Bluestone Genealogy

First work locomotive reaching Hurstbridge during the extension of the railway line from Eltham to Hurstbridge. Source: Picture Victoria. Copyright Nillumbik Historical Society Last week, I told the story of John and Goymer Shorten and their illegal exploits in several counties in England, discussing their luck in narrowly avoiding a Capitol sentence after they were apprehended for horse stealing. Week 12 of #52ancestors gives us the prompt of "misfortune." Misfortune is defined as bad luck; an unfortunate condition or event. For John Maguire, that unfortunate event occurred on Thursday, 2nd October 1913. John Michael Maguire (sometimes Maguire, sometimes McGuire) was the first born of Patrick Maguire and Elizabeth Monaghan, and was my 2nd great-granduncle. He was born around 1857 in County Meath, Ireland and traveled with his parents and his younger brother Patrick Michael (my x2 great grandfather) from Liverpool, England to Melbourne, Australia aboard the Phoenix ...

An elderly (but obviously fit) worker at the Cox and Rizzetti foundry, c.1988. Copyright Yarra Libraries. Source:picturevictoria As I mentioned in last weeks post, I am participating in Amy Johnson Crow's #52ancestors in 52 weeks challenge. This challenge provides weekly prompts to get us to think about our ancestors and share something about them, with the purpose of getting that knowledge out of our heads / filing cabinets / genealogy software and doing something with it. If you are a user of social media, check out the #52ancestors  hashtag to follow along and read some of the really amazing stories that have already been shared.  This week's prompt is 'longevity.' As soon as I read this, I knew whose story I would share; that of Mr. John Shannahan, my fourth great-granduncle, who lived to be an amazing 98 years old, in a time when the average life expectancy for a male was around 43 years.  I only recently began delving into the life of John Shannahan,...