Story
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| Bridget came to Australia from County Clare in Ireland around 1856. In 1860, in Melbourne, she married James Phillips before moving to Meredith, between Geelong and Ballarat. It is believed that James died in 1866, leaving Bridget to care for their two children aged about three and one year old. She lived for a time with her son, John and her daughter-in-law, Ellen. Bridget died on Christmas Day, 1903, aged 72 in Bacchus Marsh.3,2
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| Marriage and Family
James and Bridget married in 1860 in Melbourne. According to the marriage registration he was ten years her senior, but according to the birth registration for their daughter, he was twenty years older. James would not have been a Catholic, but Bridget was an Irish Catholic so they married in the Catholic Church of St Francis. At the time of their marriage, both gave their present residence as Melbourne.
Their first child John arrived three years later in either Lal Lal or Meredith, depending on which source you believe, his birth registration having never been found. Meredith is half way between Geelong and Ballarat. Their second child Bridget was born two years later, also in Meredith.1,4
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| Bridget, John and Bridget
When James died, he left his wife Bridget to care for their three year old son John and one year old daughter Bridget. We know nothing of the children's childhood, but by the time John started working for the railways, the three lived together in Nhill. The young Bridget worked as a domestic servant and died in Nhill of typhoid aged 23. Around 1897, John moved with his mother and his young family to live in Turner St, Bacchus Marsh. Bridget (senior) died six years later, on Christmas Day 1903.3,5,6
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