THE DORANS
The Dorans came from Kilkenny, from an estate near Waterford where Thomas had been a factor on an estate. Thomas Doran had married Johanna Dunfie and came to Victoria with four daughters in 1854.Their eldest daughter, Mary, who was born in 1839 and died on 24/10/1912, married Eugene Sullivan in St. Francis church, Melbourne, on 27/10/1860 (Register No. 3746).
They settled on a farm at Bolingbroke, which is now called Pascoe Vale, the house being in Norfolk Road on the top of a high, steep hill sloping down towards the Moonee Ponds creek, not far from the present Pascoe Vale railway station. Here several more girls were born so that they had five altogether.
A Bolingbroke Street now (1999) runs between Railway Parade opposite the Pascoe Vale railway station near Gaffney St. and Cumberland Rd.. Norfolk Road no longer exists but a road it crossed, Derby St., appears in Melways (ref. 17D 10) so this area bounded by the creek, Gaffney St., Derby St. (or, perhaps, Cumberland Rd.) and Bell St seems to be where the farm was situated. Sands & McDougall records (1871 to 1873 at least) ‘Thomas Doran, farmer’, as living in Norfolk Rd. Bolingbroke, which was part of Coburg (as were “Box Forest ” and “Newlands”).
Norfolk Court in Coburg now running towards the Merri Creek from Newlands Rd., Box Forest Rd. in Glenroy and Bolingbroke St. preserve the names of the four subsidiary areas of 19th century Coburg.
The Doran Children:
1. Mary– married Eugene Sullivan in St. Francis’ church, Melbourne, in 1860, brought up a large family on the Sullivan farm at ‘Gowerville’ and found time to act as mid-wife for many women in the district.
2. Ellen married Patrick O’Neill and had two children-
– Jim O’Neill who died unmarried
– Annie O’Neill who married but died childless, in Adelaide.
3. Johanna (b. 1856) married John McGillie and had one son-
– Walter McGillie
4. Bridget– married Patrick Meheron, lived in Werribee (where they may have had a hotel) died at 87 years and had six children-
– Jim Meheron
– Tom Meheron
– Richard (Peter) Meheron
– Bill Meheron
– Mary Meheron married Jack Puls and had three children-
– – Jim Puls
– – Winnie Puls
– – Harold Puls
– Kate Meheron married George Rayner and had eight children
5. Kate– married Jim Crowley, had six children-
– Jack Crowley
– Joe Crowley
– Nellie Crowley
– Kate Crowley (who married a Sullivan- not necessarily related to ‘our’ Sullivans, and whose great- grandchild Bev Fletcher visited Eileen some years ago.)
– Mary (Polly) Crowley
– Peter Crowley
When Thomas and Johanna Doran retired from their farm at Bolingbroke they lived for a time in a shack built for them at the back of the Sullivan farmhouse in Preston. However, this arrangement displeased the Crowley cousins and they eventually went to live with them. Most of this shack was removed to become part of the Sullivan home at the “corner”. Thomas Doran died in 1890, aged 76, and his wife in 1899, aged 85; each having been born 100 years before the Great War. A fine polished stone monument still marks their grave in Coburg cemetery.