Among the oddities encountered while tracing the many children of Eugene Sullivan and Mary Doran was the photograph of the marriage entry page from the Sullivan family bible that was posted on an online presentation website ( as what appears to be a school project of an unknown distant relative). This page provided the names of spouses, and made hunting down BDM records so much easier. However, the last entry, between Thomas and Sarah Clayton, proved mysterious and took some effort to track down.
Unable to find any birth records matching Sarah Amelia Clayton, I had assumed that she must have been an immigrant. On a hunch though, I did a search to see if Clayton was a married name rather than a maiden name. The result led me to uncover her and Thomas’ fascinating story, and explained the comments referred to by Eileen Costigan in her Costigan/Sullivan History.
DRAFT — In progress —
This is a story of a couple who had faced considerable adversity in their lives but had found happiness with each other. It is a story that was excluded from the Sullivan/Costigan family stories and histories, and referred to briefly only in judgmental terms. In an attempt to rectify the omission, I believe his, and his family’s, story should be given the same recognition as his many brothers and sisters with their families.
Thomas Joseph Sullivan was the forth child and second son born to Eugene and Mary in 1867. According to Eileen Costigan’s history, he worked on the family farm until, at some stage, there was a disagreement with his father over wages…..
Sarah Amelia Francis was also born in Preston, but much later than Thomas, on 1st October 1883, to William and Clara Francis (nee White). She falls pregnant not long after turning 15, and incredibly, is publicly named in The Age in Feb 1899 (UNDER THE AGE OF CONSENT. (1899, February 8). The Age (Melbourne, Vic.), p. 5. Retrieved March 12, 2018, from as the underaged victim of a sexual assault by James Ferrie. He is committed to stand trial, but as yet, I’ve not been able to track down the details or outcome of the trial, nor his eventual fate.
Sarah gives birth later in 1899 to a daughter, Amelia May Ferrie Francis….. Her relationship with James Ferrie must have been loving and consensual, as she has named the girl with one of the father’s middle names ‘Ferrie’. — so it’s likely the parents’ objections led to the arrest and legal action against James Ferrie.
In 1901, still aged around 17, she marries Alfred (Alf) Craven Clayton, a butcher who was much older, being in his mid 30s. (It is only a matter of speculation, but it would be reasonable to assume that she has been married off by her parents. Otherwise, her prospects could have been dire, considering the social stigma carried by unmarried mothers at that period.) In 1903, Alf is listed in the electoral roll as living in Plenty Rd, Preston. Sarah has 2 children with Alf, Phoebe (b. 1905) and Leslie (b. 1907).
In 1908 the electoral rolls show that she was living in David Street, Preston. A different address to the one Alf is registered at, but there is the possibility of it being a case of a move not being updated on the records correctly. 1909 sees her living in Gower St, Preston. But by 1913, Sarah and Alf have definitely separated. The electoral rolls show Alf as a slaughter man living in Warburton, while Sarah, apparently a deserted mother with 3 children, is living in Thomastown in 1914.
In 1916, her daughter Amelia died at just 17 years of age in East Melbourne (St Vincent’s ?). The death Certificate gives the name as May Clayton (she was born as Amelia May Ferrie Francis), so it seems that she was probably adopted by Alf Clayton. In 1917 Sarah is living in Frank St, Preston.
Without any information from either family, it is impossible to guess how and when Sarah and Thomas met. Both were born and grew up in Preston, and could have crossed paths at any time. Though, as with her estranged husband Alf, Thomas was a considerably older man.
The electoral rolls of 1924 show that both Thomas Sullivan and Sarah Clayton are living at 16 Scotia St, Preston. When they started living together is uncertain, as are the circumstances, whether initially platonic or romantic. It is possible they could have started living together in a Gower St address, or/and in Thomastown. Without street numbers, it cannot be certain.
Sarah gives birth to their son Michael the following year in 1925.
Addresses according to Electoral Rolls.
| Year | Thomas | Sarah | ||
| 1903 | Albert St Preston | farmer | ||
| 1908 | David St Pres | home duties | ||
| 1909 | Gower St Pres | farmer | Gower St Pres | home duties |
| 1912 | Gower St Pres | farmer | Gower St Pres | home duties |
| 1913 | Gower St Pres | home duties | ||
| 1914 | Thomastown | farmer | Thomastown | home duties |
| 1915 | Thomastown | farmer | Thomastown | home duties |
| 1916 | Thomastown | farmer | Thomastown | home duties |
| 1917 | Thomastown | farmer | Frank St Pres | home duties |
| 1922 | 16 Scotia St Pres | labourer | ||
| 1924 | 16 Scotia St Pres | labourer | 16 Scotia St Pres | home duties |
| 1926 | 16 Scotia St Pres | labourer | ||
| 1927 | 16 Scotia St Pres | labourer | ||
| 1928 | Ashbourne | Ashbourne | home duties |
The next record of the couple is the electoral rolls of 1928, this time in Ashbourne (near Kyneton), and both as Sullivan. They are not married, but it appears that Sarah is assuming the Sullivan name to appear married in their new rural life. A name change to coincide with the tree change, and being far from their old stomping ground of Preston, a chance for a change of social status.
However, it wasn’t too long before the assumed Sullivan name was legitimised. In May 1929, Sarah’s husband Alf died in Warburton. It’s doubtful that she mourned his passing for long, if at all, as she married Thomas exactly 2 weeks after Alf’s death. The marriage certificate has a remarkable little comment marked on it; underneath the section for marital status, as widow, and the date widowed, someone from the registry office has queried the dates and then written “correct”! A very short mourning period indeed, and I suspect that there may be a minimum period between being widowed and remarried (worth checking). The marriage at St Mary’s Woodend was in a Church of England rather than Catholic church. Again, we can only speculate about the choice of denomination, and whether any family were invited to be present (I suspect not, considering the family fallout with Thomas, and the judgement of their domestic affairs in the eyes of some of Thomas’ family).
According to the Sullivan history from the Costigans, Thomas’ brother Fr Timothy was involved in organising the marriage – but, I doubt whether he would have had much of a role in such a quick marriage, especially if conducted at a local Church of England!
Unfortunately, Thomas dies only a few years later, in 1933, after several hours in a Diabetic Coma, aged 64 years. Even in death, however, the stigma of being in a relationship with a married woman for so long cannot be overlooked.
Fr Timothy, while Parish Priest of St Micheal’s North Melbourne, has been able to travel to up to Ashbourne in time for his brother’s death and provides the information for the death registration/certificate. Regarding spouse details, Timothy states the marriage was in Sydney when Thomas was 48 years old – so, around 1917! Predating the marriage by 12 years seems to have little point. Certainly it would be of no benefit to Thomas and Sarah’s son Michael, who at this time was about 8 years old, and it would not change anything on his birth certificate. Timothy’s motive for ‘falsifying’ official records would seem superficial at best.
Thomas dies without a will, and the various Probate documents show that his brothers Eugene and Timothy were involved in administering his estate until full control was granted to Sarah. [The documents/process seems rather difficult to follow for the non-legal minded! Document PDFs are attached to Thomas’ WebTree record. Help needed] The inventory of assets indicates that he owned no real estate, but had an interest in the sale of real estate. Does this mean that he had, or was in the process of, selling his farm? Perhaps his health had been deteriorating and he was no longer able to run the farm.
The electoral rolls indicate that Sarah remained registered at Ashbourne till 1936, (but that doesn’t mean she was residing at the farm for that whole period). In 1937 she is shown as residing at Nicholson St, Woodend. In the following year, 1938, she marries for the 3rd time, to John Gilbert Christensen. He is born in Toongabbie Gippsland, but later lived in W.A.
It would appear that there is some doubt about his character. > From a 1951 Article in the Perth Mirror, where the journalist takes an incredulous tone of his claims of being a victim –
– He marries a Scottish girl, Jessie Turner while posted in Edinburgh in 1918. Apparently a disaster – she seems reluctance to join him back in Australia, and when she does, she is again reluctanct to move from Perth to follow him to the country. At some early stage of their marriage, and after he claims she had cleaned him out, they split. Says he met ‘a widow’ in 1938 while in Victoria, and Sarah and he marry. The marriage certificate shows his marital status as ‘deserted’. There is an entry for Sarah Amelia Christensen in 1942 at 1 Cameron St Preston. John returns to W.A. in 1945 after claiming that Sarah had cleaned him out (while away on a holiday) for her son’s wedding. John states in 1951 (at Court for Divorce of Jessie) that he ‘lived with’ Sarah from 1938 to 1945 – no mention of the marriage to Sarah in Victoria, and apparently can’t even remember her name! <
– Perhaps this is a sly ruse to avoid any suspicion or charges of bigamy being laid against him!
Sarah moved back to the old area of Woodend. I have little information about her and her family in the later years. Sarah dies in 1971, and is buried with Thomas at Woodend Cemetery.
It can only be assumed that she regarded the Macedon Ranges area as her home, and that her ‘true’ love and husband was Thomas Sullivan, the one she lived with for so long, had a son with, married and is buried with!
Research:-
Her son by Alf, Leslie Alfred Clayton, uses the Sullivan surname?! Death of a Leslie Alfred Sullivan in Gisborne, 1984.
Trying to trace their son Michael Sullivan, the location of the farm in Ashbourne, & more details about Leslie & Phoebe.
Was it Michael’s wedding that John G Christensen claims Sarah gave his things away?