Annie O'Connell, c. 1925
Image: Val Williams
FatherWilliam Patrick O'Connell b. 30 Aug 1865, d. 13 Jun 1952
MotherMary Elizabeth Milovitch b. 10 Sep 1867, d. 23 Jan 1919
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Annie Veronica O'Connell was born on 20 May 1906 in Mooroopna, Victoria.1 
She married Cecil Roy Williams, son of Richard Cornelius Williams and Anna Caroline Larsen, on 24 November 1926 in Yarraville, Victoria.2,3 
She died on 30 August 1994 in Murchison, Victoria, at age 88.4 

Family

Cecil Roy Williams b. 1 Apr 1897, d. 2 Jul 1956
Children
ChartsLarsen, Laust, descendant chart
Milovitch, Thomas, descendant chart
O'Connell, Annie, pedigree chart
O'Connell, Michael, descendant chart
Williams, John, descendant chart

Story

Annie Veronica was born in Mooroopna on 20 May 1906. She was the seventh child of Mary and William and the youngest to reach adulthood. She was known as Annie, or on more official documents like her marriage registration, Annie Veronica. On her birth registration, her mother named her Varonica Ann.5,2
Annie O'Connell
Image: Val Williams
Nellie and Annie attended Mooroopna Primary School, and it is possible the four older boys attended for a time also.6,7
 
In 1915, Annie enrolled at St Brendan's Catholic school in Shepparton.7,8
 
For most of the six children's childhood and early adult years, they lived at the back of the Mooroopna wine shop on the main road just west of the Mooroopna hospital.7
 
As a trained contralto, Annie sang in a number of local stage reviews and also in St Mary's church choir where her brother, Bill O'Connell, played the organ.9
Annie O'Connell, c. 1925
Image: Val Williams
As a young lady, she was crowned Mooroopna Hospital Queen.10
'To Mick & Myra, From Anne', Annie O'Connell, 'Queen', to brother Michael & wife Myra, younger boy is Ashley Foley, 1922
Image: Leon & Mary Williams
Annie O'Connell (with crown & staff), Ashley Foley (pageboy), Queen competition entrants, Mooroopna, 1922
Image: Kaz Corbo
Mother Mary's Illness
In 1918, Mary became quite ill.
 
As the holder of the wine licence, being unable to work would have made it difficult for the family.

Added to this, the First World War had been going for four years, and the two eldest sons, Peter and Thomas, were on active service.
 
Mary made a will on 11 September 1918, appointing husband William as sole executor.

To son William, she leaves the piano (this is not her mother's Bord piano, but one she purchased from her own savings). To daughter Nellie (Mary Ellen), she leaves the sewing machine. To husband William, she leaves the balance including the wine licence and interest in the Elizabeth St property held jointly with her sister, Annie Fortin.

Mary also gives William the right to draw money for their sons Peter and Thomas while they are serving abroad.11,12
 
Mary died in Mooroopna hospital after a long illness and is buried in Mooroopna cemetery. She was 51 and left behind a husband and six children of which the youngest, Annie, was 12.13,14
 
Annie and 15 year old sister Nell looked after their father when their mother died.15
 
Billy took responsibility for making sure the home continued to run smoothly, and was a taskmaster in getting Nell & Annie to do the ironing, and it had to be done properly.16
 
A family photo was taken at the back of the wine shop, a couple of years after Mary died.
O'Connells: back: Will/Billy, Mick, Tom, Peter; front: Annie, William (snr), Nell (Mary Ellen); c. 1922
Image: Val Williams
Post Office Operator
From the early 1920s, Annie worked as an operator at the Mooroopna Post Office. The Post Office was just across the road, near the original water towers and Kialla bridge.

She left in May 1925:
On Monday afternoon Miss Annie O'Connell, telephone operator at the post office, who is severing her connection with the Postal Department, was tendered an afternoon tea by members of the staff, and presented with a vanity bag as a small token of the esteem in which she is held by her fellow employees. The public also have lost in Miss O’Connell a most obliging and efficient operator.17,15

Annie Williams (O'Connell) telephonist at new Mooroopna exchange, c. 1923
Image: Val Williams
Mick and Annie worked at the Mooroopna telephone exchange at the same time.
Back: Michael O'Connell (left); front: Annie O'Connell (left), possibly Nell O'Connell (right), others uncertain, Mooroopna Post Office, c. 1922
Image: Val Williams
Annie O'Connell (left of doorway), Mooroopna Post Office, c. 1923
Image: Val Williams
Mooroopna Post Office, 1917-1930
Image: SLV
Marriage and Family
Annie Veronica O'Connell and Cecil Roy Williams were married at St Augustine's church in Yarraville on 24 November 1926. They had three children between 1927 and 1939.

They married near Annie's cousins as it was probably easier; Annie was under 21 and pregnant at the time, and Roy had just converted to Catholicism. Annie's father, William gave his permission for Annie to marry, and witnesses were Annie's brother Will/Billy and Roy's sister Freda.

They were married by the young James P O'Collins, who would soon be bishop and later knighted.15,2,18,19
Roy & Annie (O'Connell) Williams, Nov 1926
Image: Val Williams
Roy & Annie Williams (O'Connell), wedding day, Nov 1926
Image: Val Williams
Roy and Annie had three children. Lorraine was born within the first year of their marriage, Valma about two and a half years later, and Leon nine and a half years after that.
 
In November 1926, Annie O'Connell married Roy Williams in Yarraville where Michael Patrick O'Connell and his family were living. This photo was taken then at their home.
O'Connells: standing: William Patrick (Mooroopna), unknown (head only), unknown, Mollie (Yarraville), Leo (front, Yarraville), unknown (back), William Joseph (Mooroopna), unknown; seated: unknown, Elizabeth (Yarraville), Gertrude (Yarraville), wedding of Roy Williams & Annie O'Connell (Mooroopna), Yarraville, Nov 1926
Image: Val Williams
Family Life 
For at least a year after Roy and Annie married, they lived in Annie's parents' family home behind the wine shop in Main Street, Mooroopna. Daughter Lorraine was born during this time.20,21,22
Lorraine Anna, Anna Caroline (Larsen) & (Cecil) Roy Williams, 1927
Image: Val Williams
By January 1930 when Val was born, the family was at the home in Echuca Rd (later 37 Echuca Rd) where Lorraine, Val and Leon grew up. Leon was a late arrival with sisters Lorraine aged twelve and Val nine.23,24,21
Lorraine, Val & Annie Williams, c. 1931
Image: Val Williams
Lorraine, Leon & Val Williams, c. 1941
Image: Val Williams
The family home was across a paddock from where Roy's parents and brother Frank lived in an old homestead house (later 27 Echuca Rd) closer to the Mooroopna Recreation Reserve.21,24
Annie Williams (O'Connell) with Lorraine and probably Val, Echuca Rd, Mooroopna, c. 1932
Image: Val Williams
Home of Roy & Annie Williams (O'Connell), Echuca Rd, Mooroopna, 1930s
Image: Val Williams
Echuca Rd, Mooroopna, c. 1950s
Image: Kaz Corbo
In the house, a copper used for the laundry was also heated once a week for baths. Later, they had a wood chip heater in the bathroom. In winter the family lived mostly in a big kitchen where the wood fire kept them warm. On hot summer nights, they slept on the lawn with cow pats burning to keep mosquitoes away.

With no TV, they listened to the wireless, played cards or joined in a singalong to music from their pianola.

Roy made toys and other things, like a wooden replica of the Queen Mary and the pedal car in the photo.7,25
Val & Lorraine Williams with Elma Eggerstat in the car Roy re-built from one originally from Bob Jamieson, c. 1931
Image: Val Williams
Lorraine, Val and Leon all helped at different times in the family butcher shop. They also helped at the slaughter yard north of town near Gemmill's Swamp, where the meat was loaded on a horse and dray and brought back to the shop, usually with their Uncle Frank.25
 
The property had cattle and sheep for Roy and his father's butcher shop. There were work horses, trotting horses, cows for milk and chickens for eggs. The family grew their own vegies and some fruit.

While camping, Roy would collect animals, usually due to injured parents, and take them home. So the Echuca Rd house always had native animals, including a kangaroo, koala, and many different birds in a big aviary.

The family also had pet dogs, cats and rabbits. And a cockatoo Lorraine said would screech 'Shut the bloody gate!' and could call and whistle up the dogs.

Before Leon was born, the family went camping every April. They'd go to places like Mt Buller, Jamieson and Cann River, wherever the trout fishing was good.15,25
Annie (O'Connell), Roy, Lorraine & Val Williams, c. 1933
Image: Val Williams
Annie, Val & Lorraine Williams camping, the car is a Swift
Image: Val Williams
Doorway: Annie Williams & unknown; front: unknown, Lorraine Williams, Val Williams (in gumboots), others unknown the car is a Swift
Image: Val Williams
Main St House
By 1947, Roy had sold the butcher shop, and in January 1948 the family moved to a brick house at 97 Main St.

Barry Reid had originally built the house for Mrs Kearney.

The Echuca Rd house was sold in March 1948.24,26,27,28
Williams family home, 97 Main St, Mooroopna, 1949
Image: Val Williams
Home of Roy & Annie Williams, Main St, Mooroopna
Image: Val Williams
Several of Roy's and Annie's siblings left Mooroopna. But there were many return visits, and their Echuca Rd or Main St homes became the focal point.

Some visits even made the newspapers. Annie's brother Mick and his family were regular visitors. And when any of Roy and Annie's family were passing through Melbourne, they'd often drop in to see Mick and Myra.29,30,31
 
Lorraine, Val and Leon had plenty of contact with their extended family, especially Auntie Bub. Now separated from Frank, she ran the Cricketers Arms Hotel just across the road in Mooroopna and the family often had tea there. Bub later ran the Junction Hotel in Toolamba for 13 years, and Leon fondly recalls the family going there for tea on Sundays.32,33
 
Annie, Lorraine and Val Williams often visited 'Auntie Phil' (nee O'Connell) and Bob Sinclair who lived in Princes St, Seddon (near Yarraville).26
 
Sisters Nell Bazley and Annie Williams raised families about 170 km apart, but visits were common. When Roy, Annie, Lorraine, Val or Leon stayed in Melbourne it was at Bob and Nell's place in Strathmore. And when Bob, Nell or Ailsa visited Mooroopna, they stayed with Roy and Annie.34,31,35
 
Roy and Annie had seven grandchildren, though only two were born before Roy died.
Karen Phillips in rocking horse built by Roy Williams (background), Main St, Mooroopna, c. 1953
Image: Val Williams
The grandchildren all adored their Nanny. She spoilt them, had endless time for them, and was good fun.

For her Christmas costume, Annie would use whatever she could find: jockey's cap, cotton wool beard, croquet whites and shoes, pushbike sleigh.31
Grant Williams, Helen Phillips, Annie Williams (O'Connell) & Anne Phillips, Main St, Mooroopna, 1968
Image: Val Williams
Helen & Anne Phillips, Annie Williams (O'Connell), summer 1966
Image: Val Williams
Annie Williams (O'Connell), Lorraine (Williams), Laurie with Helen, Anne, Peter & Karen (front left), at the beach, Dromana, 1965
Image: Val Williams
Annie Williams (O'Connell), cycling Santa, Christmas 1969
Image: Val Williams
By 1956, when Roy died, Lorraine had started a family and was living in Shepparton, Val was in Benalla working with PMG/Telecom, and Leon was an apprentice. Val returned to a job in Shepparton to help look after Annie.26,36
 
When Roy died, there were no debts, but there was no income, so Annie took on a boarder, who lived in a bungalow at the back of the house.15
 
Catholic Women's Social Guild
For many years Annie was an active member of the Catholic Women's Social Guild. As part of a 1937 fundraiser, Annie and Roy hosted a garden party at their home.

Annie also worked at many other events at the Recreation Reserve and other places, but unlike Roy, her name rarely made the newspapers as she never served in any official capacity.37,38,39
Members of the Catholic Women's Social Guild: From left - Mesdames HR Peate, E Kneebone, Roy Williams (Annie), S Chalker (Pres), L Kelly, F Gladman, G Sullivan (Sec), H Stent, A Gawne, J Leahy, 1951
Image: Weekly Times
Croquet and Bowls
Annie loved her croquet (always 'croak-ee', never 'crow-kay'). She contributed significantly to the running of the Mooroopna Croquet Club, for a while as President. In 1982, in recognition of her efforts, Annie was awarded life membership.40,31,41
 
Annie (O'Connell) & Roy Williams, c. early 1950s
Image: Val Williams
O'Connell Family
Even though most had moved away, the O'Connells maintained close contact over the years.
 
Mag O'Connell (Noonan), Nell Bazley (O'Connell), Mick, Myra (Tatlow) & Will/Billy O'Connell, Annie Williams (O'Connell, seated), Mooroopna, Nov 1969
Image: Val Williams
Mick & Myra (Tatlow) O'Connell, Annie Williams (O'Connell), Nell Bazley (O'Connell, seated), Mag (Noonan) & Will/Billy O'Connell, Mooroopna, Nov 1969
Image: Val Williams
Annie Williams (O'Connell), Will/Billy O'Connell, Nell (Mary Ellen) Bazley (O'Connell), Mick O'Connell, c. 1963
Image: Val Williams
Nell (Ellen) Bazley (O'Connell), Mick O'Connell, Annie Williams (O'Connell)
Image: Val Williams
Back to Mooroopna
The 'Back to Mooroopna' celebrations were a great opportunity for ex-Mooroopna people to catch up with those who stayed, and the Easter 1963 'Back to' was very popular with the O'Connell, Williams and related families.
'Back to Mooroopna' celebrations, Apr 1963
Image: Laurie & Lorraine Phillips
'Back to Mooroopna' celebrations, Apr 1963
Image: Laurie & Lorraine Phillips
Bob Bazley, Annie Williams (O'Connell), Thelma Johnson (Williams), Myra O'Connell (Tatlow), Mag O'Connell (Noonan), Nell Bazley (O'Connell), Bill Hehir, Mick O'Connell, Rita Johnson (Williams), 'Back to Mooroopna', 97 Main St, Apr 1963
Image: Val Williams
Nell Bazley (O'Connell), Karen & Peter Phillips, 'Back To Mooroopna', Main St, Mooroopna, Apr 1963
Image: Val Williams
Bill Hehir, Annie Williams (O'Connell), Rita Johnson (Williams, front), Mag O'Connell (Noonan, standing), Thelma Jamieson (Williams, seated), Mick O'Connell (standing), Myra O'Connell (Tatlow, seated), Nell (O'Connell) & Bob Bazley (front), 'Back To Mooroopna', 97 Main St, Apr 1963
Image: Val Williams
Standing: Bill Hehir, Annie Williams (O'Connell), Mag O'Connell, Mick O'Connell; Seated: Karen & Peter Phillips, Rita Johnson (Williams), Thelma Jamieson (Williams, on chair), Nell Bazley (O'Connell, front), Myra O'Connell (Tatlow), Bob Bazley (front); 'Back to Mooroopna', Main St, Mooroopna, Apr 1963
Image: Val Williams
It was an occasion for young and old. Always up for a bit of fun, Annie dressed up for the occasion, donning the most 'youthful' clothing she could find and borrowing her grandson's school bag.

The O'Connells also caught up with the Foleys, family friends from over fifty years earlier.
Annie Williams (O'Connell),'Back to Mooroopna', Mooroopna State School, Apr 1963
Image: Laurie & Lorraine Phillips
Annie Williams (O'Connell), Back to Mooroopna, 1963
Image: Margaret O'Connell
Karen Phillips, Mary Williams (Budd), Anne Phillips, 'Back to Mooroopna', Apr 1963
Image: Laurie & Lorraine Phillips
Anne Phillips, 'Back to Mooroopna', Apr 1963
Image: Laurie & Lorraine Phillips
Helen Phillips, 'Back to Mooroopna', Apr 1963
Image: Laurie & Lorraine Phillips
Tom Foley, Peter Phillips, Bob Bazley, Lillian Foley & Mick O'Connell, 'Back to Mooroopna', Apr 1963
Image: Lost Mooroopna, Facebook
Health Issues
In 1945, Annie had a breakdown. Roy and the two teenage girls would be fine, but to ease the load, five year old Leon stayed for a time with Annie's sister, Nell Bazley in Strathmore.

Annie was prescribed a lot of medication and joked she took so many pills she rattled as she walked. The most noticable side effect of the medication was that she often fell asleep.42
Annie Williams (O'Connell, resting), Nell Bazley (O'Connell), Helen Phillips, Bendigo, 1967
Image: Val Williams
Later Years
Annie developed dementia and spent her final years in a nursing home in Murchison.

Annie Veronica Williams died of pneumonia and Alzheimer's disease in Murchison on 30 August 1994, aged 86. She was buried at Mooroopna cemetery on 2 September.4
Mooroopna cemetery
Image: BillionGraves

Citations

  1. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, 'Veronica Ann OConnell' entry, birth registration no. 12614, 1906.
  2. [S105] Cecil Roy Williams and Annie Veronica O'Connell, marriage registration no. 11007, 24 September 1926.
  3. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, Cecil Roy Williams and Annie Veronica O'Connell entry, marriage registration no. 11007, 1926.
  4. [S687] Anne Veronica Williams, birth registration no. 23470, 30 August 1994.
  5. [S93] Varonica Ann O'Connell, birth registration no. 12614, 20 May 1906.
  6. [S201] 'Coming of age', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 5 December 1924, p. 2, viewed 11 March 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article174035075
  7. [S21] Lorraine Phillips, personal communication, 28 August 2012.
  8. [S165] History of St Brendan's Primary School 1891-1991, St Brendan's Centenary History Committee, 1991, p. 68.
  9. [S21] Lorraine Phillips, personal communication, 9 September 2012.
  10. [S305] Historical Society of Mooroopna, 2000 Calendar, January.
  11. [S81] 'Mary Elizabeth O'Connell', VPRS 7591 Wills, 163/157, will, 11 September 1918.
  12. [S430] 'Mary Elizabeth O'Connell', VPRS 28 Probate and Administration Files, no. 163/157, probate, 1919.
  13. [S220] 'Deaths: O'Connell', The Argus, 1848-1957, newspaper, Argus Office, 24 January 1919, p. 1, viewed 4 October 2017, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/1421945
  14. [S440] Mary O'Connell, death registration no. 3219, 23 January 1919.
  15. [S21] Lorraine Phillips, personal communication, 21 August 2012.
  16. [S140] Elaine Dalton, personal communication, 13 September 2018.
  17. [S201] 'Mooroopna', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 21 May 1925, p. 9, viewed 9 OCtober 2017, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/173261448
  18. [S1] Ordained on Christmas Eve, 1922, he returned to Melbourne and served as assistant-priest at Yarraville and East Brunswick, and as diocesan spiritual director of the Catholic Young Men’s Society. Athletic in build, robust and dark featured, in 1930 O’Collins was appointed bishop of Geraldton, Western Australia, thus becoming Australia’s youngest bishop. Retiring in May 1971, he was appointed to the Order of Polonia Restituta (1978) for his service to Polish people in his diocese, and KBE in 1980. Sir James O’Collins died at Ballarat on 25 November 1983.
  19. [S2] WJ McCarthy, 'O'Collins, Sir James Patrick (1892–1983)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, ANU, viewed 6 September 2017, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/…
  20. [S103] Lorraine Anna Williams, birth registration no. 16298, 10 June 1927, parents' usual residence Main St, Mooroopna.
  21. [S21] Lorraine Phillips, personal communication, August and September 2012.
  22. [S201] 'Theft of wine', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 20 February 1928, p. 6, viewed 22 January 2019, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/179172402
  23. [S515] Valma Ellen Williams, birth registration no. 5816, 29 January 1930.
  24. [S172] Leon Williams, personal communication, 2 September 2012.
  25. [S448] Grandma living in the 1930s, story, c. 1999.
  26. [S59] Val Williams, personal communication, 28 September 1996.
  27. [S561] LANDATA, online property information, certificate of title, vol. 6783, folio 1356472, Mooroopna 1945-1974.
  28. [S561] LANDATA, online property information, certificate of title, vol. 5598, folio 476, Mooroopna 1929-1998.
  29. [S201] 'Social notes', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 26 October 1938, p. 3, viewed 19 September 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176272215
  30. [S201] 'Personal', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 12 January 1943, p. 2, viewed 19 September 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175182494
  31. [S126] Peter Phillips, personal knowledge or recollection.
  32. [S172] Leon Williams, personal communication, 18 October 2016.
  33. [S21] Lorraine Phillips, personal communication, 28 September 1996.
  34. [S201] 'From Patricia's diary', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 12 January 1943, p. 5, viewed 19 September 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article175182497
  35. [S201] 'From Patricia's diary', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 8 September 1950, p. 2, viewed 19 September 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article189071039
  36. [S261] Leon Williams, Eulogy, document, 18 April 2017.
  37. [S201] 'Mooroopna garden party: For CWSG', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 3 December 1937, p. 4, viewed 9 September 2017, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/171896048
  38. [S201] 'Amusements', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 30 October 1951, p. 6, viewed 19 September 2017, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article170018984
  39. [S429] 'People and places in Mooroopna', Weekly Times, 1869-1954, newspaper, 23 May 1951, p. 12, viewed 5 July 2017, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/225462812
  40. [S164] Mooroopna to 1988, 1989, p. 210.
  41. [S201] 'Mooroopna bowlers adopt constitution', Shepparton Advertiser, 1914-1953, newspaper, Thomas Pettit and William Callender, 10 September 1948, p. 10, viewed 13 May 2018, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/169562306
  42. [S172] Leon Williams, personal communication, 3 September 2012.
  43. [S103] Lorraine Anna Williams, birth registration no. 16298, 10 June 1927.