The Mystery of Mary Anne Barry
Moreton Bay Bound
John McNamara, Mary Anne Barry and ten year old son James are said to have followed the flocks of the pioneer pastoralists from New South Wales to Moreton Bay Colony around 1850.
How the McNamara family got to the Colony, where they came from
and why they left New South Wales remains a mystery.
James McNamara claims Mary Ann gave birth to him in Pitt
Street, Parramatta on the 9th
August 1841 but no record has ever been found to
corroborate the claim.
Were his parents convicts, free settlers or bounty immigrants and
did they leave other family members in New South Wales to
make a new start in the distant Moreton Bay Colony. And more
intriguingly was James the only child of John and Mary Anne McNamara.
Jondaryan Woolshed
The family toiled as shepherds,
shearers
and drovers, the
earliest Queensland record places the McNamara family at Jondaryan Woolshed in 1864, almost
fifteen years after their arrival in the Colony.
James McNamara
was twenty three years old when he found employment there as a fence
builder and sheep washer. How the family had remained "invisible" up
that time continues to frustrate researchers.
James says that he completed his education in
Brisbane - possibly 5th Grade - before the family moved to
the Burnett wool sheds but again no record has been found
that could confirm they lived in or around Brisbane
sometime between 1850 and Separation in 1859.
He did claim to
have taken part in the first hurdles
race at Nanango which was held on Boxing Day 1859 on the Tarong run
midway between Taabinga and Nanango. It is also
thought he won the Working Men's Purse over a mile there in 1866 riding
a horse called "Wallaby".
From the Ashes
The only known photo of James
McNamara Snr, Mary Anne Fuller and family was saved from
destruction in a rubbish incinerator at Proserpine,
Queensland in 1980.
The photograph is believed to have been taken at the Walter E. Perroux
Studio, Ruthven Street, Toowoomba circa 1895 and sent to
Sabina Fontaine nee McNamara who had
left Jandowae following her marriage to
Gus Fontaine in 1892.
Born in Bangalore, India, Walter Perroux was a prolific photographer
of his era. He died in Bowen in 1921, (See Biography)
Finding the Family
Mary Anne Barry the family matriarch
remains an enigma. Her name has been found only twice in
official records. Once on her son James' wedding
certificate and again on his death
certificate.
Two other documents, the Birth Certificate of William McNamara
shows Mrs. McNamara as midwife and his church Christening
record indicates Mary Ann McNamara as sponsor. Could this woman be
the elusive Mary Ann Barry or even the wife of an unknown
brother of James McNamara.
William's Birth Certificate is the only document that
records his father's birthplace as Sydney, Cumberland
County - possibly "local knowledge" remembered only by John McNamara
or Mary Anne Barry
Pieces of the Puzzle
Much is known about James McNamara, Mary
Fuller and their twelve children after 1867 but the origin of
his father John McNamara and mother Mary Anne Barry remains
hidden from family researchers.
Was his father a humble poultry
vendor who lived on the Parramatta Road around 1848 or the colorful Pitt
Street tailor who cohabited with a woman of "questionable morals"
residing in George Street in 1834.
And exactly what is the family
connection, if any, with the arrival of James and Mary McNamara from
Country Tyrone aboard the sailing ship "Susan", 25 March 1841.
Could the answer to the mystery be hidden in two other documents
- the 1894 Death Certificate of Scottish born Mary
McNamara nee Wilson and her marriage to John MacNamara
in Belfast Ireland circa 1840 and the Marriage
Certificate of John McNamara alias John Barry and Mary
Ellen Lee who wed at Rolleston, Queensland in 1872.
The surnames of McNamara, Barry and Wilson appear to have
an intriguing but obscure connection - a connection that
refuses to yield its secret.
Someone has the key to unlock
the mystery of Mary Anne Barry, her family, her origin and
her fate.