1839-1909
Father
George Paul
Mother
Bridget Power
Siblings
Mary, George, Anne (Hannah), Helen
Half Siblings
George Bede, Mary Ann, Joseph Andrew
Married
Children
Mary Ellen (Molly), George Henry, Anne Beatrice, Alodia, Maria Bridget, Joseph, John Thomas, Joseph Andrew, William Bernard, Henry Charles, Hannah
John’s Life
John was the son of George Paul and Bridget Power who arrived on the ‘Alfred” from Fermoy, Ireland on 31 December 1837 with their daughter Mary. Their son, George had died in infancy in Ireland. Their occupations were listed as Shoemaker/Gardener and House Servant in the ship’s passenger details. George was bought to Australia by William Walker and Co.
John was born in 1839 followed closely by his sister Anne in 1840. In August 1842 another daughter, Helen was born who died soon after, followed only a few days later by her mother, Bridget. Then his sister, Mary dying only a few days after that. George was left with two infants, John, 3 and Anne, 2.
George married Mary Quinlan at St Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney in January 1844. They had 3 children. George purchased five blocks of land in Emu (Plains) in 1858, he was a storekeeper and an innkeeper in the early 1860’s and a licenced publican in 1866.
John was a carrier in his early days.
John married Maria York in Penrith in 1863. John was a Storekeeper at the time. Soon after their marriage they entered the hotel keeping business at Dargan’s Creek, Western Line and later had a hotel at the Toll-bar, Mount Victoria, and subsequently at Woodford (then known as Bull’s Camp). A lucrative endeavour when considering the vast number of settlers ‘heading west’. These hotels along with the birthplaces of their children may indicate that they followed to building of the Western Line Railway over the Blue Mountains.
John and Maria had eleven children, they also raised Honoria York, Maria’s sister, who was only twelve months old when their mother Mary Murphy York died.
In 1874, John joined State Railway, he was transferred to the Loco Department where he remained for 27 years, 25 of which he was night foreman in the Penrith engine shed. John was held in high regard by the railways and was honoured by a very sincere send-off where it was mentioned that he had never been absent from duty other than holidays in the 27 years he had worked there.
John died on 16 November 1909, Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown after a month’s illness at Prince Alfred Hospital after being transferred from Nepean Cottage Hospital for an operation, however he became too weak for surgery and passed away. He is buried in the Catholic Portion of the Emu Plains cemetery.
John was followed into the railway industry by his son William.
Authored by Leah Burnheim in collaboration with Dianne Pells