A huge get-together of Fitzgerald descendants will converge on Burcher and Forbes on September 14 to celebrate the proud pioneering heritage of their family.
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Edward aka Thomas Fitzgerald came from Dublin to Sydney on the Tyne as a 15-year-old convict in 1819 and was buried in the Forbes cemetery in 1878.
Thomas Fitzgerald's surviving children with wife Mary Gorman were Ann, Margaret, Richard and Mark.
Beth Thomas of Parkes said Mark Fitzgerald was her great-grandfather.
"He was a pioneer of note in the Forbes District, building the first timber bridge over the Lachlan River on the Newell Highway and later opening the hotel at Moonbi in the roaring days when two Cobb and Co coaches travelled daily from Condobolin to Forbes via Moonbi," Beth said.
"He was a thorough bushman," added Beth's sister, Susan Harvey of Gosford,
"After following the gold diggings of Bathurst, Grenfell and Forbes he selected his property, Uplands of Wamboyne, and was instrumental in the development of not only the district, but the state."
Mark married Annabella Thorpe, who was the first schoolteacher of a school in Parkes, and they had 16 children, three of whom drowned one tragic sunny day in the care of their nursemaid, whilst their mother was confined in late pregnancy with a son who died a year after.
The children are buried on a property along the Lachlan west of Jemalong.
Mark and Annabella's daughter Isabel refrained from going in the boat that fateful day and grew up to become the first schoolteacher of the Wamboyne district.
The immediate descendants of Mark and Annabella were Harrisons of Condobolin, Rileys of Goolagong, Andersons of Clear Ridge, Joneses of Girral, and Fitzgeralds of Wamboyne and Sydney.
Although a very large number of the descendants of these families are expected to get together at the upcoming reunion, the family has been unsuccessful in tracing the Thompson branch from the original convict heritage line.
Jimmy Thompson married the eldest daughter Ann Fitzgerald, but no descendants have yet been traced.
Any contact regarding information can be made to Ann Brandon at amac1965@tpg.com.au
Pictured above: Mark and Annabella Fitzgerald's Golden Wedding Anniversary outside Wamboyne Hall in 1916.
Front: Phyllis, Connie, Mark (Ben) Fitzgerald, Joe hiding between Geraldine and Lottie.
Second: Eileen Fitzgerald, Ruth and John Anderson, Grace Harrison, Charlie and Frank Fitzgerald, altar boy, priest, Don Fitzgerald and Kitty Riley.
Third: Gertrude Anderson, Kate Riley with Nell, Isabel, Annabella and Mark Fitzgerald, Geraldine Harrison with Nance, Lottie Fitzgerald with Norah, Mary Fitzgerald.
Fourth: Jack Anderson, Flo, Tom and Frances Fitzgerald, teacher Miss Ferguson, Fr O'Doherty, Alice and Harry Fitzgerald, Ellen Sealey (or Mary McCormack), Bill Harrison, Alicia Fitzgerald with Basil, Ted Fitzgerald.
Back Row: Richard, Norman, Stan and Fred Fitzgerald, Jack McCormack, Mark Riley, Dave Jones.
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