Lest we forget

William Sydney McCarthy was born in Peak Hill, New South Wales on 13 February 1891. William’s mother died when he was four and his father deserted the family. After his mother’s death, William and his siblings returned to Young to live with his mother’s family. The seven McCarthy children were separated to grow up with family members. When aged ten, William lived for a few years at the Presbytery with the Very Reverend Father Hennessy and attended the local convent school. After his school years he became a shearer, travelling throughout western New South Wales gaining contract work.

On 24 November 1914, three days before his cousin Thomas Debnam, William enlisted with the army at Liverpool and was assigned to the 1st Battalion of the Australian Infantry Force. William was 23 years old, 5ft 6in tall, fair complexion, brown eyes and brown hair. He was of Roman Catholic religion. He embarked on HMAT Seang Choon, the same ship as Thomas. William was involved in the landing at Gallipoli and was in a boat next to his cousin Fred Prothero. Fred saw his exit from the boat during the landing and didn’t see him again. William was covering the line with his battalion on 2 May 1915 and was killed by Turkish fire. He was reported as missing by his commanding officer and the family were advised of his missing status.

William McCarthy was featured with his cousin Thomas Debnam in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald of 23 August 1915. The article was headlined ‘Men of the Dardanelles’. Twenty photos display the faces of lives lost or injured in the Gallipoli campaign. It included their names and places of birth.

A day after the story in the Sydney Morning Herald on 24 August 1915, The Young Chronicle published a story headlined ‘Three Cousins. Two Dead, One Wounded.’  The story was about the service of Fred Prothero, Thomas Debnam and William McCarthy and the death of the cousins in the early weeks of the campaign. It detailed how proud Young was of the gallant young men. The story stated William’s brother, George McCarthy, received a message from a battalion mate of William’s. The message included a letter William had been writing home, taken from his tunic pocket after his death. This message confirmed for the family that William was not missing but deceased.

William McCarthy was not declared officially dead until 11 January 1916 after a court of enquiry held at Tel-el-Kebir in Egypt made the official determination of his death.

William is remembered at the Lone Pine Memorial, Gallipoli Peninsula, the Australian War Memorial, the memorial in the foyer of Young Council Chambers and on his mother’s headstone in Peak Hill Cemetery. On this Anzac day, we will remember them.

Transported to Norfolk Island

On 6 March 1788, my 5x great-grandparents Edward Garth and Susannah Gough, stepped ashore on Norfolk Island with Lieutenant Governor Philip Gidley King and 22 others with the purpose of farming and providing food for the new colony in Sydney Cove.

Edward and Susannah were convicts transported on the First Fleet to Sydney Cove. After the landing on 26 January 1788, they were selected to again board a ship and travel to Norfolk Island. They married and had seven children on Norfolk before the government made a decision to close the settlement. Edward and Susannah and their family were evacuated in 1807 and given land grants in Tasmania.

Another of my 5x great-grandparents, Jacob Bellett, was also transported on the First Fleet and sent to Norfolk Island in March 1790. He arrived on Norfolk Island on the Supply. The Supply had sailed from Sydney Cove with the HMS Sirius, flagship of the First Fleet, to gather stores from Norfolk and other ports to save the starving colony in Sydney Cove. As the Sirius approached to complete unloading, the wind shifted and she struck the reef and sunk. This was a devastating sight for the colonists of Norfolk Island.

Jacob Bellett married Ann Harper on Norfolk Island on 15 November 1791. Ann Harper was transported on the Second Fleet. They had nine children and were evacuated to Tasmania leaving behind a substantial farm and a two-storey home. The families must have known each other well on the island as, after their arrival in Hobart, three children from the Garth family married three from the Bellett family – James Garth married Mary Bellett in 1815, Edward Garth married Ann Bellett in 1816, and John Bellett married Susannah Garth in 1822. These marriages created a strong bond between the two families and a unique family history.

Every year on 6 March, Foundation day is celebrated on the island, commemorating the anniversary of the landing of the small group of First Fleeters. The community creates a wonderful day of re-enacting and celebrating the early pioneers. Their life and achievements are preserved in many of the museums on the island.

Next year in October we will gather as a family in Hobart to celebrate the strength and resilience of our ancestors and share stories of their descendants. Thousands have descended from the Garth and Bellette families and we hope many will attend. If you are related and would like more information about the reunion, email hobartoct2025@gmail.com for details.

George McCarthy the Labor man

George McCarthy is the brother of my great-grandmother Clarinda. I knew nothing about him until my family research unravelled his story. George was a publican, a Labor man and a fighter for worker’s rights.

George was born in Dubbo in 1885, though his family had no connections there. His father John was nomadic and I wrote about his wanderings in a previous blog post. When John married Eliza Fox in Young, New South Wales in 1877, her mother didn’t approve of the marriage, and the family moved from the town to Dubbo, then Peak Hill.

George’s mother Eliza died from liver cancer at age 35 in 1895. George was ten and him and his five siblings were sent back to Young to grow up with his mother’s family. Their father John McCarthy was not seen by the children again.

When old enough to work, George, with his cousin William Harris, became a shearer in a group known as the ‘bike rider shearers’ who rode around New South Wales from property to property. They rode across the state, following the shearing sheds until George met eighteen-year-old Violet Kelly at Burrowa, a town south-east of Young. Her parents owned a local hotel.

George and Violet were married in 1908 and moved to Cowra where George operated the Australian Hotel and was involved in local politics as a member of the Labor party. His first election attempt was the council election in March 1927 where he ran second to a local doctor. Later the same year he was in trouble with the law for keeping bars open after licensed hours at the hotel. In 1928, George was the Labor candidate for the State elections however he was also defeated.

In the 1930s, George moved his family to Sydney and started work with The Postmaster-General’s Department (PMG) as a PMG linesman. The PMG was established at the time of Federation in 1901 and was responsible for postal and telephone services across Australia. In 1932, George used his political experience and assisted with the PMG Linesman’s wage claim in the High Court in Melbourne. He argued and won the case against his opposing Queen’s Council.

By the 1940’s he was inspector of Post Office buildings and worked from an office at the Trades Hall in Pyrmont. In the 1950’s George was the organiser for the Postal Workers Union.

The family gathered for their 60th wedding anniversary in Sydney in 1968. There is evidence throughout his life that he remained in contact with his cousins in Young, the only one of his siblings to do so. George passed away in 1974 and is buried in Mona Vale Cemetery with Violet who passed away two years later.