Stories of Agnes Cahill

Born Myra Cahill, known as Myra Woodland(s), Marie Constance Woodland and Jean Olive Whitworth  Part 1 of Myra's story was originally published in August 2017. The time has come for an update. Myra is the third child of my great-grandmother, Agnes Cahill.  She was born on 5 November 1898 at Union Lane Newcastle. Her birth is registered as Myra Cahill. A father is not named. Anges was the informant on the registration and records that she's 27 years of age, born at Branxton and a spinster. I've located a newspaper report dated 10 September 1898 which shows that James Woodland was living at 10 Union Lane Newcastle at the time. Although Agnes and James weren't married until 16 January 1901, James is probably Myra's father. The only record that I can find of Myra's early life is in March 1911 when she was twelve. It's reported that, at the "Operative Bakers' Picnic", the members' daughters' race was won by Myra. She was presented ...

Francis James Woodlands, my Dad, was born in a small private hospital in Victoria Avenue, Chatswood on 31 December 1920.  Dad celebrated his birthday on New Year's Eve for 89 years prior to his death on 18 August 2010 at Royal North Shore Hospital.  Family history didn't become my passion until after Dad's death but he was a great story teller and is often with me on this journey.  While there were many stories of his parents' families, the lingering question of what happened to his father's sister was one I tried to solve for Dad and his cousin Gail in 2008. I now realise what a novice I was back then!  Gail and I now have the answer but, along the way,  we discovered that Myra was Dad's half aunt and Gail's full aunt...so there's much more to the story than any of us had imagined.   I often wonder if Dad knew that his Dad's father wasn't James Woodland Snr, the grandfather that he knew, and that his father's birth n...

It's 98 years since a 27 year old grocer from Stanmore married a 27 year old saleswoman also from Stanmore.  Yes, on 09 August 1919, James Oswald (Jim) Woodlands married Margaret Essie (Essie) Gersback at St Michael's Catholic Church in Stanmore.   On the marriage registration, Jim shows his parents as James Woodlands, a baker, and Agnes Cahill.  Essie shows her parents as Francis Gersbach, a collector, and Margaret Killion, deceased.  The witnesses at the wedding were Ettie Kane and Irene Gersbach, Essie's sister.  "Auntie Ettie" is very familiar to me amongst all the visitors to my "Grandma Woodie's"  home at 14 Yeo Street Neutral Bay.  She was a friend and not relative of Jim and Essie.   Jim has enlisted in the First World War on 29 May 1917 in Newcastle and had been discharged on 23 June 1919 in Sydney.  I've wondered how long Jim and Essie knew each other before the marriage and whether Jim was a bo...

On 18 July 1824, Laurence Dunn married Judith Ryan at St John's Parish, County Kilkenny, Ireland.  That's 187 years ago today!  Laurence was known as Larry and Judith as Judy or Johanna.  The alternative spelling for the family name is Dunne.  Larry and Judy were Agnes Cahill's grandparents. There were 10 children from the marriage born between about 1825 and 1846.  Elizabeth (Eliza) was the third child and oldest daughter of Larry and Judy and she was Agnes's mother.  Eliza was born about 1830 in Kilkenny.  On 20 November 1854, Eliza married James Cahill at the Clara Parish, County Kilkenny.  James was born in about 1822 in Kilkenny.  His parents were Richard Cahill and Catherine Hogan. Ruins of old church and graveyard, Clara, County Kilkenny James and Eliza left Ireland aboard the Simonds and arrived in Port Jackson on 12 April 1855 - less than 6 months after their marriage.  They settled in Patricks Plain which is close...

Lorna Mae was the youngest child of Agnes Cahill and James Woodland.  She was born at Church Street West, Newcastle on 04 November 1914.  Her birth was registered by James, on 26 November 1914, with her given name as "Lorna May".  He's shown as a baker, 42 years of age and born in Newcastle.  Agnes's family name is shown as "Kale" with her age as 38 and born in Singleton. Lorna Mae Woodlands from collection held by her daughter, Gail The family lived in an area of Newcastle known as "The Junction".  First in Union Street and then  in Watkins Street.  The area is between the CBD and Merewether Beach.  When Jim, Lorna's brother, enlisted in the First World War on 31 May 1917, his address is "Cavan", Watkins Street, The Junction.  The family were still living there in October 1919, when Lorna's older sister, Myra, married Robert Hollyford Whitworth. The Junction Newcastle with Union and Watkins Streets highlighted On 0...

I admit to being a family history tragic and getting hooked very quickly.  Much of this is down to my picking the right relative to research first up! My choice was James Oswald (Jim) Woodlands, my paterna l grandfather.  He was the only grandparent that I didn't know and it seemed like an opportunity to get closer to him.  Even for a novice, it was easy to find Jim's 1946 death details but, after many weeks and knowing that he was born about 1891 in Newcastle, I couldn't locate his birth registration!   I only have four group photos including Jim and this is the best - circa 1944, two years before his death. Much searching and purchasing of transcripts of birth, death and marriage registrations, led me to the conclusion that, while Agnes Woodland (nee Cahill) was James Oswald's mother, it was improbable that James Woodland was his father - he was too young - and Agnes and James snr were not married until 1901 in West Maitland.  A brick wall..... I'...