Earlier Years: Easter offerings 1895

Easter Sunday in 1895 fell on April 14th. In the small Sts. John and Paul Catholic Church in Tarlee, South Australia, parishioners contributed money known as Easter Offerings. The handwritten document below, Easter offerings April 14, 1895 provides a glance at the names of the parishioners of the time. This document was stored in a suitcase under the altar until recent years. It is one of several documents I photographed in 2016 on a visit to the church with my sister-in-law.

It is probable that the people listed were present for that morning's Easter Sunday Mass conducted by the local parish priest Fr. Thomas Lee. If all these people were present for that Easter celebration, the small church would have been very full. Transcription below.

Easter Offerings April 14 1895

Easter offerings April 14 1895

Mr Michael OKeef 10s

" Michael McInerney £2

" David OLeary £1

OSullivan Bros £2

Mrs Howard 7s. 6d.

Mr E Smyth £1

Mrs Connell £1

Mr Terence Murphy 5s.

Mr Patrick Hogan £1

Thos. Rotchford 10s.

Jas. Smyth 10s.

W. Haasey £1

John Hogan £2

Mrs John Horgan £1. 10s.

Mrs Fitzgerald £1

Mrs McCarthy 10s.

Patrick Buckley £2

Mrs Thos. Kain £1

Brief research notes

Michael O'Keefe of Tarlee had married Catherine Walsh in 1893. Her parents were from Kooringa, near Burra and it was in November of 1932 that Michael died in Burra hospital.

Michael McInerney was well known throughout the district, he died at the age of 73 and is buried in Navan Cemetery, near Riverton. His obituary reported: Last week the town and district suffered the loss of one of its oldest and most highly respected gentlemen in Mr. Michael McInerney, who died on June 7 at his residence, after an illness of five months. Mr. McInemey was a colonist of over 70 years, having arrived in this State by the ship Burmah in 1840. For some years he lived with his parents at Brighton. In the early days he used to do carting to and from Burra. In 1863 he began farming in this district, and continued to do so until his death. For many years Mr. McInerney had been a member of the Old Colonists' Association, and also a regular attendant at its annual celebrations at Glenelg.

David O'Leary David had two children Andrew and Cissie who would have been with him as he had lost his wife Johanna in an accident in 1878.

The O'Sullivan Brothers There were three O'Sullivan brothers living near Tarlee in 1895. James John may have been present at Easter Sunday Mass with his wife Hannah Hogan and their 5 children under the age of 10, Eugene Francis was a bachelor, and Jerome Michael with wife and 3 children may also have been present. When Eugene died in 1914 there was reference to his home and career in Tarlee.

The name of "Glandore," the comfortable home which he, in conjunction with his brother, established near Tarlee, suggests the love and affection they had for the dear land of their parents. Irish nomenclature is found everywhere around the farm. For many years the names of J. M. and E. F. O'Sullivan stood in the first ranks of stock exhibitors in the city and leading provincial shows, and on numerous occasions the champion ribbons were placed on their exhibits, bearing the Irish cognomens of Shamrock, Kathleen, or Sheela.

Mrs Howard was Bridget Dempsey who had married Emmanuel Howard in 1853. Further details about her are revealed in this newspaper article published after her death in 1903. She is buried in Navan Catholic Cemetery, Riverton.

TARLEE, August 24.—Mrs. Emmanuel Howard died at her farm, Stockport, on August 22. She was born in County Cavan in 1831, and came to the state in 1849, in the ship Duke of Wellington. For two years she lived near Salisbury, and then moved to Stockport, where she died. She married in 1853, and had 10 children—four sons and six daughters, of whom three sons and four daughters survive.1.

Mr E Smyth Edward Smyth farmed near Alma with his wife Margaret Byrne and in 1895 it is highly likely that his four adult, as yet unmarried children; Catherine, Francis, Elizabeth and Margaret were with their parents. He died at age 79 in 1901 after an accident on the farm and is buried in the Pinkerton Plains cemetery.

Mrs Connell James Connell had died at Navan, the small settlement between Tarlee and Riverton in 1884, leaving a wife and seven children. By 1895 two of those adult sons had married, but it is likely that the Mrs Connell mentioned here is Susan, his wife, who died in 1913. It is likely that several of the Connell families were present on Easter Sunday morning.

Mr Terence Murphy Terence Murphy had married Anne Connell at Tarlee in 1885. They had two small boys by 1895. According to the marriage record Terence would have been about 45 in 1895. He died in 1916 and is buried in the Port Pirie Cemetery.

Mr Patrick Hogan Patrick had married Mary Ann in 1875 and in 1895 they were probably accompanied by some of their ten children on Easter morning. Three of Patrick's family, including his wife, predeceased him and they are buried together in Navan Cemetery. Patrick died in his 84th year on the 30th April 1922.

Thos. Rotchford was 86 when he died in Adelaide on the 10th July 1926. His wife had died in 1888 and is buried in Manoora Catholic Cemetery. Thomas and his daughter Mary were living in Tarlee in 1895. They are both buried in the Catholic section of the West Terrace cemetery in Adelaide.

Jas. Smyth James, brother of Edward, also farming near Alma, was probably accompanied by his wife Catherine Mulvaney and their five children in 1895. James was 90 when he died in 1920 and is buried in Pinkerton Plains Cemetery.

W Haasey This was William Hahesy who would marry a local girl Ellen Nash in 1896. William was buried in Navan Cemetery after his death in April 1938. His story is recalled in this newspaper obituary.

John Hogan John had married Johanna Horgan in 1861 and by 1895 there were still three daughters living with them. Their son and two other married daughters lived in the parish. There may have been many Hogans in the church that morning. John is buried in St Johns Cemetery, near Kapunda, South Australia. This obituary was published in the Kapunda Herald. in 1898.

-On Wednesday Mr. John Hogan, of Taylor's Gap, died at the age of 74. Mr. Hogan was a very old resident of this district. In the early days of Kapunda with his father and brother he was a blacksmith in the town. Leaving that trade, they went farming, Mr. John Hogan taking up land at Taylor's Gap, where he resided until his death. Mr Hogan also took up land in the hundred of Schomburgk, which was principally devoted to sheep. At one time Mr. Hogan was noted for the draught horse stock which he bred and with which he used to carry off the bulk of the prizes at Kapunda shows. Mr. Hogan was well known throughout the district, and was highly respected. He leaves a widow and grown up family.

Mrs John Horgan was Honora O'Leary who had married in 1863. She would have been accompanied by her sons Thomas, Andrew and John (known as Jack) as well as her daughters Kate and Johanna. Her husband John had died in 1883 and when she died in 1927 she was buried with him in St Johns Cemetery.

Mrs Fitzgerald This one has been difficult to determine. More than one Fitzgerald family lived within the parish.

Mrs McCarthy This was Catherine Collins. Her husband Patrick was a ganger on the railway line between Tarlee and Riverton and was killed on the line in 1892 and buried in Navan. They had nine children many of whom would have been with her on Easter morning. Catherine died in 1933 and is buried in Willaston Cemetery.

McCARTHY.—On the 15th February, at her residence, No. 14, Finniss street, Gawler, Catherine McCarthy, widow of Patrick McCarthy (late S.A.R. Tarlee), in her 85th year. R.I.P.

Patrick Buckley attended Mass with his wife Hannah, she was John Hogan's sister. When Patrick died aged 85 in August of 1913, he was buried at Navan alongside his wife who had predeceased him in 1897.

Mrs Thos. Kain Bridget Hahesy (Hahessy) had married Thomas Kain in this church in 1889. Just two years later he was killed while crossing the railway line near Stockport between Tarlee and Hamley Bridge. Bridget was left with two babies. She did not remarry and died in July 1927. She is buried in the Catholic section of the cemetery at West Terrace, Adelaide.

Some of those mentioned are commemorated at the bottom of the stained glass windows in the church.