Jeremiah Ryan
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.
Sources:
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