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Research in Other Countries => Australia => Topic started by: bevdon on Friday 20 January 12 00:28 GMT (UK)
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Hello,
I am looking for any information on Michael Mullins who I believe was a brother to Kate Mullins who married John Kerrisk in 1886.Michael married Mary Ellen Fitzgerald and they all lived at Ravenswood Junction (now called Mingela) near Charters Towers.
I would like to know when he immigrated to Australia and if he did this alone.
Thanks
Bev
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Dear Bev,
Welcome to Rootchat. The friendliest site to find help wit your family history.
I will help if I can but my kids have used all the download for the month and my computer is very slow.
Cheers, Ted
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Think this is his marriage
Michael Mullins
Spouse: Ellen Fitzgerald
Date: 11 Feb 1890
Queensland #001138 Page 18643
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Hello Trd,
Thanks for your help. Yes that is the right marriage. I am very interested in the fact that family lore states that Michael arrived under his brothers name. Also family lore states that Catherine (kate) Mullins who married John Kerrisk in Townsville was Michael's brother.
Any information would be helpful
Thanks Bev
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Hi Bev,
You are welcome! Others with more knowlede than me will be here to help I'm sure, but in the mean time I'll do what I can.
Where were Catherine and Michael from? and have you any idea of the brother's name?
Cheers Ted
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Is this catherines death?
Catherine Kerrisk 4 Feb 1950
Father: Michael Mullins
Mother: Mary Carolan
Queensland reg # 000570 page 1274
and is this Michael's
Michael Mullins 26 Apr 1951
Father: Michael
Mother: Mary Calinan
Queensland reg # 001970 #1695
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Hi Ted,
I don't know the name of the brother but I do know that Kate was supposed to came from Mountescott, Clare Ireland .
As you aware the name of the Mothers are a little different - Carolan and Callinan but it seems that a lot of the descendants are aware of the relationship between Michael and Kate.
I found a lot of information on this site about the family - How do I send a message to the people concerned - a bit of an new one on this caper, I'm afraid.
Thanks again
Bev
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See the little green scroll under your name on the left hand side. That is how you can send a private message to someone.
Find the person who has the information you found and click on their little green scroll.
Cheers Ted
I think Mary's (the mother's) surname is either a transcription error or spelt differently because of the Irish accent or no one knew the proper spelling.
My computer is too slow to look at TROVE, which is the Australian newspaper archive (thanks kids) I think I get next months download on Sunday. If you google TROVE you will find it - its pretty easy to search. You might find some family notices of weddings or funerals or births of babies.
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Hi Bev,
1895 Queensland State Electoral Roll.
Cant see Michael Mullins at Ravenswood but there is a John Kerrisk.
John Kerrisk, 36 (in 1895), grass hut near Ravenswood Junction,labourer, qualified by residence 1st July 1895.
Regards
Gerry
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Electoral Roll 1903
Michael Mullins, Morehead St Townsville, carpenter.
Ellen Mullins, Morehead St Townsville, home duties.
Electoral Roll 1905
Michael Mullins, Ravenswood Junction, carpenter.
Ellen Mullins, Ravenswood Junction, home duties.
1900 Electoral Roll
District of Townsville.
Michael Mullins, 32 (age at qualification date) , Hermit Park, joiner. (qualified by householder in Davidson St 28th Sept 1895)
Gerry
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Welcome to rootschat Bev.
Keep in mind that family stories can be and often are wrong, so you may be looking for something that doesn't exist ie Michael Mulllns immigration but under another name ... :-\
I will have a think and see if I can come up with any ideas. ;)
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With the death certificates found by Ted giving the same (I believe, despite the differences ;)) parent's names, then it does point towards Michael and Kate being siblings. Their death certificates would(should) tell you how long they've both been in Australia and where they were born.
Have you searched Trove for obituaries (which can give valuable information)?
Added: There are some 'In Memoriums' for Michael, inserted by family members in the Townsville Daily Bulletin in 1952. (I searched "Michael Mullins" 1951 to get this result).
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Does your family story say why Michael emigrated using his brother's name? Unless there was some criminal history, I can't see why he would do that? :-\
Michael and Catherine's marriage certificates will also give parent's names (more accurate than death certificates).
What is Michael's approximate dob?
Have you looked for Michael and Catherine on the immigration indexes on the Qld State Archives site?
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A huge amount of research has already been done on this family here on RC over the past few years:
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,260729.0.html
Ruskie, you were one of them ;D
Bev, you should contact Sashar & some of the other family members.
You can also contact Kathryn via her website:
http://familytreemaker.genealogy.com/users/m/c/n/Kathryn-M-Mcneill/index.html
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Hi Bev
Kate Kerrisk was my ggrand mother. Her brother was Michael Mullins. Michael lived in Ravenswood Junction as did Kate & Jack Kerrisk at one stage. However for some reason the descendants of both of them did not seem to know about the family connection which seems a little strange. Michael and Kate arrived in Townsville with their parents. I am not sure if there were any other children, but it would be very un-Irish to only have 2 children!
I am not sure about the detail of Michael taking an older brother's passports. I don't think passports were around at the time they came to Australia. I have not been able to find how or when they arrived. On an earlier rootschat forum it was suggested that Kate arrived on the "Ramsay". However this Kate did not have a brother.
Hope we can help each other with this research.
Molie
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Merlin, thanks for linking the two threads. Yes, I do remember the Kerrisk thread, though I had to take some time out to re-read all 14 pages of it :P, as it was such an old thread and I couldn't remember the finer points.
Glad to have Molie join in the discussion and confirm that Michael and Kate were siblings.
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Hello, Mollie,
Thank you for your message. I have been researching this family for a very dear friend of mine, Eunice Mullins whose husband was the grandson of Michael Mullins. Can you please contact me on * for more information.
Cheers Bev
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Hi Bev,
You are welcome! Others with more knowlede than me will be here to help I'm sure, but in the mean time I'll do what I can.
Where were Catherine and Michael from? and have you any idea of the brother's name?
Cheers Ted
Hi Ted,
Catherine and Michael Mullins were from Mountscott, Clare Ireland. This was on Catherine's marriage certificate to my ggrandfather John Kerrisk. They were married in 1886 in Townsville. Family lore has it that both siblings were in Townsville with their parents. How and when they arrived in Australia is a mystery? I have searched numerous passenger lists with no result. I believe they arrived with their parents Michael and Mary. I have not been able to find any reference to the parents on any electoral roll. Do you have any suggestions of where else to look? I have sent for copies of Catherine and Michael's death certificates which may shed some light on how long they had been in the colony. We may then be able to narrow down the search for passenger lists.
Cheers
Molie
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Molie,
When they arrive, will you please let us know what the certificates reveal? :)
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Sure will Ruskie.... i won't be able to contain myself if it solves part of the puzzle.
Molie
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Hi All
From Michael Mullins death certificate - he was born in Milton Malley, County Clare, Ireland 1864. His father Michael was a carpenter as he was. He had been in Queensland for 68 years at the time of his death in 1951. Therefore he would have arrived abt 1883.
I have not been able to find "Milton Malley", Clare. However there is a Milltown Malbay which is about 6kms from Mountscott where we think Kate was born. Is it a reasonable assumption that Milton Malley is Milltown Malbay?
We can now narrow down the search of passenger lists to abt 1883. I have difficulty on ancestry.com looking for them. Sometimes they give the complete list and others you can't see the original list. What am I doing wrong or is there a better way to look up passenger lists arriving Qld?
Unfortunately Kate's death certificate did not arrive today, just Michael's. I will be away for 10 days so hopefully it will have arrived by the time I get home.
Your opinions about his place of birth gladly received.
Molie
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The Irish place name you found sounds quite likely. I've found place names can be slightly out.
The Qld State Archvies webiste has some immigration indexes online. The nearest I could find is a 17 year old Michael Mullins arriving in 1885 on the Quetta. He appears to be travelling alone. Dates and ages are a bit out. If Michael travelled alone and maybe under another name as Bev suspects, I don't know how you'd ever be certain you have the right person - he may evenhave lied about his age ... :-\
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I have received Catherine (Mullins) Kerrisk death certificate. She was born in Mount Scott, Clare, Ireland and had been in Qld for 66 years. She died 4 Feb 1950. Brother Michael's death cert says he was born in Milton Malley, Clare. He died 26 April 1951. He had been in Qld for 68 years. I believe they arrived together 1883/84. We just need to find out how they got here?? I tend to believe the original story I was told that they arrived with their parents Michael and Mary.
Could they have arrived by ship into another state other than Qld? My information is that when they arrived in Townsville, they staid at the hotel opposite the railway station. They could have possibly arrived in Townsville by rail.
My other problem is that I cannot find any trace of the parents on electoral rolls or BDM.
Where to from here? ???
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The d/cs do point towards them being siblings - you don't mention if the d/cs confirm their parent's names?
I don't think voting was compulsory in the late 1880's. Certainly women didn't even get the right to vote in Qld until 1905.
It is possible that the family arrived together in a different state. Have you checked NSW and Victoria yet? Or they may have disembarked in a different Queensland town which may explain the possible rail travel. Their d/cs both give time spent in Queenland with no mention of another State. Keep in mind that it was quite common for family members to come out to Australia seperately, so the parents may have arrived at a later date. And if they all paid their own fare, there may be no record of their arrival.
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Hi Ruskie
Parents names on death certificates are:
Michael Mullins father Michael Mullins
mother Mary Calinan
Catherine Mullins father Michael Mullins
mother Mary Carolan
I have checked arrivals in other states without any luck. Interesting that you say if they paid their own fare, there may not be any record of them arriving. I thought they would have appeared on the unassisted passenger lists. Would the state libraries have more information on arrivals than is available on ancestry.com?
As I said I cannot find any information about the parents in Australia, electoral rolls, death notices etc. It does make you wonder if they came by themselves. However the information from one descendant is that they came as a family.
Think I should move on and leave this puzzle unanswered for the time being, unless you have any other thoughts.
Molie
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Ah yes I recall the mention of Calinan/Carolan earlier in the thread. I've seen nemerous instances where the mother's maiden name is either a bit wrong or completely incorrect (informants can get it wrong).
Regarding the immigration. Unless the person has a really unusual surname, if they travelled alone, it can be just down to an educated guess that you have found the right person on the immigration index. If they travelled as a family group it is easier. There are a few Michael Mullins and Catherine Mullins on the Qld Immigration Indexes, but I doubt that you would ever be certain which, if any, is yours. Although you suspect that Michael and Kate travelled together as their time in Qld estimates that they arrived in a fairly narrow timeframe, they may still have come out seperately - one may have followed the other a year or two later, and perhaps parents came at another time. I've seen something similar in my own family where it looks like one son travelled alone first maybe to 'test the waters' or get settled, then other family came later in dribs and drabs.
This may help (if you haven't already seen it):
http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/research/index/immigration.asp
There are card indexes of immigration at the State Archives which may have more names than have been put online. But the problem still remains about how to identify which are your Mullins. :-\ I do go to the Archives occassionally and can check the cards in case there is a family of Mullins, though I'm not sure I'd put much faith in stories that they arrived as a family. Please remind me to do this though, as I will forget. ;)
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Looking to connect with rootschat member Mollie. Have tried your email but bounced back. Thanks rootschat member 85jbk
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Looking to connect with rootschat member Mollie. Have tried your email but bounced back. Thanks rootschat member 85jbk
Unfortunately Molie hasn’t been logged into rootschat since April 2014.
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Thank you Ruskie. Not likely to see her here then after such a long period of time. Cheers