by Anne Carolan
The Gannon family understandably hid their convict origins for two generations, so that descendants must ‘depend almost entirely on ‘government records and printed sources to gather information. However, episodes to give life to the facts do emerge and, in the case of my great, great-grandfather, Michael Gannon, these range from comic to tragic, from religious to criminal. In the Municipality of Marrickville the only reminder that he once lived in Tempe is the home of his son, Fred Gannon in Union Street.
Michael Gannon established a respected Cook’s River family, educating his children to become solid, sometimes prominent citizens in the local and wider community. He was (though an emanicipist and an Irish Catholic) active in conservative politics. He was a man of charity, who donated land for the future building of St Michael’s Catholic Church, Hurstville. For this he has been remembered affectionately during its recent centenary celebrations. He was involved in the foundation of Sts Peter and Paul’s Catholic Church, Station Street, Tempe.
He shared business interests with his wife’s brother-in-law, John Jenkins Peacock, and following his insolvency Michael, too, was declared insolvent in 1846. He was also charged with fraud, trying to keep a 14 acre block of Cook’s River land by placing it in the name of his wife’s brother, Edward Parsonage (‘a poor man with a large family’). He was sentenced to nine months in Sydney Gaol, but research to date has not shown whether he served this sentence.
In 1850 for the sum of £732, he purchased from John Holden and James Holt an immense forest of 1906 acres which had been granted to Captain John Townson of the New South Wales Corps. Previously it had belonged to Simeon Lord who named it Lord’s Bush. Stretching between the present suburbs of Hurstville and Bexley, it became Gannon’s Forest, and the track through it became Gannon’s Forest Road, now Forest Road. Michael watched the trees gradually disappear as the wood was carted back to the city. He made further profit as he had control of the Cook’s River Toll Bar. In contrast, he was, with his friend’ Walter Bradley, a prime mover in the formation of the original Zoological Gardens in the 1870s.
But Michael Gannon apparently never lived at Gannon’s Forest. Forced to leave his splendid home at 45 Argyle Street, Sydney, during the 1840s depression, he chose to move with his wife and nine surviving children to the picturesque settlement at Tempe. He was to live by the river for almost 40 years. He knew ‘Tempe House’ as Conrad Martens painted it and his family lived by the river far beyond the time Sydney Long painted ‘By Tranquil Waters’.
But the peace and tranquillity of the river were frequently disturbed by Innkeeper Michael Gannon and his lively sons. The Inn would have been a noisy meeting place for woodcarters and limeburners. His son, Robert, probably ran his horse buses to and from the door. Police-Reporter Charles Adam Corbyn described a colourful scene of the 1850s: Michael Gannon and his son Will were betting on ‘a slogging match, or fite a’tween two coves at the River t’other afternoon It was a case of all joining in. A basket-maker’s wife, Mrs Elizabeth Hilton, ‘the most dangerous character in the community, and a terror to all the peaceable folks at Cook’s River . . . fought with her hands, legs, teeth and with glass bottles, stones, and old boots’. The Gannons received fines totalling £1/10/ -. Brushes with law did not deter Michael Gannon as might be guessed from the manner of his arrival in the colony.
The Voyage from Ireland – Convict Life in Sydney
Michael Gannon and his younger brother James were born respectively c 1798 and c 1803 in the village of Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. They were both skilled tradesmen, probably working with their father, John Gannon, described as a joiner or master-builder. Their mother was Alicia Gelchin or Kinsela. There were two sisters, Catherine and Eliza, born about the time Michael and James were convicted at the Lent Assizes in Mullingar in 1820. Michael was found guilty of highway robbery and sentenced to transportation for life. James was sentenced to 14 years for possession of forged notes.
Official records provide a full description of the voyage – the ship sailed from Waterford on 22.8.1820 and took 122 days to reach Port Jackson on 22.12.1820. The ‘Almorah’ weighed 416 tons (the size of an old Manly ferry), its captain was Thomas Winter and its Surgeon/Superintendent was Samuel Alexander. It carried 160 male convicts (only 1 died on the voyage) and 31 soldiers of the 1st Regiment of Foot. Alexander wrote a lurid account of gastric problems suffered by the prisoner Michael Gannon, aged 23, who spent ten days in the ship’s hospital. We are even told the medicines prescribed. Alexander remarked:
“the prisoners were very sickly, dysentery having made its appearance among them. and was entirely confined to them, not a single case having occurred either among the guard or ship’s company. Its attacks . . . were confined to the young and plethoric and in my opinion were to be attributed to the following circumstances: The prisoners who came out by the ‘Almorah were embarked on board of two vessels of about 130 tons each at Dublin on 20th July, for conveyance to Cork when this ship waited their arrival, and as the passage from Dublin to Cork is generally made in from 36 to 40 hours, the only fitting that was deemed necessary for their accommodation was levelling the ballast and spreading straw mats on it, which served them as a platform by day and beds by night. After putting to sea the wind became foul and they were obliged to go into Waterford where they remained wind-bound until 12th August when, in consequence of the wind continuing foul, we were ordered round to Waterford and, transhipped them. The straw mats had got damp and rotten in consequence of the unexpected detention, and the state of the people on being transferred to this ship was truly miserable… we experienced very tempestuous weather after putting to sea, and the prison, as well as the upper decks, were almost constantly wet during the first week after sailing.”
Ulcers and scurvy were prevalent in Sydney, but the 159 arrived (still in leg irons) in ‘a tolerable state of health, without a single case of a man being flogged’.
In 1823 Michael was assigned as a carpenter to Joseph Broadbent and it was here that he met the teenage Mary Parsonage who, with her sister Maria, worked there as household servants.
Michael Gannon and Mary married at the old St Philip’s Church on 31.8.1824. With men outnumbering women in the colony at that time, it is interesting that Mary, native-born, chose to marry an assigned servant with a life sentence. Michael was not to obtain his Ticket-of-Leave until 1829, his Conditional Pardon until 1835 and his Absolute Pardon until 27.12.1841. At various times Michael was described as 5′ 6 and 1/2″ tall, his face pale (ruddy in later years!) and pock-pitted, hair fair/brown/grey, eyes hazel/grey.
In 1826 Mary Gannon petitioned Governor Ralph Darling to have her husband assigned to her, transferring him from Mrs Ann Worrall who gave him a character reference. This virtually allowed him to live as a free man. He prospered at his trade, began buying land and became an auctioneer where his personality and Irish turn of phrase would have been assets. He also became undertaker for Catholic burials.
Settled into his ‘gentleman’s residence’ at 45 Argyle Street (still standing), and also being the licencee of the adjoining New York Hotel, he sent to Ireland for his young sisters Catherine and Eliza and relatives Margaret and her brother Patrick Gannon. No doubt Michael and Mary were at the wharf to welcome the new arrivals as the ‘Palestine’ came up the harbour on 7.3.1842. The sisters had travelled with Thomas Cunningham and his wife, Judith, who brought with them Francis (4) and Eliza (1). Michael Gannon had an agreement with them that they would work on his ‘farm at Cook’s River’ for one year, Thomas as a farm labourer and Judith was to look after the poultry. For this they would receive £25 and the following weekly rations: 15 lbs flour, 3 lbs sugar, 10 lbs beef, 4 oz tea and 1 fig of tobacco. About this time, the Gannons also moved to Tempe.
Gannon’s Inn and Family Profiles
Doubt exists concerning the exact location of the Gannon pub(s). Early maps show St Peters Church of England and Gannon’s Inn as the only substantial buildings in the area. The c 1842 map places the Inn on the western side of Cook’s River Road directly opposite Hart Street and extending the width of 2-3 allotments. The present Gannon Street appears where that Inn stood. The present Tempe Hotel (previously the Pulteney) lies opposite Fanning Street. Its residential sections and the rear of the building show much of its past grandeur.
Sand’s Directories in the 1870s help us to picture this section of Cook’s River Road (now Prince’s Highway). Fred Gannon (later to live at ‘Hurlingham’) was four doors south of the Pulteney with his father Michael living next door to him. The tram depot was built on this site in 1913. The saddlery business of James Gannon (the son) appears further south at the approximate location of Gannon’s Inn. He had a license for the Union in 1860. Alfred Gannon’s butcher shop was on the eastern side near Albert Street, Thomas Chalder was at ‘Heathcote’ near Ricketty Lane, now Canal Road, and Michael’s daughter Maria and her husband Christopher Lenehan were at ‘Emerald Villa’ next door to Dr G.A. Tucker and Bayview House.
From the 1840s Gannon’s Inn came some of the area’s first tradesmen, shopkeepers, professional men and sporting characters. And the extended family living in and visiting the Tempe area during Michael’s’ life included the names Parsonage, Peacock, Lenehan, Murray, Smidmore and Mitchell. It will be possible to add further to the picture of the Tempe area, its homes and its buildings when the records of St Peters Municipality, presently held by the Marrickville Municipal Council, are made available to the public.
The following are brief notes on Michael’s children:
John Thomas (1825-56) m. Eliza Laurence ‘an old servant’ of Alexander Brodie Spark. His diary describes the wedding party departing in a coach and four. John was a freeholder. No issue.
Mary (1827-28) Robert (1829-66) m. Agnes Conley of Newtown. Coach and omnibus proprietor. Died of cancer of the throat, leaving children aged 1 to 12 years. The eldest, Robert William, drowned in Wolli Creek the next year. An inquest at Michael Gannon’s home describes his struggles in the water with his two playmates. Another son, James (Jim) Conley Gannon, was a barrister and K.C. He was M.L.C. and N.S.W. Attorney-General in the brief Wardell Ministry in 1904.
William (1831-94) m. (1) Rosa Edwards or Edmunds in New Zealand in 1868. He was probably with his aunt, Maria (Parsonage) and her husband John Jenkins Peacock who had shipping interest there. His son, John Thomas Peacock, was a Member of the Legislative Council for Canterbury. William’s business ventures failed and his sporting ventures also foundered when a horse he was shipping from Newcastle was lost overboard. Returning to Sydney, Rosa died in 1869 aged 23. He married (2) Helena Parry in 1883. They were colleagues in the running of big city hotels, the Oxford, the Exchange and the prestigious Petty’s on Church Hill. William was a starter at Randwick Racecourse and owned ‘Arsenal’ when it won the 1886 Melbourne Cup at 20/1. He was a starter at the grand opening of the re-vamped Canterbury Racecourse in 1884. James (1833-80) m. Jane Chadburn. He worked as a saddler in Tempe and had the license for the Union Inn in 1860. Alexander Brodie Spark mentions needing his services. Descendants are living in Ewart Street, Marrickville.
Frederick (1836-1923) m. Clarissa Murray. A solicitor. (See Heritage 1984).
Joseph Napoleon (1838-1908) m. Susannah Andrews. He had a business in. Tempe before moving his family to Cabarita Road, Mortlake.
Alfred Edward (1840-1908) m. Elizabeth Hunt. He had shops in Tempe and Hurstville (Gannon’s Forest). In the 1880s built his home ‘Gannon Grove’ in Croydon Road which was demolished in the 1930s. He was an Alderman on the first Hurstville Council, 1887.
‘Gannon Grove’, Croydon Road, Hurstville. Built 1880, demolished 1937. (courtesy Georges River Libraries Local Studies Collection)
Alicia Teresa (1842-1904) m. W.H. Douglas Mitchell, a city chemist, who was an Alderman on the Glebe Council, 1909.
Maria Louise (1845-1932) m. Christopher H. Lenehan. Lived Tempe, where he was a tea merchant. Later ran the Sanitorium Hotel at Brooklyn which was on the first Australian 5 Pound note. Later settled in Silver and George streets Marrickville (the house ‘with the lions’). A son, Robert William, was schooled at Riverview College and was ‘Breaker’ Morant’s Commanding Officer in the Boer War.
In tracing the Gannon family history it is easy to confuse the descendants of the two brothers. Michael Gannon’s brother James married Mary Phelps. Two of their sons appear in printed sources: John Thomas Gannon was a solicitor and Mayor of Goulburn. Michael Brennan Gannon was a land speculator and became a Member of the Legislative Assembly in Queensland.
The Vault at Tempe
Michael Gannon died, aged about 81, on 9.8.1881. Mary died on 25.3.1878 and both were buried in the family’s private vault. Under the terms of Michael’s Will one of the children was responsible for the land known as Vault Reserve. But the Evening News of 16 September 1904 reported a request for a forced sale of the land because of unpaid rates! The land was sold and the remains of two people were re-interred in Graves 289-92, Church of England, Section 1, Woronora on 20.7.1905. It is unmarked – an ignominious finale to the life of Michael Gannon.
Strangely, the stone from the vault, discarded for about 70 years, was offered to me for placement. It has been given a simple inscription and now stands in the Pioneer Park at Botany Cemetery. We will never know what words were cut into the stone for Michael and Mary and the children who died before them. They are worn away with time.
This article was first published in the June 2013 edition of our magazine.
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