See also
Husband:
James BUCHANAN (c. 1837-1911)
Wife:
Harriette Rose MCMAHON (1839-1864)
Children:
Marriage:
Name:
Harriette Rose MCMAHON
Sex:
Female
Father:
Mother:
Birth:
1839
County Fermanagh, Ireland2
Death:
16 Dec 1864 (age 24-25)
Name:
Mary Rose BUCHANAN3
Sex:
Female
Spouse (1):
Spouse (2):
Birth:
8 May 1862
Red Hills, Cavan, Ireland
It is a bit debateable when Mary was born. The death certificate says she was born in 1865 in Red Hills County Cavan. The certificate of her marriage to James Ball says she was 21 in 1881, a birth year of 1860. The certificate of her marriage to Henry Palmer in 1888 gives her age as 24, a birth year of 1864. But the records of the Immigration Board, the shipping company and the Migration Deposit Journal have her born in 1862 meaning she was aged 15 when she migrated. I have chosen 1862 as her birth year on the weight of evidence.
Ray Palmer email dated 10 December 2011 says "Both pieces of information about Mary Buchanan's sailing to Australia indicate that her year of birth was 1862.....Her birth date/age is an issue. I firmly believe that she was born in 1862. I believe that she may have advanced it to get married to James Ball as she would have been about 19 instead of 21....Also when she married Harry she claimed to be 24.... I believe that she lowered her age here so they were both 24 -when she was in fact 26."
To complicate things, the Smith Dennes Family Tree on Ancestry.com (owner Peter Smith) says her date of birth was 8 May 1865
Baptism:
9 May 1862 (age 0)
Annagh Parish, County Cavan
See Baptism Registry entry in multimedia
Emigration:
Feb 1877 (age 14)
Death:
7 Sep 1952 (age 90)
44 Lord St Roseville, Roseville, New South Wales, Australia4
Death Certificate givesage at death of 87(born 1865), time in colonies as 73 years(migrated in 1879), staus as widow, place of birth as Red Hills
Name:
James BUCHANAN
Sex:
Male
Birth:
15 Sep 1864
Ballyhaise, Cavan, Ireland5
Baptism:
19 Sep 1864 (age 0)
Annagh Parish, County Cavan
See multimedia for copy of Baptism Regisry entry
Ray Palmer provided the following notes on Mary based on oral history from an aunt of his:
"Parents previously had a boy who died at birth. Mother died when Mary born. Went to live with her mother's parents James and Harriette McMahon on the Isle of Man at Douglas. Her father gave her a payment. Came to Australia on Kapunda – her Godfather was the ship’s surgeon – Dr Goode. Went to live at Windsor with James McMahon and Phoebe (Armstrong). He was a sergeant of police. James invested her money for her which she lost in the bank crash………..”
Mary migrated to Australia in 1877 presumably after the death of Ellen McMahon(nee Finlay). It is probable that she was living with Ellen since the death of her mother Rose which seems to have been in 1864 after the birth of James.Mary was oinly 15 when she migrated.
Marriage Certificate. John McMahon.
Ray Palmer on Ancestry.com.
Marriage Certificate.
Death Certificate. 1952/20590. John McMahon.
Birth Certificate. Ballyhaise 136/1864. John McMahon.