Ann Wescombe (O'Leary) {Australian Immigrant}

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Ann Wescombe (O'Leary) {Australian Immigrant}'s Geni Profile

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Ann Wescombe (O'Leary)

Also Known As: "Ann Leary"
Birthdate:
Birthplace: Ireland
Death: January 25, 1897 (63-64)
Upper Sturt, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Place of Burial: Upper Sturt, South Australia, Australia
Immediate Family:

Daughter of Timothy O'Leary
Wife of John Wes[t]combe {Australian Immigrant}
Mother of Mary Ann Goodall; Caroline Dall; William Henry Wescombe; George Wescombe; Nora Dall (Wescombe) and 6 others

Managed by: Jan Lee
Last Updated:

About Ann Wescombe (O'Leary) {Australian Immigrant}

GEDCOM Note

John Wescombe's first wife Amelia Whittaker bore him three sons, but "left home" some time before the 25thFebruary 1853. According to discussion on the Geni genealogy website about his second wife Ann O'Leary, quote; "In 1852, John Wescombe went to the port to meet the bride ship where about forty girls had been brought out from England and Ireland to help balance the shortage of women in the colony. John took home a young Irish girl called Ann O'Leary, born in 1834, whose fathers name was Timothy, to housekeep for him and to care for his three young sons. She had come to Australia as a single person with no other family and being unable to read or write , she would have found it hard to obtain employment. She was 18 years old, very pretty with dark hair and rosy cheeks. She could sing like a bird. John's sons moved out of the household. Houses were very small, generally for the parents, daughters and smaller children. Boys generally slept in sheds or humpies.

John and Ann were married by the local Methodist Minister when John was 51 and Ann was 29 years old, on 14-12-1863. By this time he had dropped the "t" in his surname.
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article159521894

John and Ann had ten children, the first six born out of wedlock.
------------------------------------------------------------
Why two marriages? Amelia Whittaker abandoned her husband and children between 1846, when their last child was born and 1855 when Ann O'Leary had her first child to John. John and Amelia assumed in 1863 that Amelia must be dead so they married. On finding out that Amelia had died in 1872 in Melbourne they remarried in 1875. This is a presumption on my part.


Ann possibly arrived on the Elgin which came to Adelaide 12 Sep 1849, at 16 YOA, as part of approximately 214 girls from England and Ireland.

She reportedly met John Wes[tcombe {Australian Immigrant}] in 1852 when Ann was 18YOA, though given her arrival three years prior, this seems dubious.

Mary O'LEARY (not Ann) arrived in South Australia on 10.9.1849 on 'Elgin' from Liverpool on 17.5.1849 via Plymouth on 31.5.1849, who was 35 YOA. There was an Ann Leary 16YOA on board, with Ellen(15/18YOA) & Mary(18YOA) Leary.

Ann (O')Leary's record:
https://passengers.history.sa.gov.au/node/662173

Ann Leary's record on Genealogy SA ship arrivals, For clarity no Oleary or O'Leary records come up.
Surname: LEARY
Given Names: Ann
Age: Not Recorded
Occupation: Not Recorded
Ship Name: Elgin
Embarked from: Not Recorded
Disembarked: South Australia
Arrival Date: 1849
Birth Place: Not Recorded
Source: Female Immigrants
Source2: Not Recorded
Notes: Refs=SAG SAA. Event=T02. Src=500046.

Another reference here: https://irishfaminememorial.org/details-page/?pdb=6564

view all 17

Ann Wescombe (O'Leary) {Australian Immigrant}'s Timeline

1833
1833
Ireland
1855
April 11, 1855
Upper Sturt, South Australia, Australia

Surname: WESTCOMBE
Given Names: Maryanne
Date of Birth: 11-Apr-1855
Gender: F
Father: John WESTCOMBE
Mother: Anne OLERY
Birth Residence: Not Recorded
District: Adelaide
Book/Page: 5/137
Notes: Not Recorded

1856
November 22, 1856
Upper Sturt, SA, Australia
1858
May 15, 1858
Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
1860
January 18, 1860
Upper Sturt, South Australia, Australia
1861
August 1, 1861
Upper Sturt, SA, Australia
1863
April 27, 1863
Upper Sturt, SA, Australia

Surname: WESTCOMBE
Given Names: Rebecca
Date of Birth: 27-Apr-1863
Gender: F
Father: John WESTCOMBE
Mother: Ann OLEARY
Birth Residence: Upper Sturt
District: Adelaide
Book/Page: 27/221
Notes: Not Recorded

1863
1864
September 16, 1864
Upper Sturt, South Australia, Australia