Today's letter I - I could write about Immigrants there are many lists of those who came by sailing ships or Institutions to which ancestors belonged. Injuries caused by accidents were often detailed in newspapers but a reference to an Insolvency had me delving into Michael Galvin's story.
Insolvency - the inability to pay debts or meet expenses
Michael has listed his occupation as a baker when he emigrated to Australia in 1862. His grandson John Michael Galvin recalled in his 1968 memoirs that his grandmother Bridget
"was most reticent about her husband. She did however tell me on one occasion that he had a bakery business somewhere in the vicinity of where Sydney Central Station stands; in those days Sydney Railway Terminal was at Redfern." (1)Michael first appears in the newspapers listed in the Insolvency court in June of 1865 only three years after his arrival in the colony. He appears to have built up debt quite quickly and must have been struggling to make a viable living. He and Bridget had married just a few months earlier in April 1865.
SURRENDERSOn August 1st
Michael Galvin, of Stanley-street, Sydney, baker. Liabilities, £236 17s. 8d. Assets, £62 3s. 2d. Mr. Humphery, official assignee. (2)
In the estate of Michael Galvin, a single meeting. Three debts were proved. . Insolvent, after examination, was directed to file an account of his receipts and payments for six months prior to the sequestration of his estate, the meeting was adjourned until Tuesday next. (3)Sequestration was the seizing of goods belonging to the debtor and so on August 11th the creditors demanded that the assignee dispose of Michael's furniture. Indeed this was poor state of affairs for a newly married couple.
By the 14th August Michael had filed some additional receipts and costs but the case was ongoing. In 1867 he applied for a certificate. The certificate was finally granted date 5 March 1869. Further details of the case are available through NSW archives but I have been unable to visit to see the file.
Michael and Bridget had three children, Mary born in 1866 died as an infant, then John Patrick born in 1867 and Michael born in 1870.
The only other story about Michael Galvin comes from his grand-daughter Madge (Margaret Mary Galvin) as noted in grandson John Michael Galvin's 1968 memoir :
Grandad when he had been imbibing a little freely would engage a horse-cab to take him home; on arrival at the latter he would get out and on gaining admittance he would say to Grandma "Pay the cabby Bridget, I'm going to bed." (1)
Illness, Influenza
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| 1919 'INFLUENZA.', Daily Advertiser (Wagga Wagga, NSW : 1911 - 1954), 1 August, p. 2. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142256196 |
In 1918 an influenza epidemic had been raging around the world and Australian quarantine conditions were imposed in October of that year. Many schools were closed and in Sydney the wearing of masks was made compulsory.
By August of 1919 the Wagga Wagga council was seeking to have restrictions imposed on its residents lifted but as this hospital report shows there were still many cases in the local hospital.
Michael and Bridget's grand-daughter, Leah Daphne Galvin had married Victor G Teasdale in 1912 but the influenza pandemic made her a widow left with two young children.
TEASDALE --July 7. 1919. at Wagga. N.S.W.. of pneumonic influenza, Victor George, beloved husband of Daphne Teasdale, and second son of Mr, and Mrs. Teasdale, of Neutral Bay. aged 35 years (3)It is estimated that more than 15 000 people died in Australia as a result of the influenza epidemic of 1918-1919. (5)
I am hopeful that I will not need to record any illness related deaths in the family in 2020 due to Covid-19.
Next up - J - Juggling payments with a Gardener's Job
1. 1968 Galvin, John Michael, 'The Galvin Family - Over One Hundred Years in Australia' Family papers held by author and Galvin descendants.
2. 1865 'INSOLVENCY COURT.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW :1842 - 1954), 29 June, p. 6. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article31124646
3. 1865 'INSOLVENCY COURT.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW :1842 - 1954), 2 August, p.2. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13116825
4. 1919 'Family Notices', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 13 August, p. 10. , http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15862094
5. National Museum of Australia, 'Defining moments- Influenza Pandemic', https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/influenza-pandemic
This post first appeared on earlieryears.blogspot.com by CRGalvin
My great-grandmother lived through the Spanish flu in Hungary. It took out most young people in her village. She lived to be 100.
ReplyDeleteThe Multicolored Diary
So many died, we are fortunate to have more advanced health care now.
DeleteThese are eerily resonant topics during C19. My grandfather lost a brother in the 1918 influenza pandemic -- and his young wife was left a widow. Today, C19 may lead to insolvency for survivors in addition to bereavement for so many. But it is good to remember that, as horrific as the 1918 pandemic was, life did eventually go on -- a ray of hope as we try to bend the C19 curve.
ReplyDeleteYes my grandfather died in 1919 from the flu pandemic when my mother was only 7 years old. Life went on and she lived to the grand old age of 101.
DeleteI had a couple of ancestor Insolvencies that happened at the start of wars, when goods were hard to get and no one had money to buy them. I also had a couple of ancestors who were creditors trying to get some compensation from someone who went bankrupt.
ReplyDelete