WHO WAS JOHN McNAMARA alias JOHN BARRY |
| In September 2004 family
researchers discovered documents in Queensland's State
Archives recording the marriage and death of John
Barry. The find linked the McNamara and Barry surname
but it has raised more questions than answers. The records show the 28 year old boundary rider worked at Albinia Downs near Springsure, 300 kilometres south west of Rockhampton (Qld). He married under the assumed surname of Barry in December 1872 and died over fifty years later at the Diamantina Hospital for chronic diseases in South Brisbane in 1929. His Death Certificate notes his dual identity. |
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| The Queensland Death
Certificate dated 5 July 1929 records the deceased
as "John Barry known as John McNamara". In fact the
reverse was true, John Barry was John McNamara's alias
and he used both names for almost two decades around
1870. Why this detail of dual identities was considered
important and who provided it is just as mysterious as
the "double" life of John McNamara alias John Barry.
Diamantina Hospital admission records will continue to
hold the secret until 2029. The Queensland Electoral Roll of 1874 shows John McNamara of Albinia Downs Springsure enrolled under his real name although two years earlier in 1872 he married under the assumed name of Barry. In 1878 he was still residing at the same location and was recorded in the Electoral Roll as John Barry McNamara. Why there was no reference to his real surname McNamara at the time of his marriage to Mary Ellen Lee is unclear. The alias was was not noted until the birth of their first child Francis in April 1874. Springsure District Registrar MacDonald recorded on Francis Barry's (McNamara) Birth Certificate that his father had married under the assumed name of Barry confirming that John McNamara and John Barry were one and the same person. |
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| Further investigation also revealed
that five of John McNamara's children Francis,
Margaret
Ann, Patrick,
William, and
Mary
have their father's alias recorded on their Birth
Certificates but Michael the
youngest does not. This 1887 certificate records
Michael's parents as John and Mary McNamara - a surname
they had not used for almost fifteen years. However,
Michael, like his siblings was married and buried under
the surname Barry. In 1880 the Registrar again took issue with the father's personal details provided to the Registry office for the birth of the family's fourth child William Barry (McNamara). He tersely noted, "The question of this man's name was settled last child and name must be altered." The reference to "last child" was to Patrick born in 1878 but there is no clue on this birth certificate as to any problem with the family surname. What precipitated this zeal for administrative accuracy over a prolonged period by both the District Registrar and John Barry (McNamara) is yet to be discovered. Just as confusing is the birth place of John McNamara alias John Barry. All his children's birth certificates record Limerick, Ireland yet both his Marriage and Death Certificate show Sydney, New South Wales. There is also continuing speculation as to the identity of his parents as shown on the 1872 Marriage Certificate. |
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CONNECTION OR COINCIDENCE |
| An 1894 Queensland death
certificate was uncovered in October 2004 for Mary MacNamara
nee Wilson. This find added another layer of complexity
to the investigation. For the first time family
researchers have three documents that appear to connect
the surnames Barry, McNamara and Wilson but they have
failed to provide any definitive proof of any family
relationship. Could this Scottish born woman who died at Pullenvale (Queensland), 2 December 1894, be the elusive and mysterious Mary Anne Barry. If a clear connection can be proven it would link Mary Wilson to a marriage with John McNamara in Belfast circa 1840 and would raise an even more intriguing questions. Is this Mary McNamara the mother of John McNamara alias John Barry. Can she be connected to James McNamara Senior who claims he is the son of John McNamara and Mary Anne Barry. And who is really the father of John Barry (McNamara) - Francis Barry or Belfast man John McNamara. More intriguingly are these two men actually one and the same person. The mystery, like that of Mary Anne Barry continues to deepen and not surprisingly due to lack of any hard evidence, still remains unresolved. |
Copyright © 2009 John A McNamara.
All rights reserved.