52 Ancestors in 52 weeks: Favourite Photo - Thomas McLoughlin
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| Thomas McLoughlin |
This is, without a doubt, my favourite family photo in our collection. Poor Grandad. We used to tease him mercilessly about it. "ET come home!" we used to say. He was a very good sport about it all. When I look at the photo I really wish I could talk to his parents today about it. About what he was wearing. About what the photo session was like. About how they felt about dear Thomas.
Here is my biography of my maternal grandfather, Thomas Joseph Benedict McLoughlin.This is my contribution to the 52 Ancestors in 52 weeks theme run by Amy Johnson Crow. You can
participate too. Just sign up here..
Thomas McLoughlin 1898 – 1982
Ahnentafel Number 6
Context for discovery:
This is a biography of my maternal grandfather, that is to say, my mother’s father. He was the only grandfather I knew, my father’s father dying just 10 days before my parents were married. I knew my grandfather for 21 years. We didn’t live in the same city until the end of his life. He lived in Sydney and we lived in Sydney, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Canberra and then finally Sydney again. But by then I was distracted with the final years of school and the early years of Uni. I remember him as very loving and generous but he was stone deaf and so difficult to talk to as a child. We shared a love of books and history.
Birth Date/Place:
We have my grandfather’s birth certificate. He was born Thursday 7th July 1898 in William Street Bathurst.[i] He was the eldest of nine children with five brothers and three sisters. He was named Thomas Joseph Benedict McLoughlin. His father, John McLoughlin, was described as an Engine Cleaner aged 31, born Hartley, NSW and his mother was Margaret TAYLOR aged 21 years born Gundaroo, NSW. The informant was John McLoughlin, the father, of William Street Bathurst.
Baptism Date/Place:
I have not been able to find this but would like to do so. I joined the Bathurst Family History Society last year so maybe this is a task for them.
Major World Events/Disasters/Wars etc
Tom lived through WW1 and the Depression and WW2 and a few other things besides!
Schooling
1915 Croagh Patrick College Orange[ii]
Patrician Brothers College Bathurst *** check this with Bathurst***[iii]
Marriage Dates/Places:
Tom married Helen Kate Forfar at St Patrick's Bondi in 1934 at the age of 36.[iv] Tom’s usual occupation was listed as a Municipal Employee - clerk. He was a bachelor living at Abbotsford. Katherine Helen Forfar’s usual occupation was domestic duties and she lived at Bondi and was a spinster. She was born at Stanmore.
Children’s Birth Dates/Places:
My mother, Barbara Helen McLoughlin, was their only child born at Drummoyne in 1935.[v]
Immigration/Migration Dates/Places:
NOT APPLICABLE
Residence Dates/Places:
According to the 1930, 1932 and 1933 Australian Electoral Rolls Tom was living with his family at 11 Irene Street Five Dock. [vi]There seem to have been 9 of them living in the house includingTom's parents - John and Margaret. John was a horse-driver and Margaret performed home duties. Tom is listed as being a salesman. For whom I wonder? Tom's younger sister Margaret was a waitress. His other younger sister Mary was a telephonist. I wrote about her here. His brother John Patrick was a photographer, his other brother Joseph was a block stripper - what on earth is that??? And Vincent was a labourer. There is another Thomas McLoughlin listed in the household as well - a labourer. I'm not sure who that is!
In 1935, according to my mother’s birth certificate[vii], Tom and Kit were living at 74 Lyons Road Drummoyne.
By 1936 Tom and his new wife Katherine Helen (known as Kit) lived at 96 Hampden Road Drummonyne.[viii] Tom by now was a clerk. This was not far from Irene Street if you look at it on the map.
On 30 July 1942
Thomas is recorded as living at 116 Hargrave Street Paddington.[ix] Kit is listed as living
at Ingle Dell, Warwick Street, Katoomba on his enlistment form.[x] By now Australia was entrenched in World War II and Kit and my mother had escaped to the Blue Mountains after the Japanese sub in the harbour incident in May/June of 1942.
By 12 October 1942 they were living at 6 Ozone Flats, 104 Campbell Parade Bondi Beach[xi]
Tom’s identity card had a second sticker showing a change of address to 44 Oxford Street Lidcombe in March 1944.
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| Tom McLoughlin's Identity Card from the WW11 |
Clothing ration cards from 1947 and 1948[xii] show Tom’s address as 5 Nowranie Street Summer Hill as does the 1949 Electoral Roll[xiii] they are living at 5 Nowranie Street Summer Hill .Tom is described as an aero eng. ex.
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| Tom McLoughlin's clothing coupons from WWII |
Tom’s father, John McLoughlin died 14th November 1953 aged 86 years.[xiv] Tom is the informant on the death certificate. My mother would have been nearly 18 years old. Tom's other siblings were Margaret Philomena aged 54, Mary Josephine aged 51, John Patrick aged 49. Joseph Benezit aged 45, Vincent aged 42, Helena Mary aged 40, Patrick aged 37 and Francis N. aged 35. His father John was buried on 16th November at the Roman Catholic Cemetery Field of Mars. Tom was still living at 1 Flat 5 Nowranie Street Summer Hill. This was my mother’s childhood home.
Margaret, Tom’s mother, died 12th June 1957 aged 79 years. The informant was her son, Frank McLoughlin.
Tom’s wife and my maternal grandmother, Kit, died 22nd May 1958. They were still living in Nowranie Street, Summer Hill. In the 1968 electoral roll, Tom’s sister Mary Josephine is also shown as living at Nowranie Street.
I look back at this now and think poor Tom to have lost his father, mother and wife all within five years. The only other person I know who seems to have suffered a similar loss in a relatively short period of time is my mother--in-law who lost her father, mother and brother all in the space of a few years. The grief must be crippling. Or does it make you love the ones that are left all the more fiercely?
Personal correspondence to my mother in August 1969 indicates that Tom moved to Wiley Park. In 1972, according to the electoral rolls, Tom is living at 5 Samuel Street, Lakemba.[xv] This was in fact the Wiley Park address. Tom was living with his sister-in-law Belle, his wife’s twin sister.
In 1973 Tom is recorded as living at 68 Charlotte Street Ashfield, according to private correspondence. He is a boarder in a boarding house.
By the 1980 electoral roll he is living at 2 Prospect Road Summer Hill, a boarder in a boarding house.
Military Service Dates/Places:
Tom enlisted
30 July 1942 in the reserve.
Occupation Dates/Places:
29th May
1915 Tom was offered a permanent appointment to the position
of Clerk in the Land Tax Office.To read more see here
29th June 1915 to 26th June 1919 Employed as Clerk 5th Class in Federal Taxation Office
July 1923 to 9th March 1940 Employed by Lysaght Bros and Co Pty Ltd. as per letter in private collection
In 1942 on his enlistment form he was described as a Temporary Assistant Gun Ammunition Inspector.
In October 1948 I was employed as an Inspector in the Test House at the Commonwealth Aircraft Factory at Lidcombe. I had been employed there since 1942….In 1956 C.A.C. was reduced to a skeleton staff and I among many others had our employment there discontinued.[xvi]
He talks about working for AML (&F) in 1958 when Kit died.
When you and Joy came to A.M.L. to tell me about Kit a man at No. 4 dock took your message and came to me with it.
Australian Mercantile andLand Finance Woolstores in private correspondence to my mother. The woolstores were at Ultimo. There is an excellent post on the wool stores in Sydney here on the Ultimo local history group page. It would seem that where my grandfather once worked is now an aquatic centre!
According to personal correspondence he was still working for AML & F in 1974 at the age of 76. He retired that year.
What's in a name? By the by, while searching for information about AML&F I came across a reference to a property called Calga. My mother was born at Calga Private Hospital in Drummoyne run by Nurse Cochrane.The history of Calga station near the Warumbungles can be read here....Calga was owned by AML&F at one stage.
Organizations/Associations Dates/Places:
NSW Chess Association?
Death Date/Place:
Tom died at the Bennelong Nursing Home at Ashfield 2nd November 1982.[xvii] He was aged 84, a widower. His usual place of residence was 2 Prospect Road Summer Hill. The informant was my mother. He died of a pulmonary oedema and cerebral atherosclerosis and suffered from senile dementia.
Burial Date/Place:
Tom is buried in the Independent Section at Rookwood with his wife Kit.
FAN CLUB (Friends and Neighours)
Baptism sponsors/godparents – to check with Bathurst
Marriage Witnesses Officiants – Vince McLoughlin and Helen Reily
Newspaper – 27 articles – make sure we have copied
City directories – others living in household/on street
Land Deeds – witnesses/buyers/sellers
Maps – neighbours
Military – unit members
Obituary – none to my knowledge
Probate – none to my knowledge
TO DO
Contact Bathurst FHG re baptismal records for 1898 and school records 1903-1914
Are there any membership records for the NSW Chess Association
Contact Noel Butlin Archives re AML & F records of employees
CONCLUSION
[i]
NSW Registry Office Birth Certificate 1898 Number 19280 Thomas Joseph Benedict
McLoughlin
[ii] 1915 'Personal.', Leader (Orange, NSW : 1912 - 1922), 25 June, p. 4. , viewed 05 Mar 2016, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article119920963 and letter in personal archives collection from Deputy Federal Commissional of Land Tax addressed to Mr TJB McLoughlin Croagh Patrick College Orange dated 29th May 1915
[iii] Family photo in collection see blog post here https://familytreefrog.blogspot.com/2013/02/fab-feb-photo-challenge-day-seventeen.html
[iv] NSW Registry Office Marriage Certificate 1934 Number 14009 Thomas Joseph Benedict McLoughlin and Katherine Helen Forfar.
[v] Extract of Birth Certificate dated 11th August, 1953
[vi] Ancestry.com, Australian Electoral Rolls, 1901-1936
[vii] NSW Registry Office Birth Certificate 1935 Number 247 Barbara Helen McLoughlin
[viii] Ancestry.com, Australia, World War II Military Service Records, 1939-1945
[ix] Personal Papers, Form U.3 Australian Military Forces Eastern Command Certificate of Enrolment Thomas Joseph Benedict McLoughlin, Clerk 30 July 1942
[x] NAA MCLOUGHLIN THOMAS JOSEPH BENEDICT : Service Number - N468311 : Date of birth - 07 Jul 1898 : Place of birth - BATHURST NSW : Place of enlistment - NSW : Next of Kin - MCLOUGHLIN KATHERINE Series B884 Item No 5724815
[xi] Ancestry.com, Australian Electoral Rolls, 1901-1936, 1943 and personal papers, Form C.R.3 Civilian Registration Identity Card Thomas Joseph Benedict McLoughlin
[xii] Personal papers, Commonwealth of Australia Clothing Ration Card Rg.D.1 1947 Issue and 1948.
[xiii] Ancestry.com Australian Electoral Rolls, 1901-1936
[xiv] NSW Registry Office Death Certificate 1953 Number 722 John McLoughlin
[xv] Ancestry.com Australian Electoral Rolls, 1901-1936, 1972
[xvi] McLoughlin, T.J.B., (Summer Hill, NSW) TO “Dear Barbara, Jim & Alex” [Barbara, Jim and Alex Conner], letter, 27 February 1975; Daw Family Papers, 1959-, privately held by Alex Daw, Chapel Hill, Queensland 2015
[xvii] NSW Death Certificate 1982 Number 26784 Thomas Joseph Benedict McLoughlin
Comments
I've looked as closely at his gown as I am able to and wonder if it was hand hand knitted.
It is obviously a studio photograph with him posed a velvet cushion on that cane chair.
I can imagine his parents and the photographer trying to encourage him to smile.