannah Meehan ( 8 ) -Patrick and Susan's daughter
Owen McNally (3) - Patrick and Susan's son. This is the Owen McNally that died in 1857. He drowned aged 5.
Honorah Meehan (25) - Owen and Roses daughter
Hugh Meehan (24) - Hugh and Bridget's son
Honorah Meehan (25) This is a second Honorah. Not sure who her parents are as I can't find her on the list of the Simond. Perhaps Hugh and Bridget????
Rose Mulholland (23)
Patrick McNally (40)
Elizabeth McNally (38)
Margaret McNally (22)
Honora McNally (15)
Nicholas McNally (13)
Rose McNally (8)
I'm working on the assumption that Owen and Hugh Snr were brothers in an attempt to find out what happened to Hugh Snr and to try and work out who their parents were. I'm also looking for other siblings of Hugh Jnr if they exist.
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Hello Rahnee and welcome to RootsChat.
The two posters who seemed to be related to this family haven't been on line here for some time - tabily since 2015 and Lynnnnnn since 2011. Hopefully they still have the same email address and will receive notification of your post.
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Yes, I can see its been a while since they have checked in. I thought it was worth posting just in case they came across it in the future.
This family are driving me crazy. Our Hugh who was 25 at the time time of passage is my dead end. I can't really get back from there. And I'm also having difficulty with some of his children.
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Hello Rahnee, you should remove your email address in accordance with RootsChat rules (to avoid spam etc). Simply click "modify " in the the top right hand corner of your post.
It was definitely worth posting! Hopefully they will see your post.