THE SPREADBOROUGHS

The Spreadboroughs at “Sunnyside” in Cedar St, Killarney.

Octavius Spreadborough was born on 28 January 1860 at "Norbiton" in Warwick to William Spreadborough (1815-1878) and Mary Jane Knight (1818-1865).

Octavius was born and educated in Warwick before selecting a block of land in Killarney where he conducted a butchering business for many years. Later, assisted by his eldest son Irwin, he took up dairying, which occupation he followed almost to the end of his life.

His tall, erect figure was seen regularly walking to the milking yard followed by his faithful dog. Affectionately known as 'Tave', he was respected by all in the community and was a foundation and life member of the Killarney and District Agricultural Society to which he gave invaluable service, particularly as chief outside steward at show time.

He was keenly interested in all sport and was at one time president of the Town Tennis Club, generously allowing the club free use of part of his land until such time as the club's financial position permitted the purchase of same.

A staunch member of the Church of England Parochial Council, his tact and sense of humour relieved many a tense moment in knotty deliberations. He was also church bell ringer for many years and a friend and adviser to the Killarney Parish from the time it was extended to Maryvale and Yangan until his death on 15 February 1945, at the age of 85. At the end of his life, he was nursed by his wife Eliza and daughters, Miss Ellie Spreadborough and Mrs Herbert Collins (Warwick).

Octavius had married Eliza (Elizabeth) Grayson on 28 March 1883. She was born 1 November 1861 in Boconnell, County Armagh, Ireland. Her parents, John Grayson (1823-1907) and Jane Irwin (1819-1899), had migrated to Australia when Elizabeth was two years old, setting sail for Australia from Liverpool, England on the ship ‘Ariadne’ and arriving in Brisbane on 3 January 1861.

Elizabeth was an ardent worker for the Church of England Guild, of which body she was a vice-president. She died on 10 September 1953, at the age of 91, and is buried with her husband in the Killarney cemetery. Three of their four sons (Robert, Frank and George) served in the First World War.

 

MANGAN'S BUTCHERY

Clarrie, Joe and Bernie were the Mangan Brothers, all three of them having followed their father Thomas Joseph Mangan into the butchery trade.

Thomas and his wife Margaret (nee Reynolds) married in Victoria in 1912 and went on to have five children. Clarrie (Clarence James) was born in Wagga Wagga in 1913, followed by Joe (Joseph Thomas) in 1915. Ann was born in Murrumburrah in 1916, Mary in Junee in 1919, and finally Bernie (Bernard Vincent) in Sydney in 1922.
The peripatetic Mangan family arrived in Queensland at the height of the Great Depression and, in April 1932, Thomas acquired the butchering business of Carey and Howell. However, the business did not prosper and, within two years, Thomas had moved from Warwick, leaving his family with five pounds and a mortgage.

To support their mother and siblings, Clarrie and Joe (barely out of their teens) stepped in to run the business, operating it as Mangan Brothers. They worked as butchers during the day and, at night, built their cattle and sheep yards and state-of-the-art slaughterhouse on a 150-acre site in Rose Street, installing a killing floor, cold rooms and a machine room. A steam-operated by-products plant, powered by wood-fired boilers, was a further development. The digestion plant consisted of product cookers, centrifuges and hammer mills as well as tallow vats and a hide drying floor.

Although the business was short-handed when the youngest Mangan, Bernie, enlisted in the AIF in World War II, the War was a great boost to the fledgling enterprise because of the influx of service personnel. The Queensland Echelon and Records Office of the Australian Army was based in the Barnes Building (cnr King and Palmerin Sts) from March 1942 to September 1945, with 1,500 personnel working there at its peak. Mangan Brothers would eventually own five butcher shops in Warwick and one in Allora. By 1954, their meatworks supplied all but three Warwick butchers and, in the early 1960s, the construction camp for Leslie Dam.

Clarrie and Joe married and raised their families in Warwick while Bernie married and moved to Sydney after their father's death in 1953. Clarrie died in 1981, followed in 1983 by Joe and Bernie, but just the year before Clarrie’s death, the family sold the meatworks to Stuart Wade. It was later acquired by John Dee Abattoir.

in 2021, the building that housed Mangan’s butcher shop in Fitzroy St is still there, as is the adjacent Mangan’s Building, but on the evening of 17 November 2010, the meatworks was destroyed by fire when lightning struck a nearby transformer. Almost a dozen fire crews attended the blaze, but were unable to save the building. Parts of the by-products plant remain on the site and are visible from Rosehill Road.

Both Mangan sisters took vows with the Sacred Heart order. Mary became a respected infant teacher as Sister Mary Mercia while Ann, as Sister Mary Frederick, dedicated her life to Northern Territory Indigenous communities on Bathurst Island from the early 1950s and in Port Keats (Wadeye) in the 1970s. Much admired and loved by the communities she served, “Freddie” died and was buried on Bathurst Island and was honoured with a traditional smoking ceremony. In Port Keats, she was known affectionately as “One Gear” because of the determined fashion in which she drove her little ute around the mission, seldom bothering to change gears before arriving at her destination.

EARLY 20th CENTURY: COLLINS - CASEY

Bridget Casey and Cornelius Collins married in Warwick on 4 April, 1904.

Like many of the images in the Haig Photographic Studio collection or posted by members on the Lost Faces of Warwick Facebook page, this image has been passed down through the generations and treasured by their descendants, despite wear and tear.

Bridget Mary Casey was born on 10 June 1873 in Doneraile in Ireland's County Cork to Patrick Casey (1838-1918) and Catherine (Kate) Hanley (1846-1917).

At the age of 14, Bridget, together with her 16-year-old sister Margaret, set sail for Australia aboard the ship Jumna on 29 July 1887, disembarking in Brisbane on 18 September. They were the eldest of nine siblings and appear to have travelled alone although their brother, Patrick emigrated to Australia in 1901 at the age of 17.

Cornelius was born on 15 June 1873 in Toowoomba to Cornelius (1838-1922) and Margaret Collins (1845-1933).

Bridget and Cornelius went on to have five children – Thomas Patrick (1905-1990), Kathleen (Rita) Margaret (1906-1984), Cyril Cornelius (1909-1964), Hugh Roland (Rolley) (1912-1999) and Ellen (Ellie) Lorraine (1915-2011).

Cornelius worked as a ganger on the railway while the family lived in Thane, Leyburn and Warwick. Bridget died on 4 February 1953 in Warwick, at the age of 79, and Cornelius on 17 August 1959 in Warwick, at the age of 86. They are buried in the Warwick cemetery.

THE KILLARNEY TORNADO

22 November 1968

Most people remember Cyclone Tracy which devastated Darwin in 1974, but few outside of Killarney and the Warwick district recall the tornado that wrought havoc on the small rural community on the Darling Downs six years earlier.

On the evening of 22 November 1968, the school was having its annual speech night and many of the town’s residents were gathered to see the event in the Capitol Theatre. The storm hit around 8pm and at the height of the storm, locals were forced to hold the theatre doors closed in order to keep those inside safe.

It was fortunate that so many people had been in the theatre, as it was one of the town’s few buildings to survive. When people stumbled out of the theatre and their homes, they were met by a scene of unbelievable devastation. Rubble was everywhere and there was no electricity to light the way.

The deadly tornado had cast a path of destruction across the Southern Downs, One young girl died, and 200 homes were destroyed with only 27 remaining on their stumps. Most of the buildings in the town’s main street were destroyed and the few still standing had been severely damaged. All the churches, the show pavilion and most of the buildings along Acacia Street were flattened. In the light of day, the town looked like a war zone.

In the aftermath, the community came together to rebuild their town. The army, electricians, telephone workers and many volunteers came and started the mammoth clean-up. The Bowls Club became an outlet for food parcels and clothes, all of which had been donated. The Co-op was repaired and became a very important source of materials. The abattoir also kept going and kept the town afloat.

Some people whose businesses or houses had been destroyed left the town to find a future elsewhere, but many other families rebuilt their homes and were part of Killarney’s regrowth. All the churches and the halls such as the Show Pavilion, the RSL and the Masonic Lodge were rebuilt. The school was repaired, and the children were able to go back to class the following Monday. Eventually Killarney became a town again.

All images sourced from the internet.

POST WORLD WAR II: BRADFORD - FISCHER

St Mark's Church, Warwick, was the scene of a very pretty but quiet wedding on Tuesday, January 8, when Dulcie Catherine, younger daughter of Mr and Mrs C. Fischer, Tannymorel, was married to Leonard Douglas (ex-AIF returned), second son of Mr and Mrs A. Bradford, Mt. Colliery. The Rev J. Tunstall officiated.  

The bride looked charming as she entered the church on the arm of her father, who gave her away. The bridal gown was of white crepe de chine featuring square neckline edged with tiny frills of the same material and sprays of orange blossoms. The bodice, belt and sleeves were beaded in crystal, the full circular skirt falling in soft folds to the floor. The bride wore a pair of pearl earrings the gift of the bridegroom and for something old, she added a brooch belonging to the bridegroom's grandmother and kindly lent by Mrs McDermaid. The beautifully embroidered veil was held in place by a spray of orange blossoms. The bridal bouquet consisted of white cactus dahlias, tuber-roses, tiny roses and fern, and was tied with satin streamers to which was attached a white satin horseshoe.

Mrs Ron Bradford, sister of the bride, attended as matron of honour, and looked charming in a frock of lemon floral sheer over satin. The bodice was trimmed with tiny frills and buttons and a pink shoulder spray. Her finger-tip pink tulle veil was mounted on a bandeau of pink flowers. She carried a bouquet of pink charm dahlias and fern tied with pink satin streamers, and wore a pale green necklace, the present of the bridegroom. Mr Ron Bradford, cousin of the bridegroom, carried out the duties of best man. A dainty wedding breakfast was served at Mrs. Sterne's home. Rev. J, Tunstall occupying the chair. The main feature of the beautifully decorated table was the 2-tier wedding cake made by Mr Budgen, of Killarney, and iced by the bride. Only the closest relatives of the bride and groom were present.

Mrs Fischer, mother of the bride, chose a floral silk frock with black hat and black accessories. Mrs Bradford, mother of the bridegroom, wore a blue floral frock with black hat and black accessories.

On leaving by car for the honeymoon, which was spent at Lismore and Casino, the bride wore a dusty pink Lystar ensemble with pink hat and brown accessories.

Warwick Daily News. Saturday, 2 February 1946. 

Dulcie Catherine Fischer was born in Killarney on 25 July 1922 to Conrad Fischer (1877-1963) and Mary Jane Arbuthnot (1883-1975).

Leonard Douglas Bradford was born on 28 March 1917 in Mt Colliery. His parents were Alfred Ernest Bradford (1884-1969) and Nellie Maude Francis (1883-1964).

Leonard died on 25 September 1968, at the age of 51 and Dulcie on 15 July 2016, at the age of 93. They are buried in Eden Gardens cemetery, Warwick.

Wedding party (L-R): Leonard Fischer, Dulcie Fischer, Gertrude Bradford (nee Fischer) and Ron Bradford. Photos taken at Poulsen & White Studio, Warwick.

Posted to The Lost Faces of Warwick and District Facebook page on 15.11.2021.

WORLD WAR I: MITCHELL - BARRETT

Timothy Joseph Mitchell and Letitia Barrett were married in Warwick on 14 February 1916 with John James Beakey (Letitia’s cousin) and Ellen Theresa Barrett (Letitia’s sister) as witnesses.

At the time of their marriage, Timothy was 29 and was living and working as a farm labourer in Yangan, while Letitia was employed as a domestic at Junabee. Some time later, they moved to Mt Colliery where Timothy began working in the underground coal mine. They had two children (Ellen "Elly" Elizabeth, 1918-1992) and Ivy Margaret, 1920-2003) before Timothy died in a mining accident on 27 February 1922. (See report below)

Letitia was born at Swan Creek on 16 July 1894 to Thomas Patrick Barrett (1866-1942) and Ellen Elizabeth (nee McConville) (1868-1915).

Timothy was the fourth son of Patrick John Mitchell (1835-1912) and Rose Anne (nee Morriss) (1855-1921) of Mt Mitchell, Yangan. He was born on 9 September 1885 and baptised a week later (13 September 1885) at St Marys Church in Warwick with John and Ellen Kelly as his sponsors. At the time of his baptism the families address was given as Swan Creek.

Letitia’s mother had died in 1915 so after the death of her husband, Letitia took in boarders at her home at Mt Colliery before going to work on a share farm run by Frederick Walter (Fred) Blades and his wife Theresa (Timothy Mitchell's sister).

 
Letitia later went share-farming at Mount Sturt with her brother Francis James (Frank) Barrett and his wife Mary while Ellie and Ivy went to school at Swan Creek.

By 1925 Letitia was living at Tannymorel but then moved her Mt Colliery home to 16 McEvoy Street, in Warwick where she cleaned offices at the railway, and did washing, ironing and sewing for clients.
Letitia became very unwell and was mostly bedridden for the last few years of her life before her death on the 14 May 1979, aged 75. She is buried with Timothy in the Warwick cemetery.

Mining Accident. Man killed at Killarney.
A fatal accident occurred at the Tannymorel Coal Mining Company's workings at Mt. Colliery this morning. Timothy Felix Mitchell (a married man, with a wife and three children) was buried by a fall of earth at the face of the working. Death was instantaneous, the body being badly crushed. Dr. Harlin, of Killarney, was called, and pronounced life to be extinct. This is the only fatal accident during 27 years' working at the mine. (Brisbane Courier. Tuesday, 28 February 1922)

EARLY 20th CENTURY: ROCHE - McGAHAN

This beautiful photo (the cover image for this blog) is of the wedding of Hannah Roche aand Patrick (Paddy) McGahan. The photo was taken on the verandah of the McGahan family home at Emu Vale on 11 August 1908 following the wedding at the Emu Vale Catholic Church.

Back row: Polly (Mary Ann) Roche, Bridget Roche, Cornelius Roche, Mr & Mrs Maurice Clifford.
Middle Row: Mick Roche, Maggie Roche, Paddy McGahan (groom) Hannah Roche (bride), Mary Ann Roche, Richard Roche.
Front row: Katie Dale Roche, Annie Roche, Jack Roche, Eileen Roche, Willie Roche, Jane Roche (baby).

Hannah Maria Roche (McGahan) was born on 23 September 1886 in Warwick. Her parents were Richard John McGahan (1861-1945) and Mary Ann (nee Healy) (1865-1930).

Patrick was born on 3 October 1877 in Emu Vale. His parents were Patrick McGahan (1838-1894) and Mary Teresa Nevin (1857-1883). 

Hannah and Patrick had four children during their marriage. Hannah died on 8 November 1944, age 58, Patrick died on 15 September 1965. Both Hannah and Patrick are buried in the Warwick cemetery.

The Warwick Examiner & Times reported: The bride was prettily attired in a grey tweed dress, the skirt being plain with silk trimmings. The bodice in a coatee style was trimmed with floral silk, vest of tucked net, elbow sleeves and broad floral silk bell. A handsome white hat completed the pretty toilette. She carried a beautiful bouquet of sweet peas, stalks, and asparagus, the gift of the bridegroom. The bridesmaid's frock was of grey tweed pleated skirt, the bodice being fitted with cream lace yoke and wide pale blue ribbon, el bow sleeves, and broad pale blue silk belt, while hat to match. The bride's travelling dress was of navy-blue cashmere, the skirt being plain; the bodice was made with cream fare yolk, elbow sleeves and broad silk belt; hat ensuite. The dresses were designed and made by Miss Fraser, of Yangan. Mr. M. Roche, brother of the bride, was best man. The ceremony was performed by Father Potter. As the happy couple left the church they were greeted with showers of rice and confetti, and immediately the wedding party drove to the residence of the bride's parents, where a sumptuous wedding breakfast was provided by Mrs. Roche. This was laid out in a large shed which had been transformed into a veritable fairy bower by the willing hands of the young lady friends of the bride. Three long tables and one cross table were filled with guests.