Thomas McCauley
| First name | Thomas |
|---|---|
| Last name | McCauley |
| Country of Origin | Ireland |
| Date of Birth | 1844 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1867 |
| Submitted by | Judith Laws |
Story
Thomas McCauley, was born on 02 September 1844, at Strabane in County Tyrone, in Northern Ireland. Little is known of Thomas\’ family, or the reason he left Ireland.
He arrived in Melbourne in 1867, and married Sarah Ann Plummer (of The Burra, Monaro District of NSW). Sarah had been employed by the Reverend Gwalter Soares, of Kangaroo Flats (near Bendigo) as a housemaid.
Four children were born in Victoria, 2 of whom died in infancy. Thomas decided to move the family to Queanbeyan NSW to be near Sarah\’s family. It is believed that Thomas found work, as a carpenter along the route. There is a story that they were visited by bushrangers, Sarah was very friendly and gave them a meal including bread and jamÉ the men did not realize that she had hidden their money in the jam jar.
The McCauley\’s settled in what was known as Irish Town in Queanbeyan (now Booth Street), and another six children were born. Thomas found employment on the construction of Saint Benedicts Convent, and worked there for fifteen years. He was well known for the plinth and lath work (way that put ceilings in houses those daysÉlittle strips of timber across the roof and then plastered, often over Hessian). He was still working on the convent when he died on 05 January 1895, at Queanbeyan. His son, Daniel, finished the work on the fences around Saint Benedicts following the death of Thomas. There are many buildings in the district where Thomas and his sons worked, including Byrnes Mill in Balcombe Street, Queanbeyan. Daniel went on to work on Duntroon House, Yarralumla House and other buildings of renown. Daniel\’s son Frederick James McCauley (MBE; JP; MLA) worked as a bricklayer on the old Parliament House, Saint Christopher\’s Church at Manuka, and the Queanbeyan District Hospital, before becoming a member of the ACT Legislative Assembly, where he was sworn in as Deputy Speaker. Frederick was Chairman of the Queanbeyan Hospital Board for 19 years.
In the 140 years since Thomas and Sarah married, 184 persons are known descendents and have carried the McCauley name. A total of 750 are descendents or the spouse of a descendent.