Farrell
Andrew and Mary Farrell were both born in Dublin, Ireland. Andrew was orphaned at an early age by a cholera epidemic but was brought up by guardians and became a chemist. He married in Ireland and his first three children, Andrew, Matthew and Kate were born in Ireland. In 1847 he took his family to Buenos Aires in South America where he prospered as a chemist. John, the fourth child had been born at sea as the ship approached Buenos Aires on 18th December 1851. However, when news of the discovery of gold in N.S.W. reached Andrew Snr. He sold his chemist shop in 1852 and sailed for Australia via England. He, with his eldest son, Andrew, spent some time on the Ballarat diggings where he had little success and came close to losing his life through illness. He went to the Bendigo diggings where he was more successful and then on to Rushworth where he mined for some years. After success in the carrying trade he purchased a farm at Baringhup on the Loddon River near Maldon and Castlemaine in Victoria. Aided by his sons he became a fairly prosperous and well respected farmer. Andrew Farrell lived at Baringhup until his death on 17th February 1897 at the age of 74, his wife having pre-deceased him in 1862.
John Farrell left the farm in 1870 at the age of 19 and got employment in a brewery at Bendigo. In about 1872 he left the brewery and went on a gold-digging expedition to Queensland, visiting Chartres Towers and travelling a long way north to the edges of the Gulf Country. However, he found little gold and after a serious illness returned to Baringhup to work on the farm.
In 1875 John Farrell took up a position as a brewer with his previous employer in a brewery at Camperdown, Victoria. He worked here for two years during which time he met and married Eliza Watts on 18th December, 1876. John then settled on a farm at a place called Major Plains near Benalla and his brother, but this venture was not successful. He abandoned the farm and after working in Benalla and Melbourne he became manager of a brewery in Albury. It was whilst staying at the Turk's Head Hotel in Albury that he met Luke and Tom Gulson with whom he formed enduring friendships. In 1879 he had a severe illness and was to suffer from neuritis for the rest of his life.
It was whilst in Albury that John Farrell commenced his literary career, which was to continue until his death on 8th January 1904. I will not try to cover this career as papers have been written on it and Father Paul Stenhouse is carrying out a more exhaustive research with the object of producing a book on John Farrell's life and achievements. [see note below]
However, I will complete the story of his ventures. After recovering from his illness he went into partnership with Tom Gulson in a brewing business in Goulburn, called Wollondale Brewery as it was located on the banks of the Wollondilly River. A branch brewery was started in Queanbeyan in 1884. By 1884 he had become an ardent follower of Henry George and a prime mover in the Single Tax League or Land Nationalisation Movement. In order to follow his interest in the movement he sold his share in the breweries in 1887 and bought the Lithgow Enterprise but the paper was not a success. However, the Land Nationalisers formed a company which bought the Lithgow Mercury and amalgamated the two papers to form the Australian Land Nationaliser with John Farrell as editor. This paper also failed because it gave too much space to Single Tax affaires and was sold at a heavy loss.
A new paper called the Australian Standard was formed in Sydney by the Land Nationalisers with Farrell again the editor and this paper was a success. John Farrell installed his family in a house 129 Denison St. Lewisham, the same house, hardly changed is now 141 Denison Rd. Dulwich Hill and was called "Wollondale" after the Goulburn brewery. He lived in the house until his death in Prince Alfred Hospital in 1904, his wife Eliza (nonnon) lived on there until she died peacefully there in 1944.
He became editor of the Daily Telegraph from September 1890 to June 1903 when he resigned, but continued to contribute articles to papers up till the time of his sudden and unexpected death.
John Farrell and Eliza Watts had nine children, two of whom died in infancy.
The children in descending order of age were:-
| Charles | Married Ada |
one son, John Farrell
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| Alice Maud | Married James Anderson, |
no children
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| Annie | Married Richard Stenhouse |
Richard, Jack(Skiggs), Roy and
Elizabeth (Lass). Richard Jnr. Married May Skinner and was Fr, Paul's father.
|
| Olivia | Married Candido Macinante |
Salvatore, Anastasia, Joseph
Millison and Candida (died in
Infancy).
|
| Victor John | Married Amy Harrington N.Z |
Olive Cuniffe and
Alexander (Lal).
|
| Beatrice | Married John Cosgrove N.Z |
Olive Lobban and John (dec).
|
| Marie | Died in infancy |
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| Moya | Married Edward O'Brien |
Elizabeth (Betty), John Farrell,
Joan (died age 6) and Moira Ann.
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Olive Cuniffe's three sons, Farrell, Rex and Denis, grandsons of Victor Farrell were all born deaf but there has never been any instance of deafness in the Farrell family.
The John Farrell family lost contact with his brothers and sister Kate and it was not until Father Paul recently advertised in an Albury paper that the descendants of Matthew Farrell were found at Rutherglen in Victoria but nothing has so far been found of the families of Andrew and Kate.
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