Patrick McDermott (1854 - 1929)
Patrick McDermott was born on 16 July 1854 in Sydney, New South Wales. He was christened on 23 Jul 1854 at St James Cathedral, Cumberland Parish, Sydney, New South Wales. He was one of a number of children of Patrick McDermott and Bridget Kettle.
The family was living at Union Street in Sydney in 1854. There is limited information available on the family between 1854 and 1882 when Patrick is found in Tenterfield NSW.
It should be noted that there is a reference to Patrick McDermott who took part in a walking match in Dubbo in 1879. This article (extract below) puts McDermott at about 23 - which is the correct age - in a location where they were building the railway lines. There is a second reference in 1880 (see below)
It is in Tenterfield that he married Louisa Jane Davis on 4 March 1882. At the time he was working as a labourer - most likely on the railway. The marriage was performed by John Walford Simmons (or Simms) and witnessed by Francis Davis and James Stephens.
Louisa Jane Davis was the daughter of Thomas Davis and Jane Bygrave. According to adult christening certificates she was born in Toowoomba on 4 December 1865 (but no record has been found of her birth). Family oral history had identified Louisa is being part Maori, however we now know that her heritage was Jamaican.
After their marriage, it appears that the family lived at Barney Down where their first 5 children were born. It is most probably that Patrick worked as a labourer on the property.
In abt 1891 the family moved to Lismore, where their next two children were born, before moving to Richmond where their next child was born 1897.
The family had moved back to Lismore by 1899 where their next two children were born, before moving to Byron Bay around 1903 for the birth of their second last child. They moved back to Lismore again for the birth of their last child in 1905.
In total Patrick and Louisa had 12 children (6 sons and 6 daughters) between 1882 and 1905
- John Patrick McDermott. Born 5 Aug 1882. Married Josephine F Morrish 1906 then Margaret M Molloy in 1907. Died aft 1901
- Thomas Francis McDermott. Born 25 Dec 1883. Married Mary Ellen Johnson in 1918. Died 1961
- William McDermott. Born 6 Aug 1885. Married Jessie Ford
- Lydia Jane McDermott. Born 3 May 1888. Married Sydney Dawes in 1903
- Walter McDermott. Born 7 Dec 1890.
- Bertha Louisa McDermott. Born 15 Sep 1892. Married Leslie Selmes in 1914
- Mabel Maud McDermott Born 20 Aug 1894. Married Harold J Cusack in 1917
- Emily Louisa McDermott. Born 25 Jan 1897. Married Sydney Walter Jessop in 1914. Died 17 Dec 1993
- Arthur James McDermott. Born 24 Apr 1899. Married Esther H McGuiness in 1930
- Annie McDermott</strong> . Born 1901. Married George L Thomson in 1920
- Mary Josephine McDermott. Born 3 Mar 1903. Married Thomas Henry Saunders
- Sydney Leo McDermott. Born 1905. Died 1930
Despite moving around frequently during the birth of their children, the family appear to have settled in the Lismore region after the birth of their youngest child.
Again, little detail is known about the family until Patrick's death on 20 July 1929 in Murwillumbah, NSW. However, there is an interesting note in Louisa Jane's bible, where in the front cover there is an additional record of the birth of two other children -
- Eva Dorris Bender born 13 May 1909 and
- David William Bender born 3 Sep 1912.
It is uncertain who's children these are, but they are recorded as Louisa's.
As such there is a possibility that Louisa and Patrick cease co-habitation some time before 1909, there is another possibility that the children are actually those of one of her daughters, and they were raised as Louisa and Patrick\'s children.
After Patrick's death, Louisa Jane moved to Brisbane, where she lived with her daughter Mary Josephine until her death on 30 Jul 1942. She is buried in Mt Gravatt Cemetary.
The sporting folks of Dubbo had a treat on the 18th Instant in the shape of a twelve-hours' walking match for a stake of £20 aside, between Thomas Meagher, of Bourke, and Patrick McDermott, of Dubbo. The conditions of the match were that the men should walk from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and whoever covered the most ground then to be the winner. Neither men had much time for preparation, it being only a fortnight since the match was made, so that the winner must be credited with having done a very fair performance. He stands 6ft high, has a capital chest, about 50 years of age, and has a thin and wiry appearance, while his opponent is 27 years younger and about the same height. Meagher is reported to br a regular old bushman who has spent the best part of his life in carrying his swag from one end to the other of New South Wales ; it being currently reported that his last performance was walking from Bourne to Dubbo, 300 miles, in six days, which, if true, in my opinion, outrivals tho great O'Leary's feats, for there is some difference between the inland roads of Australia and a made track in the Agricultural Hall at Islington. There were two rings to walk upon, tho outer one, which measured 275yds 2ft 6in, being chosen by Meagher, and McDermott's, which was the inner, 269yds. Tho start was made precisely at 7 o'clock, tho youthful walker going off at a smart pace, while tho old 'un was quite content with the usual bushman's swing. At 1 o'clock, six hours, M'Dermott had covered 31 miles 185 yards, the bushman only having placed 28 miles to his credit, and still going at tho pace he started. At half-past 2 M'Dermott. who had been, most injudiciously allowed by his friends to drink any quantity of water, together with brandy, sherry, and bread and meat, fainted, but his older opponent, who had partaken of a few raw eggs, now commenced to gain. After a quarter of an hour M'Dermott came on the track, and walked well, and, at 4 o'clock, was 800 yards ahead,- but the old 'un was not to be shaken off, and, at tbe end of tho next hour, had decreased it to 640, and. at 6, despite M'Dermott's spurt, was only 400, and doing his laps in two minutes. Soon after 6 M'Dermott was apparently beaten, and very soon his head fell towards his shoulders, his muscles collapsed, and he fell, on the course, after going 52 miles 6 furlongs 145 yards. Meagher, who was only 310. yards behind, kept going on at the old pace till a quarter to 7. when he eased off a Ittle, and at 7 o'clock had completed 366 laps-55 miles 1532 yards-amidst great cheering. According to report he was not muon distressed by his performance, for it is said he danced a hornpipe half an hour after, and was walking round the town at 10 o'clock; and then expressed his willingness to walk to Murrumbidgerie, fifteen miles off, if anyone would pay him a fiver about it. What makes the performance so good was the great heat of the day, the thermometer registering 136deg., of which the men had the full benefit. M'Dermott's performance of over 31 miles in six hours was no mean one on such a day, and he has since challenged to walk anyone living within eighty miles of Dubbo. It is said that Meagher was.only just off a."big spree," in fact was hardly right when he walked, and will back himself to walk 60 miles in twelve hours.
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