Samuel, son of James and Alice (née Tomlinson) Corrigan, was born in 1820 in Dublin, Ireland. His father Lieutanant James Corrigan, who was an officer in the 74th regiment (Dublin Light Infantry) during the Peninsular War was given a grant of land at Jerusalem (now Colebrook), Tasmania, for his services in Spain. He arrived at Van Diemens Land on 14 October 1832 with his wife, seven children and servants on the Sarah. With property he purchased he was farming 2000 acres by 1838. This farm was called Altamont. On 4 May 1848 Samuel married Louisa Lascelles at the residence of her father in Richmond in Tasmania. Louisa was a sister of Martha Elizabeth Lascelles who married Charles John Dennys in 1855. Samuel and Louisa had the following children: Helen — 7 June 1849 in Tasmania, married Tom Harrison Davis, died 3 June 1849 at Canterbury, Kent, England (Mrs Harrison Davis below) James Henry Harewood Lascelles — born 18 April 1851 at Hobart, married Margaret Major in 1901 in New Zealand, died 1925 at Wellington, New Zealand (see death notice below) Cornelius Fookes — born 20 November 1852 at Hobart in Tasmania, married Deborah Blake in New Zealand, died 1902 at Broken Hill in New South Wales Alice Mary — born 1856 at Geelong, married Frederick Jeffray Steuart on 6 May 1875 at St George's Church in Carlyle in New Zealand, died 1949 in New Zealand Samuel Bradley — born 1858 at Breadwater, married Florence Amy Hilton on 24 July 1893 in the bishop's private chapel at Auckland in New Zealand, died 12 October 1924 at Leigh-on-Sea, Essex, England. Before his death he was manager of the Cregg estate at Carrick-on-Suir at County Carlow in Ireland Louisa May — born 25 June 1860 at Sea View House Geelong, married Henry Roberts Parrington on 28 July 1881 at St Stephen's, Marton, died 30 June 1936 at Heidelberg Emma Mabel (Mabel) — born 10 March 1891, married Edwin Bingley Welch on 10 March 1891 at Westwood, Otakeho, New Zealand, died of typhoid aged 25 on 1 August 1895 at Manngautoroto, Kaipara, New Zealand Samuel farmed land in Tasmania before settling in Geelong where he wanted to set up a fellmongery. In November 1854 he leased the melting down works below the Breakwater owned by Charles John Dennys. Back then both sides of the Barwon were called Breakwater, but now this area between the Breakwater and Waurn Ponds Creek is called Belmont. On 10 June 1857 Corrigan purchased the 5 allotments on which the factory stood for £1400. In 1857 he became a South Barwon Shire councillor, serving until 1859. In 1867 he called tenders for laying pipes to bring water from above the Breakwater to get cleaner water for scouring. Business was good during this period, but by 1871 the works had come to a standstill. In October 1871 the first wool clip of the season from Geelong was rushed to London on the Loch Leven. Two days into the journey a heavy fog and rough seas on the north side of King Island caused the ship to hit the rocks on Harbinger Reef about 2 kilometres south east of Cape Wickham. The 10 passengers and 33 crew were saved. When the captain returned to the ship his boat overturned and he was drowned. The Loch Leven was purchased by Goldsbrough and Co, an impromptu company of twelve shareholders. Corrigan proceeded to King's Island in the Keera for the purpose of preserving the wool that was strewn along the beach. The complete cargo which was insured was valued at £150,000. By 1872 Corrigan had put his fellmongery on the market, with the view of moving to New Zealand. He had already sold his "Sea View House", next to Aberdeen Street Baptist Church, and put his home in Victoria Terrace (now Western Beach Road) up for sale. Finally Andrew Bridge White bought the business and the land for £3000 on 7 May 1874. On 14 January 1875 White had a successful sale, leaving only the buildings and the land on which they stood. The land was not sold until 17 January 1879 when Dan Fowler purchased the land for £200 and let it out for grazing. The low price was probably because it was intersected by the Colac rail line. The family moved to New Zealand. Corrigan farmed with his future son-in-law, Frederick Jeffray Steuart for about six years, ending the partnership in 1880. He died in 1903 at Otakeho, New Zealand where he had been living for the previous 30 years. Louisa died on 21 December 1902 at the residence of her son-in-law Frederick Jeffrey Steuart, Stratford, New Zealand. Louisa's grandmother, Ellen (Ann) Wainwright had the "honour"of arriving with the first fleet in 1788, transported for seven years from Lancashire, England, at the age of 17 years for stealing items of clothing. (Val Smith — New Zealand Botanical Society newsletter 2016) |
A New Zealand plant "Hebe Corriganii" was named after Dominic Harewood Lascelles Corrigan (1874-1962). Dominic's father was Cornelius Fookes Corrigan. Cornelius was born in Richmond, Tasmania, grew up in Geelong, Victoria, and by 1868 was working in Dunedin as a bank teller under William Larnach (also from Geelong). On 17 January 1874 in the Otepoto parish, Cornelius married Deborah Blake, daughter of hotelkeeper Robert Blake (1816-1882) and his wife Julie Minden (1819-1885), who moved from Tasmania to Dunedin around 1864 and later to Thames. In April 1874, in one of his many brushes with the law, Cornelius was sentenced to three years "penal servitude" for cheque forgery. Dominic was born on 17 June 1874 and named after Sir Dominic Corrigan (1802-80), a first cousin of his grandfather. (from an article by Val Smith in the New Zealand Botanical Society newsletter 2016) |