Irish Roots of the Australian Clampett Family
“I cannot say why some of them die”[32]
William remained an
undergraduate at Sydney University for 1885. Sometime during this year he
contracted tuberculosis and became too ill to continue his studies. Sydney
University records show he did not return to study in
1886. Sadly, William died in Sydney as a
result of pulmonary consumption on 21st October 1887 at the age of
nineteen. His occupation at death was recorded as ‘university
student’.
The reason for the Clampett family’s move to Sydney, as opposed to a move somewhere within the Lachlan district, was presumably to enable Joseph to look for salaried work in the city, as well as, to ensure that William was well cared for. No doubt, Willie would have been hoping to resume his studies in due course, although with Joseph’s financial difficulties this may not have been possible without the help of a further scholarship. At the time of William’s death, the family was living at 54 Surry Street, Sydney. Joseph’s occupation was given as Civil Servant on William’s death certificate, although the exact nature of his new employment has yet to be ascertained.
Electoral records show that Joseph Henry Clampett was resident at 54 Surrey Street East Sydney from 1887 to 1892 during which time he was living in leased accommodation but no occupation is recorded. In 1892 he is shown in leased accommodation at 45 Bayswater Road, Darlinghurst and in 1894 to 1896 he is shown at 60 Surrey Street Sydney where his occupation is given as independent means.
Joseph never remarried. He died in Sydney at the Sacred Heart Hospice [33] on 26 January 1895; the cause of death was given as influenza and exhaustion. Joseph’s death notice appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday 28 January 1895:
The reason for the Clampett family’s move to Sydney, as opposed to a move somewhere within the Lachlan district, was presumably to enable Joseph to look for salaried work in the city, as well as, to ensure that William was well cared for. No doubt, Willie would have been hoping to resume his studies in due course, although with Joseph’s financial difficulties this may not have been possible without the help of a further scholarship. At the time of William’s death, the family was living at 54 Surry Street, Sydney. Joseph’s occupation was given as Civil Servant on William’s death certificate, although the exact nature of his new employment has yet to be ascertained.
Electoral records show that Joseph Henry Clampett was resident at 54 Surrey Street East Sydney from 1887 to 1892 during which time he was living in leased accommodation but no occupation is recorded. In 1892 he is shown in leased accommodation at 45 Bayswater Road, Darlinghurst and in 1894 to 1896 he is shown at 60 Surrey Street Sydney where his occupation is given as independent means.
Joseph never remarried. He died in Sydney at the Sacred Heart Hospice [33] on 26 January 1895; the cause of death was given as influenza and exhaustion. Joseph’s death notice appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald on Monday 28 January 1895:
His funeral notice was in the same paper and
read:
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The friends of the late Joseph H Clampett (late of
Burrowa) are requested to attend his funeral; to move from St. Vincent’s
Hospice THIS (Monday) MORNING, at quarter to nine o’clock to Waverley
Cemetery.
W.J. Dixon & Co. Embalmers, 120 Oxford Street and 183 George St., West. |
Joseph’s death certificate records his occupation
as ‘Draper’, which is probably the way he would want to be
remembered the reference to Burrowa would also have pleased him. His son,
George, was the informant of the death and George was living at the time at 69
Bayswater Road, Darlinghurst and his occupation was given as butcher. Both
William and Joseph, and eventually two of Joseph’s daughters, Mary and
Margaret, were buried in the family grave at the Waverley Cemetery in eastern
Sydney. There are still about two or three burial sites left in the
grave.
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At the time of Joseph’s death his remaining
children were:
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John David aged 31 years, who was married to Mary A
Hollis and living in Cootamundra. John David’s eldest son, Joseph
Henry (b. 1887) was killed in action in Belgium on 31 July 1917. His second son,
William, died in childhood. John would also die relatively young in approx.1906;
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Mary who was married to Thomas A Phipps, she was aged 25
years and living in Sydney. Mary died in 1933;
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George, aged 23 years, was single and living in Sydney
(he married Constance Freeman in 1919);
George Nicholas Clampett |
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Rebecca who was married to Leonarco Newton, she was 21
years and living in Sydney;
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Leonarco Newton husband of Rebecca
Clampett
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Margaret who was19 years, single and living in
Sydney (she married George Hill in 1915). Margaret died in 1937;
and
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Henry, who was17 years, single, living in Sydney, and
apprenticed as a printing machinist with the Sydney Mail newspaper. Henry
would have a long career in the printing industry, as would his eldest son, also
Henry Joseph, the final position being with the famous
‘pink’ Bulletin which was affectionately known as
‘The bushman’s bible’. This was the publication that,
under the editorship of F. Archibald, promoted so many of Australia’s
leading writers of time, including Henry Lawson.
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When he was 23 years old, Henry Joseph Clampett married
Caroline Elizabeth O’Donoghue, the daughter of Daniel and Sophia
O’Donoghue of Hobart, Tasmania, at St. Mary’s Cathedral, Sydney on
Monday, 9th December 1901. They were eventually to have seven
children:
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Henry Joseph
Clampett
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Caroline Elizabeth
Clampett
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at the time of their marriage
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[1] Limerick History, Encyclopaedia Britannica, CD Rom 1998.
[2] Lenihan, Maurice. Limerick; Its History and Antiquities. Ecclesiastical, Civil and Military. From the Earliest Ages. The Mercier Press, Cork, 1967. p.705.
[3] Howard, Patrick, To Hell or to Hobart, Kangaroo Press, Kenthurst NSW, 1993, p.14
[4] Clampett, Muriel E. Scattered Light. Muriel E. Clampett, Melbourne, 1991. p. 97-98.
[5] Advertisement, The Yass Courier, 9 February 1861. P. 1
[6] Lloyd, Helen V. Boorowa Over 160 Years of White Settlement. Toveloam Pty Ltd, Panania, 1990. p. 158.
[7] Pamphlet, St Patrick’s Church, Boorowa.
[8]Boorowa and District Historical Society Inc. A walk Around West Boorowa. p. 3.
[9] Advertisement, The Burrowa News, Saturday, July 18, 1874 p. 2
[10] Source: Mrs G Chambers, ‘Glenoria’, Gulargambone. NSW.
[11] Advertisement, The Burrangong Argus, Saturday, July 24, 1869.
[12] Lloyd, p. 101.
[13] Lloyd, p. 79
[14] Advertisement, The Burrangong Argus, Saturday, September 30, 1865.
[15] Advertisement, The Burrowa News, Saturday, May 8, 1875.
[16] Lloyd, p. 101.
[17] Burrowa News, Saturday, July 3. 1875.
[18] The Burrowa News, October 1874.
[19] Microsoft Encarta 96 Encyclopaedia 1993-1995.
[20] The Burrowa News, January 9, 1875.
[21] The Burrowa News, January 2, 16, 1875
[22] Rainer Maria Rilke, Selected Poems, The Ninth Elegy, Penguin Modern European Poets, 1969(ed) p. 63
[23] Information provided by Mrs D Chambers, Gulargambone NSW.
[24] Burrowa News, Friday, January 6, 1882
[25] Burrowa News, January 1882
[26] Source: Mrs G Chambers, Gulargambone. NSW
[27] Burrowa Times, Friday, October 7, 1881.
[28] Rilke, Parting, p. 37
[29] Boorowa Historical Society, p. 3
[30] Burrowa News, 8th April, 1881
[31] Correspondence with NSW Police Department dated 1 December 1978.
[32] Rod McKuen song “Death – War”.
[33] The Sacred Heart Hospice was attached to St Vincent's Hospital Sydney both were run by Irish nuns.
