1st Generation Tagney/McMullan

1st Generation to come to Australia

Well it is always best to start with the easiest. Grandma and Grandad Tagney were the first generation to arrive in Australia on my paternal side of the family.

Dan arrived in 1913 and Annie arrived 1924. Each have a story.

Daniel John Joseph Tagney

Annie Winifred McMullan

Dan and Annie 1927

Dan and Annie came to Australia at the beginning of the 20th Century, Dan from London, England and Annie from County Antrim, Ireland. Things were changing. People were on the move. Each of these individuals had very different reasons for leaving their homeland, their family, their friends and the lives that they had made for themselves.

Dan Tagney and Annie Winifred McMullan Townsville Qld 1927

A Fortunate Life

Together they built a life. Dan had some support from his great aunt and for a couple of years Annie had the support of her sister. As things turned out both Dan and Annie would have to deal with life’s challenges on their own as family circumstances changed and the Great Depression changed where they would live and the work that Dan was able to get to support their growing family.

Initially they lived in Townsville then moved to Lucinda for work. Dan later worked at the Victoria Plantation Mill and they moved to Ingham. Later in their lives they were able to purchase their own home. This was an amazing feat as it would probably have been the first time in their family’s history that someone owned their own home.

They raised their family and got to see their four children married and meet all fifteen grandchildren. Their children Mary, Jack and Tom all lived in Ingham while Ron was not too far away in Townsville. They considered themselves to have had a very fortunate life indeed.