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.

 
Ryan story   Morwell land sale Will and Estate Notice Land Holdings Land Holdings
Land Sale Death of Mr. Jeremiah Ryan, Oct. 7, 1910 Obituary Map Map Map Map
 
Gravesite Hazelwood Cemetery Headstone Obituary Obituary  
 

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

 
 

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