Hi, I have just joined Rootschat and wondered if your problem had been solved. I have done some initial research on the Rowlings family from Inglewood, Qld where Naomi was born.
Hi there, I'm a descendant of this family - Hilda Elizabeth Charles, granddaughter of Naomi Rowlings/Rawlings was my great-grandmother.
I have the following dates:
Hilda Elizabeth Farrell (nee Charles) b. 27 Jan 1907
Elizabeth Charles b. 1 March 1887
Naomi Charles (nee Rowlings) b. 25 April 1862
If this is correct, Elizabeth fell pregnant out of wedlock with Hilda at age 19 - but more interesting is that Naomi gave birth at 14! I feel I must have the wrong person here.
Hilda married Robert Francis Farrell, who was a 1/4-caste indigenous man who served in the Boer War. He fought and held his own against a future boxing world champion on the boat to South Africa. Robert (who my mother called Pop) was the son of Francis (Frank) Farrell, and his father in turn was Francis (Frank) John O'Farrell. Frank O'Farrell was the illegitimate son of Patrick O'Farrell, who I'm told was the Architect of Dublin at the time.
Frank O'Farrell took a 14yo indigenous girl named Mary or Maggie Green as his wife. I can find no record of their marriage. His children dropped the "O" in the surname. They lived in northern NSW. Frank O'Farrell died at age 42 of TB in 1902. There's no mention of Mary or Maggie in the brief death notice.
Frank Farrell, son of Frank O'Farrell, married Celina Pollard and they had 4 children, one of whom was Robert, who married Hilda. To this day there are a lot of Farrells in the Warwick area and I'll have to take note of the other family surnames in the region next time I am there.
