John Leahy
| First name | John |
|---|---|
| Last name | Leahy |
| Country of Origin | Ireland |
| Date of Birth | c1810 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | c1833 |
| Submitted by | Sally E Douglas |
Story
John Sample Leahy (O’Laochdha) was born in the County of Cork, Ireland. It was likely that John and his wife Ellen (McCarthy) Leahy came to Australia on the Bounty Scheme arriving firstly in Sydney. They had their first child Annie on 19 November, 1832 in Kinsale, Cork and sailed away for a promising future in the “new” land at Launceston, Cornwall, Van Diemen’s Land as their second child Margaret was born there in c1833/34.
John was an enterprising man – an Architect like his father John in Ireland. John’s occupation was – Architect, Builder, Stonemason, Plasterer and Publican – living his life in Australia firstly in Van Diemen’s Land and then Portland, Victoria by c1842.
The journey to Australia would have been on a sailing vessel – a very uncomfortable and dangerous voyage of many months. John was probably a hard worker, talented, stubborn and perhaps a typically wild Irishman of those days.
John’s main legacy was with his “occupational skills” – he built the Builders’ Inn at 25 Gawler, Street, Portland by 1May, 1848. Today a plaque on the front of the building is dedicated to John Leahy – Builder. By 1850 John had erected the Builders’ Arms at the north east corner of Percy and Henry Streets, Portland. The Builder’s Arms was unfortunately demolished in 1997 and replaced by a Commonwealth Bank.
The licence of the Builders’ Arms was taken over by a son-in-law James Doueal (husband of Annie Leahy) and in 1856 John Sample Leahy died at home while living next door to James and Annie Doueal.