This is a bit strange...

Still catching up on emails that have information in them that I haven't yet posted here.
Nola Marshall wrote to me back in March about this rather strange situation in the family.

I am fascinated by the thought that Francis Hannagan had two families at the same time. Do you know if Catherine was in Melbourne with him in the 1850s? I have found him on the 1856 Electoral Roll living in a house off Little Lonsdale Street. Occupation Tailor. As you are aware three children were born in Australia, the mother being Mary Ann Kearns (Cairns). Another daughter was born in NZ just prior to Catherine having her last child. It begs belief that the women did not know of each others existence. Do you have any family knowledge of how this arrangement worked?

There are several photos of Martin John and Frank Hannagan and the tailoring business in Mt Gambier at the following sight.

Google Mt Gambier Library and Click on Photographic section. Type in Hannagan and the relevant photos should come up. [The first time I tried this I got two pages of photos; today I can only get four.]

My mother was Nola Rita Hannagan, youngest daughter of William Francis Hannagan, born 17th Feb 1883 and Aileen Todd.

William Francis Hannagan (1860) and Frances Hargreaves settled in Victoria.

William had a tailoring business in Brighton and his son William took over the business after his fathers' death in 1918.

I've been somewhat remiss

...though not today, when I'm finally catching up on all sorts of things.

Back in March I received the first of some emails from Anne Heafeild. Here's the substance of the first...

My name is Anne and I live in Melbourne, I am also related to the Hannagans who are in Melbourne, Mt Gambier and Sydney. Your Blog address was given to me by Marnie Hannagan who is a descendant of Martin John Hannagan. Martin married my great aunt Eliza Beggs, her youngest sister Isabella was my grandmother and she married James Fitzpatrick.

I have been in touch with John De Courcy via email and he has sent me his family tree. The Brian Hannagan mentioned as providing info was the grandson of Martin and Eliza his father being James, and very close to my father Edward James Fitzpatrick. I don't know if you are aware but there have been a number of Martin John Hannagan's and the latter have mostly been known as 'Jack'.
I know that I seem to be rambling but it is only in the last few years that I have reconnected with the Sydney Hannagans and got in touch with Marnie.

In the inputting of names I've been doing today, Martin John Hannagan and Eliza Beggs have been very much to the fore.

A couple of emails later, Anne wrote:

I cannot help too much with the Hannagans and what I do know about the ones in Victoria and South Australia comes from Marnie Hannagan who is a direct descendant of Martin Hannagan. It was Marnie who gave me your blog address and that had been passed on to her from someone else (isn't it wonderful to belong to such a large family?) My family are only related through marriage but in the past the ties have been strong and I am establishing them again (I hope).

I have attached a family tree you maybe interested in and that came originally from Marnie too. I also have the email address of Pat Maughan nee Hannagan granddaughter of Martin Hannagan who married my great aunt Eliza Beggs, I am sure that she would love to hear from you, she is a sprightly 87 year old who lives in Brisbane (I visited her last month) but at the moment she is in Sydney visiting her son.

I do though have many photos of the Hannagan girls in Sydney taken by may dad in the 1920's. If you are interested I could send them to you.

Of course I'm interested in the photos...!

Frank Hannagan & Passenger lists

Still trolling through the Web and found something else of interest. My great-uncle, Frank Hannagan, the brother of my grandfather, Charles, was killed in the First World War.

I've just found a reference to him (!) in a roll of honour of those killed on the 12th October, 1917. (I'm not entirely confident about this date; it may just be when these men were listed.)

He's shown as the son of John and Bridget Hannagan, of 97A, Harrow St., Dunedin, and he's buried in the Tyne Cot cemetery, Belgium. There are several abbreviations which I don't recognise; someone else may be able to help with these. He was Private 24433, and the letters OIR (Otago Infantry Regiment?) and KIA (Kiwi Infantry something?) are alongside his name.

The Roll of Honour takes up innumerable pages of the Web, and is part of someone's enormous genealogical site.

On a separate subject, this is an index to Unassisted Inward Passenger Lists for British, Foreign and New Zealand Ports 1852-1923
It would be interesting to know if any of these people were kin! (It comes from a search done on the public record office of Victoria.)

Family Name	First Name	Age	Month	Year	Ship	Port	Fiche	Page
HANNAGAN	---- MRS	49	NOV	1875	ALBION II	N	139	001
HANNAGAN	BESSIE	15	NOV	1875	ALBION II	N	139	001
HANNAGAN	F	24	SEP	1866	OTAGO	N	069	001
HANNAGAN	G MISS	11	JUL	1921	OMAR	B	946	002
HANNAGAN	MARY	18	NOV	1875	ALBION II	N	139	001
HANNAGAN	PAT	28	MAY	1857	POMONA	B	125	004
HANNAGAN	W	53	NOV	1875	ALBION II	N	139	001
HANNAGAN	WILLIE	8	NOV	1875	ALBION II	N	139	001

The Musical Hannagans

Here's something almost totally irrelevant. While searching the Web to see if I could by chance find anything more about William Hannagan, I came across this oddity.

Hannagan, Margaret, and Clandillon, Seamus. [Annagain, Maigread Ni, agus Clanndioluin, Seamus]. Londub An Cairn, being Songs of the Irish Gaels, in Staff and Sol-Fa, with English Metrical Translations. Oxford U. Press, Humphrey Milford 1927. 1st. VG. 75 songs, most from family of Hannagan (West Waterford). 3 volumes in one, as published.

It was listed in the Lewis Becker catalogue of collection.

75 songs mostly from the family of Hannagan? So we're a musical lot from way back...

Aussie Hannagans

Well, I've just spent a couple of hours inputting a large number of Australian Hannagans onto the Family Tree. Tailors abound - it was obviously a common occupation in those days - but there's a theatrical agent amongst the group, which is a bit different (!)

As always there are several common names running through the generations, but there are some unusual ones as well. One that struck me as interesting was Kearns Hannagan. The Francis Hannagan (Francis is a frequently-used name) from 1825 (my great-great grandfather, if I've remembered to put enough greats in) was married to Mary Cairns, but there seems to have been some question about the spelling of her name. It might have been Kearns. A generation or three down the track someone seems to have thought so and named one of their sons with that spelling.

The other thing about this afternoon's work is that we now have a tree going back to 1800 - approximately. In fact, it might be a little older than that, as William Hannagan's birth date isn't secure. However, he was my great-great-great grandfather (I've just checked it using the 'relationships' part of the 'People' menu). William has the distinction of being the oldest person on the tree at this point - unless he happened to have married a woman (Brigid Daly) who was older than him. Again, her birth date is not quite known.

William left a huge legacy of descendants - whatever date he was born!

Martin John Hannagan; obituary

Obituary Border Watch P3, Wednesday June 4, 1913
Mr Hannagan was a native of Melbourne,where he was born in 1856. In his boyhood he emigrated to New Zealand with his parents and remained there some 10 to 12 years, and
learned the tailoring trade.
Then he went to Melbourne, where he was for many years manager of the business, Hollands,
Tailors and Outfitters.
He was married there to Miss Eliza Beggs.
After coming to Mount Gambier he was for some years in the employ of Messrs Rowan and Gaillard.
"Dad" as he was familiarly called, was of a genial and liberal disposition, and his dignified figure will be missed in the streets.
He was a PCR of the Ancient Order of Foresters,having passed through the chairs in Melbourne. He leaves a Widow and family of nine - four sons and five daughters. Mr Frank Hannagan of Messrs Cameron and Helpman, of this town, is one of his sons.
Messrs James and Walter announce the funeral this afternoon.

Francis Hannagan

A very cold Saturday and I'm finally trying to get some of the info sent to me by Nola Marshall sorted. I might put some of it on the Family Tree site, but information space is limited to 1000 words there, and Nola has provided some extensive info on some people. Note the usual inconsistency in the spelling of the family name!

Victorian Police Gazette, February 1856: Lost or stolen, from the person of Francis HANNAGAN, on the night of the twelfth instant somewhere in Melbourne, an open faced silver lever watch, No 1152, makers name Robertson of Liverpool, with gold guard attached, gold ring with FH engraved outside , and a dark coloured pocket book, with a small ink bottle. Five pounds in gold and silver , and sundry documents. Information to the Inspector of Detective police, Melbourne 16th February 1856.

Friday February 19th 1892 NEW ZEALAND TABLET We record with regret the death of Mr Francis Hannigan, [sic] father in law of Mr John Blaney, of the Caledonian Hotel, South Dunedin, which occurred at the age of 67,on Monday last. Mr Hannigan was an old member and well-known resident of Dunedin, where he came from Victoria at the time of the gold rush. He stood high in the esteem of a large circle of friends and acquaintances. R.I.P.

There are also three other known mentions of Francis Hannagan in newspaper reports.
Otago Witness 7 May 1870, page 14
Otago Witness,Issue 1047, 23 December 1871, page 6
Otago Witness,Issue 1075, 6 July 1872, page 8

I've included these for the moment as a reference.