Catherine Ryan (née Cunneen) was my 3rd great-grandmother, born in January of 1855 in Guernsey, Channel Islands. She died at the early age of 27, from ‘consumption’ (tuberculosis), in 1882, at Greytown Hospital, New Zealand. Tuberculosis sadly claimed the lives of many during this time period. Her mother passing away just shortly before she did, also from tuberculosis. Catherine’s husband, John Ryan (1838-1908), my 3rd great-grandfather, aged 44 at the time, was left to look after their three children: Thomas Ethelbert, Mary Ann and Catherine (Kate) Mary Ryan.
Catherine Cunneen had married John Ryan in October 1872, in Guernsey, Channel Islands, and they arrived in Wellington, New Zealand in 1873 as assisted immigrants, where they then lived in Greytown. Their first child Thomas was born in 1873, Mary born in 1876 and Catherine (Kate) born in 1878.
John struggled to support them following Catherine’s death in May of 1882, and the children were sent to children’s homes in Greytown for being ‘children’s without homes’. Their son Thomas was also stealing from stores at the time which set the family in the spotlight, causing appearances in court; Thomas was sent to an Industrial School.
Years following, John faced court for failing to pay for the maintenance of his three children and was told he could be committed to gaol. John was charged with ‘attempting to take his own life’ by ‘cutting his throat with a razor’ in 1903. He pleaded guilty, and was dealt with leniently. He passed in 1908, from inflammation of the lungs, brought on from the injury he sustained after his suicide attempt.
As orphans from a young age, and never knowing their mother, it is difficult to even imagine the lives the Ryan children would have had. Both of their parents – (Catherine Cunneen & John Ryan) had passed. It would have been tough. I know that my 2nd great-grandmother, Mary Ann Ryan eventually had an affair with a married man, named Arthur Ross, when she was around 23 years old, and to him she had a child – Kathleen Ross, my great grand-aunt, who was born in 1899, but she was disowned from Arthur’s family, and then Mary married my 2nd great-grandfather, Thomas Marriott, who seems to have been in New Zealand after travelling there after his first divorce; the two of them had 6 children together later on.
Thomas would bring Mary Ann back to Victoria, where they would live in Armadale with their children. But Thomas would later desert Mary and their six kids in 1918 to be with Mary’s first daughter Kathleen once Kathleen was 19! Kathleen and Thomas would live a secret life together in New South Wales, Australia, and eventually have six children together themselves. You can read more about Kathleen’s life in my other blog post, here. Mary Ann would continue to raise her children by herself as a single mother.
Mary Ann’s brother, Thomas Ethelbert Ryan, was born on the 23rd of December 1873. He died in Greytown in 1920, the result of being badly gassed in World War 1 in France. Thomas suffered lung troubles at Greytown Hospital before his passing on 27th July 1920. When he enrolled for the war he was working as an orchardist for G. McFarlane at Ahikouka, just outside Greytown. Mary Ann’s sister, Catherine Mary Ryan was born in January of 1878, in Greytown, she married Frank Clarence St George (1878-1918), and they had a son together: Frank Victor St George (Ryan) (1898- ). It is recorded that Catherine (Kate) was still living in Greytown as well around the year 1920. I am unsure of the date of her death as I haven’t come across any records.
Catherine Cunneen was one of 8 children. She was born to parents: John Cunneen (1826-1873) and Mary Ryan (1835-1877). Her siblings named: Thomas, Michael, Daniel, Margaret, Timothy, Edward and William. She was the oldest, with her brother Thomas being born two years after her.
I am still conducting my research into the descendants of Catherine’s sibling’s, but I will post in today’s blog what I have found so far for that family. Thomas Cuneen, was born in 1857 in Guernsey, Channel Islands, I am yet to find a marriage/children for him, but he died in June of 1932, in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
It seems as though surname Cunneen is not well known around New Zealand, and appears as if Cuneen was used (yes, one less ‘n’) – for Thomas’ records, as well as for his brother Daniel’s records. This doesn’t seem to be too unusual as with the Cunneen family’s parents (Mary & John) both being deceased by 1877; knowing how to spell the surname could have been tricky without the help. The surname has likely been changed/varied throughout the years. This has made my research a bit more difficult!
Sibling Michael Cunneen was born in 1860 in Guernsey, Channel Islands, I have found a marriage to a Winifred Wilkinson (1870-1941), in 1896, in New Zealand, when Michael would have been 36, and Winifred aged 26, the two had two children: John Edward (Ted) Cunneen and William Michael Cunneen. However, William passed as an infant. Michael is the only Cunneen sibling I have so far found children for. Michael Cunneen passed away in 1958, in Wellington, New Zealand.
Daniel Cuneen was born in 1863, in Guernsey, Channel Islands. In 1890 he was working as a labourer in Mauaia, New Zealand as I found in an electoral roll. But I have not yet found a marriage or children for him, nor have I found a burial/death date.
Margaret Cunneen was born in 1868 in Guernsey, Channel Islands. I have found two marriages for her, both in New Zealand, her first marriage being to Henry Woodward, and second to William Henry Hook. I am unsure of any children she had, however she took on the role of step-mother to William’s five children when their mother passed in 1909. Margaret also went by the nickname of ‘Maggie’. Margaret Hook (née Cunneen) passed away in April of 1947, in Auckland, New Zealand.
Timothy Cunneen was born about 1870, in Guernsey, Channel Islands, yet I have struggled to find any information on him upon his arrival in New Zealand. And other brothers Edward & William Cunneen sadly passed as infants before or on their voyage to New Zealand.
Their mother, Mary Ryan embarked for Greytown, New Zealand after her husband John Cunneen’s death back in Guernsey, Channel Islands in 1873. Listed in the assisted emigration list of 1874 as a single 41 year old woman, Mary Cunneen and her children Thomas, Michael, Daniel, Margaret, Tim and William Cunneen were on the ship ‘Berar’ in October 1874. I believe Mary chose to go to New Zealand with her children as her daughter Catherine went there after marrying John Ryan. Catherine had arrived in New Zealand in 1873 – just the year prior & the year her father would pass away in Channel Islands. So it makes sense why Mary would follow. But it also could have just been due to advice given to her. New Zealand was often described at that time as the best destination to survive tuberculosis around then. But that didn’t end up to be the case unfortunately for Mary or Catherine.
Above you can see the ages at which the children and Mary moved to New Zealand. Mary remarried in 1876 to Edwin Marshall in Greytown, New Zealand after her arrival. They were both listed as widowers on their marriage certificate. Their marriage was only short lived however, as Mary Marshall (formerly Cunneen, née Ryan) would unfortunately pass away just a year later in February of 1877. Aged 42, from tuberculosis. Her daughter Catherine’s life also taken by tuberculosis in 1882, and her other children remaining in the area of Greytown, New Zealand.
Beth’s Ancestry | Family History Research 