I had a good friend named Con (Cornelius) Donnelly during my time in Burnie Tasmania some years ago. Sadly Con died too young in his 40's. He told me that he believed that his Donnelly ancestors were from Belfast, as are mine.
Just recently I have come across this great old photo posted by Rob Donnelly, a cousin of Con's.
It came with this message...
"This is a photo of my great great grandparents’ 50th wedding anniversary in 1902. It was taken at a mining town called Waratah in north west Tasmania.
The couple in the centre are Cornelius Donnelly - originally from Belfast and transported as a convict with his brother James to Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) in 1844 - and Bridget Donnelly (nee Lyons) from Clare who came out to escape the famine.
They were married in Melbourne at the time of the Victorian gold rush in 1852. Cornelius was among the first wave of gold rush diggers. They came back to Tasmania in 1853 and made their life there.
Directly behind Cornelius is his son Jack Donnelly (my great grandfather).
The convict records indicate Cornelius’ father, back in Belfast, was George - I haven’t had much luck tracking down George’s details."
This couple are Con's gx3 grandparents.
Can anyone help restore this lovely old photo.
