Genealogy of the Fanning Family from Thurles Co Tipperary Ireland
Ann Kilkerry or Kilkeary was my great great great grandmother on my mother’s side of the family. She came from Queens Co In Ireland and married Daniel Torpey in in Ireland about 1840 before emigrating to Victoria Australia. She died in Richmond in 1907.
Ann Kilkerry or Kilkeary was my great great great grandmother on my mother’s side of the family. Her surname has many variations in spelling. She married Daniel Torpey. Much more documents and information on Anne Torpey nee Kilkerry can be found under the Torpey Family History.
Eliza Ledwich born Queens Co Ireland c1842 emigrated to Victoria Australia in 1859. Her sisters Margaret and Mary came out in 1863. Eliza married James Knighton in1864 and they had three sons, only one of whom lived to adulthood. Eliza died a wealthy woman in 1911 and is buried in Boroondara Cemetery Kew Victoria Australia. Margaret married James Beamish and Mary married John Williams.
According to Wikepedia “Ledwidge is a surname that originated in the hamlet of Upper Ledwyche, Shropshire England. After the Norman invsion of Ireland the family was granted extensive tracts of land by Hugh De Lacy in the counties of Meath and Westmeath. In common with other Old English families many of them took the losing side in the wars of the 17th century and were dispossessed of their lands. The name was spelt in many different ways; the historian Edward Ledwich noted the following variations: Luitwick, Luitwich, Lutwyche, Ledwith, Ledewich, and Ledwich.” Eliza used Ledwich while her two sisters’ surnames were Ledwidge. In the 1640 Down Survey there was a Morris Ledwich in Co Westmeath. Eliza’s brother was called Maurice.
Eliza Ledwich was born in Ireland in 1835 and was my great great grandmother. Her mother was Mary Sheil from Castlepollard and her father Michael Ledwich was from Collinstown, also in Westmeath Co. They were married in Castlepollard, Co Westmeath on 6 March 1832. He worked as a bricklayer.
These are the Baptism records of the children of Michael Ledwich and Mary Shiel:
Maurice Ledwich baptised 14 Dec 1832 in Collinstown, sponsors were Mathew Molloy and Catherine Molloy. Maurice died 21 May 1835 in Collinstown Parish Co Westmeath.
Bessie Ledwidge baptised 4 Mar 1835 in Collinstown. Sponsors were Nicholas Ledwidge and Jane Fagan Bessie being short for Elizabeth or Eliza. I initially discounted these records as I didn’t realise that Eliza was baptised as Bessie.
Edward Ledwith baptised 9 Oct 1837 in Collinstown. Sponsor was Betty Glennon.
Margaret Ledwidge baptised 17 May 1840 in Collinstown. Sponsor was Margaret Mulrine.
Mary Ledwith baptised 11 April 1844 in Collinstown. Sponsor was Mary Casey.
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Collinstown was a small village and the main employement may have been on the
estate of the Smythe family. Their family papers have a Michael Ledwidge as William Smyth’s general factotum (a person having many diverse skills and resposibilities) from 1730 to 1759. He played a major part in the building of Barbavilla constructed in c1730. A Mary Ledwidge worked for the Smthye family as a housekeeper here at Barbavilla or Dublin.
Barbavilla Manor aka Barbavilla House is one of the last country houses in Ireland built in the 17th century tradition (an old fashioned build in it’s day). It was built c.1730, by William Smyth Jr. (1692–1769) on land purchased by his father (the Rt. Rev. William Smyth, Bishop of Kilmore & Ardagh) in 1670. Smyth Jr. named the house the after his wife Barbara (daughter of Sir George Ingoldsby). This estate was previously known as Ranaghan. The Smyths of Westmeath were an important family in the northeast of this county in the 18th and 19th centuries with seats at Drumcree and at Glananea. They constructed many of the old buildings to the north of Collinstown, including the former schoolhouse. The Smyths left Barbavilla in 1955.
It is possible that this Michael is Eliza’s grandfather.
Eliza’s marriage certificate has her being born in Dublin but her death certificate has her coming from Queens Co (Laois). Her Baptism record is from Collinstown in Co Westmeath, 4 Mar 1835. On her Baptism record she is listed as Bessie. She had four siblings, all born here in Collinstown Co Westmeath.
Her two sisters Mary and Margaret came out later to Melbourme and were met by Eliza. The Ledwich children of Michael and Mary Shiel were born between 1832 and 1844. This means that they lived through the devastating Great Famine which lasted from 1845 to 1849. During this time a million people died of disease and hunger and a million emigrated. It is hard to know how the family fared during this time. It seems the girls moved to Dublin before emigrating.
Eliza came out to the colonies in 1859 on board the Dirigo which arrived after an eventful and long passage of 107 days. The Dirigo sailed from the Port of Liverpool in England on the 28th of November 1858. Shortly after departure it was hit by a severe storm. They put into Milford Haven on Dec 3 to repair damage and did not sail again until Jan 4, 1859. The voyage was reported in The Argus, 29 March 1859:
Eliza was twenty four, although listed as twenty, when she arrived at Port Phillip and her employer was a Sargent Ellis of Emerald Hill (later to become South Melbourne). She was a general servant and a Catholic. She could not read or write.
The majority of the passengers were single women whose fares had been paid by the government. There were 352 females and 28 males and the fare was 13 pounds 7 shillings and 2 pence. There were 5 deaths on the voyage.
Gold had been discovered in Victoria in 1851 and huge numbers of migrants had arrived in Victoria to search for gold, in 1840 the population of the colony of Victoria was 10,000. By 1854 it was 123,000. One in four had been born in Ireland. From 1851 to the late 1860’s Victoria’s population nearly tripled.
Eliza married James Knighton, a coachman, on March 1 in 1864 at Scotts’ Presbyterian Church Melbourne. Knighton Family History has more pictures and information.
Her parents were listed on her marriage certificate as Michael Ledwick, a bricklayer and Mary Shiel. She did not sign her name but made her mark on the certificate. Her occupation was listed as servant and the witnesses were Thomas Reynolds and Mary Ledwidge, her sister. At the time of her marriage she was 22 and James was 26.
James Knighton & Eliza Ledwich Marriage 1864
On her marriage certificate her occupation is given as servant and her birth place as Dublin Ireland. Her death certificate however lists Queens Co as her birth place.
She had been in the colonies for 52 years. Two children were listed, William 49? and James Edward deceased.
Even though she was illiterate Eliza died a wealthy woman. She owned considerable property: Numbers 6,8 and 16 Crown St Richmond as well as 137 and 138 Burnley St in the same suburb. She also owned land at Frankston on the outskirts of Melbourne. Her estate was worth 1,140 pounds. She left 800 pounds to each of her grandchildren, Mary and James. Her son William only got to live in one of her houses rent free for his life.
In her will Eliza bequeathed a 100 pound legacy to a Maria Hendy. Maria’s mother Eliza Ross was Irish from Tannaraggan in Co Fermanagh. I have not been able to find Tannaraggan or any place like it in Co Fermanagh. The closest I have come is Tomregan Civil Parish in Grifiths Valuation. This is near Ballyconnell and bordering Co Cavan and there were some Ross folk listed there in 1862.
I am getting more convinced that Tomregan Civil parish is where Eliza Ross came from. She was illiterate so would have told a nurse or clerk this is where she came from. The record of Maris’s birth would have been copied from the patient notes and an “m” can easily be mistaken for”n n”. Looking at the Tithe Applotment entries for Ross in Tomregan the original entries have it spelt Temraggan, which supports my theory. Added to this is a Fermanagh accent and way of pronouncing different parishes and places. In 1827 William, James, John and David Ross were living in Tomregan Parish.
Eliza Ross worked as a servant for the Knightons. She fell pregnant with Maria. Maria sometimes signed her name Knighton and at other times Ross. She called one of her sons Frank Knighton Hendy. She lived with the Knightons. It is not sure if she was a child of James knighton or if she was adopted, Eliza Knighton having lost two babies. Maria was born in 1869 only five years after James and Eliza were married. There is a record of an Eliza Ross aged 18 coming out from Liverpool to Melbourne aboard The Southern Empire in Jan 1866. This may have been Maria’s mother.
Maria is buried with her husband Robert Hendy in Boroondara Cemetery. Maria was buried on May 26, 1952 aged 82 and Robert buried Mar 6 1928, aged 58.
Eliza Knighton nee ledwich is also buried in Boroondara Cemetery Kew Melbourne.
Eliza’s sisters Margaret and Mary came out on the Caduceus from Southampton England arriving August 1863 after an 88 day voyage. Margaret was 20 and Mary 17 although on another part of the passenger list Margaret’s age is given as 18. Their occupations were general servants. Both were Catholic. They went straight off the boat to Eliza Ledwidge who was working at 154 Collins St East in Melbourne for a Dr James George Beaney, a surgeon at Melbourne Hospital.
Margaret Theresa Ledwidge, Eliza’s sister, married James Beamish from Coventry England in 1867.
Margaret lived at 35 Burnett St., St Kilda. She died in St Kilda on 19 Dec 1895 and is also buried in Boroondara Cemetery Kew. Her husband James had died on 27 June 1895. They are buried in the Baptist section of this cemetery.
Margaret Beamish could sign her name unlike Eliza. She also died an extremely wealthy woman in her own right. Her estate was worth 3,539 pounds and she owned 101 and 103 Swan St Richmond and two two storey shops and a five storey brick house in Stanley St Richmond as well as a half share with sister Eliza in land at Frankston. In her will dated 1891 she left one pound a week for life to her husband and the rest of her estate was to be divided up among her six children.
It is amazing that Eliza and Margaret who were servants when they arrived in the colonies should end up so wealthy.
Mary Ledwidge married John Williams in Ulupna, Echuca in 1872. He was born in Tasmania. She was a domestic servant and aged 24. She gave her father’s name as John Ledwidge, a carpenter, and her mother’s name was Mary, surname unknown. She also signed as witness for Margaret Ledwidge at her wedding.
Mary died in Queensland in 1926 age 76 years. Both Mary and her husband are buried in Miles General Cemetery in Queensland.
This descendant report updated Jan 2018:
Torpey Family history starting with the Irish Daniel Torpey and Anne Kilkeary to their family and descendants in Melbourne Victoria Australia.
My maternal grandmother told me we had Irish, English and Scottish ancestors. The Torpeys, the O’Regans and the McSweeneys were Irish, the Knightons were English and the Cooks were Scottish.
On my father’s side I always knew that his ggrandfather, William Patrick Fanning, Big Bill, came out to Australia on the Enmore in 1841 and eventually settled at Bulla north of Melbourne. I was lucky enough to know that he came from Thurles in North Tipperary. The Fannings rented land and were relatively well off, so have been easier to track than the other branches of my family. They were mostly farmers but some were shopkeepers and publicans. This has meant I have been able to find them in directories and other documents.
I knew that Daniel Torpey came from Kings county, his wife from Queens county, and their first child, Maria, was born in Sopwell Co Tipperary. Maria was baptised on 29 August 1852 in Borrisokane parish.
As with most Irish surnames they were spelt phonetically and in different ways. The most common spelling is Torpey and Torpy. But I have come across Torpie, Turpey, Tarpey, Tarpy, Thorpe, Torphy, Turphey and Torphey. It just depended on how the person writing the record thought the surname should be spelt. Kilkeary was also spelt in a variety of ways from Kilkeary to Kilcary to Kilkerry to Killcary.
I have recently done some searching for Kilkeary records. In the Tithe Applotment books there was a Roger Kilkeary in Sopwell townland about 1824.
In Griffiths Valuations all the Kilkearys were in one area of Ireland in North Tipperary, up in the northern most area around Borrisokane. However in the townland of Sopwell there were no Kilkearys or Torpeys in 1851. However there were lots of Torpeys in Tipperary and surrounding counties.
I think it is more than likely that Sopwell was where Ann Kilkeary was born and raised. I did come across a baptismal record for an Anne Kilkeary born Sopwell, Borrisokane, 15 Nov 1823. Mother was Catherine Nolan but the father was Roger Kilkeary. On Ann’s death certificate her father was listed as John but this could easily have been a mistake although none of her sons was named Roger but one son was named John.
I have also read that the Torpeys were actually of older Irish stock than the Anglo-Norman Fanning family.
The name Torpey is an Anglecized form of the Gaelic O Tarpaigh. Tarpey and O’Tarpey, O’Torpey are all variations on the surname. They held a family seat in Cork and are said to be descended from the ancient tribe of Erainn stock. The O’Tarpeys were also associated with Sligo Co.
I also did an Ancestry DNA test and a match came up for me for a Margaret Cavanagh nee Torpey. This has led me to find the home and townland, Lissadonna, in Co Tipperary, that Daniel Torpey my gggrandfather came from!! Unfortunately the baptismal records for Daniel and his siblings were in the Parish records for Shinrone. All Shinrone church records earlier than 1843 have been lost or destroyed.
In the Tithe Applotment Books 1823-1837 a Daniel and a Michael Torpy are separately listed as living in the townland of Carrig Lisadona & Boston, in the Parish of Ballingarry in Co Tipperary. They are listed in 1831 and 1834. In 1834 Daniel has three acres of second class land and three acres of third class. Michael has a little over one acre of second class land. A Patrick Kilkeary is also listed in this townland.
In the 1841 Census Dan Torpy is living in the townland of Lissadonna in Ballingarry Parish Co Tipperary. In the Valuation Office Books, 1831-1856 Daniel Torpy is living in Lissadonna in 1846 and 1848. Daniel Torphy appears in Griffiths Valuation records about 1852 in Lissadonna. He has a house, offices and 17 acres of land.
Michael Torpey does not appear again and may have been Daniel’s father deceased or brother.
I pick up the trail of the Lissadonna Torpeys in the 1901 Census. Michael and Mary Torpey are at House 2 in Lissadonna. Their grandson Richard Liffey is with them. Michael was my ancestor’s brother. In 1901 Census the children of Michael are listed (Torpey) as living at house 1 in Clucka North in King’s Co. John, MaryAnne, Johanna, Michael, Henry, William and Elizabeth Torpey are all listed.
The 1911 Census records show that the parents, Michael and moved from Lissadonna to the Clucka North property. In the 1911 Census Michael and his wife Mary and Henry and William their sons were living in House 1 Clucka North Kings Co. John Torpey and his wife Kate Cleary moved to Lissadonna and were living there in 1911 with their two children: Maureen and Michael and nephew Joseph Liffey.
After this John Torpey died in 1948 his wife Kate sold their house at Ballylina and she and her daughter Kate emigrated to New Zealand. A number of this Torpey family ended up living in New Zealand and are buried there.
After the property was sold Kate had a clearance sale.
Kate and her daughter emigrated to new Zealand in 1952. Kate the mother is buried there dying in 1962. Her brother in law Michael Torpey had been in New Zealand since around 1914.
Michael returned to Ireland in 1950. This was reported in the local press.
He died in New Zealand in 1969.
The six daughters of John Torpey became Catholic nuns although some left.
There are Torpey descendants living in and around Borrisokane today.
I have been looking through Irish newspapers and have come across a number of interesting articles involving Henry, William and John Torpey and also the Cavanaghs who were cousins also and a number of court appearances.
The Torpeys start appearing in the papers on 31 Jan 1907.
This sets the scene for what follows with Michael’s sons.
The next year Henry Torpey and others are before the court for trying to prevent the Ormond Hunt.
Freemans Journal 6 Jul 1909
Henry and William Torpy were charged with assaulting various individuals at Cloughjordan railway station on Jan 14 1910. The Torpeys and others were returning from the court case of William Cavanagh who was also accused of assault but had the charge dropped. Cavanagh of Ballingarry was the son of Wm Cavanagh, the blacksmith and the Torpey’s aunt Margaret Torpey. William Cavanagh had a threshing machine and had been asked by members of the Irish United league not to thresh for certain people, to boycott them. Cavanagh refused.
The Torpeys were fined 10 shillings each and costs. In 1911 Henry Torpey was the secretary of the Shinrone Branch of the U.I.L. In yet another court case this time for slander against Henry the judge stated “I had more trouble with Shinrone than with any other part of Ireland” and the reporter referred to the “many lively and rather troublesome episodes in this area”.
Margaret Torpey and William Cavanagh, the parents of the William in the above article, were married in 1859. William was the blacksmith in Ballingarry and was a Protestant. Margaret would have been born at Lisadonna and was the daughter of Daniel Torpey and Mary Ryder. She was the sister of my grgr grandfather. Margaret was Catholic, so it must have been a love match. There would have been considerable opposition to such a marriage. In the 1901 and 1911 Census records Margaret is listed as Catholic but William and all their children are listed as Protestant. The Torpeys and Cavenaghs were cousins.
I came across an interesting article related to the Cavenaghs in the Nenagh News:
In Nov 1911 the Torpeys are back in court. This time for fighting with the Clearys, who were most likely cousins as well.
There are no more mentions of the Torpeys in the papers until 1939 when Henry Torpey expresses his opinions. Henry and John Torpey were involved in the North Tipperary Committee of Agriculture in the 1940s.
Henry and John Torpey both died in 1948 months apart. Henry in April and John in October.
The first related Torpey to come out to Australia was Daniel Torpey. He was born around 1830. I recently came across their emigration record. Daniel and Anne and their baby Maria arrived at Geelong in Victoria on 17 Jan 1854 aboard The Prince Alfred. There was also a Mary Ryder on board who might have been a cousin to Daniel.
His father was also Daniel Torpey, a farmer at Lissadonna Co Tipperary and his mother was Mary Rider.
I recently came across a Baptism record for his brother, Patrick Torpey. He was baptised in Dunkerrin Parish, Kings County (Co Offaly), on 28 Mar 1830. His godparents were Michael Torpey and Honor Cleary.
Daniel Torpey, my grgrgrandfather, was 59 when he died of hepatitis in Melbourne Australia. He was married to Anne Kilkeary in Ireland about 1850. She came from the next county, Queens Co, now Laois.
Anne and Daniel had seven children. Their first child, Maria, was born in August 1852 in Co Tipperary Ireland in the parish of Borrisokane.
I had difficulty finding Maria’s birth/baptism record as her father’s name was written as Turpey!
Tim Brennan was married to Margaret Ryder. I suspect that she was
Mary Ryder’s sister. Some DNA test connections support this theory.
Their second child, Patrick, was born in 1855 in Hawthorn Victoria Australia. So they immigrated between 1852 and 1855 and may have come from an area on the border of all three counties.
Anne and Daniel Torpey had seven children: Maria 1852-1873, Patrick 1855-1858, Katherine 1858-1930, Daniel 1861-1924, Margaret , my great grandmother, 1863-1896, John 1865-1931 and Annie 1868-1950. On his daughter Katherine’s marriage certificate his occupation is given as cab proprietor.
Death Certificate for Anne Torpey nee Kilkeary 1907
Marriage notice for the wedding of Maria Torpey and Llewellyn Trask
Maria married Llewellyn Trask on the 9th of July in 1872 in Hokitika New Zealand. She was 21 and Llewellyn 22. Llewellyn was from Merriott Somerset Shire in England. He and his family had emigrated to new Zealand.
I have always found it strange that Maria should be married in New Zealand or what she was doing there.
Hokitika experienced a gold rush in the 1860s. The population of 1,000 had swelled to over 50,000 by 1866. Many of the prospectors came from Melbourne and it was described as a “suburb of Melbourne”.
She was also not married in St Mary’s Catholic church in Hokatika but in the home of Thomas Tully, a butcher and his wife Bridget, in Fitzherbert St Hokitika. They were married by Father A Martin, the Catholic Parish Priest.
Maria Trask nee Torpey died nine days after giving birth. She is buried in the Torpey family grave in Melbourne Cemetery Victoria Australia.
Her child was reared by the Torpey family. Llewellyn Trask went to Cleveland Ohio where he settled and remarried on Feb 4, 1876. There do not appear to have been any children from this marriage. Annie was the daughter of Francis Norton and Christiana Lawrence and was born in Merriott in Somerset shire England in 1856.
Annie and Llewellyn came over to Australia in 1887 and Llewellyn junior went back with them and lived and worked as a butcher until his father’s death. He then came back to Victoria and settled.
Llewellyn died on 3 September 1890, aged 39, from congestion of the lungs, which seems to have been after an operation. His death was reported in the New Zealand paper The Colonist on Nov 7 1890.
He lived at 1428 Pearl St Cleveland where he worked as a butcher. He is buried in the Riverside Cemetery.
His brother Francis was Mayor of Nelsen on the south island of New Zealand.
Llewellyn Trask junior married Catherine Miller (1875-1954). Their children were Llewellyn Trask born 1901, Francis Reuben born 1904 and Veronica born 1906. Llewellyn Charles born 1873 died in 1942 aged about 69. He is buried in Fawkner Cemetery in Melbourne.
His son Llewellyn married Selma Salisbury in 1930. He died in Hampton, Melbourne in 1976, aged about 74.
Daniel and Anne’s second daughter Katherine married John Horan in St Ignatius’s Church in Richmond Melbourne on 28 April 1886. She was 26. Her husband John Horan was born in Collingwood in 1860 and died there in 1931 aged 71.
Daniel Charles Torpey married Gertrude Gardiner Woolley. They lived in Abbotsford, Collingwood.
He died in Kew in 1924, aged 63 and is buried in Boroondara Cemetery Kew Melbourne with his wife Gertrude.
Their third daughter was my great grandmother Margaret.
Margaret married William Charles Knighton in 1893. On her marriage record her place of birth is given as NSW which is mysterious or perhaps a transcription error. On the actual document it is Camperfield Sydney Rd. Hence the mistake.
William Knighton was a tram employee at the time of their marriage and Margaret a servant. They were both 28.
They had two children Mary and James, my grandfather. See the Knighton Family post for more on this side of my family.
Margaret died after the birth of her second child, Mary.
Annie Torpey, the youngest child of Daniel and Anne, was married to Thomas Leahy in 1915 (1864 -1924). They lived at 104 Ford St Ivanhoe Melbourne. In the 1903 census she is listed as a saleswoman. She was living with her mother and brother John at 29 Baker St Richmond Melbourne. John was a driver. In 1914 he was living at this address with Llewellyn Charles Trask, a butcher and his nephew. Annie was 84 when she died in Ivanhoe, a suburb of Melbourne, in 1950.
James Knighton was the first of the Knighton family who lived in Richmond Melbourne emigrate to Australia about 1853 from England. He married Eliza Ledwich in 1864 and they had three children. His surviving son William married Margaret Torpey and they had two children, James and Mary. James had one child a daughter.
The main family surnames on my mother’s paternal side are Knighton, Ledwich or Ledwidge and Torpey.
The first Knighton in our family to come out to Australia from England was James Knighton, my great great grandfather. There is a James Knighton, age 25, who arrived at Port Phillip bay from London on 9 July 1853 on the Sir Henry Hardinge. His birth date given as about 1828. His death certificate says he had been in the colonies for about 30 years. If this is accurate he would have immigrated about 1853.
He married Eliza Ledwich on March 1, 1864 in Scots’ Presbyterian Church Melbourne Victoria Australia.
James worked as a coachman in 1864 and his father James’ occupation is listed as groom. The Mary Ledwidge who witnessed the wedding was a sister of Eliza’s.
James Knighton died in November 1883 age 45.
At the time of his death he was living at Crown St Richmond and he died of renal cancer after a three month illness. His occupation was listed as manager. His father’s name was also James and his mother was Louisa. Her maiden name was not entered. The informant was James Beamish, his brother-in-law, who was living at Stanley St Richmond and married to his wife’s sister, Margaret Ledwidge. Two children are listed: William age 18 and James deceased.
On his death certificate it says he was born in Chelsea England whereas his marriage certificate has him being born in Jersey which is in the Channel Islands also part of England. I looked at all the census records for Jersey and no Knightons are listed at all. In the English mainland census records there are many Knightons. I think that his thick accent may have made Chelsea sound like Jersey. I have been unable to find any birth records for him with James and Louisa Knighton as parents.
James is buried with other family members in Boroondara Cemetery Kew Victoria.
Eliza Knighton nee Ledwich died in Dec 1911. Eliza Ledwich’s family history is described more fully in this post Ledwidge or Ledwich Family History.
The Knightons lived in the inner Melbourne suburb of Richmond their whole lives.
James and Eliza Knighton nee Ledwidge had three children. William James, my great grandfather, was born in 1864, James Edward was born in 1866 but died aged 20 months. Richard was born in 1867 but there are no other records other than his birth registration so it is likely he died as a baby.
William James Knighton married Margaret (Maggie) Torpey in at St Ignatius’ Catholic Church 326 Church St Richmond Melbourne.
She died in after giving birth to their second child Mary. This post Torpey Family History has a lot more on the Torpey family.
In the census of 1909 for Victoria William was living with his mother Eliza at 8 Crown St Richmond. He worked as a labourer from 1909 to 1924. On his son James’ death certificate his occupation was given as coach builder. In 1914 he was still at 8 Crown St but from then on he was living at 4 Crown St Richmond. He died in 1925 aged 60 from cardiac failure. He is buried in Burwood Cemetery.
James, his son, was present when he died and was living at 160 Cowper St Footscray.
1912 Jim Knighton 6th from the right in the second back row. Brighton Football Team
Brighton Football Club Player Lists 1912 & 1913
James Knighton in football jumper. Unknown club.
James (Jim) my grandfather served in WW1 and had injuries to his knee and leg. He was injured fighting on the Somme in 1918. This injury continued to give him pain throughout his life. He worked as a tanner.
He enlisted on the 8th of May 1916 in Melbourne.
He was 5′ 9 3/4″ tall and weighed 162 lbs and was 22 years and two months old. His religion was listed as Catholic. He served in the 12th Army Field Artillery Brigade of the A.I.F. He was a gunner. He served on the Western Front in France and Belgium.
He embarked on the “Borda” from Melbourne on Oct 20 1916.
Embarkation Roll: Service number: 27845 Rank: Gunner Roll title: 24 HB [Howitzer Brigade] – 2 to 10 Reinforcements (May 1916 – February 1917) Conflict: First World War, 1914-1918 Date of embarkation: 20 October 1916 Place of embarkation: Melbourne Ship embarked on: HMAT Borda Ship number: A30
On the 28th Nov 1916 he broke ship and was AWL from 8 pm on that date until arrested by the guard. He was given 24 hrs detention.
9 Jan 1917 Arrived in Plymouth England
10 months in England?
23 Nov 1917 He left from Southampton for France.
24 Nov 1917 Marched in ex-England. Place: Rouelles France.
26 Nov 1917 Marched out to 12th (A) F A Bade Rouelles.
30 Nov 1917 12th Army Bde posted to B.A.C. Belgium (Flanders?)
7 Dec 1917 Belgium
19 April 1918 Drunk on the field on active service. Given 10 days ?
22 August 1918 Wounded in action France 12 Army Bde. at the second Battle of the Somme which commenced on August 21. The battle took place along the northern part of the river near Baupaume.
23 August in General Hospital Rouen France
25 August 1918 Transferred to England on “Panama”
28 August 1918 he was admitted to hospital in Cheltenham England for right knee and left thigh injuries.
20 Dec 1918 Back to Australia on the “Karoola”
29 Jan 1919 Disembarked Australia. He was medically discharged. His discharge papers state he is totally incapacitated.
In 1921 Jim Knighton married Grace Annie Frances Cook in Richmond Melbourne.
They had two children, Winifred and James. James died in hospital after birth.
The marriage foundered and James left and went and lived with a french woman, Juliette.
Jim Knighton’s sister Mary married Henry Edward Miller and they had four sons, Henry, Bruce, James and Edward.
James “Jim” Knighton died in 1945 aged 52.
James William Charles Knighton was the last son of this Knighton family descended from James and Louisa Knighton. He is buried in Burwood Cemetery Melbourne with his father and wife Grace Cook.
James Knighton and Grace Cook had two children. A boy died at birth. I was told “he didn’t come home from the hospital”. Winifred Helena Knighton their only daughter was born 14 Sept 1920.
Mary Knighton 1896-1964 married Henry Miller son of Darky Miller of Zeehan Tasmania in Melbourne in 1916. They had four sons. Included are clippings relating to Harry Miller sen and Ted Miller his grandson.
My mother’s aunt, Mary Knighton, married Henry William Miller in Richmond, Melbourne,Victoria on February 15, 1916, during the time of the First World War. He was 21, she was 20 years old.
Mary was the daughter of William Knighton and Margaret “Maggie” Torpey. Her mother had died giving birth to Mary. Her elder brother, James, was my grandfather.
Mary and Harry had four sons: James Henry, Edward Vivian, Henry William and Bruce Leonard. My mother was close to Ted her cousin and I remember him and his wife Ann.
Harry’s father, also called Harry, but nicknamed “Darkie” lived on the west coast of Tasmania. He was a well known athlete and boxer.
Young Harry Miller 1864-1953
He is also said to have been a circus circus performer but I have no evidence of this.
His first wife Lydia died young.
He remarried Isabella Kalmbach and had three more children with her in Zeehan on the west coast of Tasmania.
Ted Miller was the grandson of Harry Miller “Darkie”and the second son of Mary Knighton and Henry Edward Miller. Ted was born in 1919 and died in 1992 in Victoria.
Electoral records show that in 1942 Ted was working as a polisher and living at 126 Elizabeth St Richmond with his parents and brother James. His father worked as a masseur with a football club. Not sure which one?? anyone know…probably Richmond. James was in the boot trade. Ted lived here until his marriage to Ann Edwina Tribe. They lived in Bentleigh until after 1977 when they moved to Arthur’s Creek Diamond Valley Victoria.
During the Second World War Ted was in the medical section of the Royal Australian Air Force.
Ted was injured during the war. While he was convalescing he decided that he wanted to train as a nurse.
He was an early graduate of the St Vincent’s School of Nursing. He went on to hold senior nursing positions including nurse in charge of the Microsurgery Unit and of the Bolte Rehabilitation Center His career also included several years spent in British Columbia Canada in the early 1960s to obtain obstetric nurse training.
His wife Ann was also a nurse. They met while they were training at St Vincent’s Hospital.
Ted is also mentioned in Mary Sheehan’s “A Professional Pathway: Nursing at St Vincent’s since 1893” 2005:
“Another St Vincent’s early male graduate was Edward (Ted) Miller. After graduation in 1951, Ted worked in all the male wards at St Vincent’s, with the exception of St Columba’s, then seen to be fellow graduate Gerard Hennessy’s domain.
In 1960 Ted, determined to further his skills, was keen to commence midwifery training. When he approached the matron of the Royal Women’s Hospital, he was advised to drop nursing and study medicine – the idea being that, in his fourth year of medicine, he would be sent to the Royal Women’s for six weeks to do obstetrics, and then he could quit medicine and go back to nursing. Ted was similarly rebuffed by the Victorian Nursing Council. He and his wife Ann (nee Tribe, also a nurse) resolved to travel to Canada where Ted was accepted for a course in obstetrics in British Columbia.”
The article below was published in a Canadian B.C. newspaper on September 23 1962 and kindly sent to me by the St Vincent’s Hospital archivist:
Below are photos of Ted’s three brothers:
Harry and Jimmy Miller Boxing
All of the Miller brothers, Ted, Harry, Jimmy and Bruce, enlisted and served in WW2.
Descendants of Charles Miller Report 2015
