John Thomas Fanning (1878-1957) was the son of Ellen Gormley and John Henry Fanning. He was born in Bulla Victoria, lived for some time in NSW and was a soldier in WWI. He married Annie Tapscott and had two sons. He died in Coburg Victoria Australia.
John Thomas Fanning
John Thomas Fanning was the third son of Ellen Gormley and John Henry Fanning. He was born at Bulla in Victoria in 1878.
He was also the father of the famous Melbourne full forward, Fred Fanning and I have been told that John Thomas was himself a very talented boxer and althlete who held various sporting records.
Before he enlisted in 1916 he was living and farming at Belmore River NSW on land owned by his uncle Peter Gormley. John Thomas was reported in The Macleay Argus, 24 June 1910, as having donated money, five shillings, to the Dr Casement Memorial Fund for the Belmore River area. His mother Ellen Fanning was left this land and she eventually sold it in 1926. Before he enlisted John Thomas Fanning held an auction of his goods.
Published in the Macleay Chronicle Feb 3 1915.
Belmore River is where the relations of John Thomas Fanning were living. John Thomas’ mother was Ellen Gormley. His grandfather was Cornelias “Connor” Gormley. The Gormley family grave is in Frederickton Cemetery, near Kempsey, NSW. Belmore River is near the village of Gladstone and is a very beautiful lush farming area near the coast. Even today there are probably only about 30 farms/houses along the river.
John Thomas Fanning was a 38 year old farmer and single when he enlisted in Sydney on the 30th October, 1916. His address was given as Bulla, Victoria and his next of kin, his mother Ellen Fanning, of the same address.
John Thomas Fanning AIF Enlistment Form 1916
His unit was called The March 1917 Reinforcements and embarked from Sydney on the “Marathon” on May 10, 1917. John Thomas was a driver. He returned to Australia on the 23rd of March, 1919.
The Macleay Chronicle 28 June 1944Edward Fanning, Anne Fanning nee Tapscott and Fred Fanning
After the war he returned and married Annie Tapscott and had two children. One of these, Frederick, was the famous Melbourne footballer, Fred Fanning. He did not return to NSW and lived the remainder of his life in Coburg Melbourne and worked as a rubber worker.
He died in Heidelberg in 1957 and is buried in a military grave in Bulla Cemetery.
Bulla War MemorialJohn Thomas Fanning Bulla Cemetery 1957
The following detailed genealogy reports trace the ancestry of John Thomas Fanning back to William Fannin of Lissaroon Co Tipperary Ireland and also his descendants in Victoria Australia.
The Kelleher family lived in Kilmore Victoria Australia. Their ancestors, Patrick and Bridget Kelliher nee Mannix came out to Victoria from Callinafercy Co Kerry Ireland in the 186o’s. Hannah Mary Kelleher (Nance) married John Hugh Fanning on 21 Oct 1925 in Melbourne Victoria Australia.
Map of Irish Counties
My father’s uncle John Hugh Fanning married Hannah Kelleher, called Nance. She was a descendant of the Kellihers from Callinafercy Co Kerry Ireland. They lived in Kilmore Victoria Australia.
Nance Fanning nee Kelleher with her husband John Hugh FanningMy grandfather Frank Fanning on the left with Pat Kelleher on the middle horse. Pat was Nance’s brother.
Photos of the Belmore River area NSW Australia where Cornelius Gormley and his family lived and farmed from at least 1860.
The Gormley family, Cornelius and Ann and their four children, arrived in Australia in Oct 1853, from Co Roscommon, Ireland. Cornelius selected lot 10 after it was proclaimed on 14th May 1860. He is listed as a farmer at Belmore River in 1867 and 1872. Connor as he was called died in 1896. Thomas, his eldest son, had died in 1875. His lands were left to his remaining son Peter.
When Peter Gormley died in 1916 he left his property to his sister Ellen Fanning, his nephews, Terence Bernard McGuire and Thomas Hanley, and his niece, Mary Hanley.
Ellen’s son, John Thomas Fanning, farmed the acres which was eventually left to his mother by her brother Peter. John Fanning farmed there for at least five years leading up to his enlistment in 1915. She sold this land in 1924 for 2,216 pounds to John and William Eakin.
These photos are of the area where the Gormleys and John Fanning lived.
I thought the Gormleys, Peter and Thomas, just had land in Beranghi Parish, so I just took photos around there. Later I discovered they had lands in Kempsey and Kinchela Parishes as well as Beranghi Parish, Macquarie County. These photos of the Belmore River area were taken south of Loftus Rd near Loftus Bridge.
Belmore River (formerly Darkwater Creek) NSWRyan’s Old Farm House Belmore River Right Bank Rd Gormley neighbours.Farming Land at Belmore River NSW
Parish Maps showing land owned by Cornelius, Peter and Thomas Gormley at Belmore River, NSW.
Cornelius Gormley and his sons Peter and Thomas owned several lots of land around Darkwater Creek (Belmore River) which is on the mid-north coast of NSW Australia very close to the coast. It is a lush farming area and very beautiful. Today it is prime real estate.
Their lands are in three parishes: Kempsey, Beranghi and Kinchela and the maps are online at NSW Lands Dept , Parish Maps Preservation Project.
The Kinchela Parish Map shows the land owned by their father, Cornelius Gormley. The Land Titles Office in Sydney records Cornelius Gormley as selecting land in 1863. Image below is 1920 Map 10556201.
Land Owned by Cornelius Gormley in Kinchela Parish NSW. Parish map of Kinchela 1920, lots 47,48 & 123.Land Owned by Cornelius Gormley Kempsey Parish Map 1954, lots 180 & 194
Below is from the Beranghi Parish Map which shows the lands of Peter and Thomas Gormley.
Lands Owned by Peter and Thomas Gormley in Beranghi Parish Darkwater Creek NSW
Lots 55 & 56 where John Thomas Fanning farmed before WW1 .Lots 55 and 56 are the lots that Ellen Fanning inherited from her brother Peter after his death in 1916. This is where John Thomas Fanning, her son, farmed before he enlisted for WW1. They are shown in the next map of Kempsey Parish.
John Thomas Fanning’s land before WW1 Kempsey Parish Map
A summary of the life and work of Terence Bernard McGuire, son of Mary Ann Gormley and grandson of Cornelius Gormley. He became the first Archbishop of Canberra and Goulburn Australia.
Bishop Terence McGuire 1930
Terence McGuire was the only son of Terence McGuire and Mary Ann Gormley. He had a sister, Mary Ann who became a sister of the Good Samaritans. She became Rev Mother Mary Coleman. She died in Sydney in 1963.
He was born at Moree, New South Wales, on September, 1881. His father Dr Terence McGuire was a doctor. He died young at the age of 34.
Death Notice for Dr Terrence McGuire Moree 1881
As a young man he studied for the priesthood at St. Patrick’s College, Manly (Sydney), and at Propaganda Fide College in Rome. He was ordained in Rome on 19th March, 1904.
After many years of service within the diocese of Lismore he was consecrated as Bishop of Townsville in the Sacred Heart Cathedral on 25th May, 1930.
Among his many achievements as Bishop of Townsville was the establishment of St. Teresa’s Agricultural College, Abergowrie, in 1933, and St. Anne’s Mission on Palm Island in 1934.
He was transferred to Goulburn as Bishop in 1938, and became the first Archbishop of Canberra – Goulburn on 11th February, 1948. He was succeeded by Hugh Ryan as Bishop of Townsville.
The Canberra Times, 14 June 1948, describes the ceremony conferring the title and role of Canberra’s first Archbishop on Bishop Terence Bernard McGuire.
Cardinal Gilroy described Archbishop McGuire as being “noted for his culture, administrative ability, oratory and wit, but these qualities of the mind were surpassed by the qualities of his heart which had won the affection of all his friends.”
Bishop McGuire died at Lewisham Private Hospital, Sydney on 4th July 1957.”
Descendants of Hugh Gribbin of Co Down Ireland are given. Hugh and John Gribbin are listed in the Victorian Post Office Directory Australia. John was the father-in-law of Patrick Collins of Northcote and Patrick was the father-in-law of Edward Fanning of Bulla.
Map of the Irish Counties
Patrick Collins, my ggggrandfather, was a member of the Royal Irish Constabulary. He was born in Co Limerick but as was the custom was stationed far from home and family in Co Down. After his seven years was up he married Mary Gribben.
Mary Gribben was born in Co Down her parents were Mary Carlin and John Gribben. They all emigrated to Australia from Liverpool in 1857.
John Gribben was born in Dromara Co Down about 1793. One of his sons Hugh emigrated to New Zealand and died there in Greymouth. There is a branch of the Gribben family in New Zealand today.
Edward Francis Fanning, 1887-1968, was the second son of Edward Francis Fanning and Bridget Anna Collins. He married Matilda O’Connor and had one child Catherine. He worked as a clerk and died at Melbourne Australia in 1968.
Edward Francis Fanning at his brother Frank’s Wedding in 1915
Edward, known as Ned, was the second son of Edward Francis Fanning and Bridget Anna Collins. he was born at his grandparents’ home in Northcote, Melbourne, on June 1 1887.
His mother died in childbirth when he was one year old. His father married her sister Sarah in 1890 and had five children with her, only three survived to adulthood.
He was educated at Xavier College in Melbourne and his education and that of his older brother William was paid for by his grandparents Patrick and Mary Collins of Northcote.
Edward was the informant on his grandfather, Patrick Collin’s death certificate in 1905.
He worked as a clerk and lived in Northcote, Essendon and Caulfield. He married Mathilda (Hillda) O’Connor and they had one child, Catherine Mary (Maisie).
He died on the 15th of October, 1968 in Caulfield. He is said to have kept a diary up until 1967.
The following genealogy report details the ancestry of Edward Francis Fanning.
John Henry Fanning was born in Victoria Australia in 1842, son of William Patrick Fanning and Catherine Hayes, and died in Melbourne in 1894. He married Ellen Gormley and had sixteen children with her. He was a farmer and lived at Emu Flat in Bulla Victoria. he is buried in Bulla Cemetery.
John Henry Fanning was the eldest son of “Big Bill” Fanning and Catherine Hayes. He was born in 1842 in Werribee, Victoria, Australia.
One story about him is that he took off and went up north to Queensland and was breaking in horses there. He was supposed to have been cut off by his father for doing this. He is also supposed to have eloped with the station manager or owner’s daughter.
He married Ellen Gormley in Sydney, in Nov 1870, at St Patrick’s Church. Ellen was the third third daughter and youngest child of Cornelius and Anne Gormley.
Marriage certificate of John Henry Fanning and Ellen Gormley 1870 Sydney
He married the daughter of Connor Gormley, a farmer in NSW. This may well have been where he was breaking horses. It looks that they may have eloped as they were married in Sydney which is a long way from either of their family homes. Although Ellen did get the permission of her father to marry as she was under the age of 18, although the above record has her age as 21? It also has her place of residence as Sydney.
Ellen’s parents were Cornelias (Connor) Gormley and Ann McDermid and Ellen was born in Ogulary (Townland or Parish of Ogulla) Co Roscommon, Ireland about 1851. Cornelius was the son of Thomas Gormley. She and her family came out to Australia on the “Ellenborough” arriving on 12th October, 1853. On board were her father, listed as Connor Gormley, a shepherd, aged 43, her mother, Ann aged 35, her sister Sarah, aged 11, her sister, Eliza aged 6 and Ellen aged 2. Her brothers, Thomas aged 13 and Peter aged 9, were also on board.
Her family lived near Kempsey in New South Wales at Belmore River, where they farmed. Her parents and brother and sister are buried in Frederickton Cemetery, just north of Kempsey.
John Henry Fanning was also not left the Family property which is customary as he was the eldest son. Was this because of his wild ways? or did he get the best deal anyway? “Emu Flat”, 342 acres purchased by his father on July 7 1855, was larger and supposedly a better property. John Henry’s branch of the family became known as the “Flat Fannings” as opposed to the “Hill Fannings” up on a hill at Bulla.
John Henry Fanning from Bulla is listed as signing the Petition for Clemency for Ned Kelly in 1880.
In 1888 he put up for sale land at Emu Creek:
Sale of Land at Emu Creek by John Fanning 1888
John Henry Fanning and failure to control rabbits
John Henry Fanning died aged 52, in 1894 in St Kilda, Melbourne of a liver ulcer which he was sick with for six months. He was supposed to have died after being trodden on by a cow.
When he died in 1894 at age 52, his youngest was one year old. Ellen Fanning leased Emu Flat and moved to Essendon. The property was sold about thirty years later and had become very run down.
John Fanning died without a will and his probate papers are online at PROV. His land of 346 acres was mortgaged and the remaining balance of his estate was 793 pounds.
On his land was a four roomed stone house. It is hard to imagine 18 people living in a four roomed house. Ellen came to live at 35 Keilor Rd Essendon with her children.
John Henry Fanning is buried in Bulla Cemetery with his wife Ellen Gormley and many of his seventeen children.
John Thomas Fanning, son of Ellen and John Henry Fanning and grandson of Cornelius and Ann Gormley, also lived at Belmore River before he enlisted in 1916. He is listed in the Sands Directory 1858-1933 at Gladstone in the years 1910-1914. In 1914 he had 14 horses and 65 cattle on 149 acres. Gladstone is a village in the Belmore River area. He farmed land owned by his uncle Peter Gormley. After Peter Gormley’s death in 1916 Ellen Fanning was left this land . She sold it in 1924.
Ellen Fanning nee Gormley Bulla Cemetery
Ellen Fanning died 21 May 1928, aged 76 years. In this grave is buried a John Fanning who was buried on 26 Nov 1925.There is no death record for him or details on the cemetery records other than his name and burial date.
Grave of John Henry Fanning died 1894
John Henry Fanning died on the 28th October 1894, aged 52 years.
These graves are in the Bulla Cemetry, Victoria, Australia. A number of their children are also buried in the cemetery at Bulla:
Grave of Teresa and Francis Fanning Bulla CemeteryGrave of Laura and Thomas Fanning Bulla CemeteryGraves of Georgina and Johanna Fanning Bulla CemeteryEdward Fanning 1948 & Margaret Fanning nee Mallon 1951 Bulla CemeteryEileen Mary Fanning & Frederick Joseph Fanning Bulla CemeteryJohn Thomas Fanning 1957 Bulla Cemetery
The following reports trace the ancestry of John Henry Fanning back to Co Tipperary Ireland and also describe his descendants in Victoria Australia.
Ancestry of John Henry Fanning 1842-1894 Victoria Australia 2015Descendants of John Henry Fanning 1842-1894 Victoria Australia updated 2015
Edward Francis Fanning was born in 1850 to William Patrick Fanning and Catherine Hayes from Thurles, Co Tipperary, Ireland. He inherited “Sunnyside” and was a farmer. He married Bridget Anna Collins in 1884 and had children by her before she died in childbirth. His second wife was her sister, Sarah Collins, who also died young. She had five children. Edward’s surviving children were William Patrick, Edward Francis, John Hugh, Francis Collins and Thomas Fanning. Edward, called Ned, died in 1927 at Bulla and is buried in Melbourne Cemetery.
Edward ( known as Ned) was the youngest son of William and Catherine Fanning who emigrated to Victoria in 1841. He was born on the 15th of Feb, 1850, at Bulla.
Ned attended the denominational school at Bulla and took over the farm after his father’s death and remained there until his death in 1927 at the age of 79.
He was a member of the Royal Agricultural Society, a founding member of the Victorian National Party, and accompanied the Burke and Wills expedition when they passed through Bulla. He is my great grandfather. My great grandmother was his second wife, Sarah Collins.
He married his first wife Bridget Anna Collins on Jan 2, 1884, at Bridget’s parents’ home in Northcote.
Bridget Anna Collins and Edward Fanning Marriage 1884
Bridget Anna Collins (pictured left) was the eldest daughter of Patrick Collins and Mary Gribben. She was born in Footscray, Melbourne in 1860. Her family home was in Waterloo St Northcote, Melbourne.
Her father, born in Co Limerick Ireland, was a Police Constable. His wife Mary came from Co Down in Northern Ireland. Pat Collins came out to the colonies sometime between 1853 and 1856 and worked on the gold fields before becoming a police constable in Melbourne. His wife, Mary, arrived from Ireland in 1857. Bridget Collins was born at Footscray in Melbourne, Victoria, in 1860. She had four older brothers and seven sisters.
Bridget married Edward Francis Fanning, the youngest child of William Patrick Fanning, “Big Bill” and Catherine Hayes, in 1884, at her parents’ home in Northcote, Melbourne, Victoria. She was twenty four and Edward was thirty four years old when they married.
Bridget had three children: William Patrick born in 1885 at Bulla, Edward Francis born in 1887 at Northcote and Thomas Augustus who died, at Deep Creek, after three days, in 1888. Bridget died in childbirth on July 2 1888, after giving birth to Thomas. She was twenty seven old and had been married less than four years. Edward was left with two young sons, one three years old and the other two years old, to look after. Bridget and her infant son, Thomas, are buried in the Melbourne Cemetery.
Gravestone of Bridget Fanning nee Collins Melbourne Cemetery
Two years later, on the 18th of February, 1890, Edward married Bridget’s younger sister, Sarah Ann Collins, at St John’s Church, Clifton Hill, Melbourne. Sarah was born in Fitzroy, Melbourne in 1870.
Family stories have it that after Bridget died Edward needed help with his young children and Sarah Collins came to live there and help out. Apparently she fell pregnant to Edward and a huge rift came between the two families over this out of wedlock pregnancy. This explains the Collins family looking after the eldest two boys but not the children of Sarah and Edward. One of the boys complained that Edward kept the half brothers separated from each other.
Ned and Sarah Fanning had five children but only three survived to adulthood: My grandfather, Francis Collins Fanning born 1892, John Hugh Fanning born 1893 and Thomas Augustus Fanning born 1894. John Augustus Fanning died aged 2 mths, and Joseph Leo Fanning also died as a baby.
Sarah was only 27 when she died of tuberculosis (called phthisis in those days), in 1897. She had been sick for two years. Below is the memorial card for Sarah Fanning.
Sarah Fanning nee Collins Memorial Card
Their son, Thomas, also died of the same disease in 1915, at age 20. He died in a sanitarium in Surrey Hills, Melbourne, after being ill for four years with tuberculosis (sometimes referred to as consumption).
Apparently there was talk of Edward marrying another Collins sister, Tottie (Mary Josephine Collins) but this did not eventuate.
Edward was a farmer and lived his whole life at “Sunnyside” in Bulla.Edward was elected to the Board of Advice for the Bulla District in 1878 and re-elected in July 1881.This was reported in the Argus on June 18, 1878:
Edward Fanning Elected School Member, 1878, The Argus
The above photo of Bulla residents was taken in 1921. Edward Fanning is the sixth person from the right standing, directly behind the seated woman in black.
Ned Fanning died in 1927 and is buried in the Melbourne General Cemetery in Carlton with his parents, William and Catherine and Sarah and Bridget, his two wives and his infant son Thomas Augustus. His death was mentioned in The Argus:
Edward Fanning Obituary Kilmore Free Press 13 Jan 1927Sarah Fanning nee Collins and Edward Francis Fanning Melbourne Cemetery
The following genealogy reports trace the ancestors and descendants of Edward Francis Fanning 1850-1927 Bulla Victoria Australia.
Edward Francis Fanning 1850-1927 Ancestor Report 2015Edward Francis Fanning 1850-1927 Descendant Report 2015
