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Historical records matching Mary Ann (Polly) (Matilda) Matilda McGann
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About Mary Ann (Polly) (Matilda) Matilda McGann
Polly Payne came from "poor stock". In fact her eldest sister, Louisa, was born in the Poor Workhouse in Axbridge in 1839 just two years after Queen Victoria took the throne.. Workhouses housed those who could not afford to sustain themselves, either through infirmary or unemployment or the like. The houses were divided into dormiitories, one for the men, one for women and one for children.
Polly's father was an agricultural labourer and, due to better farm practices and machinery, the decline in labouring jobs made it hard to make a living. Many moved to the cities to try to find work but the colonies saw the chance to assist them in migranting to boost their own work forces. Assisted Imigration was offered in Australia & New Zealand and the Paynes took their chance, They boarded the sailing ship, the Golconda, and arrived in Botany Bay in 1858 and soon made their way the the Victorian colony. Polly was born in 1962 at Merri Creek about four 1/2 miles north of Melbourne.
Before Polly was ten, the family had moved to Alexandra where her father owned and operated a punt to take people and stock across the Goulburn River. After his death, her mother not only operated the punt but also owned and ran a shop and hotel beside the river. If Polly had known of her mother's early years, she would have known that to own any property in England would have been impossible for someone of her 'stock". How life was different in Victoria.
At 17, Polly met and married Matthew McGann, the son of convicts although it is possible that he did not know that. Up untill Polly's death in the 1950's any convict ancestry was denied. The McGanns moved to Chiltern following the gold rush there. Her husband was most likely a miner when they met as were most people working in the area.
In 1900, Polly gave birth to Syvlester, the ninth of her ten children. While the Boer war was in progress,talk would have been centred around the referundum to bring together the seperate colonies of the country to create the nation of Australia. The following year saw that acheived but also saw the death of Queen Victoria and so the reign of Edward VII until 1910 when George V was crowned King
1913 saw the start of the building of Canberra. It was also the time that Matthew was working as a bootmaker, The next year, war broke out prompting some of Polly's sons to go to fight for "King and country". What Matthew & Pollys parents would have thought leaves you wondering.
Matthew & Polly moved to Quenbeyan in the late 1920's around the time of the Great Depression where Matthew continue working as bootmaker. They were still living there in 1936 when George V died and was succeeded by Edward VII only to abdicate less than a year later leaving the throne to brother George VI.
Sometime after, Matthew and Polly moved to Canberra - a town that didn't exist in a country that did not exist when they were married. Polly became involved in many organisations.
Polly turned 92 in May 1953 as Canberra was busy organising Coronation Balls and special events for Empire Day as Edward VII had died and Queen Elizabeth II was about to be crowned.
Little would Polly have known that the following year, in February, she, as a pioneer of the district, would meet the Queen on her visit to Canberra!
Not bad for a girl whose mother lived in a poorhouse in England and whose husband was a son of convict stock!
Date of death between 1858 and 1862, Mary Ann is listed as deceased on her younger sister's birth certificate (10 June 1862) but she is listed as arriving on the Golconda in Sydney in August 1858. Unfortunately, we cannot find a record of her death so perhaps she actually died at sea before arriving in Australia
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Mary Ann (Polly) (Matilda) Matilda McGann's Timeline
| 1862 |
1862
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Merri Creek, Victoria, Australia
BDM VIC 1862/17992 |
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| 1880 |
January 28, 1880
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Bethanga, Victoria, Australia
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| 1882 |
1882
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Granya, Victoria, Australia
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| 1885 |
June 12, 1885
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Chiltern, Victoria, Australia
BDM VIC 1885/8776 |
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| 1887 |
1887
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Chiltern, Victoria, Australia
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| 1890 |
1890
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Chiltern, Victoria, Australia
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| 1892 |
April 4, 1892
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Chiltern, Victoria, Australia
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| 1894 |
1894
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Chiltern, Victoria, Australia
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| 1897 |
1897
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Chiltern, Victoria, Australia
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