Down the rabbit hole - Lauren's adventures in genealogy

When I finished writing about the six wives of Captain Kearney, I more or less thought I had uncovered all the surprises this man had to offer. There were unanswered questions - like why could I not find his entry into Australia, or how he met his first wife Elizabeth Gilpin, or how Mary Reeves Rainsford found out about his death - but I thought I had a handle on the man. I was wrong. When I was writing up the stories of his wives, I happened to re-examine a document I have read dozens of times. It is a NSW Police Gazette and stated that Richard Adderley Kearney had been released from prison after his bigamy charge - he served 9 months of a twelve month hard labour sentence in Darlinghurst Prison. I had read this document dozens of times. I had quoted it. I had analysed it. And yet, this time, I saw something I had never noticed before. Beneath his name: “alias Vine.” NSW Police Gazette, 1879 In all the hundreds of hours I had put into researching this man, no single other document had...

This is the last stop on Captain Richard Adderley Kearney’s trail of wives. We’ve met five women already, each convinced she was his lawful spouse, each paying a price for that belief. Some were deceived, others abandoned, a few hauled into court. Now, we meet the woman who, I believe, was his final wife: Margaret Clark Gardner. Her story is quieter than the others in that there are no courtroom fireworks, but she may have endured the greatest cost of all. In telling her story, I want to acknowledge Su Spencer (née Wiedeman), who published a detailed article in Australian Family Tree Connections (November 2010). Her research offered valuable insights into Margaret’s life. I know she was in contact with someone from my own family during her research, because one of her notes includes a family tree with my name on it - along with my brother, my father, and many of my cousins. I’ll explain Su’s connection to me towards the end of this post, although I suspect some of you can guess. Traci...

We’ve already met four women who considered themselves wives of Richard Adderley Kearney. The fifth, may be the most tragic of all. Her story is one of abandonment, poverty, and devastating loss, and yet, she endured. I call her the saddest wife, and I don’t think that’s an exaggeration. A Child Named Kearney I didn’t find the fifth wife in a straightforward way. I was still looking for records for Helen Elizabeth Williams, wife number four, but this search took an unexpected turn when I stumbled across a birth record for a child — Henry “Atward” Kearney, born 6 September 1890 in Norwood, South Australia. In a pattern depressingly familiar to me, the certificate listed his father as “Richard Adderley Kearney, Sea Captain,” and his mother as “Ellen Eliza Kearney, formerly George.” The birth was registered by the mother herself. This tells me that in all likelihood, Richard was not on the scene.  Henry "Atward" Kearney birth certificate, September 6 1890 That middle name caught...

In the first three installments on this deep dive into Richard Adderley Kearney's many wives, we met Elizabeth Gilpin ( The Six Wives of Captain Kearney ), Jane Mclean ( The Six Wives of Captain Kearney Part Two: The Kindly Gael's Daughter ) and Mary Reeves Rainsford ( The Six Wives of Captain Kearney Part Three: The Courtroom Bride ). But if you thought Richard was done, you sadly underestimated both his stamina and his appetite for deception.  A Son, Not a Wedding This next woman challenges the very idea of what a wife is when a man like Richard is involved. I discovered her in a way that was novel for this search so far, not through a marriage, but through a baptism. And this was the first time in the search I learned that I have additional Kearney relatives, through Richard. The child in question was baptised Arthur Ritchie Kearney on October 21st, 1883, in the parish of St Luke Marylebone, Middlesex. And in a pattern that has become too familiar, the certificate notes tha...