Hamilton

Mary and the children were not always left behind in Sydney while James was at sea, at times he took them along on voyages. One particular event that made an impression on Mary was when James took her back to Ireland to visit his mother’s family at the family seat of ‘Brownhall’ in County Donegal.

Mary was greatly impressed at the welcome given to them on their arrival at the large imposing house. She wrote how “all the servants were lined up outside and tugged their forelocks as we were introduced, the maids curtsied”. A grand dinner was held in their honour and the family, ever mindful of the fact that Mary was a Catholic in a Protestant house, refrained from discussing religion but the topic of politics was freely raised.

One one voyage, when Mary-Helen was a baby, she crawled too close the edge of the deck and was saved just in time from falling overboard by a sailor.

Mary was widowed at the age of 37 when James died at their home in Birrell Street Bondi. What followed in her life became the source of much family speculation. Shortly after Jame’s death his Hamilton relations at Brownhall sold the private family residence of St Ernans. The then owner of the estate, James Hamilton, arranged for a collection of items including some valuable silver pieces, to be sent to Mary and the children so that they would have some security after her husbands death. What happened to these valuable items has never been clear; it is thought that Mary sold off the items and ‘dissipated’ the money after she had become involved with a rather shady character of a man.

In 1908 Mary, and Mildred, travelled to the northern NSW town of Kempsey where some of Mary’s siblings had moved to live. During her time there Mary gave birth to a girl she named Kathleen, the child was also given the surname Courbarron. Given that James had been dead for four years it is obvious that he was not the childs father. It is thought that she was fathered by a man, of apparent ill repute, who had met Mary shortly after James’ death. It is also acknowledged that this man was involved in Mary’s decision to sell her husbands valuable family heirlooms.

However, not ALL his family heirlooms were sold by Mary. I shall write about those in another post.

Mary lived with Kathleen at Bondi until her death in 1926. Mary is buried beside her husband James at Waverley Cemetery in Sydney.

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Mary Morrissey was born in Killarney Ireland in 1867. Her father Edmond and mother Honora lived, according to family information, ‘five miles from Blarney Castle’. It is not known what her father’s occupation was. The family emigrated to Australia under the ‘assisted immigrants’ scheme and left Plymouth at the end of June 1881 on board the Peterborough arriving in Sydney July 17th.

Mary (13 on arrival ) was the eldest child in a family of ten children whose names and ages were (as listed on arrival in Sydney): Edmund 4, Denis 3, Ellen & Julia (twins)6, John 9, Kate 12, Margaret 1, Micheal 11, Honora (infant) and parents Edmond, 33 and Honora, 38. It is believed that baby Honora was born during the voyage to Australia as her name was not listed on departure from Plymouth but she was listed on arrival as ‘infant’.

The family settled at Wooloomooloo, a dockyard suburb, in Sydney. In 1887/8 Mary met Capt. Augustus James Hamilton Courbarron. The family are not too sure how the couple met but seeing as Mary lived near the shipyards and Augustus was a ship’s captain we assume they met ‘in the area’. In 1889 the couple’s first child, daughter Mildred Gertrude was born at Waverley. According the the family Mary and James set up house in Waverley prior to marriage - very unusual for the time!. This is where Mary lived whilst James was at sea.

In 1891 a second child, James, was born. In 1893 the couple married at St Stephans Uniting Church which, at that time, was located in Phillip Street Sydney. Mary was Catholic and James was Protestant so obviously some understanding was made as their children were eventually baptised as Catholics.

After the birth of James it was not until 1897 until their next child, Mary-Ellen (known as Molly) was born. This is due to the fact that James spent long periods of time away from home at sea; in 1900 their fourth and last child, Frederick, was born at Birrell Street Bondi.

Having to spend long periods of time at home without her husband proved to be a strain on Mary, and at various times in his letters to his Aunt Helen de Veer, James refers to Mary’s bouts of ‘extreme tiredness’ and of her ‘feeling poorly’. Just prior to Molly’s birth the couple employed an Irish maid/servant named Biddy to assist with the house and children. She remained with the couple until Jame’s death.

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James progressed through the ranks of his career at sea; he was awarded the grading of Ist Mate on the 10th December 1885 and eventually Master Ord. in Dunedin New Zealand 21st September 1889. Finally he was granted command of his own ship, the S.S Aparima. The Aparima was commissioned and built by William Denny and Bros at launched at Dumbarton on 24th February 1902. Owned by the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand is was a cargo vessel and was first commanded by Capt Augustus James Courbarron until 1904. James and his crew sailed the Aparima to many various ports including South Africa and the West Indies very often accompanied by his wife Mary and, at times, the children. In 1902, a fire raged through the decks of the ship almost causing irreparable damage, but, according to reports and letters at the time…”the situation would have been far more severe with undoubted loss of life has it not been for the calm and level headed handling of the situation by Capt Courbarron”.

The Aparima enjoyed a distinguised but sadly short career. On the 19th November 1917 she was torpedoed and sunk by a UB 40 whilst 6 miles SW off Anvil point en route from London to Barry.

On settling in Sydney in 1888 James met a young Irish girl, Mary Morrissey. Mary had arrived in Sydney in 1881 with her parents and siblings from Killarney, Ireland, as part of the assisted immigrants scheme. They had left Plymouth in late June and arrived 17th July 1881 on board the Peterborough arriving in Sydney the following month. En route, Mary’s sister Honora was born. The family settled at Woolloomoolloo, a harbour suburb of Sydney.

It is unknown how James and Mary met but from the start they defied convention. In 1889 their first child, my great grandmother Mildred Gertrude, was born with a brother, James (Jimmy) born in 1891. The family lived in a little house called ‘The Grove’ in Paddington, later moving to a house in Birrell St Bondi that they nicknamed ‘St Ernans‘. In August 1893 however James and Mary finally married in St Davids Church of England Sydney.

In 1898 Mary-Helen (Molly) was born and lastly Frederick in 1900. James being Protestant, and Mary a Catholic, they somehow bridged the gap as all their children were baptized in the Catholic Church. Obviously religion was never an issue in the house. The family lived happily at Bondi with Mary and the children sometimes accompanying James on his ships voyages. At one time baby Mary-Ellen was saved by a sailor when she crawled too near to the decks edge. From 1903 James entered into a period of ill health which saw him staying at home from his sea duties more often. It is now known he was suffering from Brights Disease.

In 1904 Augustus James fell gravely ill before lapsing into a coma. He died at their home in Birrell Street Bondi. Augustus JH Courbarron is buried at Waverley Cemetery in a plot, fittingly, over looking the sea.

The S.S Aparima circa 1902.

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