FatherPatrick O'Halloran
MotherCatherine Higgins
Pedigree

Birth, Death, Marriage

Ellen O'Halloran was born circa 1839 in Ireland.1,2 
She married Michael O'Connell, son of Maurice O'Connell and Catherine 'Kate' Butler, on 1 August 1859 in Adelaide, South Australia.3,4,5,2 
She died on 1 June 1896 in East Trentham, Victoria.1,5,6 

Family

Michael O'Connell b. c 1830, d. 28 Oct 1912
Children
ChartsO'Connell, Annie, pedigree chart
O'Connell, Michael, descendant chart

Story

Ellen was born in County Clare in Ireland about 1839.5,2,1
 
Ellen Halloran was a twenty year old servant when she travelled with her sister Mary from county Clare in Ireland to Australia. The barque Constantine left the UK port of Plymouth on 9 March 1855 and arrived at Port Adelaide, South Australia on 30 June 1855.7,8
 
Marriage and Family
Ellen O'Halloran and Michael O'Connell were married at St Patrick's church in Adelaide on 1 August 1859. They had eleven children between 1860 and 1878, with five early deaths plus one as a teenager.

Neither could sign their name. Witnesses were Patrick and Mary Connolly, most likely friends who travelled to Australia with Ellen's brother Patrick Halloran and his wife Bridget the previous year.

The couple soon moved to Victoria, initially near Castlemaine in the Campbell's Creek gold mining district, then later to near Trentham about 30-40 km away.2,5,8,1
 
The older children, James, John, Thomas, Edmond and William Patrick, had births registered in Campbell's Creek or Castlemaine.

A child 'Maurice (dead)' appears between James and John on Ellen's death registration. However no birth or death registration has been found, and he does not appear as 'issue' on the birth registrations for William Patrick or Michael Patrick.

Malachy's birth is registered as 'The Loddon', and may be Campbell's Creek, or somewhere between there and Trentham.

The younger children, Michael, Patrick, Michael Patrick, Daniel Francis and Maurice, were born around Trentham or Trentham East. Patrick was born in nearby Tylden. Daniel Francis has his birth registered as Kyneton (probably Kyneton district); his death registration says he was born in Trentham East. A birth registration has not been found for youngest child, Maurice, but his death registration says he died in 1884, aged six. He is reported to have drowned in a post hole.1,9,10,11,12,13,14,15
 
Unexpected Death
Ellen O'Connell died of lung congestion and heart disease at McMinamin's paddock in East Trentham on or about 1 June 1896, aged 57. She was buried at Tylden cemetery in Tylden on 3 June. Five of her eleven chldren predeceased her.1
Tylden cemetery
Image: Carol's Headstone Photos
Death Enquiry
There was a magisterial enquiry over Ellen's death. While the death registration states she died in McMinamin's paddock, a newspaper report said she was found dead on her farm.16,1,17,18
 
Ellen had been visiting a neighbour the previous day and stayed for supper, only returning home in the moonlit evening. The following morning about 7:00, the neighbour's son, John Egan, went to check rabbit traps he had set in Michael O'Connell's paddock when he saw who he thought was Ellen sitting by a tree. He told Ellen's sons Daniel and Michael, and when Michael checked on his mother, he found she was dead. He informed his uncle, then rode into Trentham and informed the police.

The inquest found there were no suspicious circumstances and cause of death was given as lung congestion and heart disease.16
 
Ellen's parents' names were not known when the death was initially registered and some information was provided almost three months later. The informant was 'Frederick James Cox, senior constable of police stationed at Trentham and present at magisterial inquiry'.1
 

Citations

  1. [S69] Ellen O'Connell, death registration no. 5734, 1 June 1896.
  2. [S71] Michael O'Connell and Ellen O'Halloran, marriage registration no. 39/123, 1 August 1859.
  3. [S99] Biographical Index of South Australians 1836-1885, South Australian Genealogy and Heraldry Society Inc., May 1986.
  4. [S368] Genealogy SA online database search, index, Michael O'Connell and Ellen O'Halloran entry, marriage registration no. 39/123, 1859.
  5. [S56] Margaret O'Leary, personal communication, 9 July 1996.
  6. [S50] William O'Connell, personal communication, May 1996.
  7. [S364] South Australia, passenger lists 1847-1886, 'Ellen Halloran' entry, Constantine, 1855.
  8. [S512] Christopher Knott, personal communication, 25 February 2019.
  9. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, 'Malachi OConnell' entry, birth registration no. 14825, 1868.
  10. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, 'Daniel Francis OConnell' entry, birth registration no. 5906, 1876.
  11. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, 'Daniel Francis OConnell' entry, death registration no. 7329, 1955.
  12. [S270] Victorian Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, registry and index, 'Maurice OConnell' entry, death registration no. 12881, 1884.
  13. [S50] William O'Connell, personal communication, 13 April 1996.
  14. [S63] William Connell (O'Connell), birth registration no. 7190, 30 August 1865.
  15. [S582] Michael O'Connell, birth registration no. 6302, 8 February 1873.
  16. [S433] 'Ellen O'Connell', VPRS 24 Inquest Deposition Files, unit 659, item 1896/681, inquest, 2 June 1896.
  17. [S429] 'News in brief: Victorian', Weekly Times, 1869-1954, newspaper, 6 June 1896, p. 2, viewed 12 October 2017, http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/221205346
  18. [S473] 'Magisterial enquiry', Kyneton Observer, 1856-1900, newspaper, 4 June 1896, p. 3, viewed 6 August 2018, https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/240965270