Family History of the Children of Alice Graham (nee Cregan)

Violet May Graham

Violet May Graham was born c.1892 in the Byron Bay area. Violet was, apparently, an illegitimate child of Alice Cregan, born some years before 1896, when Alice was married. We have not found a birth record for Violet, and we do not know who the father was. However, Violet was raised in the family along with the other Graham children.

Violet Graham married John Patrick Dougherty in the Church of the Sacred Heart, Murwillumbah, on 17/09/1913. John was a Murwillumbah local, and the Dougherty family were well-known in the town, especially as large land owners in South Murwillumbah. The Grahams at that time were farmers in Dungay. We have the certificate for this marriage. In particular, this shows that the witnesses at the wedding were Violet's sister Margaret Ann Graham and her cousin Henry William Joseph Gill (son of Catherine and Henry Gill).

John and Violet Dougherty had three children (one boy and two girls):

• Patrick Alexander, born 22/07/1914
• Thelma, born 30/10/1915
• Elizabeth Mary, born 04/06/1917

We have the birth certificate of the second child, Thelma Dougherty. She was born in Stephens Street, South Brisbane. It says that Violet was living in Bank Street, West End, Brisbane, at the time.

This marriage ended in divorce, unfortunately, after just 4-5 years. Evidently, Violet had been having an affair with a John Lamond (aka John Daly) - firstly in Brisbane, then back in Murwillumbah. That last linked article suggests that the father of children Thelma and Elizabeth might have been John Lamond rather than John Dougherty. Thelma's birth was registered in Brisbane with John Dougherty as father. Elizabeth's birth was registered in Murwillumbah with no father recorded. We have a copy of her birth certificate. It gives Elizabeth's surname as Lamond rather than Dougherty, even though Dougherty is the surname shown for Violet. The birth is noted as illegitimate. Also, it says that Violet was living in River Street, South Murwillumbah.

Not long after her divorce was finalised, Violet Dougherty married John Lamond. This occurred in John's native town of Lismore on 18/07/1918. John and Violet lived at 7 Pine Street, Lismore, after their wedding, with John working as a cabinetmaker. Also living in that house were John's mother, Elizabeth Jane Daly, and younger half-brother Peter Thomas Daly.

John and Violet Lamond had seven additional children (five boys and two girls):

• John Patrick, born 27/06/1919
• Thomas William, born 30/12/1921
• Alice Patricia, born 08/10/1923
• Peter James, born 19/12/1925
• Hugh Aloysius (Alan), born 07/05/1927
• Joseph, born 1929
• Marie T, born 1929

The two youngest children died in infancy: Marie on 04/05/1929, and then Joseph on 06/05/1929. We think that they were twins.

Just one year later, on 01/05/1930, John Lamond died, at age 46. An inquest into his death found the cause to be "asphyxia through inhalation of vomit during a period of deep alcoholism". John was buried in East Lismore Cemetery.

Violet Lamond was married for the third time on 26/07/1932 in Lismore to the abovementioned Peter Thomas Daly. Violet and Peter had two further children together (one boy and one girl):

• Isabelle Marie, born 18/08/1932
• Edward Francis, born c.1939

Violet and Peter Daly remained at their 7 Pine Street home for about one more year before moving to a property at Eungella, just west of Murwillumbah. A year later, around 1934, they moved to Byron Street, Bangalow. Peter's mother, Elizabeth, continued to live with them through these years. They spent just a year in Bangalow then returned to Lismore, at 17 Peate Street.

In 1938, after Elizabeth Daly had died, Violet and Peter moved to a house at 26 Little Keen Street, Lismore. They moved again the following year to Goonellabah, just to the east of Lismore. Around 1943, they moved to Kynnumboon, near Murwillumbah, where they worked as farmers. Around 1949, they moved further up into the Tweed hills in the Chillingham / Numinbah area. Their son John Patrick Lamond was living with them there, and, sadly, he committed suicide, by poisoning, on their property on 06/02/1950.

In the mid-1950s, Violet and Peter Daly moved to north Queensland. They lived in Bluff Road, Charters Towers, where Peter worked as a carpenter, until about 1962, when they moved to 28 Paxton Street, Townsville. This was followed by a move in 1965 to 2 Weela Street, Townsville.

The final residence of the Dalys was in north Brisbane, at 35 Bergamot Street, Bald Hills. They moved there in the early 1970s.

Peter Daly died on 25/05/1973. He was buried in the Pinnaroo Lawn Cemetery. Violet continued living at their Bergamot Street home after Peter's death. Also living there was her youngest son, Edward (Ted) Daly. Violet Daly (nee Graham) died on 13/06/1978. She was buried alongside her husband Peter at the Pinnaroo Lawn Cemetery. Opposite is a photo of Violet and Peter Daly in their later years.

Margaret Ann Graham

Margaret Ann Graham was born on 15/01/1897 in Murwillumbah. We have a copy of Margaret's birth certificate. Margaret had quite a complicated family life as a wife and mother. Altogether, Margaret had six children, the first three with no father recorded on the birth certificate, and the last three with de facto husband Frederick Harold Nicholls as father:

• Mavis, born 12/08/1916 (Qld birth reg. 1916/B/45143)
• Unnamed female, born 28/01/1920 (Qld birth reg. 1920/C/4348)
• Roberta Ann (Bobbie), born c.1932
• James Thomas, born 09/02/1934
• John Graham, born 20/01/1938
• Alan Vincent, born 11/01/1940

The unnamed baby died on the day it was born, perhaps stillborn. Roberta also died very young at age 3, on 05/02/1936. According to her death certificate extract, the little girl died from diphtheria. Her death notice appeared in the Courier Mail. Opposite is a photo of Roberta at about three years of age with her mother Margaret Graham. We have another similar photo of mother and daughter. Though there was no father registered with Roberta's birth, we believe her father was Frederick Harold Nicholls, who was also the father of the youngest three children.

The eldest child, Mavis, was born to Margaret when she was 19 and single. We have a copy of Mavis's birth certificate. The birth was at a Salvation Army Home in Breakfast Creek, Brisbane. According to the certificate, Margaret soon afterwards moved to a residence in Magdalene Street, Lismore. Some members of the Graham family, including the Nicholls children, were led to believe throughout their lives that Mavis was a child of Alice Graham's rather than of Margaret's! This, we imagine, was to protect Margaret's reputation.

Margaret's movements during the period 1926 - 1935 are not accurately known. Before then, she was living at Dunbible, presumably on the Graham family farm there. We understand that Margaret worked as a nurse at the mental institution at Goodna, west of Brisbane, possibly in the late 1920s. She also lived in Eidsvold, Qld, working as a nanny, possibly in the early to mid 1930s.

Around 1935, Margaret met Frederick Harold Nicholls, and the two spent the rest of their lives living as a de facto married couple. Frederick was previously married in 1910 in the Newcastle area to a Gertrude May Oldham, with whom he had two children (Harold and Freda). It appears that Frederick and Gertrude separated in the late 1920s but were never divorced. Consequently, Frederick could never marry Margaret. Margaret did change her surname to Nicholls, however.

Opposite is a photo of the Nicholls family. Back row: John, Frederick, Alan; Front row: Margaret, James.

Margaret and Frederick Nicholls lived in various parts of Brisbane during their life together: "Iona Court" on the corner of Water and Misterton Streets, Fortitude Valley (1936); then 5 Shaw Street, Auchenflower (1937 - c.1939); then 52 Shire Street, Coorparoo (c.1939 onwards). Frederick was working as a clerk through those years.

Frederick Nicholls died on 01/01/1955 and was buried in the Toowong Cemetery. We have a copy of Frederick's death certificate.

Margaret's mother, Alice Graham, came to live with Margaret at 52 Shire Street, Coorparoo, around the time of Frederick's death. Alice died just one year later, in 1956. Margaret lived in that house for many more years - until moving to the Salvin Park Nursing Home in Carina late in life.

Margaret Ann Nicholls died on 03/08/1990 and was buried in Toowong Cemetery, alongside her husband, Frederick, and young daughter Roberta. Opposite is a photo of their tombstone. We have a copy of Margaret's death certificate, although it is quite blurry.

George Cregan Graham

George Cregan Graham, pictured opposite with his sister Jean, was born on 14/05/1898 in Murwillumbah. George enlisted in the AIF for WWI. He collected numerous photographs during wartime, some of which are now available online.

George returned to Murwillumbah after the war, and he married Violet Day in that town on 02/12/1922 (NSW marriage reg. 16626/1922).

George and Violet had four children (two boys and two girls):

• Kevin George, born 24/05/1927
• Beverley Elaine, born 04/03/1931
• Janice Margaret, born 22/06/1937
• Douglas Cregan, born 08/12/1941

George Graham, like his father, became a dairy farmer. According to an article on George's farming pursuits, he began farming on his own in 1920 on a property in Dungay of about 105 acres. He was leasing this farm through the 1920s. The property was a part of Portion 11 in Kynnumboon Parish, straddling both Dungay Creek Road and Campbells Road. Part of its western boundary was the eastern boundary of the Henry Gill property (Portion 24), which Alice Graham leased from 1926 to 1933.

In 1928, George Graham purchased the Dungay farm he had been leasing. A few years later, in 1933, he was able to buy more farming property in Dungay: a 130-acre farm just south of his first farm, around the end of Brooks Road (Portion 80 and parts of Portions 31 and 50 in Kynnumboon Parish). Not long after, in 1935, George bought another Dungay property, just to the west, around the end of Campbells Road. This was Portion 69 and it comprised 153 acres.

George Graham had also purchased property in Murwillumbah. In 1923, soon after marrying, he bought two adjacent lots at 5 and 7 Rous Street. At some point, the Grahams began living in Number 7 and it became the family home. Presumably, they rented out Number 5.

In 1932, George initiated divorce proceedings against Violet. He claimed that Violet had committed adultury with a William Frederick Baker, a Dungay local. At that time Graham and Violet had their first two children. Evidently, the divorce did not eventuate, and George and Violet got back together and had two more children. We have a copy of the divorce court documents.

In February 1945, George bought the house next door to Tara House boarding house premises in Queen Street from his siblings Catherine and Vincent Graham. This was the house previously (1920s and 1930s) owned and occupied by Catherine Gill. The Anderson family also lived there during the 1930s. George Graham subsequently sold the premises in 1956. We have the title deeds for this property.

Violet Graham died on 25/01/1979. She was buried in the Murwillumbah Lawn Cemetery. George Graham died on 03/07/1981. He was buried alongside Violet. Their tombstone is shown opposite. The Daily News published an article on George on 06/07/1981.

Some brief comments follow on the four children of George and Violet Graham.

Kevin George Graham, the eldest child, married Claire Billiau in Murwillumbah in November 1953. Kevin and Claire remained in the Tweed, farming a property in Dungay for many years. Kevin passed away on 16/02/2023.

Beverley Elaine Graham was an entrant in the Miss Australia contest in 1949, according to an article in the Tweed and South Coast Daily. Beverley Graham married Thomas James McLeod in Murwillumbah in February 1956. Beverley and Thomas moved to the southern Sydney suburb of Sylvania.

Janice Margaret Graham worked as a stenographer while living at 7 Rous Street, before marrying Bryden Noel Cameron in Murwillumbah in January 1962. Janice and Bryden then left the Tweed for Holland Park, in Brisbane.

Douglas Cregan Graham began working as a farmer in the 1970s in Upper Burringbar before becoming an auctioneer around 1973 while living at his parents' house at 7 Rous Street, Murwillumbah. As an auctioneer, he was working with his relative Peter Smith at P. Smith and Son real estate in Murwillumbah. Douglas died on 05/11/1999 in Murwillumbah.

Robert Peter Graham

Robert Peter Graham was born on 19/10/1899 in Murwillumbah. Robert married Eva Agnes O'Brien, a Tweed local, at the Church of the Sacred Heart, in Murwillumbah, on 26/04/1930 (NSW marriage reg. 8512/1930).

Around that time, Robert moved from Dunbible to Duranbah, another small rural community in the Tweed, nearer the coast, and there he ran a farm for about 30 years, along with his mother and some of his siblings. This farm was located on the northern side of Eviron Road and on the western side of the M1 motorway. It comprised about 220 acres. Robert owned 50% of it, and Pearl and Vincent Graham owned 25% each. However, In July 1941, Pearl and Vincent sold their shares to Robert, making him the sole owner.

Robert and Eva Graham had four children (one boy and three girls):

• Brian Thomas, born c.1931
• (Patricia) Anne
• Marie Catherine
• Evelyn Margaret

A local newspaper article indicates that two of the girls were twins. These are Anne and Marie.

In 1959, the Robert and Eva Graham sold their Duranbah farm and moved to Toowoomba. They lived at and ran a corner store at 213 Russell Street. This old store still exists in its old-fashioned form. Around 1962, Robert and Eva moved to a house at 61 Wooldridge Street, Toowoomba. Electoral rolls continued to list Robert as a storekeeper, so perhaps he kept his Russell Street store too. The Grahams lived in Wooldridge Street for many years.

Opposite is a photo of George (the taller man) and Robert Graham, we think at Toowoomba.

Robert Graham died on 04/07/1981. He was buried in the Toowoomba Garden of Remembrance.

Eva Graham continued to live in her Wooldridge Street home until about 1989, when she moved to 2/48 Wuth Street, Toowoomba, then several years later moving to the Lourdes aged care home in Spring Street, Toowoomba. Eva Agnes Graham (nee O'Brien) died on 31/05/2006 and was buried alongside Robert. Their tombstone is shown opposite.

Thomas Joseph Graham

Thomas Joseph Graham was born on 22/05/1901 in Coolangatta. This was at the time his parents were running the Federal Hotel in that town.

Thomas was working as an assistant in Burch's department store in Main Street, Murwillumbah, in January 1921, according to a report of a local court case.

Electoral rolls tell us that, in 1925, Thomas moved from the Graham family farm at Dunbible to Dungay, and he worked there as a farmer. He might have been helping his brother George Graham, who had a farm then in Dungay. Alice leased an adjacent farm in 1926, and we think that Thomas might have run it.

Thomas did not stay in Dungay very long, however. In 1932, he was working as a farmer in Billinudgel, and the following year he moved to Eviron. He continued to move around the Tweed valley during the 1930s and 1940s: to Dungay (1936 - 1938), then to Hopkins Creek (1939 - mid-1940s).

In the late 1940s, Thomas moved into the home at 52 Shire Street, Coorparoo, of his sister Margaret Ann Nicholls and her husband, Frederick Nicholls. He stayed there until at least 1954, after which time we lose track of Thomas Graham's whereabouts and activities.

Thomas Joseph Graham died at St Michael's Hostel, Casino, on 18/08/1989. We believe he was living there since 1984 at the latest. This facility is at 62 Centre Street, Casino, and is now called St Michael's Residential Aged Care. Thomas Graham was buried in Lismore Memorial Gardens. His burial plaque is shown opposite. We have Thomas's death certificate.

Pearl Catherine Graham

Pearl Catherine Graham was born on 26/01/1903 in Coolangatta, while her parents were still running the Federal Hotel.

Pearl Graham became a nurse. The first hospital that we know she worked in is the Sunnyside Private Hospital in Tumbulgum Road, Murwillumbah. Pearl began there around early 1924 and nursed there for a year. She then moved to the Royal South Sydney Hospital, located in the Sydney suburb of Zetland.

By September 1927, Pearl had returned to the Northern Rivers, nursing at the Memorial Hospital, Kyogle. Pearl remained in Kyogle until 1933. During this time, Pearl's older cousin Henrietta Anderson (nee Gill) and her family were living in Kyogle, running the local Exchange Hotel, so she would have felt a little extra family support then.

Pearl moved to Duranbah in 1933, still nursing though. Her mother and some of her siblings had recently moved to a farm at Duranbah, and it seems that Pearl decided to live there as well.

However, in 1934 Pearl moved to Milton Road, Auchenflower, to work at the Fermoy Private Hospital. In 1940, she had moved to Sydney and she began nursing at the Graythwaite Hospital in Edward Street, North Sydney. Around 1946, Pearl moved to Faivern Private Hospital at 9 Chalmers Road, Strathfield. But in 1949, she moved, yet again, to 180 Cavendish Street, Stanmore.

Around 1952, Pearl gave up nursing and moved to Macquarie Street, Norah Head, where she became a storekeeper, according to electoral rolls. Pearl had bought a property at 38 Bungary Road, Norah Head, in September 1952 but sold it again 12 months later. (Bungary Road was called Bourke Street in 1952.) The title deed for this property says that Pearl was living in Summer Hill when she made the purchase.

In about 1961, it seems that Pearl retired and moved to 334 Webster Road, Stafford, in the northern suburbs of Brisbane.

Pearl Graham died on 10/08/1966. She was buried in the Pinnaroo Lawn Cemetery and Crematorium. Her tombstone is shown opposite. Pearl did not marry or have any children.

Hugh Cartner Graham

Hugh Cartner Graham was born on 07/01/1907 in Murwillumbah, after his parents had returned from Lismore to the Tweed area.

Hugh married Edith Beatrice Hennessey in Murwillumbah on 21/12/1932 (NSW marriage reg. 16113/1932). Like his older brothers, Hugh became a farmer. Our information on Hugh and Edith during the early 1930s is minimal, however.

Around 1936, Hugh and Edith left the Tweed for the small rural locality of Butchers Creek in the Atherton tablelands region of north Queensland. It seems, though, that he departed in messy circumstances. He had borrowed a substantial sum of money from the Union Bank of Murwillumbah under a loan that was guaranteed by several locals, including some of his relatives. However, he did not repay the loan, forcing his guarantors to pay.

Hugh, while in Queensland, continued to pursue farming, including after the mid-1940s, when he and Edith moved from Butchers Creek to Amberley, near Ipswich. They remained there for many years, finally moving to 4 Michael Street, Caloundra, in the mid-1970s, to retire, it seems.

Hugh Graham died on 22/11/1982. He was buried in Caloundra Cemetery. Edith Graham continued to live in Michael Street after Hugh's death. She died there on 25/01/2004 and was buried alongside Hugh. Their shared tombstone is shown opposite. Hugh and Edith had two children (both boys): Thomas Cartner and Bruce.

Vincent James Graham

Vincent James Graham was born on 23/05/1910 in Murwillumbah. Growing up on the family's "Goodwater" farm, Vincent attended Dunbible public school in the 1920s.

In 1932, Vincent was working as a farmer in Duranbah. In 1940, Vincent became part-owner of the farm along with his brother Robert Graham and sister Pearl Graham. However, Vincent and Pearl sold their shares to Robert the following year.

Vincent's movements are unclear from 1932 until 1941, at which time he enlisted in the army in Mackay, Qld, for WWII. He was then living in Finch Hatton, about 60 kms west of Mackay. In the 1943 and 1946 electoral rolls his occupation, while still living at Finch Hatton, was sugar chemist. Opposite is Vincent's military enlistment photo.

By the late 1940s, Vincent had moved to 644 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba, working as a welder. He moved addresses in that town twice in the following several years, firstly to 32 Grenier Street in 1949, and then to 7 Crown Street in 1951. He came to own and operate the Downs Welding Specialists business at 648 Ruthven Street, Toowoomba, during this time. He also married Lorna Graham (maiden name unknown) around that time.

In May 1953, Vincent won a ballot for an allocation, under a lease, of a sheep-grazing property 64 miles south of the town of Roma - a location which was listed as "Samarai Plains" in the electoral rolls. Vincent and Lorna, soon afterwards, left Toowoomba to work as graziers on the new farm. Reportedly, they had a daughter two and a half years old at the time. Based on subsequent electoral rolls, we think her name was Ngaire Danyella Graham. They later also had a son Korvin James Graham.

Vincent remained on the farm until the late 1970s when he returned to Toowoomba, living then at 14 Glencoe Court. In the mid-1980s, the Grahams moved to Wellcamp Westbrook Road, Westbrook, about 10 kms south-west of Toowoomba. Then around 1992, they moved to 5 Eacham Road, Yungaburra, near Atherton in far north Queensland. Just two years later they moved again to Lakes Drive, Peeramon, also in the Atherton area.

Vincent Graham died on 27/05/1995 and was buried in the Yungaburra Cemetery.

Jean Alice Graham

Jean Alice Graham was born on 15/10/1912 in Murwillumbah. She attended Dunbible public school during the 1920s, and then moved on to Murwillumbah High School.

During the mid-1930s, Jean worked as a nurse in the Tweed District Hospital, Murwillumbah. She married Charles Henry Clarence Hockey in Murwillumbah on 07/02/1936 (NSW marriage reg. 4006/1936).

Jean and Charles Hockey initially lived on the Alrovin farm in Duranbah, which was home to Alice Graham and a number of Jean's siblings at that time. Charles, according to electoral rolls, was then working on the farm. Around the late 1930s, Jean and Charles left the Tweed and moved to a small rural community called Glen Allyn, near Atherton, with Charles working as a labourer. This was very near Butchers Creek, where another of Jean's brothers, Hugh Cartner Graham, had moved to a couple of years prior. They moved in the mid-1940s from Glen Allyn to nearby East Barron, where Charles worked as a farm hand.

They stayed in East Barron for just a couple of years before moving to Brookfield Road, Brookfield, in the western outskirts of Brisbane, where Charles worked as a storekeeper. They remained there for about ten years before moving a little closer to Brisbane at 16 Exmouth Street, Toowong.

Jean and Charles lived in Toowong for many years. Jean Alice Hockey died on 05/12/1983. She was buried in the Pinnaroo Lawn Cemetery and Crematorium, Bridgeman Downs. Charles continued to live in his Exmouth Street home until about 1990, when he moved to 1/57 Miskin Street also in Toowong. Charles Hockey died on 06/11/1998. He was buried alongside Jean. We have the death notice for Charles, which appeared in the Courier Mail.

As far as we know, Jean and Charles had five children (two boys and three girls):

• Nancy Elizabeth
• Margaret Alice
• Henry Graham
• Lynette Ethel
• Gregory John