Harrigan Horgan Hogan

Johanna (Horgan) Hogan

What's in a name? Well it depended on how you pronounced it, how a clerk may have heard it and how it was written down.

Johanna was born about 1829 in County Kerry to Johanna Fitzgerald and Thomas Horgan. She was the eldest in the family, and it appears that she left Ireland for New York about 1848, leaving behind the horrors of the great famine.

 
In some accounts she is listed as arriving in South Australia with her mother, but she is not on the passenger list for the arrival of the "China" in 1852. Another account has her arriving years later on the "Ocean Steed" via America. On the passenger list for the "Ocean Steed" which departed New York on 11 May 1855, there is a Johanna Harrigan aged 22.[1]  - Here's where you get to practice your Irish accent! 😀

 
Given the Irish accent and the clerk's recording of it in New York, this is most likely Johanna Horgan who arrived in Melbourne, 27 August 1855. This would tally with the age on her marriage record.
One wonders if she was aware of the murder of the chief mate on the voyage to Australia. The mate was particularly violent and had been bullying and beating a boy who eventually struck back with a knife attack. [2]

There were three intercoastal ships projected for departure to Adelaide from Hobson's Bay, Melbourne in early September, so Johanna boarded one of those to make her way to Adelaide. An obituary states that she arrived in Port Adelaide on September 29th 1855.

Her mother and brothers had not seen her for seven years so one imagines the reunion was joyful.

Marriage and family life

John Hogan lived on a farm near the Horgans, sharing connections through the close-knit Catholic community. It was within this circle that Johanna Horgan and John Hogan met, leading to their marriage in September 1861 at St. John's Church near Kapunda. Johanna, who claimed to be 28 [3] at the time, embarked on another new chapter of life with John, and together they raised a family of six children—five daughters, Hannah Catherine, Johanna Mary, Bridget Helen, Mary, Margaret, and one son, Timothy Thomas.

Johanna was not just a devoted wife and mother; she was a skilled dairywoman, celebrated for her butter and ham, which won awards at local agricultural shows. The Hogans were active in their community, particularly within the Tarlee Catholic Church. They participated in parish events, with a highlight being the annual New Year's Day picnic, where families gathered for food and festivity.

When John passed away, Johanna found a meaningful way to honour his memory. She funded a stained-glass window in the church, a lasting tribute to her late husband and a symbol of their deep ties to the community. John provided for his wife and children in his will.

Window dedicated to the memory of John Hogan
in the Tarlee Catholic Church

Conflicting Obituaries

There is conflicting information provided in some obituaries, the Kapunda Herald, the paper in Johanna's home town, possibly provides the most accurate details.

One of the oldest residents of Kapunda, Mrs. Johanna Hogan, died on Saturday morning last. She was born at Licksnaw, County Kerry, in 1829, and was therefore 85 years old when she passed away. She was in Ireland during the days of the awful famine in 1845-7 and in 1848 went to the United States.

After a stay of seven years there she came to Australia in the Ocean Steed, arriving at Pt. Adelaide on September 29, 1855. She married Mr. John Hogan, of Taylor's Gap, and resided in the district until five years ago, when she came to reside with her daughter and son-in-law (Mrs. and Mr. John Callinan) in Kapunda. Mr. Hogan died many years ago. He was well-known as a breeder of splendid horse stock, and both Mr. and Mrs. Hogan were known as most charitable and generous people. The surviving children are Mr. T. Hogan, Taylor's Gap, Mesdames Callinan, McCarthy, O'Brien, and Kitschke. The late Mrs. J. J. O'Sullivan was also a daughter. There are 10 grand-children.[4]

It would appear that either her age at death was incorrect or she was five years older than she claimed to be when she arrived in Australia. This was not an uncommon occurrence amongst early immigrants where accurate record keeping was not a high priority in their lives. Unless an exact birth or baptism record is found we may never know. 

Johanna’s parents, husband and children

[1] JOHANNA HARRIGAN Age: 22 Arrival month: AUG Arrival year: 1855 Date of arrival: 1855-08-01 Fiche: 38 Gender: F Origin code: F Page: 1 Ship master: CUNNINGHAM T Ship name: OCEAN STEED https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/3AFAF4A2-F96C-11E9-AE98-C1235E0566FF?image=97

[2] 1855 'SHIPPING INTELLIGENCE.', The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954), 29 August, p. 4. col.1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/154895313

[3] Groom Surname: HOGAN Groom Given Names: John Bride Surname: HORGAN Bride Given Names: Johanna Marriage Date: 28-Sep-1861 Marriage Place: St John Kapunda Groom Age: 32 Groom Marital Status: N Groom Father: Thady HOGAN Bride Age: 28 Bride Marital Status: S Bride Father: Thomas HORGAN District: Kapunda Book/Page: 47/391

[4] 1914 'PERSONAL.', Kapunda Herald (SA : 1878 - 1951), 18 September, p. 2. https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/108278513

This post first appeared on earlieryears.blogspot.com by CRGalvin