McGrath Family New Zealand

[sandy feet]

Thanks for clearing that up Lucy. It was only a thought but i will now focus on where Frank the Dentist was prior to Townsville ( He must have been registered elsewhere as I do not think he came straight to Townsville from England). This may be a to help with Margaret's movements prior to her marriage. There would have to be a good reason for for a single woman to travel to Townsville in the very early 1900's.  Thankyou so much Lucy and other contributors for the endless amount of help you are providing to this novice researcher.

Regards Sandy

[Lucy2]

Death of Peter McGRATH at Sydney- June 1885 :

We know that the case against Peter (for "maintenance")  brought by his wife Margaret in April 1885, was dismissed by the Magistrate.

And that in October 1888 (at Peter McGRATH junior's Court appearance) Margaret was said to be "surviving" on L 2 (2 pounds) per week.

In August 1885 the "Balmain Observer and Western Suburbs Advertiser" carried two articles referring to the family of Peter McGRATH.
*     1 August 1885 - page 2 - Correspondence: Balmain Borough Council.   
Letter from John RYAN referring to death of Peter McGRATH, contractor, stating that he had left his family unprovided for and asking the Council to "consider the matter of some extras on the late contractor's work".   Referred to Finance Committee.

*     15 August 1885 - p. 2 -- Balmain Borough Council, Finance Committee: 
.... in connection with John RYAN's application for and on behalf of the late Peter McGRATH's children, that in view of the large expenditure in remedying the late Peter McGRATH's contracts, the committee regrets its inability to comply with the prayer of the petition.
-------

Have no idea if convents or catholic schools had "free" education in that era ?  (If education had to be paid for then it would seem to be have been beyond the reach of the poor widowed Margaret ? )
We do know (from Court case 1888) that Peter McGRATH junior had been attending the Sacred Heart school.   We don't have an address for the family at that time though.    Maybe it was the relatively new (1880) Sacred Heart school in Darlinghurst ??   

"Freeman's Journal" (Sydney) - 28 June 1884 - p. 15,  talks of the Sacred Heart sisters coming here about 2 years ago to establish a high class school (Rose Bay Convent).   Same paper - 30 June 1888 - p. 19, records that the convent house at Rose Bay is now completed. 
[Have no idea if there were other Sacred Heart schools in Sydney - these were the only ones that cropped up in searches for inner / suburban Sydney. ]

[majm]

NSW Electoral Roll 1878 THE GLEBE  (included Balmain)
Francis McGRATH, of Campbell St GLEBE, household
Thomas McGRATH, of Queen Street GLEBE, freehold house
John RYAN, of Glebe Road, GLEBE, household.


Sands Directory 1877
Sacred Heart (R.C.) Church, Oxford St

Sands Directory 1885
Church of Sacred Heart, Rev J J Garvey, Darlinghurst Road

Also,
Sacred Heart Central School, is still at Cootamundra founded 1870 (Canberra and Goulburn Diocese)


Perhaps the following is a different destitute McGrath family

http://srwww.records.nsw.gov.au/indexsearch/searchform.aspx?id=74&new=1
Randwick Asylum for Destitute Children
Admitted 3 February 1887, four children with the surname McGRATH.
Denis John, 9 years old
Frederick Gregory 7 years  old
Margaret Mary, 4 years old
Mary Frances, 12 Years old

Here’s a link to TROVE, it is a free website, full of digitised newspapers covering the whole of Australia.  There’s a variety of options available, eg You can restrict your searches to a particular newspaper, or a particular state, or year/decade, or article/family notice
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/home

Lucy2 has referred to several of these cuttings.  Here's the links from TROVE.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/13591257 SMH 17 June 1885 Funeral Peter McGrath
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/132244191 Balmain Observer 28 Feb 1885 Letter from Peter McGrath to the local council re extras on his contract, asking for £200 of the £300 owing be paid, while the dispute is to be settled
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/132245586 Balmain Observer 1 August 1885  Letter from John Ryan referring to the extras on the late Peter McGrath’s contract
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/132244139 Balmain Observer 15 August 1885  Finance Cttee of Balmain Borough Council declined John Ryan’s application for aid on behalf of the McGrath children.


I cannot find a Peter McGrath in the Sands Directories 1880 – 1885.   I can find a Michael McGrath, contractor, Beattie St BALMAIN, in the Sands 1884 Directory,

http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/search-our-collections/sands-directory  Here’s a link, free to search, for the Sands Directories 1858 – 1933.

Cheers,  JM

[Juliannet]

Hi All,

I changed the direction from Margaret as teacher, to the possibility that this may be the case for the new and unconfirmed McGrath daughter Georgina.

I located the following in the New South Wales, Australia, Government Gazettes, 1853-1899, (1898 March-April)

It reads; Miss G McGrath, from Haning to Yarrowitch Public, (between Tamworth & Port Macquarie) as teacher.

ADD: From Trove
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/10873796?searchTerm=georgina%20m%27grath%20teacher&searchLimits=l-australian=y#pstart360878
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) Wednesday 25 January 1911 Pg 15

This Georgina M'Grath attended a public school in the snowy mountain region of Victoria and received a scholarship in 1911 to attend teacher's college.

I think we can rule her out. However still leaves the 1898 G McGrath as an option

Warm Regards
Julie

[majm]

Hi there Julie,

Do you have a copy of the ROGERS-McGRATH marriage, Townsville, Queensland 1901?  If so, would you please type up all the information on that document, including of course the occupation recorded there for Margaret Beatrice McGrath?

Thanks,

Cheers,  JM

[Lucy2]

Hi there Julie,

Do you have a copy of the ROGERS-McGRATH marriage, Townsville, Queensland 1901? Thanks,

Cheers,  JM

The ROGERS-McGRATH marriage 1901 is the interest of "sandy feet" (Sandy).

You'll find details have been supplied at the outset of this thread.

  ~  Lu

[Juliannet]

Daughter (name not known) ... prob. born between 1867 and 1872 (before the son Thomas).
[Again, no NZ birth registration found.  Have checked Canterbury / Westland district RC baptisms and been able to eliminate all but a "Georgina Maria McGRATH" -bapt. Christchurch Cathedral 13 April 1868.  Have found no further info in NZ / Os for this girl. ]

This may be the Georgina Maria McGrath you located Lucy...
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bin/paperspast?a=d&cl=search&d=TS18700905.2.4&srpos=4&e=--1866---1873--10--1----0georgina+m%27grath--
Drowned at aged 2.5 

ADD: Note the drowned child's full name is OLIVIA Georgina Maria McGrath
However we still have a daughter unaccounted for in Sydney in 1888

Warm regards
Julie

[majm]

Margaret Beatrice McGrath and Frank Rogers( born Newton Abbott, Devonshire England) were married at St. Peters  Church  of England (Anglican) in Townsville on the 15th of July 1901. The witnesses were William McAllister  and Lillian Sankey and the celebrant was F.G.Williams. Registrar was W.Thomas.

Lu,

Queensland marriage certificates are usually a tad more informative that just the above info.  They often include the names of the parents of both the bride and the groom, the then ages of the couple, their places of birth and their occupations, and their father's occupations.   As this would be information the couple provided first hand to the clergyman, I would expect it to be fairly reliable, and perhaps help with the McGrarth threads.   

Cheers,  JM

[majm]

From a 1893 Qld marriage cert, so I would expect similar info on a 1901 Qld mc. 

When and where married
Names and surnames of the parties (the groom then the bride)
Condition of the parties (Bachelor or Spinster or Widow, no mention of Divorcee)
Birthplace (the cert I am looking at while typing this up, is for a couple who were both born outside of Australia. So, this document gives the town, the county and then the country [in the UK,]  groom then the bride)
Married in the/at (the street address, a private residence in a rural district in Qld)
According to the rites of (the denomination)  (Also, if either party was under 21 years, here was sufficient space for the clergy to write the details of the person giving consent, and their relationship to the bride or the groom)
The Rank or Profession of the groom and then the bride (in this instance the bride was recorded as “Private Life”)
Ages (groom, then bride)
Usual place of Residence (their respective addresses in rural Qld)
Father’s name and surname,  Mother’s Name and maiden surname.
Father’s rank or profession

The signatures of the groom and bride
The witnesses
The Officiating Minister/Registrar

ADD
I am not sure when Qld required the clergy/registrar to ask if any of the parents were known to be deceased, but in NSW that requirement dates from 1899, and the clergy often abbreviated it to a small notation, sometimes "dec" other times a simple † near the parent's name

Cheers,  JM