Alice Durant

Another in the recent series of photos I've been scanning. This is a photo of Alice Durant and Flora Joyce (my maternal grandmother). Alice was a sister of Emily Durant. Emily married Arthur Thomas (?) Joyce, one of the sons of Milliman Thomas Joyce (my maternal great-grandfather).
The back of the photo has some words written in a somewhat childish hand - not one I recognise. It says Alice Durant No Relation to us sister of Emily Durant. As far as I can work out she's the one sitting. My grandmother is standing.

Digging deeper

After my last post I heard from John DeCourcy who gave me some updates on the information I'd supplied and added some further details - plus an interesting picture.

Firstly he added some clarity to the story of Francis Hannagan. We've mentioned this before, some time ago. He writes:

Are you aware of this particular skeleton in the family cupboard.? How Francis had a wife in Dunedin (Catherine Comer) then went off to the Victorian goldfields, claimed Mary Ann Cairns/Kearns as his wife there, had 4 children with her, came back to Dunedin, had Charles with Catherine, Catherine then dies a few months later (no cause of death on the death certificate), and he then officially marries Mary Ann Cairns in Dunedin? No wonder our very proper grandparents thought there was no point at all in pursuing Hannagan genealogy! I have much of the official documentation around this, which I un-earthed by a chance encounter with a Marnie Hannagan in Melbourne who is a descendant of Mary Ann.

Well, that certainly adds a bit of colour to the family tree!

He also pointed out that the copy of John and Bridget's family picture that I posted is actually a reverse version of the original:

The other day I wrote that there were two girls in the photo. There aren't. One of the girls is actually John Hannagan....it wasn't uncommon to dress boys in what we would now regard as a girlish fashion, especially on formal occasions like having a photo taken. John DeCourcy thinks he would have been 3-4 years old at this point.

And now to the 'interesting' picture.


John writes about this photo: The Hannagan photo I am really interested in is attached. The version I have looks like a copy of a copy of a copy, and is a generation earlier than the one you have. I would dearly love to know where the original of this set of photos is, and would be happy to pay to have a good-quality reproduction done. Brian Hannagan?? [He's wondering if Brian Hannagan, my mother's cousin, has a copy. I haven't checked yet.]

It shows Family of Francis Hannagan, b 1825, at top. Clockwise from him, deduced by age: John H b 1844; Brigid H, b 1842; wife Catherine Connor, b 1824; Francis jnr, b 1845; Margaret, b 1848; at centre Charles, b 1867.

If you click on the photo, you'll get a larger version, which may be easier to see. If anyone knows any more about this photo, send me an email.

Hannagan family

A photo of some of the Hannagan family as adults...Charles, Catherine, Albert Powell (probably a fiance of Anne), Rose, Frank, Tess. Front row: Mary, Bridget (their mother), Anne and Dan.


My mother has written that it's Dan on the very right of the picture, though he looks a little older than some of the others. According to my family tree he was only 44 when he died. I don't know a lot about him at all. Presumably he was married, but the family tree doesn't have any record of this at this point.

This other photo of Charles is in a heavy frame and the photo is very faded. However, I'm including it for posterity's sake....

Frank Hannagan

This following three links are to pdfs on Scrib.com relating to the Debt of Honour Register in which the details of where Frank Hannagan is buried in the Tyne Cot Memorial Cemetery in Belgium.

Page 1.

Page 2.

Page 3.

Hannagan family photos

While sorting out something or other recently we came across a photo album in which someone had put some very old family photos. I've been trying to scan them onto the computer this afternoon, but the programme my printer insists on using is not easy to use, and it's taken me a lot longer than I anticipated.

However, here are the first batch:


This is Tess and Frank Hannagan (two of my grandfather's siblings) - Frank was killed at Passchendale. The top of the photo has been torn badly.

This next photo includes some of John and Bridget Hannagan's family:


According to some notes my mother has made on the back, the boys are Frank, Dan and Charles (he's the baby). The girls are Catherine (Kit) and Rose - she thinks.

This next photo came from a newspaper cutting dated 1993 - the For Sale sign on the right has been partly cut off in this scan.


This is the first house Charles and Flora Hannagan owned and lived in. It's still standing, and has been restored to a degree in the last few years. The next photo is 7 Stanley St, which many readers of this blog will remember. It's no longer standing, and was replaced almost 25 years ago by a bland house and an even blander garden.


The last two photos are of Nan (Flora) and Pop - she leaning out the window at the Elgin Rd house (I'm guessing) and he at a picnic.