CONTRIBUTION OF THE McGUIGAN BROTHERS TO THE FOUNDING HISTORY OF AUSTRALIA.

Henry McGuiganIn the years from 1845 to 1852 against a backdrop of an Ireland devastated with famine, through the potato blight – the people’s staple diet – and an insidious mixture of politics– one million Irish people emigrated to the New World and one million had already died through starvation.

This semi-exodus resulted in a huge demographic change which affected, not only Ireland, but with these scatterlings, the whole New World.

The Irish contribution to their new found homes in Australia greatly enhanced the population and creativity of the early colony.

Their tremendous and enthusiastic willingness to embrace, integrate, and contribute, to their new life, brought warmth, hospitality and general vivacity, to those who embraced them.

Henry McGuigan was born in Maghera, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland in July 1823, the first of four sons of Roman Catholic parents, Michael and Mary (nee Hagan) McGuigan. Maghera is a farming community situated approximately one hour’s drive east of Belfast. Not much is known about his childhood or adolescence other than that he was educated at private schools in Londonderry. Henry acquired some knowledge of farming with his father and was afterwards apprenticed to a grocer in Maghera. After serving part of his time he left Ireland for Victoria in 1852, aged 29 years, attracted by the news of the gold discoveries. On arriving in Victoria he went into business at Port Fairy and from there took charge of a store at Creswick, near Ballarat in country Victoria

James McGuigan was born in May 1835 and was the youngest son of Michael and Mary McGuigan. In 1852 at sixteen years of age, the same year his brother Henry left Ireland, James went to live in Sunderland, England, where, under the charge of another older brother John, who was a successful road contractor, he took his first lessons in the business of a contractor for public works.

Because of the great opportunities existing in the fledgling colony for public works contractors, Henry sent for his youngest brother, James to join him.
Aged 18 years, James boarded “The Queen of the East” sailing ship in Liverpool, England on the18th June 1854, and set sail for the new colony of Victoria. With three hundred and eighty-five passengers, the journey took 101 days, finally reaching Melbourne on September 17, 1854.
At that time the rich gold discoveries distracted the population from legitimate enterprise and like a good many other hard-headed men who subsequently proved themselves the backbone of the colony, James tried his hand at mining, prospecting around the Ballarat area.

In 1856 Henry was eligible to vote in the very first election held in the colony and was listed as being employed by William Pole of Albert Street, Creswick as a salesman and was earning over £100 per year. After several years of steady application Henry went to nearby Clunes and started a business in partnership with Samuel Connell trading as Connell and Company. This partnership with Samuel Connell, as storekeepers and wine and spirits merchants, lasted 3 years and ended in September 1859. Henry left Clunes in 1860 and came to Melbourne, establishing his wine and spirits business at the corner of Lonsdale and Elizabeth Streets, Melbourne.

James also returned to Melbourne in 1860 and embarked on his career of contracting for public works starting with road making.

Eliza McGuiganOn May 25th 1861, age 38 years, Henry married widow, Elizabeth (Eliza) Condron Dick, a Protestant, at St. Patrick’s Catholic Cathedral, Melbourne and James was his Best Man. Eliza’s late first husband, John Dick owned the Builders Arms Hotel in Fitzroy and it is probably how Henry and Eliza met through Henry’s business dealings with the hotel. Coincidently 4 months later James also married. His wife was Miss Susan Harte, a Protestant from Dublin and the wedding was held at Christ Church, Hawthorn on the 26th of September. James was 26 years of age when he married.

By Brenda Croft (great great grand-daughter) Dec 2009