Ross Beattie's BRIEN Genealogy Page

[please contact Ross Beattie for further details of this lineage, especially for details regarding more recent generations]
This Page was Last Updated on 18th March 2013
Locality
Early Generations (3)
    1.               Henry Brien (c1741…1818) m1. Rebecca Coleman (1736…1783); m2. Mary Scott (1775…1831) 
    1.1             John Brien (1767…1801) m. Ann — (…1828)
 
   1.1.1          John Brien (1797…1858) m. Elizabeth Beatty (1797…1885)
    1.1.1.1       John Brien (c1836…)
 
   1.1.1.2       William Brien (1839…1882) m. Mary Jane Fleming (1842…1925)
    1.1.1.2.1    Francis Albert Brien (1878… 1964) m. Agnes Effie Shearer (1887…1964)
    1.1.1.2.2    George Lindsay Brien (1880… 1945) m. Alice Minnie Harris (…1942)
    1.2             Robert Brien (1777…1852) m. Mary Johnston (c1775…1831)
    1.2.1          Margaret Brien (1816…1860) m. John Alexander Brien (c1812/4…1883)
    1.3             Rebecca Brien (1782…1863) m. Joseph Eaton (…1833)
    1.4             Francis Brien (1788…c1819) m. Mary Anne Crawford (…1820+)
    1.4.1          John Alexander Brien (c1812/4…1883) m1. Margaret Brien (1816…1860), m2. Mary Jane Edgar (c1835…1902)
    1.4.1.1       Henry Brien (1837…1921) m1. Ann Jane Eaton (1827…1888), m2. Eliza Jane Beattie (1847…1942)
    1.4.1.1.1    John Eaton Brien (1860…1913) m. Isabella Fleming (1859…1944)
    1.4.1.1.2    William Henry Brien (1861…1912) m. Rebecca Susan Eaton (1863…1930)
    1.4.1.1.3    David Brien (1862…1942) m. Lucinda Ann Eaton (1865/6…1934)
    1.4.1.2       Mary Brien (1838…1900) m. Donald Campbell
    1.4.1.3       John Brien (1840…1854)
    1.4.1.4       Diana Brien (1842…1847)
    1.4.1.5       Rebecca Brien (1845…1913) m. Robert Dugan (1846…1936)
    1.4.1.6       Margaret Brien (1847…1852?)
    1.4.1.7       Robert Brien (1849…1937) m1. Lydia Johnston (1837…1917), m2. Mary Ann Hodges (c1884…1953)
    1.4.1.7.1    John Alexander Brien (1872…1955) m1. Lydia Jane Fleming (1871…1905), m2. Maria Annie Kefford (1883…1932)
    1.4.1.8       Francis Brien (1851…1895) m. Rebecca Fleming (1852…1929)
    1.4.1.9       Susan Brien (1853…1929) m. John Bryant (1846…1907)
    1.4.1.10     William John Brien (1856…1943) m. Kier Mill (1856…1938)
    1.4.1.11     Margaret Brien (1865…1940) m. William Hugh Grant (c1856…1939)
    1.4.1.12     Elizabeth Ann Brien (1866…) m. Alexander Scott Murray

Possibly Related Brien Lineages
Related Families from the same areas

Other (probably unrelated) Brien Lineages

Locality

These Brien families originated in southwest Ulster (Counties Fermanagh and Tyrone, Ireland). Several emigrated to New South Wales, Australia, in the mid-1800s, settling firstly in the Oberon district in the Central Tablelands (about 160 km or 100 miles west from Sydney) and later also establishing themselves about Cowra to the southwest. Descendants today are of course very widespread. Several neighbouring families in Ulster also emigrated and settled about Oberon, where inter-relationships continued.

Early Generations

The Briens were long of Irish stock, many of them becoming Protestant adherents after the Plantation of James I [1610]. One of the early Briens was granted land near Omagh :- Lislea, Cloonemulin and Tattykeele. Henry Bryne of Ferny who held it in fee simple, later leased half of the three sesiaghs to William Bryne and Henry Bryne Junior both of Stranagumer, grandsons of the early Bryne [pers comm, Elizabeth Garrad , November 2002]. In The Brien Family Irish Origins (Colin Fleming Brien and Noel Wickliffe Brien, c1988), the authors note:

The origin of the Fermanagh McBriens is not clear. Most of the traced emigrants were Protestant, though later surveys indicate a predominantly Roman Catholic grouping about places such as Trillick in neighbouring County Tyrone. The name is also found on O’Brien lineage charts and was known circa 1534 in the southern Irish inland, according to one [unidentified] publication:

On the borders of County Limerick and Tipperary were the Bourkes of Clanwilliam. After 1466 the local lords of this area, the Bourkes and MacBriens of Coonagh and Aherlow, appear to have fallen under the overlordship of the O’Briens of Thomond, who occupied directly the district of Onaght in County Tipperary and exercised some sort of authority in this area until they surrendered their rights to the crown in 1542. The O’Briens, having formerly been enemies of the city of Limerick, seem to have developed a working arangement with it at a later date and after 1456 drew a tribute from it, as they also did from Limerick, or rather its eastern portion. The O’Briens of Thormond were thus, on occasion, able to play an active part in the affairs of Limerick and Tipperary. An exiled branch of the family had settled in the barony of Pubblebrien, to the southwest of the city of Limerick, with which they seem to have been on bad terms.

An accompanying map entitled Lordships, c. 1534, by K. W. Nicholls notes three MacBrien lordships in the baronies of ?Abra, Coonagh and ?Amirlow, east of the O’Brien’s Pubblebrien, Limerick. [type indistinct, to be checked] Perhaps some of these MacBriens moved up along the Shannon and settled in Fermanagh, becoming progenitors of the McBriens of Inishmacsaint.

The Brien family was among the first of the Kilskeery-related families to emigrate to the Oberon area in New South Wales. Much of the information presented here is based on the substantial research of Colin Fleming Brien and Noel Wickliffe Brien published as The Brien Family Irish Origins, which also provides data on the Flemings, Edgars, Wilsons and Eatons; other families such as the Beatties are mentioned therein. Both Colin and Noel have also contributed in many other ways, generously forwarding material of interest to this author.

Perhaps related, a group of Briens from Magheracross also settled at the Junction in Newcastle NSW [possibly called Burwood in the 1850s]; several descendants moved to Sydney. Perhaps some of this family emigrated to America even earlier. Mr Harry Brien of Roleystone, Western Australia, is the great-great-grandson of one of the Junction emigrants.


1. Henry Brien (c1741…1818) m. Rebecca Coleman (c1736…1783); m2. Mary Scott (c1775…1831)

Henry Brien, farmer of Gargadis (1½ m NE of Kilskeery), in a deed dated 1777 listed two sons:
Henry, by his wife Rebecca Coleman, also begat:
It is assumed that Rebecca Brien (née Coleman) died soon after 1782 when her daughter Rebecca Brien was born, and Henry then married Mary —. Issue of Henry and Mary Brien were:
In the deed dated 1777, Henry Brien was leasing the Gargadis farm from Mervyn Archdall for the lives of his sons John Brien, 10 years , Edward Brien, 8 years and Nathaniel Bird, 10 years, son of William Bird of Shanmullagh. A witness to that deed was James Alexander of Shanmullagh. In the 1810 Marriage Articles for his son Francis Brien and Mary Anne Crawford, shewing Henry Brien and Francis Brien of Gargadis of the first part, Thomas Buchanan and Robert Brien of Kenog of the second part, and Richard Cluff of Trillick and George Buchanan of Shanmullagh of the third part, thirty acres of the Gargadis land leased by Henry from the Revd. Mervyn Archdall was to be reserved for Robert Brien.
Brien_Coleman_Eaton_Johnston_Edgar_Beatty_Fleming tree[.gif, 13KB]

1.1  John Brien (1767…1801) m. Ann — (…1828)

John Brien, by his wife Ann —, begat at least two children:

John Brien died 27 February 1801; Ann died 18 March 1828. They were buried in the old Magheracross Graveyard.

1.1.1  John Brien (1797…1858) m. Elizabeth Beatty (1797…1885)

John Brien and Elizabeth Beatty of Co Tyrone irl were the parents of:

Betty Garrad eMailed [14 April 2010]:

… I can’t link Colin’s Oberon Briens with the other Briens from Kilskeery. I wondered if you have come across any links in your research. This is what we know about his grandfather William Brien of Ferndale, Oberon :
* William Brien died 22 May 1882 aged 43. His D/C stated he had been 22 years in NSW. His parents were John Brien and Elizabeth Beaty ; and that William married at the age of 27 years.
* On 11 Dec 1861 he took up Block F portion 38 of 34 Acres.
* In 1863 he acquired adjacent blocks …. Ferndale.
* 27 Feb 1867 he married Mary Jane Fleming at Fish River Creek.
* Family lore has it that William Brien and his brother John Brien were wards of Dr John Eaton for 12 years and that John Eaton was a ship’s doctor before he settled In NSW. The story has it there were two other Brien brothers who went to Canada. Were they all orphans? It has always seemed to me that there must have been a kinship between Dr Eaton and this Brien family.
* Neither Colin nor I could find William’s brother John Brien’s name on the NSW Death Indexes.
* I cannot find our William Brien on any passenger list.
* Immigration Deposit Indexes : John Brien (18) Depositor William Brien Dep No. 2693 Date of Dep 14/5/1859 SR NSW 4/4580 reel 2669
Remarks 0/L/TYR/R/S I found on the Board List Reel 2479 on ship “Annie Wilson” John Brien,17, labourer, Kilskeery Co Tyrone, Parents John &
Fanny both Ch of E, R + W, brother William Brien at Bathurst. Health Good Remarks : Rem Reps £4
* It seems that William was already in NSW in May 1859 to be the Depositor for brother John’s passage. The informant for his D/C may not have known the exact year he arrived in NSW. Note that William’s parents were John & Elizabeth and John’s parents were John & Fanny.
* In Colin’s book he states that Dr John Eaton qualified as a Doctor of Medicine at Trinity College 16 July 1835. I found his name in a NSW medical list with the letters L.A.H. Dublin 1835. I found in the EPPI in (Return of persons examined & certified as qualified by the Apothecaries’ Hall in Dublin)
2 Mar 1827 John Eaton, Enniskillen, Fermanagh. This would possibly have led up to his degree in 1835.
* John Eaton was a witness at the marriage of his sister Elizabeth Eaton & Thomas Fleming on 23 Feb 1849 at Kilskeery in Co Tyrone. That pair arrived in NSW on the “Garland” on 15 Mar 1851. So we can place John Eaton in Tyrone in 1849. If he was a ship’s doctor he could have been on voyages to NSW prior to that though. I can find no record of him as a ship’s doctor as yet. It is a pity he had no children and therefore none of his descendants to help chart his history. He settled at Fish River Creek in 1854 as a farmer and medical doctor and married Sarah Liddell in 1861.
My question is : Have you found any connection between the parents of William Brien, eg John Brien and Elizabeth Beaty, and your Beattie family, or to the Eaton family? I know of course that Joseph Eaton married Rebecca Brien of Gargadis. There is a John Brien buried beside Henry Brien of Gargadis in the old Magheracross graveyard near Ballinamallard but that John’s wife was Ann. I think our Henry and that John were brothers.

1.1.1.1 John Brien (…)

John Brien was a son of JOHN BRIEN and ELIZABETH BEATTY. Betty Garrad eMailed [17 March 2006; re: McGregor & Beattie families of Kinine:

… [William] and his older brother John were said to have been wards of Dr John Eaton for 12 years. For that to have been so, perhaps there was a relationship between William’s mother Elizabeth Beatty, and Sarah Beatty, wife of Robert Coleman Eaton?
It appears that John, a labourer from Kilskeery aged 17 Years, son of JOHN and FANNY, brother of William at Bathurst, emigrated aboard the "Annie Wilson"; William had paid a deposit for John's immigration on 14 May 1859. John was noted in the Immigration Journal as CoE and able to read and write.

1.1.1.2  William Brien (1839…1882) m. Mary Jane Fleming (1842…1925)

William Brien, born 1839 Tyrone, son of farmer JOHN BRIEN and ELIZABETH BEATTY, emigrated to New South Wales in 1858/1860 as a ward of either John Eaton or his brother Robert Coleman Eaton [William's 1882 death certificates states that he had been 22 Years in NSW]. On 11 December 1861 he took up Block F portion 38 of 34 acres and in 1863 he acquired adjacent blocks - Ferndale, on the Duckmaloi Road east of Oberon. On 14 May 1859 William paid a deposit for the immigration of his brother John to NSW.
On 27 February 1867 at Fish River Creek near Oberon William married Mary Jane Fleming, daughter of JOHN and SUSAN FLEMING born 3 February 1842 at Gingkin near Oberon.The couple produced six sons and two daughters:

William Brien, a farmer, died of paralysis on 22 May 1882, six months after suffering a stoke while in a paddock on his farm at Oberon. His medical attendant had been Dr Eaton. William was buried the next day at Oberon by undertaker James Fleming, witnessed by James Graham and Joseph Lewis.
Mary Jane Brien née Fleming died 25 September 1925. Both were buried in the churchyard at St Barnabas’ CoE in Oberon.

1.1.1.2.1  Francis Albert Brien (1878… 1964) m. Agnes Effie Shearer (1887…1964)

Francis Albert Brien (Frank), born 10 September 1878, was a son of WILLIAM BRIEN and his wife MARY JANE FLEMING. Frank, a mounted police trooper in 1910, married Agnes Effie Shearer (born 1887) in Sydney in 1912. Their issue included:

Frank died 16 August 1964. Agnes also died in 1964. Colin served in the 2nd/19th Battalion 8th Division Australian Infantry Forces during World War II; he was in Singapore at its fall. His remarkable survival has been recounted in the oral history series Survival, broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1987 (part 3: Eventually I Didn’t Die).

1.1.1.2.2  George Lindsay Brien (1880… 1945) m. Alice Minnie Harris (…1942)

George Lindsay Brien, born 13 October 1880, youngest son of WILLIAM BRIEN and his wife MARY JANE FLEMING, married Alice Minnie Harris (daughter born at Parkes NSW to JOSEPH and ELIZABETH ARNOLD HARRIS). Their nine issue included:

The Sydney Morning Herald of Saturday 24 November 1945 (p30) noted:
BRIEN.— November 22, 1945, at Oberon District Hospital, George Lindsay, loved father of Heather (Mrs. Rawlings), Oliven (Mrs. H. Armstrong), Mona, Joyce, Claude, Mervyn, and Arnold, aged 65 years. Interment at Oberon, 24th inst.
The Oberon Review published an obituary for Claude Brien on 3 May 2007.

1.2  Robert Brien (1777…1852) m. Mary Johnston (c1775…1831)

Robert Brien, by his wife Mary Johnston begat seven children:

1.2.1  Margaret Brien (1816…1860) m. John Alexander Brien (c1812/4…1883)

Margaret Brien, born January 1816, second youngest child of ROBERT BRIEN and his wife MARGARET JOHNSTON, was the first wife of John Alexander Brien of Stranagummer townland. The couple were married on 4 October 1834 at Kilskeery, and sailed from Liverpool ENG on 18th instant, bound for a new life in Australia. Ten of John’s seventeen children were born to this marriage. (For further details on John Alexander Brien's descendants, follow this link).

1.3  Rebecca Brien (1782…1863) m. Joseph Eaton (…1833)

Rebecca Brien, daughter born May 1782 in Tyrone to HENRY BRIEN and his wife REBECCA COLEMAN, died pre-1858 TYR; Rebecca married Joseph Eaton, farmer of Carran townland near Trillick Co Tyrone IRL, on 25 November 1802. Joseph and Rebecca Eaton had eleven children. Rebecca Eaton née Brien, aged 81 years, died 9 March 1863 and was buried at Bullock Flat [Oberon] NSW. (For further details of this family and its descendants, refer to the Eaton Lineage).

1.4 Francis Brien (1788…c1819) m. Mary Anne Crawford (…1820+)

[pers comm Elizabeth Garrad, 1 November 2002]
Francis Brien, baptised 14 January 1788 to HENRY BRIEN and his second wife MARY —, married Mary Anne Crawford in 1810. The Marriage Articles shew three parties involved : Henry Brien and Francis Brien of Gargadis of the first part, Thomas Buchanan and Robert Brien of Kenog of the second part, and Richard Cluff of Trillick and George Buchanan of Shanmullagh of the third part. The Gargadis land was leased from Rev. Archdall Mervyn by Henry Brien; thirty acres of it was to be reserved for Robert Brien. It is hard to follow because there were several other covenants and agreements signed at the same time, not available now.

2. John Brien m. Elizabeth Beatty

John Brien and Elizabeth Beatty of Co Tyrone IRL were the parents of:

2.1 William Brien (1839…1882) m. Mary Jane Fleming (1842…1925)

William Brien, born 1839 TYR, son of JOHN BRIEN and ELIZABETH BEATTY, emigrated to New South Wales in 1858 as a ward of either John Eaton or his brother Robert Coleman Eaton. In 1867 William married Mary Jane Fleming, daughter of JOHN and SUSAN FLEMING born in 1842 at Gingkin near Oberon. The couple produced six sons and two daughters:

William Brien died 22 May 1882, several months after suffering a stoke while in a paddock on his farm at Oberon. Mary Jane Brien née Fleming died 25 September 1925. Both were buried in the churchyard at St Barnabas’ CoE in Oberon.

2.1.1 Francis Albert Brien (1878… 1964) m. Agnes Effie Shearer (1887…1964)

Francis Albert Brien (Frank), born September 1878, was a son of WILLIAM BRIEN and his wife MARY JANE FLEMING. Frank, a mounted police trooper in 1910, married Agnes Effie Shearer (born 1887) in Sydney in 1912. Their issue included:

Frank died 16 August 1964. Agnes also died in 1964. Colin served in the 2nd/19th Battalion 8th Division Australian Infantry Forces during World War II; he was in Singapore at its fall. His remarkable survival has been recounted in the oral history series Survival, broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in 1987 (part 3: Eventually I Didn’t Die).

2.2.2 George Lindsay Brien (1880… 1945) m. Alice Minnie Harris (…1942)

George Lindsay Brien, born 13 October 1880, youngest son of WILLIAM BRIEN and his wife MARY JANE FLEMING, married Alice Minnie Harris (daughter born at Parkes NSW to JOSEPH and ELIZABETH ARNOLD HARRIS). Their nine issue included:

The Sydney Morning Herald of Saturday 24 November 1945 (p30) noted:

BRIEN.— November 22, 1945, at Oberon District Hospital, George Lindsay, loved father of Heather (Mrs. Rawlings), Oliven (Mrs. H. Armstrong), Mona, Joyce, Claude, Mervyn, and Arnold, aged 65 years. Interment at Oberon, 24th inst.

The Oberon Review published an obituary for Claude Brien on 3 May 2007.


1.4.1. John Alexander Brien (c1812/4…1883) m1. Margaret Brien (1816…1860), m2. Mary Jane Edgar (c1835…1902)

John Alexander Brien was born circa 1814 at Stranagummer (Stranagomer) townland in Co Tyrone in Northern Ireland. John’s first wife was Margaret Brien, second youngest child of ROBERT BRIEN and his wife MARGARET JOHNSTON, from nearby Gargadis townland, some ten minutes distant by foot. John and Margaret Brien married in the Kilskeery Church on 4 October 1835, and emigrated as newly-weds aboard the Clyde from Liverpool ENG on 18 October 1835 for a new lifestyle in New South Wales. They were accompanied on the Clyde by neighbours William Fleming of Magheralough, his wife Lucinda Wilson from Derryhillagh, and their first child Isabella, born 1834.

John and Margaret Brien's children were:

Margaret Brien died on 6 May 1860, aged 43 years at Emu Creek Farm, on the Fish River near Mutton Falls downstream from the confluence of the Duckmaloi and Fish Rivers near Bathurst NSW; she was interred at O'Connell cemetery. Four years later John Brien married Mary Jane Edgar, Margaret's niece and sister of Robert Edgar who was to marry Mary Jane Brien. John, Mary Jane née Edgar and the seven surviving children of his first marriage then moved to a selection in the Back and Morongla Creek area near Cowra, where they were joined by John's brother-in-law Henry Brien (1809-1875) and his wife Fanny née Wilson and their children. Henry Brien was the first Brien to own "Ferndale" at Deep Creek east of Oberon NSW. Mary Jane bore John Brien seven children:

John Brien, aged 71 and father of seventeen, died at Back Creek farm near Cowra on 18 October 1883. Mary Jane Brien née Edgar continued awhile at Back Creek, eventually sold by her children. She died on 18 June 1902 at Warwick, west of Cowra, where a son had a property.

1.4.1.1 Henry Brien (1837…1921) m1. Ann Jane Eaton (1827…1888), m2. Eliza Jane Beattie (1847…1942)

Henry Brien was the first-born of ten to JOHN BRIEN and his wife MARGARET BRIEN. Born in 1837, Henry's first marriage, celebrated at Kelso in 1859, was to Ann Jane Eaton, born 1827(2?) and Henry’s senior by fifteen years. Their marriage was a happy one, and produced three children, all of whom married in 1889:

Ann Jane Brien née Eaton died on 8 July 1888. In 1892, when 45 years old, Eliza Jane Beattie became the second wife of Henry Brien, then 55, in Sydney, NSW. Henry and Eliza Jane lived at "Andrewville", Merton Box near Cowra. Henry Brien died at "Merton", the family property near Cowra, on 4 September 1921, and was buried in Cowra cemetery next to his first wife Ann Jane Eaton. Eliza Jane bore no children; she died 4 March 1942 and was buried next to Henry.

1.4.1.1.1 John Eaton Brien (1860…1913) m. Isabella Fleming (1859…1944)

John Eaton Brien, born 1860, was the eldest of three children of HENRY BRIEN and his wife ANN JANE EATON. A farmer of Morongla Creek, John married Isabella Fleming, daughter born January 1859 to THOMAS FLEMING and ELIZABETH EATON. To John and Isabella were born:

Isabella Brien née Fleming died at Cowra on 13 May 1944.

1.4.1.1.2 William Henry Brien (1861…1912) m. Rebecca Susan Eaton (1863…1930)

William Henry Brien, born 1861, was the second of three children of HENRY BRIEN and his wife ANN JANE EATON. In a double wedding ceremony at Oberon in 1889, William married Rebecca Susan Eaton, daughter of born 10 July 1863 to ROBERT COLEMAN EATON and his wife SARAH BEATTY. William’s brother David married Rebecca’s sister Lucinda in the same ceremony. William and Rebecca produced three children:

David Brien died in 1912; Rebecca Susan Brien née Eaton died 15 February 1930.

1.4.1.1.3 David Brien (1862…1942) m. Lucinda Ann Eaton (1865/6…1934)

David Brien, born 1862, was the third and youngest child of HENRY BRIEN and his wife ANN JANE EATON. In a double wedding ceremony of Oberon in 1889, David married Lucinda Ann Eaton, daughter of born in 1865(?6) to ROBERT COLEMAN EATON and his wife SARAH BEATTY. David’s brother William married Lucinda’s sister Rebecca in the same ceremony. David and Lucinda produced five children:

Lucinda Ann Brien née Eaton died 4 January 1934. David Brien died in 1942.

NSW Electoral Rolls suggest that Eliza Jane Brien [home duties] lived with her grandson Arthur Henry Brien [grazier] in 1936.

1.4.1.2 Mary Brien (1838…1900) m. Donald Campbell

Mary Brien was the second of ten children born to JOHN BRIEN and his wife MARGARET BRIEN. Born in 1838 at Hartley, she grew up in the Fish River area and on 23 March 1858 at Bendo (Bindo) near Hampton married Donald Campbel1 to Presbyterian rites.
The couple farmed near Dubbo and later in the Trangie district where they had extensive grazing properties. They had at least seven children:

Mary Campbell née Brien died on Christmas Day in 1900 and was buried in Warren cemetery.

1.4.1.3 John Brien (1840…1854)

John Brien, third child of JOHN BRIEN and his wife MARGARET BRIEN, was born in 1840. In April 1854 he was found drowned, possibly murdered, in the Fish River Creek.

1.4.1.4 Diana Brien (1842…1847)

Diana Brien, fourth child of JOHN BRIEN and his wife MARGARET BRIEN, was born in 1842. She was burnt to death when the family homestead caught fire on 8 February 1847, and was buried four days later, William Fleming officiating.

1.4.1.5 Rebecca Brien (1845…1913) m. Robert Dugan (1846…1936)

Rebecca Brien was the fifth of ten children born to JOHN BRIEN and his wife MARGARET BRIEN. Born 1845, she grew up in the Fish River area and in 1869 married Dubbo farmer Robert Dugan. Robert farmed first at “Hazeldean” near Coonamble, later at “Loleep” near Walgett, and then returned to “Hazeldean”. On the sale of the latter he purchased and retired to Bannockburn Estate in Bondi, Sydney. Other Sydney properties were also purchased. Children born to Rebecca and Robert were:

Rebecca Dugan née Brien died 15 February 1913; Robert Dugan died 9 June 1936. Both are buried at Waverley cemetery on the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Sydney.

1.4.1.6 Margaret Brien (1847…1852?)

Margaret Brien, sixth of ten children born to JOHN BRIEN and his wife MARGARET BRIEN, was born 23 August 1847 and baptised on 21 March 1848. She disappeared from her father’s house in 1852 and was presumed to have died in the bush.

1.4.1.7 Robert Brien (1849…1937) m1. Lydia Johnston (1837…1917), m2. Mary Ann Hodges (c1884…1953)

Robert Brien was the seventh of ten children born to JOHN BRIEN and his wife MARGARET BRIEN. Born in 1849, Robert married in 1870 Lydia Johnston, aged 33 and 12 years his senior. The couple had one child:

The family moved to the Morongla Creek district near Cowra in the 1870s, and in the 1880s selected “Springfield” at Baldry.
Lydia died aged 80 in 1917. Robert subsequently married Mary Ann Hodges, 35 years his junior. The couple raised four children:

Robert had also cared for waif

Robert died 22 May 1937 at Waverley and was buried next to Lydia Brien née Johnston at Waverley. Mary Ann Brien née Hodges died 1953 and was buried at Baldry.

1.4.1.7.1 John Alexander Brien (1872…1955) m1. Lydia Jane Fleming (1871…1905), m2. Maria Annie Kefford (1883…1932)

John Alexander Brien (“Jack”) was the only child of ROBERT BRIEN and his wife LYDIA JOHNSTON. In 1895 Jack married his cousin Lydia Jane Fleming, daughter of JAMES FLEMING and his wife ELIZABETH JOHNSTON. Three children were born:

Lydia Jane Brien née Fleming died “in tragic circumstances” at Nyngan in 1905; John subsequently married Maria Annie Kefford of Dilga at Molong in 1906. Maria, born near Molong in 1883, was the daughter of AMOS KEFFORD and EMMA SHREEVE (? or Sheere) who had married at Molong in 1881.

It is possible that John and Maria moved after their marriage to Sydney, as there were soon two births registered to John A and Maria A Brien in the suburbs thereat:

Maria A Brien née Kefford died at Auburn in 1932. John Alexander Brien died in 1955.

1.4.1.8 Francis Brien (1851…1895) m. Rebecca Fleming (1852…1929)

Francis Brien was the eighth of ten children born to JOHN BRIEN and his wife MARGARET BRIEN. Born in 1851, he married in 1877 Rebecca Fleming, daughter of THOMAS FLEMING and ELIZABETH EATON his wife. At the time of his wedding, Francis was a farmer at Upper Back Creek, later moving to “Talanga” at Cranbury near Cudal NSW. Their union produced seven children, all born at Upper Back Creek:

Aged 44, Francis contracted a fatal illness while farming at “Talanga”, from which he died on 14 August 1895. Rebecca remained at “Talanga” until her children were adults, after which she sold the property and moved to the south-western Sydney suburb of Lakemba, where she passed away on 1 May 1929; she was interred at Cowra cemetery.

1.4.1.9 Susan Brien (1853…1929) m. John Bryant (1846…1907)

Susan Brien, born in 1853, was the ninth of ten children born to JOHN BRIEN and his wife MARGARET BRIEN. In 1871, she married John Bryant of Mutton Falls, son of WALTER BRYANT and MARY BRYANT his wife. The Bryants had arrived from Bodmin CON aboard the Earl Grey on 24 June 1841. John, with his brothers Richard Bryant and Walter Bryant, moved to the newly available farmland of the Cowra district in the 1870s, where John purchased his property “Daisybank”. To John and Susan were eight born:

1.4.1.10 William John Brien (1856…1943) m. Kier Mill (1856…1938)

William John Brien, born 1856, youngest of ten children born to JOHN BRIEN and his wife MARGARET BRIEN, married Kier Mill, daughter of Scottish immigrants WILLIAM and HELEN MILL, in 1890 near Coonamble on the Castlereagh. William had been a itinerant shearer and farmhand, eventually becoming a master baker and pastrycook. William and Kier had only one child:

William purchased at least 90 acres in the Cowra district from 1877, which he later sold to his brother-in-law John Bryant. William lived for some time with the Bryants. Kier died (?near Ryde) in Sydney on 11 April 1938; William died at Epping on 21 December 1943. Wallace, a painter who had served in overseas during World War I, died at the Narrabeen War Veterans Home in Sydney on 16 July 1970.

1.4.1.11 Margaret Brien (1865…1940) m. William Hugh Grant (c1856…1939)

Margaret Brien, born in 1865 at Crown Ridge overlooking the Fish River, eldest of seven children born to JOHN BRIEN and his second wife MARY JANE EDGAR, eloped from Back Creek when only 13 years old to marry William Hugh Grant, son of the well-known ticket-of-leave man JOHN GRANT of Hartley. William’s property was at Bumbaldry near the Lachlan.
In her tempestuous life, Margaret bore William ten bairns and had another by a later relationship:

Sandra of Dubbo, profiling the service men and women mentioned in the Dubbo Books of Remembrance and on the War Memorial in Dubbo, was confused with two Grant names mentioned and believe they are the same person, a son of William Grant and his wife Margaret Jane (née Brien) [per email, 19 February 2012]. Sandra notes that the Dubbo Memorial makes mention of two sons being killed in action during WWI, viz.:
a) John Henry GRANT of the 53rd Battalion no. 2415 - A person by this name did enlist and was killed in WWI, but I am unable to locate a birth. Two of the earlier children to William & Margaret were John & Henry. He enlisted at aged 21 yrs & 6 mths, but when he died he was on 19 yrs (which fits in with Ivan's yeats of birth)
b) Ivan Francis GRANT of the 53rd Battalion no. 2415 - No-one enlisted in this name but there is a birth for him.
A search of records at National Archives of Australia using just "Grant 2145" brings up only one person and that is John Henry. Would you happen to know if Ivan enlisted under age and in another name please?

The 15 January 2011 death of an Ivan Francis Grant, aged 73 [viz. born c1938], 'late of Blaxland, formerly of Erskineville, was noted in The Sydney Morning Herald four days later.

Of John Henry Grant, The AIF Project inotes:
Regimental number: 2415; Place of birth: Cowra, New South Wales; School: Dubbo Public School, New South Wales; Religion: Church of England; Occupation: Labourer; Address: 168 Botany Street, Waterloo, Sydney; Marital status: Single; Age at embarkation: 21; Next of kin: Mother, Mrs Margaret Jane Grant, 168 Botany Street, Waterloo, Sydney; Enlistment date: 21 February 1916; Embarkation details: Unit embarked from Sydney on board HMAT A47 Mashobra on 14 September 1916; Rank from Nominal Roll: Private; Unit from Nominal Roll: 53rd Battalion; Fate: Killed in Action 29 March 1917; Place of death or wounding: Bullecourt, France; Age at death: 19; Place of burial: No known grave; Commemoration details: Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France.

William and Margaret moved to Dubbo. William and Margaret went their separate ways later (sometime between 1900 and 1908). William by Catherine Ryan née Elms had three further children:
Margaret had another child:
William died on 27 November 1939 aged 83 and Margaret died on 14 September 1940 aged 75, both in the Dubbo region, and are buried in Dubbo: Margaret has a headstone but William does not. Margaret lived for many years at 23 Carrington Ave., Dubbo.

1.4.1.12 Elizabeth Ann Brien (1866…) m. Alexander Scott Murray

Elizabeth Ann Brien, second of seven children born to JOHN BRIEN and his second wife MARY JANE EDGAR, born 7 July 1866 at Emu Creek farm, married overseer Alexander Scott Murray at St Peter’s Presbyterian Church, Cowra, on 19 May 1887. The couple reared five children:


Possibly Related Families:

Perhaps related, a group of Briens from Magheracross also setled at the Junction in Newcastle [possibly called Burwood in the 1850s]; several descendants moved to Sydney. Perhaps some of this family emigrated to America even earlier. Mr Harry Brien of Roleystone, Western Australia, is the great-great-grandson of one of the Junction emigrants.


Richard Brandon McGlew (Rich McGlew, McGLEW@prodigy.net, 10jun98) is a descendant of one Mary Brien who married a Gerard Brandon at Magheraculmoney parish church, Co. Fermanagh, in 1778. Their son William emigrated from Ireland to the United States and settled in Huntington Mills, Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, in 1804. He was Rich’s g-g-grandfather.
In attempting to trace this Mary Brien we have more or less come to the conclusion that she is probably related to the Brien family that was very numerous in Kilskeery and Donacavey parishes in Co. Tyrone in this era. There were Briens in Magheraculmoney and Drumkeeran parishes in Co. Fermanagh at the same time, but, we assume they were members of this larger family. All of the above were Church of Ireland then.
Does any of this ring a bell with you? I would assume this Mary Brien was born 1750 to 1755. Do you have any references to Brandons in your lines? Any general information on the Brien family would also be very helpful.
None known.

Related Families from the same areas:

NSW: Flemings, Edgars, Wilsons and Eatons; other families such as the Beatties .

Other (probably unrelated) Brien Lineages:
None known.


Anything to add?
If you have any queries about this family, or information to add, please eMail
Ross Beattierossbtgenealogy@gmail.com )
[check here for further contact details]

This Page was Last Updated on18th March 2013