The earliest I have managed to trace the Jeffrey family is only to 1809. I
hope to be able to go back further one day.
John Jeffrey was [according to his death certificate] born in 1809 in
Glasgow Scotland. Disappointingly his parents were listed as unknown & I have
not been able to find him on a shipping list coming to Australia. He arrived in
Victoria, Australia in approximately 1840, possibly a little earlier. We
had always thought the Jeffrey family was from Ireland, so Glasgow was a
surprise!
He married on the 30th August 1841 at St Francis' Catholic Church at Melbourne
to Catherine Geary. She was born in 1820 in county Waterford, Ireland.
The priest was Father Michael Ryan and the witnesses James Collins and Catherine
Quinlan. Unfortunately at this early date, no family details are recorded on the
marriage certificate. The family lived in Melbourne till at least 1853 and by
1855 had moved to Eaglehawk where John was a gold miner. John Jeffrey died
suddenly on his way to get a beer at the "Sons of Erin" Hotel near his residence
on the 17th March 1877. He was found by his son John & the inquest recorded a
verdict of Apoplexy & heart disease. He was buried 19th March at Eaglehawk
Cemetery. Catherine died on the 27th July 1894 at Bendigo & was buried at
Eaglehawk Cemetery on the 29th July. They had seven children.
1. Annie [or Ann Caroline]
b. 15 December 1842 Melbourne
d. 13 February 1890 Bendigo, Victoria, Australia.
Married John Cowling (He was born in 1835 in St Stephen-in-Brannel, St.
Austell, Cornwall, England, the Son of Henry Cowling and Mary Boundy.
He died 17.3.1882) at Bendigo on 23rd August 1860 at St Killians Catholic
Church.
Had 7 children.
2. Dennis or Denis
b. c1845 South Yarra, Melbourne
d. before 1855 as there is another child named Dennis born that year.
3. John Jeffrey
b. 1846, Melbourne, Vic
d. 23 May 1877 Bendigo, reg 6405. Buried at Bendigo.
4. Thomas Jeffrey
b. 1st November 1847 at South Yarra, Melbourne, Vic & baptised 14th
February, 1848 at the Catholic Church, Melbourne. Birth registered as Thomas
Geffers, son of Thomas Geffers and Cathy Gyre, of South
Yarra.
d. 5th June 1896 at Bendigo, Vic of Chronic Bronchitis [death certificate
incorrectly gives 5th May, but is in the June entries and not consistent with
burial date]. Buried 7th June 1896 Eaglehawk Cemetery. His will
was dated 11 August 1894 and describes him as late of Sailors Gully Road,
formerly of Myers Flat. The executors of his will are nephew Michael John
Curtain, hotelkeeper of High Street, Bendigo and brother-in-law John Daly,
miner of Baxter St, Bendigo.Married 2nd
December 1871 at Bendigo Honora (or Honoria) Curtain, born
1843, County Clare in Ireland, and died 28th August 1915 at 375
McCrae St, Bendigo of pneumonia and buried at Eaglehawk cemetery. She was the
daughter of John Austin Curtain [a farmer] and Ellen Howard.
His occupation is listed as a miner. Her death certificate lists her as
having lived 51 years in Victoria, so she arrived in Australia about 1864, aged
about 20.
Had issue, see below.
5. William Jeffrey
b. 1849 Melbourne, Vic
d.? Still alive in 1877, Age given as 26 on his father’s death certificate, but
deceased by 1894 when his mother dies.
6. Catherine "Kate" Jeffrey
b. 1853 Melbourne, Vic
d. 3 November 1922 and buried at White Hills, Victoria, Australia
Married on 2nd Dec 1871 at Bendigo, Vic John Daly born in 1837
in Clare, Ireland, a lodge Secretary (son of Peter Daly,
and Marry Higgins, he died 5.6.1879). In 1894 Catherine & John Daly were
living at Baxter St, Bendigo.
Had 14 children including Denis "Dinny" Daly who was the second husband of Ethel
Johns after her first husband Thomas Jeffrey died. .
7. Dennis or Denis Jeffrey
b. 8 October 1855 at Eaglehawk, Vic
d. 1936 at Albert Park, Vic
Denis Was a Coachbuilder and lived in Melbourne. He married on the 1st
Jan 1887 at Melbourne to Ellen Foley.
Thomas Jeffrey and Honoria
Curtain had seven children.
1. John Jeffrey
b. 19.9.1872 at Eaglehawk, Vic [death cert. says Myers Flat, Vic]
d. 26.11.1954 at Bendigo of Congestive Failure, buried at Bendigo 27.11.1954 Roman Catholic Section.
Married (1) in 1897 to Mary Bridget Guiney in Victoria. She was born
about 1872 and died in 1919 aged 47, Reg 10679. She was the daughter of John
Guiney and Bridget Ryan. His death certificate describes him as a
farmer.
Had issue.
Married (2) in 1920 Henrietta Mary Ryan
Had issue.
2. William Jeffrey
b. 14.6.1873 at Nerring, Vic [Death certificate says Myers Flat]
d. 20.9.1944 at 91 Brougham St, Bendigo, buried at Bendigo Cemetery.
His address in 1915 is given as Mitchell St, Bendigo. Death certificate
describes him as a retired grocer.
Married at Kerang, Vic Agnes Linane in 1899, Reg 7010. She was still
alive in 1944). Had issue.
3. Patrick Edward Jeffrey
b. 17.3.1875 at Eaglehawk, Vic [death certificate says Ingam Flat]
d. 10.9. 1926 at Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, of Notting Hill, of pneumonia.
On his death certificate he is called Patrick Francis Jeffrey. He is also
called Francis Patrick Jeffrey when he identifies the body of his brother Thomas
in 1907 at Boulder. In a postcard written by John Bolitho Johns dated 4th
Dec 1908 he lets Florence Jeffrey and the Johns know that Uncle Paddy, Aunty
Belle and baby Tommy are coming to Perth for a visit. His death certificate
describes him as a clerk. Married at Perth on the 17th April 1907 to Annabelle
Catherine Rieger/Reiger, [b14th August 1876 at Wheelers Hill in Victoria to Jacob Reiger and Mary
Dearness Begg. Belle died on the 26th April 1968 at Camberwell.] He lived 4 years in WA [till 1909?] and 46 years in Victoria. The
WA post office directory lists him for 1906-1908 as Jeffery, Patrick Francis,
Clerk, Kurrawang – Mt Burgess district. Patrick & Annabelle had 4 children.
4. Thomas Francis Jeffrey
b. 7 March 1877 at Eaglehawk, Victoria
d. 17.6.1907 at Boulder, WA. Died at Nurse Egan's Hospital at Boulder after a shooting accident.
Married on 1st of October 1900 At St Patrick’s Church (this is listed
on Florence’s birth certificate) in Melbourne, Vic.to
Ethel Florence Johns
(daughter of James Henry Johns and Jane Stevens, born 11.3.1879 at
Sandhurst/Bendigo, Vic). Thomas and Ethel lived in Burbanks, WA, running a
Bakery on Nicholas St. By 1907 they were living in Johnstone St,
Lakeside/Boulder. Had issue, a daughter
Florence Ethel Jeffrey. She was my grandmother.
5. Mary "Min" Jeffrey
b. 15.6.1879 Eaglehawk, Victoria
d. 14th Feb 1941at Bendigo and buried there the following day.
Min was a bookseller and stationer.
6. Ellen Josephine Jeffrey
b. 22nd July 1881 at Eaglehawk, Vic
d. 7 May 1882. Buried At Eaglehawk in grave 95
7. Denis Francis Jeffrey
b. 31st Oct 1883 at Eaglehawk, Vic [death cert says Myers Flat]
d.14 August 1960 at Bendigo Reg 24480 of Renal failure. Buried at Bendigo.
Married in 1920 Ivy Margaret Cunneen, [She died September 1950]
Had issue.