Home is the Sailor - The end of Laurence O'Toole's life

I will get to writing about John O'Toole soon, but in the meantime there's this.

When you set sail for adventure, you have to be prepared for anything. You have to be prepared to discover the unexpected (sort of the point, really). And you have to be prepared to discover unpleasant or sad things, along with the exciting and thrilling. I must admit, when I went to NSW State Archives to look at William O'Toole's Mental Hospital records I was prepared for sad, I was prepared for unpleasant. I wasn't prepared for something of a surprise. Well, I was, but not for the one I got. On the Schedule to have William declared insane was a questionnaire about his mental health history, including a query regarding other members of the family with a mental illness. Or more precisely, “Has he any insane relative?”

“Yes, his father died in an asylum.”

This was something I felt compelled to pursue. There was just time after I had gone through ALL of William's records for a request for Laurence's records. The staff at State Records are brilliant. The woman who was taking care of me was assistance personified and had acquainted herself well with the records. So, when Laurence's file proved hard to find she was able to make some educated guesses of where it should be and where it may be (not the same thing as it turned out). If you are considering a visit to NSW State Archives and haven't taken the plunge, don't be daunted. You will not regret the experience.

As I wrote previously about Laurence, he died in Callan Park. There was nothing on the death certificate to indicate he had died in the asylum section. In 1882 Callan Park was in a transition phase. It had been an asylum with a hospital wing which also took in medical patients from Balmain, Lilyfield and surrounds. Major building works had begun a couple of years earlier to make Callan Park a dedicated asylum, to alleviate pressure on Tarban Creek Lunatic Asylum (Gladesville Hospital), where, incidentally, Laurence's brother-in-law, George Puzey, had died in 1863¹. Building was completed between late 1882 and early 1883 (for the fate of hospital patients in the area, you'll have to wait until I write up John O'Toole).

There was not much to Laurence's file - the admission papers and a few entries in the case book. It was his wife who had him committed. Interestingly, she referred to herself as “Annie”. I have seen this before on some of the birth and death certificates for her children. So from now on I think I will refer to her as Annie. If nothing else it will help me distinguish between herself and her mother, Ann ni Allen.

Callan Park. Image from State Archives of NSW.

Laurence was admitted on 4 September, 1882, suffering from senile dementia. He was married and had seven children, the youngest of whom was six. His place of origin was yet again frustratingly listed only as “Ireland” and his religious persuasion was “Protestant (Christadelphian)”. He had been suffering his current condition for six months, and presented as a danger. The admission file gave a few details about this – he had been wandering about the house most nights and had threatened to kill his wife. Laurence frequently sobbed and cried and complained of “great weakness”. He was certified insane under the Lunacy Act of 1878.

I'll quote from the case book for those who are interested.

1882 September 6^th - On Admission. Patient is a tall, old-looking man of fair complexion and few teeth. His arteries are torturous and somewhat cordy but heart sounds are normal. His mental condition is one of Dementia Senile, with many delusions, e.g., he says he owns a ship and was captain of her till lately where he resigned in favour of his father whose age he gives as about 50 years². He does not know where he is, how long he has been here and has no idea of the month or day. His legs are œdematous and he is thin, not in strong bodily health but takes food well, lies quietly in bed and sleeps a good deal both day and night.

Patient's attack is said to have lasted six months. The medical certificates state that he suffered from strange delusions and was unable to converse rationally. He wandered about the house most of the night, attempted to set fire to the house and threatened to kill his wife... His wife states that he has been fairly hard drinker when at sea and has led a pretty hard life.³

I asked a member of the family with a medical background (he even worked in Callan Park for a number of years) about Laurence, and he offered the following facts and observations. "Œdematous means swollen and puffy with fluid. It is a symptom of a number of disorders. While the alcohol abuse in Laurence's past may have contributed to his condition, it is more likely that this was “just” serious but early senile dementia"⁴.

On 13 September, the note in the case book said Laurence was “looking somewhat better”. On 20 September “He is picking up”. But then on the 21^st he got the first attack of diarrhoea. Despite “active treatment” it continued and Laurence weakened. He succumbed at 3pm on 27 September 1882.

There was a practice at Callan Park and other institutions for the patients to work in the kitchen and diaorrhea was a not uncommon result⁵. It is somewhat bitterly ironic that Laurence's improvement may have been what killed him. Having said this, it is worth mentioning that Callan Park was, in its early days, a very progressive place. The insane were to be pitied and the emphasis was on healing where possible. If patients were deemed capable they were given jobs to do, to keep them occupied and give them a sense of purpose (hence the patients in the kitchen). If we were to look at the full range of treatments, we may now consider some to be harsh, but they were humane by Victorian standards. It is no coincidence that the Hospital included airy verandahs with seats, the buildings surrounded by manicured lawns and gardens (all within a high stone wall), with adjoining rolling parklands.

"The New Hospital for the Insane" by Arthur de Collingridge for Sydney Illustrated News, 1882. Image from The Antique Print Room

However, by 1900 the emphasis had shifted and Callan Park had become little better than a prison, with a very punitive regime. This occurred due to a shift in public and political opinion (the two often go hand-in-hand) that the insane were somehow to blame for their condition, that they were "bad" and must be punished. But when Laurence was there it was still in its early phase, so I am sure he got the best care the hospital could manage. Unfortunately it was not enough, and Laurence, like George Puzey, left an asylum in a box. 

Annie was yet again on her own, this time with eight children (Joseph was Matthew Anthony's child, not Laurence's, hence the discrepency on the admission form), four of them under 15. Laurence's “pretty hard life” had ended. Annie's had just got tougher.

ADDENDUM - I was talking to a friend about Laurence and she made the observation of how differently we treat senile dementia now. These days Laurence would have been treated in a hospital and when he recovered sufficiently he would be sent to a nursing home. Hygiene standards in hospitals and homes are much higher, so I like to think he'd have a much better chance of surviving. 

1  Lawrence Susan, Davies Peter, “An Archaeology of Australia since 1788” , Springer, 2010, p. 317

2  My personal opinion is that this may not be as crazy as it sounds. It could be a garbled memory rather than an outright delusion. It requires looking into. I also wonder if the non-existent businesses were also garbled memories of places he worked when in England, but there is no way to check this as the businesses are not recorded in the file.
3 State Archives of NSW, Callan Park Mental Asylum Case papers, 3/4652A, f.235

4  Email from James McCallum to Megan Hitchens, 4 March 2014

5  Ibid.

Which O'Toole is Which? - Celebrating Family History Month

October is Family History Month, so to celebrate I am going to put down what I know of the O'Toole family. It will take a while, so it is a good project for a whole month.

There were two main O'Toole families in Sydney in the last half of the nineteenth century, one was Protestant (my branch), descended from Laurence O'Toole, the other Catholic, descended from Tobias O'Toole. When you go looking on Ancestry family trees there seems to be a bit of confusion between the two, so I am going to put down the outlines of what I know of my O'Tooles in the hope of making things clearer.

My O'Tooles started in Australia in 1854 when Laurence O'Toole arrived in Sydney aboard the Syria with his wife, Ann Groves ni Leonard and her son from her first marriage, Matthew Joseph Anthony. Laurence is my most frustrating brick wall simply because he is my great great grandfather and I think therefore that I should know more about his origins. Here are the facts, sparse as they are:

Laurence O'Toole was born in WEXFORD in about 1820 and was most definitely a Protestant. Most O'Tooles seem to have been Catholics from Wicklow. This certainly seems to be the case with the other O'Toole family in Sydney. (O-oh, no it isn't. See Which O'Toole is Which? Addendum)

Counties of Ireland. Note Wexford and Wicklow on lower east coast. From Irish Genealogy Toolkit

(And yes, religion does have to be brought into it as it helps sort out which family is which. Both O'Toole families in Sydney had children with the same name, and which Church they were attending helps track the correct people.) 

Laurence's dad was also Laurence. On his son's marriage certificate he stated his occupation as "gentleman". I have looked about for what Gentleman meant in 1853, when young Laurence married Ann Groves Leonard. There are varying definitions. The Encyclopedia Britannica stated it was a man without title who bore a coat of arms, while the Oxford English Dictionary gives as one of its definitions of the term gentleman "a man of superior position in society, or having the habits of life indicative of this; often, one whose means enable him to live in easy circumstances without engaging in trade, a man of money and leisure"¹ Other sources state that it meant a man of independent means who did not work. Conversely, Laurence Jnr was a merchant seaman (amongst other things) who worked hard throughout his married life. I don't know if there were brothers and sisters and am not sure of his mother's name - it may have been Margaret, but I have no idea where this notion came from.

The name Laurence causes confusion. Laurence is probably the most common name to put with O'Toole, thanks to bishop Laurence O'Toole of the C12th. Practically every O'Toole family has at least one Laurence in it, usually more. I'm already up to four and I haven't looked that much into the family.

So, back to Laurence O'Toole b.1820. I don't know how or when he ended up in England, but in July 1853 he was in Whitechapel, marrying my great great grandmother, Anne Groves Leonard. He was already a mariner (ticket no. A4.119, in 1855 he is also listed as ticket no.35). On 3 November 1853 Laurence, Ann and Joseph left London on the ship Syria, captained by Thomas Mesnard. Laurence was boatswain on the voyage. They sailed for Sydney via Rio de Janeiro. The voyage was slow "never having had a steady wind for three consective days"², and the ship beset by difficulties. It had sprung its foremast and lost the cross-jack yard in a gale a few days out from London, and then lost the cross-jack yard again later in the voyage (the cross jack yard is the lower yard on the mizzenmast). There were also problems with supplies on board, the biscuits that were the crew's main food were found to be of poor quality and mouldy. This later led to some of the sailors withdrawing their labour in Sydney³(Sydney Morning Herald 7 Apr 1854 p5). Despite everything, the Syria docked at Campbell's Wharf on 7 March 1854. Campbell's Wharf is the area between Circular Quay and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, just up from the Museum of Contemporary Art.

Custom House & part of Circular Wharf, Sydney N.S.W., 1845, George Edwards Peacock, Oil on board, DG 38, property of the State Library of NSW

The O'Tooles started out in The Rocks area of Sydney, in a small house in Cumberland Street. This was a two room affair – not two bedrooms, but two rooms, with a lean-to kitchen in the back. In September, Ann's older sister, Lucy arrived aboard the Hanover, with her husband, George Puzey and their infant son, also George. George Snr had signed up as steward on the Hanover. For a while all six people lived in the little house until Lucy and George were able to find a place to rent. A lot of the properties in the area were rentals and both families were often on the move as rents went up and down. But as George and Laurence were both mariners it made sense to stay near the docks.

Laurence and Ann were members of the Holy Trinity Church in Lower Fort Street, Millers Point. It has always been more popularly known as the Garrison Church, simply because the local Garrison used it as the place of worship. Isabella O'Toole was christened there, before her untimely death (see Vale Isabella O'Toole). Later they changed to St Phillips where Archer was a bellringer at the age of about 14 years⁴. At some point the O'Tooles became members of the Christadelphian Church, where they remained as active members of the congregation.

The City of Sydney Archives has kindly put its assessment books on line. I found Laurence and Ann's various addresses from the Sands Directory, and I was then able to look up their addresses in the assessment books and get basic descriptions of the houses they lived in and who their landlords were. The assessment books only cover the city, Redfern and Camperdown, but they are well worth looking at if you have ancestors in these areas or if you are interested in the history of inner Sydney.

For instance, in 1861 the O'Tooles were living in a house “off 7 Kent Street”. It was a house of stone with an iron roof, 1 story, 2 rooms and was owned by William Andrews⁵.

Sometime in the early 1860s Laurence and his brother-in-law, George Puzey began working at the AGL Gas Works at Millers Point. George was a gas purifier, a job that saw him dead by 1863. He died in the Tarban Creek Asylum (now Gladesville Hospital) from arsenic poisoning⁶.

Gas Works, Millers Point, c. 1873, Samuel Elyard, Watercolour, DG D5, property of the State Library of New South Wales

Laurence meanwhile worked as a fireman, which means that he tended the furnaces. He was still working at the gasworks in 1867 when his son John was born and the family had moved to Redfern⁷. They continued to live around the City, renting small houses, everyone crammed into four rooms, until 1880 when suddenly we find Laurence and family in 289 Clarence Street, the only occupants of a two-storey, 10 room, brick and shingle residence⁸. The big change here was that the probate had finally come through from the estate of Ann's first husband. It wasn't a fortune, less than £200, but that was enough to make a difference to the family. Shortly after this they moved to Balmain, a newer, healthier suburb.

Poor Laurence didn't have long to enjoy the delights of Balmain. About 20 September 1882 he was admitted to Callan Park Hospital in Leichhardt, suffering from severe diarrhoea. By 27 September he was dead. Unfortunately the law stated that the death certificate had to be filled in by the doctor who treated him, H. Blaxland, and he made a pig's breakfast of it. His son, John, is listed as his father and missing from the list of children. There is no mother's name at all.

Lawrence was buried in the Rookwood Necropolis in Section G, Grave 163 of the Anglican section. Unfortunately no headstone remains. 

Laurence O'Toole's grave site, no. 163, Anglican Section G, Rookwood Necropolis, between the Fusedale and Douglas plots. Photo in private collection of author

1 from "Horace and the Construction of the English Victorian Gentleman" Stephen Harrison From: Helios Volume 34, Number 2, Fall 2007 pp. 207-222 | 10.1353/hel.2008.000

2 “Shipping Intelligence”, Empire (Sydney), 7 March 1854, p2, col 1-2; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 8 Oct 2013), Digitised newspapers and more.

3 “Water Police Court”, The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney), 7 April 1854, p5, col 3-4; digital images, Trove (http://trove.nla.gov.au : accessed 8 Oct 2013), Digitised newspapers and more.

4Interview with Robert O'Toole, Hunters Hill, 1 Feb 2013

5 City of Sydney, "City Assessment Books 1845-1948," database, City of Sydney Archives (http://www3.photosau.com/CosRates/scripts/home.asp : accessed 26 Feb 2013), entry for Laurence O'Toole Rates assessment 1861; Citing City of Sydney Assessment book CSA 027328.

6 “Death at the Gasworks” #1313 These Walls Have Ears: My Place, All The Best; fbi 94.5fm Archive (http://allthebestradio.com/shows/1213-these-walls-have-ears-this-place/ accessed 1 Oct 2013)

7 New South Wales Department of Attorney General and Justice NSW, birth certificate 3699 (1867), John O'Toole; NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages, Chippendale.

8 City of Sydney, "City Assessment Books 1845-1948," database, City of Sydney Archives (http://www3.photosau.com/CosRates/scripts/home.asp : accessed 26 Feb 2013), entry for L O'Toole Rates assessment 1880; Citing City of Sydney Assessment book CSA027194. 

 

Believe as you will

Religion has always been important in our family, and my family history, particularly on Dad's side, is an exercise in the difficult relations between Catholic and Protestant in Australian history. Dad's mum was raised Protestant by her father's sisters, but her mother and the rest of her family were Catholic, and it caused no end of friction and ill-feeling. Mum's family is a different mix. There were a number of Catholic-Protestant marriages (although George Pearce, who remained firmly Protestant throughout his life, was baptised and confirmed in the Catholic faith in the last month of his life, when the fight had gone out of him, so it must have bothered his wife, Catherine Keefe. She also got him to marry her the same day, after about 40 years together). The Kerswells were all members of the Latter Day Saints, both in England and then out here (they arrived in South Australia in 1849). William Kerswell disappeared while moving the family to New South Wales and sent them a letter 35 years later, urging them all to join him in the US, where he had been living with his new wife and family. After the struggle to survive in the intervening years, quite a lot of the family were understandably angry and expressed that anger by leaving the Church, although William's first wife, Hannah Maria ni Rhymes, kept her faith and eventually joined her husband in Utah. The marriage struggled, however, and Hannah died alone in a different town to William Kerswell and his American family.

Anne Groves Leonard and her husband Laurence O'Toole, although both brought up Anglican, became Christadelphians when they moved to Sydney, as did her sister Lucy and her husband George Puzey. Anne's and Lucy's headstones are testaments to their faith.

Women in the family active in religion - the obvious choice is my mother. Mum's beliefs have always been important to her, but she has always taught us the importance of thinking for ourselves and of being flexible. She has tried had to not be judgemental or didactic.

Mum was a missionary in Bangladesh with Dad in the late 1960s and when they came home (because of the Independence war) Dad went into the Baptist ministry, so Mum had to be a pastor's wife. In those days churches could pay what they liked and they pretty much insisted on a two-for-one offer - the minister AND his wife. So Mum took Bible studies and taught Sunday School and ran morning teas. I remember her telling us Bible stories and doing drawings while she spoke to illustrate the action. The funniest thing Mum did was arrange a talk with slides for the local Church women about her time as a missionery. She happily showed them slides of a Hindu temple and only realised part way through that the stone carvings were rather earthy and explicit (she hadn't noticed when she had taken the photos).

Mum never liked being an unpaid worker for Dad's church, and eventually said enough was enough (well, she did have six kids to care for, too), but that is different to having a belief system and living according to a creed. Mum has always done that. She has always been ready to help others, has always been kind and compassionate and has always been willing to share her faith with others, but has never done this where it was not sought or in a way that judges or belittles. She keeps an open mind and takes an interest in the beliefs of others and of other religions.

It all starts with a woman

I wasn't sure where to start, but then I read Lisa Alzo's blog on Fearless Females and I thought, "Why not?" We all start from our mothers (fathers too, but they are not as involved in our gestation and birth), so I'll start with the women in my family.

I'm going back a bit further than Mum for this first post - back to my great great grandmother, Anne Groves Leonard. She is a favourite female ancestor of mine because I am always struck by how much she endured in her life and how much her family loved her. But there are still questions unanswered.

Anne was born in Kingsland, Middlesex in 1832 (calculated from marriage certificates). I want to find a birth or baptismal date, so I need to find out what churches were in the area and where parish records might be held.

On 4 June 1848, Anne married Matthew Gambell Anthony, a grocer who went to sea and didn't return (he died of Java Fever off Indonesia on 8 January 1852). Anne and Matthew had a son, Matthew Joseph, known as Joseph.

Anne and her parents and siblings lived bang opposite the London Docks, on Upper East Smithfield, so it was no surprise that her second husband was a mariner by trade. Anne married Laurence O'Toole, from Wexford, on 25 July 1853 at St Mary Parish Church, Whitechapel and in less than a year, Anne, Laurence and little Joseph walked down the gang plank onto Circular Quay in the colony of New South Wales. It was very different from England, not so cold in winter but perishingly hot in summer. The family lived in a little house in Kent Street, which they soon were sharing with Anne's sister Lucy, her husband George Puzey and their son. The houses in their area were tiny, two small rooms with a lean-to kitchen out the back. Things must have been cramped with four adults and two young children. Lucy and George moved into their own home after about six months. More can be read about them in Keeping Up With The MacNamaras

Anne, Laurence and their growing brood moved about every few years, a common pattern for struggling renters in the colony. After Joseph, their first child together was Isabella, who was tragically killed in an accident at the age of two, run over by a fully laden dray that was not being properly supervised.

Then there followed William, Laurence and Archer who lived into their sixties and seventies. Frederick came along, named for Anne's deceased brother. Sadly, young Frederick was struck down during a measles epidemic. He was one of the last children to die before the epidemic came to an end. He was two years old, and Anne was seven months pregnant with John. It must have been a very frightening time for Anne. She had just lost one child, would her unborn baby survive as well? John did survive and lived into his seventies. Then there was Thomas and Benjamin and lastly James.

Joseph died in April 1880, after a severe illness, leaving a wife and child (their first baby had died as an infant). It is clear from the funeral notices how much his family loved and missed him. How it must have hurt Anne to lose Matthew's child.

In 1880 the probate of the will of Anne's first husband, Matthew, was finally settled in her favour. I have to get the papers for that. I have the application, I just need to sort an International Bank Draft. Why did it take 28 years to get sorted out? I suspect the answer is linked to Why are Anne and Joseph not mentioned on Matthew's headstone in Norfolk? (yes, his family paid to have his body shipped back). The money had an immediate effect on the O'Toole family. They were able to move out of The Rocks and into Balmain. Did they own their first home there? I need to check with the Land Titles Office to find out.

Things were looking up, but there was more to come - within two years of the move Anne Groves Anthony Leonard O'Toole was a widow once more. Laurence had come down with a bad case of diarrhoea and been admitted to Callan Park Hospital (it was a general hospital at the time, with a psychiatric wing). He died six days later and was buried in Rookwood Cemetery. His headstone does not survive.

The family pulled together, Anne's sons supporting her through this time. It looks like she moved in with Laurence Jnr, although I need to do some more checking through Sands Directory to verify this. But in 1889 Anne married again, to a widowed neighbour named James Leake. They lived first in College Street, Balmain, and then moved to 5 Hampton Street. Just when it seemed that happiness was assured, Anne's family again struck rough times. Benjamin developed Laryngeal Tuberculosis, a terrible illness for which there was no cure. It kills you slowly in one of two ways - either you starve to death because you are unable to swallow, or you suffocate. Anne nursed Benjamin over four months, unable to do little more than make her son as comfortable as possible while he slowly died. Anne was the informant on the death certificate.

In 1897 John O'Toole and his new bride, Mary Marcella Hall, moved in next door to Anne and James Leake, into 7 Hampton Street. They shared a common wall, and hopefully the grandchildren who followed brought her some joy. Little John McKay O'Toole died aged two days and I know Anne would have been a help to her son and daughter-in-law at that time and in other years. When Anne herself finally died in 1905, John had a nervous breakdown. You don't react like that to someone who refused to help in time of need. My mother's cousin, who remembers John, says he was very close to his mother and loved her dearly.

Anne died on 18 April 1905 and was buried in Rookwood Cemetery, although not with Laurence. James Leake was the informant on her death certificate, and he made a right mess of it, and I can't help thinking it was deliberate. Anne's correct age is given for her marriage to Matthew, although he has O'Toole tacked on the end of his name. Laurence is not mentioned on the certificate at all (although Laurence and James attended the same church, so they would have known each other). James gives Anne's age at her marriage to him as her age when she married Laurence and claims all her children bar Isabella as his own. Isabella is attributed to Matthew. Had Anne's life with Laurence been so hard that James felt he had to do this? Was he jealous of the love Anne had for her dead husband that he wanted to wipe him out? Was he just confused, or addled by grief? I don't know if I can ever find the answer to this.

A long post, but Anne Groves Leonard had an eventful life. My goal is to one day find a photo of Anne. A number of her sons led lives of active public service and were very prominent in the Balmain Community particularly, so I am hoping that a photo will crop up sometime. I need to go to Leichhardt Library SOON to look at their photographic archive.

Well, that's a mouthful for a start, but we are underway. History is always in the making.