Ileen Bridget Smith (1906-1984) is my maternal grandmother. She was born in Broken Hill, New South Wales. Her parents were Michael Joseph Smith (1863-1928) and Mary J O’Mealley (1874-1954).
In 1925 she married Cyril Jesse Wright (1901-1970) in Mildura. She was 19, he was 24 years old.
Over their 45 years together, along with her home duties and raising their children, she worked on fruit blocks in Mildura.
Also see: Ileen Smith and Cyril Wright page.
Our ancestors, the Curran and Cullinan families, lived and worked on Pastoral Stations for many years of their lives.
Further Information on these stations, is available on the relevant pages. See categories above.
Outer Harbour is in South Australia. It has been through several redevelopments due to the amount of shipping traffic, size of ships, and to reduce travel times. The first mention of a redevelopment occurred in 1881.
Source: The Outer Harbor Story, Port Adelaide Historical Society.
1874 (July 3) Michael Cullinan (21 years old), his sister Bridget (20 years old), and the neighbour from the farm next door in Corofin, Ireland, Patrick Hehir (19 years old) arrive at Outer Harbour, South Australia on the ship The Glenlyon. The trip took 13 weeks from England (31 March).
Biographical Index SA (South Australia) 1836-1885:
According to Doug Curran’s book, The Family History of James Cullinan (1990: 13), “…[t]he conditions on the trip were apparently so rough that Michael said he would never go to sea again. He never did make a return trip to his home land.”
Related Information:
Patrick Hehir’s father, Michael Hehir had several altercations with Michael’s father (James Cullinan) in Corofin, Ireland.
History of Beltana Station – Flinders Rangers Research
Beltana is an Indigenous word meaning “running water.”
First set up in 1862 by Robert Barr Smith. It had 17 705 sheep and some cattle. In 1866 camels were bought to Beltana by Afghan handlers. These camels were used for transporting goods and later a camel breeding program was set up at Beltana Station.
1874: Michael Cullinan works at Beltana Station for a few months.
After arriving in Australia and assisting his sister, Bridget to get a job in Adelaide, [Michael Cullinan] rolled up his swag and made for Beltana Station owned by Thomas Elder…stayed there a few months.” (Phyllis Plant, letter)
Michael briefly works at Beltana, driving the bullock team. According to Doug Curran (The History of James Cullinan, p. 13) “…this proved too much to handle as he finished with the wagon locked between two trees.”
Further information on, and photos of, the camel and bullock teams can be found at the Flinders Ranges history website.
