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Jeremiah Ryan was born
in Grangegorman Civil Parish,
Co. Wicklow,
Dublin, Ireland in
1847; the son of James and Bridget Ryan, of Wicklow, Ireland where
he was in the provisions business. Jeremiah married a woman named
Annie, 31 years of age born in
County Carlow and had 2 children Bridget and John C. Jeremiah worked
as a dispatch assistant for a newspaper and
later migrated to the United States in 1852 where he served in the
American Civil War. It is believed he served in a Pennsylvania unit
as the Pennsylvania State
Archives says he
enlisted at 21 years of age. There were nineteen individuals named
Jeremiah Ryan who served in the Union Army, eight in New York, two
in Pennsylvania, two in Massachusetts, one in Minnesota, New
Hampshire, Indiana, Wisconsin, Louisiana, Ohio and one in the 15th
U.S. Infantry. Unfortunately it is not known which one he was; but
he was one of them.
After the war Jeremiah
migrated again, in 1871, this time aboard the ship Glen Huntly for
the New Zealand goldfields. After being there for a period of time,
and not making his expected fortune, he and his brother Jack sailed
for Australia, landing in Melbourne, Victoria. Upon their arrival
they made their way Gippsland in Victoria to prospect for gold along
Traralgon Creek. From there he proceeded to another gold rush in New
South Wales, remaining there for some eight months, before leaving
for the Palmer River gold diggings, in Queensland. Later he ended up
in Cooktown Queensland, and departed with twenty-five others for
Palmerville, Queensland where he was finally able to be successful
at gold mining and remained there doing so for the next three years.
Ryan visited other parts of Queensland, often had trouble with the
Aboriginals and encountered many hardships, but he was always
sympathetic towards those in need while at the same time having a
hard disposition as did many of the early pioneers.
He finally left
Queensland in the early 1870's, returning south to New South Wales,
and from there to Victoria, joining in yet another gold rush in the
Gippsland district. Arriving in Victoria Jeremiah chose the area of
Morwell to settle down in, acquiring a 320 acre section of land in
Driffield on which he operated a dairy farm. He also 240 additional
acres and leased 500 acres. He was one of the first to choose a
block of land in Driffield, just south of Morwell, Victoria. At a
later date Jeremiah also acquired eight building allotments in
Morwell, built houses on two of them and also had two shops in
Morwell. His brother Jack also owned property in the Morwell area.
On May 28, 1883 he married Miss. Ellen Fleming of Essendon,
Melbourne at the St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Sale, Victoria, the
daughter of a Mr. E. Fleming and had three children. His marriage
added an additional 140 acres of land to his holdings; being owned
by his wife.
In 1900 Jeremiah bout
additional land holdings from the Henry Estate, which he named
“Parnell Park”. He proceeded to cut the land up into ‘allotments’
which he placed up for sale. On sale day Jeremiah hired a brass band
from nearby Traralgon and ‘painted the town red’. He only sold a few
sections at what was considered a satisfactory price.
They are considered
pioneers in the Morwell area and streets named after them include
‘Ryan Road’ and ‘Avondale Road’. Avondale was one of the Ryan’s
properties west of Morwell and Ellen continued to live there after
the death of Jeremiah. On September25, 1915 Ellen wrote a letter to
the local council objecting to a proposed road that would go through
her property, claiming it was too narrow and that it would prevent
their access to a fresh water spring on their property.
Jeremiah seldom left
home in his later years until he took a holiday to Melbourne in
September 1910. Upon returning home Jeremiah became ill and a doctor
was called, but could do nothing as he was bleeding internally from
his heart. He lived only one day before he died at 62 years of age;
on October 5, 1910. His death was attributed to heart disease and
heart failure. He was interred in the Hazelwood Cemetery in Morwell,
Australia. Jeremiah was survived by his wife, six daughters and
three sons; Catherine, Bridget, Julia, Mary Josephine, Beatrice
Lillian, Alice May, James
Patrick, John. Edward and Jeremiah Francis. |
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Allison Weir, descendant
Beth L. Mullinax, IGSI, Dublin, Ireland
Brian Knox, Mid Gippsland Historical
Society
Church Parish Records prior to 1864,
Dublin, Ireland
Civil War Systems, Inc. Database
Claire Wood, Library Services
Dublin City Library, Dublin, Ireland
Genealogical Society of Ireland
General Register Office, Dublin,
Ireland
Harking Back, Llew Vary, Morwell
Advertiser
Irish Family History Foundation
Irish Genealogical Society, Ireland
Morwell Historical Society
National Archives of Ireland
National Parks Service, Civil War
Database
Obituaries, Morwell Advertiser
Pennsylvania State Archives
Philip Doyle,
National Library of Ireland
RCB Library, Church of Ireland
1851 Census of Dublin City
1911 Census of Dublin City |