Day Family History
The Day family history reveals generations of settlement, tracing their genealogy and family connections across Victoria.
First Generation (Insofar as can be established)
James Day 1820-1898. James was born in Kings County (now known as County Offaly) Ireland. Around 1840 he married Maria (Mary) Nolan Dillon 1818-1874 in Kings County. Mary, as she was known, was the daughter of Nolan Bryan and Sarah Dillon (written this way in Inverleigh cemetery records) and originally from neighbouring Westmeath County. Their birth years above are drawn from their death certificates which differ from those provided on their immigration records. The latter had James as aged 23 in 1841 and Mary aged 22. It is possible that James had put his age up to satisfy emigration requirements.
Tracing James and Mary’s formal Irish records as well as their ancestors has not been possible due largely to the loss by fire in Dublin in 1922 of much of Ireland’s Birth, Death and Marriage records.
James and Mary, also known as Maria in her death record, emigrated to Australia departing Plymouth, England on 9 June 1841 arriving at Hobsons Bay, Melbourne on 30 September 1841 after an almost 4 month journey on the barque Middlesex. There were 212 Bounty Immigrants, almost all Irish. Four died during the voyage and there were three births.
Two weeks later their first son James (next descendant) was born on the ship while still in Hobsons Bay.
James and Mary gave their occupations as farm servants. He declared that he could neither read nor write. Mary declared that she could read only.
These immigrants were ‘sponsored’ by the Colonial Government at £19 per head. Of the 23,000 such immigrants who arrived at either New South Wales or Port Phillip (Melbourne) in 1841 all but a couple of hundred found work on farms throughout the colony which was generally the only occupations sought by the Colonial Government.
Going by the birth places of James & Mary’s first few children it seems that they first worked, presumably for whoever first employed James, in the Barrabool Hills area near Geelong before moving to Inverleigh where he became a farmer.
There appears to have been a brief intervening period when their 5th son John is registered as having been born in 1851 at Mitiamo in the Wimmera. The next child (Sarah) is registered as born at Modewarre near Inverleigh. Presumably these moves were a requirement of his then (unknown) employer.
Regardless, James must have eventually acquired his own ‘selections’ at Inverleigh where newspaper archives refer to ‘his’ farms and the sale of his stock at markets.
By the late 1870s all adult sons, apart from first born James (who remained in Inverleigh and later Ondit near Beeac then Belmont, Geelong) have taken up their own selections in the Wimmera or South Mallee at properties in close proximity to each other at Terrick, Mitiamo, Tragowel, Serpentine, Loddon Vale, Mologa and Macorna. These are also in the same area where son John had been born in 1851 at Mitiamo.
Daughter Alice also moved and had married James Diskin in 1882 who was farming at nearby Serpentine. The brothers (and sister) were all in their late 20s or early 30s and had taken up what appears to have been selections or Crown leases on these properties.
Daughter Sarah who had married Robert William McLean in 1882 remained in the Geelong area.
Youngest son,14 year old Patrick, was still at home in Inverleigh when his mother Mary (Maria) died in 1874 aged 56 however he soon went north as well, presumably to join his brothers.
In 1858, James brought his 17 year old sister, Eliza Day, out from Ireland. She arrived at Geelong on the ship Admiral Boxer.
In 1874, Mary died at Inverleigh aged 56. Youngest son,14-year-old Patrick, was still at home in Inverleigh when his mother died. It appears that neither his father or brothers were at hand when she died as Patrick became the informant on her death certificate. This probably explained why Patrick had inadvertently nominated his mother and father as his grandparents, a mistake repeated in the formal death registration.
In 1879, Mary’s elder brother, William Nolan Day born about 1808 in Ireland, died at Inverleigh. He had immigrated independently aged around 64 however nothing further is known of him. He only came to light on James and Mary’s gravestone and Inverleigh cemetery records where he and Mary’s parentage are both given as Nolan Bryan and Sarah Dillon.
In 1884, James re-married at Inverleigh to widow Sarah Terrier nee Hodgson when he was 64 and she 44. The Terrier family were of French heritage and wine makers at Inverleigh.
In 1896, James put his two Inverleigh properties of 227 and 57 acres up for auction. At some point, decades earlier, he has clearly acquired freehold ownership. They were described as agricultural and dairy – from newspaper archives. Other newspaper archives suggest his farm/s were at the locale known as Doroq on the outskirts of Inverleigh about 6 miles from the Barwon River where he reported that he took his sheep to water during the summer.
In 1897, James wrote his Will with son Anthony and daughter Sarah’s husband Robert McLean as Executors. He nominated his children (apart from Patrick!) as beneficiaries along with his sister Eliza and Anne, the widow of his eldest son James. He also, as a legal requirement of his Will, declared that in 1896 he had given £2100 to his son William who by then was farming in the Wimmera with three of his brothers, Anthony, John and Bernard. Perhaps this was part proceeds of James property sale and perhaps the money was in support of the four Wimmera based siblings– pure speculation.
James died the following year on 5 July 1898 at Inverleigh from heart disease aged 77. His son William, then of Macorna in the Wimmera, was the Informant on his death certificate. William was unable to name who James’ Irish parents were.
In 1899, James’ son Anthony Day placed an advertisement in the Melbourne Advocate seeking the whereabouts of Mrs Overend nee Eliza Day “who had landed at Victoria in 1858 on the Admiral Boxer”, presumably so she could collect her £100 inheritance. It seems that Eliza had not kept in touch with her family! I could not further trace her and it is not known if the family ever did.
James and Mary are both buried at Inverleigh Cemetery along with Mary’s brother William Nolan Dillon 1808-1879 who had emigrated on his own around 1872 when he was about 64 years of age. James and Mary had 9 children in 19 years of whom 8 survived.
1. James 1841-1892
Next descendant. See below.
2. Anthony 1844-1917
Born at Barrabool Hills near Geelong. Married in 1882 to Winifred Denario when he was 38 and she 23. Their three children were born at Mitiamo. Anthony went on to farm at nearby Mologa alongside his brothers Bernard, John and William. He died at Mologa aged 72. Winifred died at Mologa in 1936 aged 77.
3. Bernard 1846-1926
Born at Barrabool Hills. Never married. Died at Bendigo aged 79. Buried at White Hills Cemetery, Bendigo. Bernard had farmed at Tragowel and Mologa since at least the mid 1870s.
4. William 1848-1922
Born at Barrabool Hills. Never married. Died at Macorna where he too had farmed since the mid 1870’s. Buried at Kerang cemetery. In his Will of 1922, written on his death bed, he left his money and assets mostly to his nephews and nieces including his late brother Patrick’s two children, sister Sarah Mclean’s daughter Ivy Mclean and sister Alice Diskin’s children.
5. John 1851-1933
Born at Mitiamo, Victoria. Never married. Died at Mologa aged 81. Buried at White Hills Cemetery, Bendigo. Farmed with or near brother Anthony at Mologa for his entire adult life. Had owned a farm of 320 acres at Mologa.
6. Sarah 1853-1914
Born at Modewarre. Married at Geelong to Robert William McLean in 1882. She died at Belmont, Geelong. Buried at Geelong Eastern Cemetery.
7. Thomas 1856-
Born at Modewarre. Recorded as deceased on mother’s death certificate of 1874. No death record can be found in Victoria death records.
8. Alice abt 1858-1939
Specific birth place/registration not found. Married Irish born James Diskin in 1882 when she was 23. He died in 1900 at Macorna, Shire of Kerang, Victoria aged 47. They had 11 children. All born at Serpentine near the farms of her brothers Anthony, Bernard, John & William in the Tragowel, Loddon, Mologa & Macorna area. The youngest son, Stanislaus (Stanley), was a POW at Changi between 1942-45 having enlisted under a false name as he had been a member of the Communist Party (noted on a Military plaque at Templestowe cemetery.)
9. Patrick 1860-1906
Specific birth place/registration not found. Married Isabel Margaret Goodfellow at Hay NSW in 1898 when he was 38 & she 19. They settled at Oxley near Hay, NSW. Margaret died 5 years later in 1903 aged 24. Patrick returned to the Bendigo area, probably to one of his brother’s farms however he died at Bendigo 3 years after his wife’s death aged 46 leaving Patrick two children aged 1 and 3 respectively. Patrick is buried at Inverleigh where his father & mother were buried. His name is engraved on a plaque at Inverleigh cemetery and a notation in the cemetery record “Funeral from 122 Ryrie Street Geelong”. It is not known who raised the two children. Daughter Alice Isabel Day became a beneficiary of her uncle’s Will of 1922 when she would have been about 21. She cannot be further traced. Son William Patrick Day was also a beneficiary. He would have been about 23. He married Linda May Thompson in 1925 at Melbourne where had been a grocer in Brighton before moving to Shepparton where he continued in the same business.
Second Generation
James Day 1841-1892 was born onboard the ship Middlesex at Hobsons Bay, Williamstown, on 11 Oct 1841. His parents have initially settled in the Barrabool Hills area near Geelong where his next siblings were born. He married Anne Ryan, born 1841 of County Tipperary, Ireland, at St Mary’s church Geelong on 27 April 1862. Anne had emigrated from Ireland as a 13 year old around 1853 although no official record can be found. James later gave his occupation as stock rider at Inverleigh on his marriage certificate and later as cattle dealer at Ondit.
By 1868, James and family had moved to Ondit near Beeac. That year he gave his address as Ondit when being granted a ‘selection’ of land on Beeac Town Common.
By 1876 he had been declared insolvent with debts of £786 due to losses in (cattle) trade. He put up for auction all his assets, largely cows, calves and furniture.
In 1878 he applied for discharge from his insolvency however later failed to appear in court.
The above three entries are sourced from newspaper archives.
There are no further newspaper reports mentioning James. It is known that at some point, after last child Bernard was born in 1881, his family had moved to a dairy property at 4 Belmont Street, Belmont, Geelong.
James died in 1892 in Geelong, 6 years before his father, aged 51.
Anne died in Belmont in 1921 aged 79 (presumably at Belmont Street where she appeared in the 1908 census with adult children Bernard, William, Sarah & Catherine.). Both she and James are buried at Geelong Eastern Cemetery.
The 1924 electoral roll has children Sarah as a dairywoman, Elizabeth home duties, William a horse-breaker and Catherine a dressmaker, all at Belmont Street, Belmont, Geelong. Bernard was now a Carpenter elsewhere in Geelong. Eldest brother James was a butcher (died the same year) at Portarlington having moved there from Beeac around 1899.
They had 10 children in 18 years of whom 8 survived:
1. James 1863-1924
Next descendant. See below.
2. Mary Anne 1864-1877
Born and died at Winchelsea aged 13 years. Buried at Beeac Cemetery. Mary died from complications related to Scarlet Fever which was endemic throughout Victoria at the time.
3. Sarah Ann 1868-1935
Born at Inverleigh. Never married. Lived initially in Belmont, Geelong as a dairywoman. Died Geelong aged 67 years. Buried with her parents James and Anne at Geelong Eastern Cemetery.
4. Elizabeth 1869-1940
Born at Inverleigh. Never married. Died Geelong aged 70 years. Buried at Geelong Eastern Cemetery. Initially lived in Belmont with Sarah, William, Catherine and Bernard. Buried with parents and Sarah at Geelong Eastern Cemetery.
5. Alice 1871-1877
Born at Ondit. Died aged 6 years shortly after sister Mary Ann during the Scarlet Fever epidemic. Buried with Mary at Beeac.
6. John abt 1873-
His formal birth registration is not recorded however he was listed in parent’s death certificates. He was listed as aged 20 on father’s certificate of 1892 but cannot be further traced.
7. William 1875-1947
Born at Ondit, Victoria. Married Margaret Mary McDonald of Ondit in 1921. Died in Geelong. Lived initially at Belmont with Sarah, Elizabeth and Catherine. According to his Will of 1945, he left his house at Belmont St. Belmont to his wife then to his three children Margaret Mary, James Patrick and Alan Bernard. By 1945 he is back at the Belmont Street property (electoral roll) which he clearly owned. It seems that he had moved back to the family property (former dairy) after his three spinster sisters had passed on. His Will left the property to his wife. He had been a horse breaker, trainer (trots) and horse dealer. Buried at Geelong Eastern Cemetery. Memorial plaque mentions himself and sons James & Alan.
8. Catherine 1877-1944
Born at Ondit. Never married. Was a dressmaker. Died at Geelong aged 66. Lived initially at Belmont with Sarah, Elizabeth and William.
9. Mary 1878-1958
Like John, her formal birth registration is not recorded however she was listed on parent’s death certificates. She was listed as aged 14 on father’s death certificate of 1892. She married Edwin Barry White in Melbourne in 1908 and had 10 children in 12 years of whom 9 survived.
10. Bernard Albert 1881-1966
Born at Ondit. Married Eileen Mary Fanning in 1921. Was a carpenter in Geelong. Died at Geelong. Buried at Geelong Eastern Cemetery. They had 4 children. Bernard Maxwell who became a Catholic Priest (was a notorious paedophile- see open-source material), Francis Raphael, a teacher in Geelong, John Marcel Sebastian, a Catholic Priest and Joan who became a Nun at Sacred Heart, Newtown, Geelong and known as Sister Mary Thecia.
Third Generation
James was born on 15 April 1863 at Modewarre (according to his marriage certificate he was born at Winchelsea). He lived at Beeac/Ondit and worked as a butcher for Edward Turner. James, along with Edward Turner’s son James Turner, took over the running of the Beeac butcher shop in April 1892. A brother of Edward, William Turner, had moved from Ondit to Portarlington in 1886 and established a slaughter house at Portarlington and later the butchers shop on the corner of Brown & Fenwick Street.
Sometime after 1897 (he was still at the Beeac butcher shop that year) James Day moved to Portarlington and soon after took over the lease of the butcher shop, it seems, from former Beeac butcher William Turner (an effusive newspaper obituary on James’ death in 1922 said he had been butcher at Portarlington for 30 years however it was more likely 26 years).
He married Mary Maria Bevan born on 12 May 1866 of Beeac, at the Wesleyan Methodist Church, Beeac on 22 June 1899 when he was 36 and she 33. James gave his occupation as Butcher of Portarlington. James carried on the business, having eventually bought it outright, until his death on 2 Nov 1924 aged 61 years. Mary died on 8 April 1926 aged 59 years. Both are buried at Portarlington.
James & Mary had 6 children of whom 5 survived, all daughters, and all born in the house attached to the butcher shop at Portarlington.
1. Leila Elizabeth Ann born 28 Dec 1899 at Portarlington
Leila never married. After her father died in 1924, Leila took over the running of the butcher shop, on behalf of her father’s estate, through to 1954 when she followed her nephew Gordon Harding and brother in law Ernest (Paddy) Hutchins to Drysdale where they had bought Gallop Brother’s butcher shop. Leila lived on her own at Portarlington in a one bedroom house directly behind her sister Ella Harding. The house had been built by Ella’s son Jack Harding. Leila spent her spare time with the Portarlington Methodist Church. Leila owned an Austin car which she drove everyday between Portarlington and Drysdale. Leila died in 1977 aged 77 years and is buried at Geelong Eastern Cemetery. It is not known why she chose to be buried in Geelong.
2. Olive Myrtle was born on 16 April 1901 at Portarlington
She married Nicol John McKellar 1896-1966, butcher, in 1931. They had one son, Duncan McKellar. She died on 23 Feb 1934 at Portarlington aged 32 years. Nicol died in 1966 aged 69 having remarried in 1936.
3. Ella Doris was born on 20 Sept 1903 at Portarlington
She married Robert George Harding at Portarlington on 5 May 1923. See Harding Family History for further.
4. Child stillborn 11 Oct 1904
5. Vera Isabel born 28 May 1906 at Portarlington
Vera married Ernest (Paddy) Roy Hutchins 1906-1984 in 1928. They had three children 2 of whom survived, Bruce and Kathleen. James Sydney Hutchins died in 1942 aged 11 years. Paddy worked as a butcher for his sister-in-law Leila and later went into partnership with Leila and his nephew Gordon Harding after taking over Gallop Brothers butchers in Drysdale. Vera died on 28 June 1961 aged 55 years. Paddy died aged 78 years in Adelaide where his daughter Kathleen was then living.
6. Mavis Irene was born on 12 Aug 1907 at Portarlington
Mavis married Leonard Earnest Tomlinson in 1928. They first lived in Queenscliff before moving to Melbourne then Canberra after retiring. Leonard died in Canberra in 1981 aged 80 years. Mavis died at a nursing home at Lake Illawarra in 1994 aged 86 years.
This ended the male line of this arm of the Day family.
Ella Doris Day. Ella (my grandmother) became a school teacher at Portarlington State School from 1919 until 1923. Robert’s father William had retired from farming and in 1928 had bought the house at 64 Stevens Street. The house had been built in 1872. Robert & Ella inherited the house after Ada died in 1951.
Robert and Ella had 5 children as follows:
1. Gordon James Harding (my father) born 4 August 1923 at Portarlington
Gordon started school in 1929 at Ashby State School, Geelong West for 2 years while father Bob Harding worked on the railways. After Bob was laid off during the depression, the family returned to Portarlington where Gordon went to school for a further 6 years leaving when he was 13 years old to work in his mother’s family (Day) butcher shop. Enlisted in the Army in 1942 serving in New Britain. After the war he returned to the butcher shop. In 1949 he started progressively building his house in Stevens Street, Portarlington. In March 1950 he married Joyce Irene Ibbotson at Geelong and they moved into the now completed house. Four years later in 1954 they sold the house and with his uncle Ernest (Paddy) Hutchins and his aunty Leila Day they bought Gallop brothers butchers in Wyndham Street, Drysdale. Leila Day, his aunty, had been managing the Portarlington butcher shop since her father James Day the 3rd had died in 1924. In the early 1960s the Drysdale shop and other buildings and surrounding farmland were bought by developers. Gordon moved to a new shop in the main street in 1962 and in 1972 he bought out Paddy Hutchins. Gordon sold the business and retired in 1985. He died at Clifton Springs on 26 Jan 2014 aged 90.
2. Thelma Kathleen Harding born 25 June 1924
Married Alex Day. Thelma died on 17 March 2013 aged 88 years.
3. Jack Harding born 17 October 1925 at Portarlington
Married Enid Mary Ibbotson 27 Feb 1930. Enid died on 7 Apr 2013 aged 83 years. Jack died on 10 February 2018 aged 92 years. He had spent his entire working life with the RAAF and went to Japan at the end of the war as part of the occupation forces. Jack & family were posted to Milan, Italy & Butterworth, Malaysia during his RAAF service.
4. Betty Harding born 25 April 1931 at Portarlington
Married John McCleary born 4 May 1924 died 13 March 2001. Betty died on 15 June 1989 aged 58 years from cancer.
5. Ronald William Harding born 15 July 1935 at Portarlington
Married Janice Trezise. Ron died at Geelong on 19 September 2001 aged 65 years from cancer.
Thelma Harding’s name on her birth certificate was Thelma Katherleen Harding. She married Alexander (Alex) Day in 1954> This was because her father Robert (Bob) didn’t spell it correctly for the Birth Registry,
Alex changed his name from Edwin Shakespeare to Alex Day many years before meeting Thelma
Thanks for that Ron. No wonder that I couldn’t find Alexs’ birth.