Curran Wright History

Category: Family

  • Outer Harbour – Michael Cullinan

    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.

    Michael Cullinan – first landfall in Australia

    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:

    • Michael Cullinan 355/2
    • Bridget Cullinan 355/2
    • Patrick Hehir 711/2

    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.

    • 1869 (25 September): Michael Hehir alleged that James Cullinan “assaulted the complainant by catching by the throat…abusing him and calling him a thief.” (at James Cullinan’s property – Killeen). Jame’s wife, Johanna Feighery was a witness. (Source: Ireland – Petty Sessions Court Register)
    • 1869 (6 October): James Cullinan alleged that Michael Hehir allowed 18 sheep in his property to trespass on the complainant’s (James) potato garden at Killeen on 4 October. (Source: Ireland – Petty Sessions Court Register)

  • Beltana Station

    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.

  • Beltana Station – Michael Cullinan

    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.

    Beltana Station image
    Source: https://www.australianbedandbreakfast.com.au/city/flinders-ranges_298/listing/beltana-station/

  • Port Augusta – Michael Cullinan

    Late 1870’s

    Michael Cullinan has a number of jobs in Port Augusta, South Australia, Australia:  horse-work, fencing, and wheat lumping (carrying bags of wheat on the shoulders).

    He also works building railway lines for Barry Brooks and Fraser who were building a railway line through the wheat country north of Port Augusta (Source: Doug Curran, The History of James Cullinan, pp. 13, and Phyllis Plant, letter).

    To serve the mining and pastoral industries in the far north of the state, the Great Northern Railway was built from Port Augusta to Quorn in 1879, with the line reaching Marree [outback town at the junction of the Birdsville and Oodnadatta Tracks] in 1883, and Oodnadatta in 1891.

    Source: https://nrm.org.au/connect/blog/11-a-brief-history-on-railways-in-south-australia 

    Later, Michael works on the goods van that carted supplies to the head of the railway line (Source: Phyllis Plant, letter). He also works with a survey party in the hills around Adelaide (Source: Doug Curran).

    Related:

    1878: The South Australian Governor “turns the first sod of the Port Augusta and Government Gums Railway.” (Source: The Express and Telegraph, Adelaide, South Australia, 18 January 1878, p2)

    Picture of locomotive in late 1870s
    Source: https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+9843

    Locomotive no.53. Used on Port Augusta and Government Gums (Farina) Railway. Built in Manchester in 1877. Used on construction work by Barry, Brooks and Fraser until 1882 when sold to South Australian railways.” Source: https://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/B+9843

    Further information on Commonwealth Railway Locomotives can be found at: https://comrails.com/cr_locos/r_nf.html 

  • Port Augusta

    Michael Cullinan works on the rail lines in Port Augusta, South Australia in the late 1870s. 

    Port Augusta is Nukunu country. It is 310 km from Adelaide.

    It was proclaimed on 24 May 1852 by Thomas Elder, named after the wife (Augusta Sophia) of the Governor of South Australia, Henry Edward Fox Young. Augusta was the daughter of Charles Marryat Senior who had been a slaveholder in the West Indies (source: Wikipedia).

    Port Augusta was considered the ‘cross-roads of Australia’ since it was the junction of major roads and rail links at the head of Spencer Gulf (source: Wikipedia).