Patrick HEFFERNAN

[dog_foster_carer]

OK, here is the list

Ada Heffernan nee Selmes -
Birth:   Armidale 17Oct1872 to Samuel Selmes and Emily Whittaker; baptism date 27Oct1872; NSW BDM Registration No. #6031/1872; Name is incorrectly registered as Selnis instead of Selmes.
Marriage:   no NSW BDM records found
Death:  Greenacre, Sydney 02Jun1958; NSW BDM Registration No. #9500/1958; States she was married to Patrick Heffernan at age 21 at Wallerawang. Children of marriage: Sidney 65, Olive 63, Leslie 61, Vespa 58, Alice 56, Lawrence (Deceased), William S 42;  Informant: William S Heffernan, son, 40a Noble Avenue, Greenacre; Buried 04Jun1958 at RC Cemetery, Rookwood.

Patrick Heffernan -
no information whatsoever other than he is named as the father on the following certificates/transcriptions.

Sidney Arthur 'Snow' Heffernan -
Birth:   no NSW BDM record found.
Marriage:  NSW BDM Registration No. #15592/1916;  haven't yet received transcription.
Death:  Lithgow 04Sep1971; States place of birth is Portland, NSW;  Patrick Heffernan (engineer) father/Ada Selmes mother;  Children: Harold Charles (deceased 1918-1964), Allan Arthur 50 [1921-2012];  Informant: Eileen Gladys Heffernan nee Johnson, widow, Lithgow;  Buried 06Sep1971 Lithgow Catholic Cemetery.

Olive Maude Heffernan -
Birth:   no NSW BDM record found.
Marriage:  St Paul's Church, Lithgow 21Oct1914 to William Brennan;  Age 20;  Born Lidsdale via Lithgow;  Patrick Heffernan (labourer) father/Ada Selems mother;  Note: The consent of Ada Heffernan, being the mother of the bride, was given in writing to the marriage, father out of NSW.  NSW BDM Registration No. #16792/1914;  Witnesses: H G Streamer, R E Swift.
Death:   07Jul1964 at Wybenia Private Hospital, Neutral Bay;  Widow, age 71;  Birth Place: unknown;  Patrick Heffernan (station hand) father/Ada Sellem mother;  Children: William A L 49, Jean 45, Oliver (deceased), Adrian (deceased);  Informant: W Brennan, son, 130 Wollongong Rd, Arncliffe;  Buried 09Jul1964 Roman Catholic Cemetery Rookwood.

Leslie Heffernan -
Birth:   no NSW BDM Records found.  Birth year calculated from Ada's death certificate.
Marriage/Death:  no records found at all

Vespa Heffernan -
Birth:   no NSW BDM records found.   I had NSW BDM do a search for a birth record for Vespa for between 1895-1904 incl and the result was 'no trace could be found'.
Marriage:  10Sep1919 at Holy Trinity Church, Granville, Sydney to Alfred James Raffan [1892-1965];  Age: 21yo Spinster;  Birthplace: Narromine NSW;  Patrick Heffernan (deceased/baker) father/Ada Selmes mother;  NSW BDM Registration No. #8779/1919;  Witnesses: William Frost, Susan Barber.
Death:  no NSW BDM record found - I'm guessing she died between 1984-1990.  Children: James Stuart 1920-2012, Malcolm Robert 1921-abt 1988; Paul 1924-1987

Alice Victoria Emily Heffernan -
Birth: no NSW BDM records found
Marriage:   Lithgow in 1920 to Victor Hamilton Mahon, age 18;  NSW BDM Registration No. #8341/1920;  Transcription not yet received
Death:   26Aug1973 at Main Beach, Gold Coast;  Age 72;  Place of birth: Trangie, NSW;  Patrick Heffernan (labourer) father/Ada - mother;  Children: Victor Sidney 52, Jack Leslie 51, C**** C**** 47, Patricia June 41;  Informant: Harold Cohen, son-in-law, Main Beach, Gold Coast;  Buried 28Aug1973 Southport Cemetery.

Lawrence Charles Heffernan -
Birth:   no NSW BDM records found.
Marriage:   1924, Lithgow to Ida Madge Arkinstall;  NSW BDM Registration No. #3279/1925;  Transcription not yet ordered.
Death:   Transcription not yet ordered;  NSW BDM Registration No. #17328/1951;  Children: Lawrence Roy [1925-1992], Terrence [1927-2011].

William Sidney Heffernan -
Birth:   no NSW BDM records found but estimated dob from Ada's death certificate is 1914
Marriage:   1947 in Canterbury, Sydney to R***** M******* H*****, age 33;  NSW BDM Registration No. #2458/1947; 
Divorce:   1950
Marriage:   1951 in St John's Church, Campsie, Sydney to Patricia Elise Davis, age 36;  NSW BDM Registration No. #15292/1951;  **Both names are mis-spelled in the BDM registry**;  Place of birth: Lithgow NSW;  Sidney Heffernan (machinist) father/Ethel Simpson mother;  Witnesses: N Myles, J Stuart Raffan (my uncle)
Death:   19Jul1982 in Sydney, age 68;  Transcription not yet received;  NSW BDM Registration No. #201677/1982;  Sidney Heffernan father/ Ethel mother;  Children:  A*****, B****, E****, K***, D*****;  Buried: Rookwood Cemetery.

So, even though William, as the informant, states on Ada's death certificate that he is her son, clearly he has stated different parentage on his marriage certificate.  I was also wondering if he was Ada/Patrick's first sons child and he was raised as one of their own kids but the person who responded to my letter doesn't seem to know anything about this. She was married to one of Sidney Arthur's sons.

If you want me to attach copies of the transcriptions/certificates that I already have, let me know.

Hope this is what you wanted JM

thanks for helping
dfc

[majm]

Oops, please check your most recent post, and remove the names of anyone who you cannot confirm as NO LONGER LIVING. 

My poor wordsmith skills have led you to post all that info.  I apologise. 

Cheers,  JM

[dog_foster_carer]

Birth

HEFFERNAN, William S.
Yr. 1914
Father-Not listed
Mother Ethel E.
At Lithgow
Reg. 34019

Death
HEFFERNAN, Sidney Arthur
Yr 1971
Father Patrick
Mother Ada
At Lithgow
Reg  64878

Sue

Hi Sue
Thanks for that re William Sidney, I didn't know for sure his birth date or the reg no.
dfc 

[dog_foster_carer]

Oops, please check your most recent post, and remove the names of anyone who you cannot confirm as NO LONGER LIVING. 

My poor wordsmith skills have led you to post all that info.  I apologise. 

Cheers,  JM

Sorry JM

Have checked and most of the named people have passed, only a few of the children still alive so have updated their names with ****

[majm]

Please don't apologise to me.  It was my post that led you to type up all that info.   I am the one at fault, but you have fixed, so I thank you. 

I have pulled thinking cap down harder  and working on where was he 1913-1919 anywhere outside of NSW ....  now where would a chap go, during WWI if he was removing himself from NSW, leaving his wife in Lithgow.   I cannot find him on Dec 1913 electoral rolls for NSW, and this is months before the Archduke was shot in end of June 1914, with hostilities quickly following on from that.      Patrick H is elusive.     
 
Cheers,  JM

[dog_foster_carer]

Yes JM

I've almost run out of thoughts on where to seek info about Patrick, it's like he is a ghost.  A few minutes ago I rang a parish church in Trangie to see if they may have baptism records from around 1900 for the Heffernan family.  The priest? said he'll have a look to see how far back the parish records go and for me to ring back next week to find out.  At least if I can get baptism info about Patrick's kids, it may give me a little more info to go on.  Fingers crossed!!!  Maybe I'll try a few different churches in a few possible areas and hope at least one of them pans out!
dfc

[dog_foster_carer]

So I've just rung the Lithgow Family History Society and they are going to send me a form to fill in as much info as I know and then get a researcher to have a look at what info they may have re the Heffernans.  Fingers crossed that this turns up something!

[majm]

The lad born in 1914  errr .... on Ada's dc, his age is given as 42 ..... Ada born in 1872 ....  Errrr ....  There's a public tree at Ancestry with a transcription of her death cert uploaded there.   Ada is shown there as aged 86, when she died (2 June 1958    1958 - 42 = 1916 ).    Burial at Rookwood Roman Catholic section.   Also,  I think Olive Heffernan was married in the Anglican church Lithgow, which I thought was St Pauls.   

Need to pull thinking cap down further,

Cheers,  JM
   

[majm]

When you send your reply to the family history group, please consider sending clear (without any handwritten comments) copies of the transcriptions, as these can contain details to cross match other researchers interests.   For example, one of my own interests is sorting out which rural deputy registrars were sending handwritten registrations to Sydney HQ and when did each get a typewriter, and also a typist/e.  (It is in the 1950s, and NSW BDM's online website has it as 1952, but umm, I know there's some deputies who were sending handwritten entries to Sydney as late as early 1960s ... ) 

So the 1958 transcription uploaded to Ancestry has a note re the Rev'd for that Burial.   The spelling on the register must be of some concern (perhaps slightly different from other certs for possibly same Rev'd), for the transcriber has noted “MINISTER IS CLEARLY RECORDED AS M DONOUGHUE IN THIS REGISTER (ENTRY IS TYPED)”     Family history group members who undertake local lookups can often spend hours discussing quite trival matters, and consequently find the key to unblock many a brickwall.    so copies of transcripts should be invaluable to the group. 

Cheers,  JM