Catherine Donnelly
Contents
Background
Goldfields Involvement, 1854
Anastasia (Carroll) and John Donnelly had a daughter, Mary, baptised at St Alipius on 10 February 1854. The sponsors were Andrew Donnelly and Anna Quinlivin. John was baptised at St Alipius on 3 April 1855 with the sponsors being John Murray and Catherine Bourke.
John Donnelly was a storekeeper at Ballarat and the family’s store and house were destroyed in the fire after the military and troopers had seized the Eureka Stockade on the morning of 3 December 1854. Donnelly claimed to have taken no part in the encounter and put in a claim for £250 for the store and property destroyed. He was said to have carried his daughter, Catherine, away from the fighting during the storming of the stockade.
Another story also places Catherine Donnelly, who was six years old, in the vicinity of the Eureka Stockade. She and other children were reportedly scattered and lost, and were said to have been looked after by Aborigines. Catherine married John Kelly whose father was said to be training three militia for the Eureka Stockade attack. [1]
Post 1854 Experiences
See also
Further Reading
Corfield, J.,Wickham, D., & Gervasoni, C. The Eureka Encyclopaedia, Ballarat Heritage Services, 2004.
