Bluestone Genealogy

Happy International Women's Day! Today's blog post continues to tell the story of my 3x great grandmother, Catherine Devitt who was raised during the Great Famine in Ireland. At age 20,  when she was 2 months pregnant, she began the arduous journey in search of a better life, which brought her to Melbourne, Australia. If you missed last weeks post, I suggest reading that prior to continuing. You can find that post here :  Week 9 - Where There's a Will... What became of Catherine and Ann Fitzgerald Devitt after they left the Immigration Depot is unknown however, on 2 March 1859 Catherine married widower James Logan, a sailor from Greenock, Scotland in John Knox Presbyterian Church on Swanston Street. The ceremony was conducted by William Miller, and witnessed by William Page, and Catherine’s younger sister Ann Lowrie (nee Devitt) who had arrived in Melbourne two years prior. While neither Catherine nor James list any children on their marriage certificate, they ha...

Boy enjoying the flood waters, c.1950s, Copyright Beard Family, sourced from pictureaustralia Today, as we battle the devastating effects of climate change and global warming (often cursing the weatherman for getting it wrong) it's difficult to imagine our ancestors living in the past, where they didn't have the benefit of satellite imagery or the Bureau of Meteorology. They were all constantly subject to the ebb and flow of the Seasons, and lived at the mercy of Mother Nature.  From river floods to epic heat waves, the next two blog posts will explore the catastrophic effects that extreme weather conditions has had on two families, ranging from a loss of property and livelihood, to the loss of life. On Wednesday 16 June 1875 at the Footscray Police Court, James Logan applied for a transfer of license for the Ship Inn - a hotel he and his family had operated for the past six years (1869 - 1875) to Patrick Stack. Ship Inn, c.1890. Operated by James Loga...