Person in this family
Ellen O'Shea
7 January 1865 – 8 March 1930
Ellen O'Shea was born at Walloon, near Ipswich in Queensland, on 7 January 1865, the daughter of John O'Shea and Mary Hefferan. She married William Hickey — who had been born at Walloon himself four years earlier — on 31 August 1887, and they had seven children between 1888 and 1906. She died at Coominya on 8 March 1930, aged 65, and was buried the following afternoon at Ipswich General Cemetery, the funeral moving from St Mary's Roman Catholic Church. Her husband was buried in the next grave seventeen years later, under the same headstone, and their daughter Mary Ellen was cut into it three months after him. Until today this archive knew her only as "an Ellen Hickey", with no maiden name and a birth year two years wrong.
Proved by a record
Ellen Hickey (reportedly about 1867–8 March 1930) appears only in our family tree as William Hickey's wife and the mother of seven children.
Born at Walloon, Queensland, Australia Died at Coominya, Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia
Recorded as: Ellen Hickey, Ellen Shea, Ellen O'Shea Hickey
How is this person related?
Andrew John Leahey’s first cousin three times removed's spouse (by marriage)
Gina D. Cacace’s connected in this tree, but not by a line this tool can name
Abigail Ann Leahey’s first cousin four times removed's spouse (by marriage)
Marie C. Fitzgerald’s first cousin twice removed's spouse (by marriage)
Kevin Leahey’s connected in this tree, but not by a line this tool can name
Worked out from the recorded parents and marriages. No sex is recorded for anyone in this archive, so the wording stays neutral.
How this person is related to Andrew:
Ellen O'Shea is the spouse of your first cousin, 3 times removed.
Life
Ellen Hickey appears only in our family tree. It says she was born about 1867, died on 8 March 1930, married William Hickey, and was the mother of Mary Ellen, John Joseph, Ida Maud, William Michael, Patrick James, Eileen Dorothy, and Cecilia Ann Hickey. No quoted record confirms her name, dates, marriage, maiden name, or children.
How we know this: Almost nothing is established; every available biographical detail is a claim recorded here. [1][2][3]
Photographs
A white marble stone reading IN LOVING MEMORY OF ELLEN HICKEY DIED MARCH 8 1930 AGED 65 YEARS. R.I.P., and beneath it WILLIAM HICKEY DIED SEP. 26 1947 and MARY ELLEN DOLAN DIED DEC. 26 1947. Three of one family in a single grave — Roman Catholic section 2A, row 13, grave 34. The stone is the record that gave this archive Mary Ellen's married name and the first proof of where William was buried.
Photograph by "Anne - here lies" via Find a Grave memorial 186088780
"HICKEY. — Relatives and Friends of Mr. W. HICKEY and FAMILY, are invited to attend the funeral of his deceased wife and their mother, Ellen Hickey, to move from St. Mary's R.C. Church, Ipswich, THIS (Sunday) AFTERNOON, at 2 o'clock, for the Ipswich Cemetery. GEORGE DOWDEN, Undertaker." She had died the day before, at Coominya, and was buried the same afternoon the notice appeared.
Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 9 March 1930, page 2, via Find a Grave memorial 186088780
Family
Parents
Spouse
Children
See this family in the family treeWhere they lived
Use the place list first. The map below is optional.
Places listed on this page
- Walloon, Queensland, Australia
- Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
- Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Ipswich General Cemetery, Ipswich, Queensland, Australia Cemetery or burial place
- Queens, New York City, New York
- Coominya, Somerset Region, Queensland, Australia
The map could not load. The complete place list is above it.
The pins show approximate places. The line only joins them in time order; it does not prove the route travelled. Cemetery and burial places have red pins.
Timeline
Married William Hickey
Queensland marriage registration 1887/B/11701, entered under her name as Ellen Shea. Their first child was born the following June.
Proved by a record
Died at Coominya, Queensland
Aged 65. Queensland death registration 1930/C/514, which names her father as John O'Shea and her mother as Mary Hefferan — the only record of either of them.
Proved by a record
Buried at Ipswich General Cemetery
Roman Catholic section 2A, row 13, grave 34. The funeral moved from St Mary's Roman Catholic Church, Ipswich, at two o'clock on the Sunday afternoon; the undertaker was George Dowden.
Proved by a record
Original records
Ipswich cemetery record, Ellen Hickey
This old record gives information about the person or family named here. It matters on this page because it records information connected with Ellen O'Shea.
The full file is not saved on this site.
Original source (ipswich.discovereverafter.com)
What the records say
3 records transcribed.
Record exhibit
Ellen O'Shea Hickey memorial and headstone, Ipswich General Cemetery, Queensland
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Proved by a record
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
IN LOVING MEMORY OF ELLEN HICKEY DIED MARCH 8 1930 AGED 65 YEARS. R.I.P. WILLIAM HICKEY DIED SEP. 26 1947. MARY ELLEN DOLAN DIED DEC. 26 1947.
Record exhibit
Queensland civil registrations for Ellen O'Shea Hickey
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Partly proved
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
Marriage: Ellen Shea and William Hickey, 31 August 1887, registration 1887/B/11701. Death: Ellen Hickey, 8 March 1930, father John O'Shea, mother Mary Hefferan, registration 1930/C/514.
Record exhibit
Funeral notice for Ellen Hickey, Sunday Mail (Brisbane), 9 March 1930
This old record gives information about the person or family named here.
Proved by a record
Verbatim transcription currently held in this archive — reproduced in full.
HICKEY. — Relatives and Friends of Mr. W. HICKEY and FAMILY, are invited to attend the funeral of his deceased wife and their mother, Ellen Hickey, to move from St. Mary's R.C. Church, Ipswich, THIS (Sunday) AFTERNOON, at 2 o'clock, for the Ipswich Cemetery. GEORGE DOWDEN, Undertaker.
Historical context
These background articles explain the places, work, and events in this entry.
What Sponsors and Witnesses Can Tell Us
Catholic registers often preserve the people standing just outside a family photograph. A baptism normally names the child, parents, date and sponsors or godparents; a marriage normally names the couple and wit…
The Irish Road to Ipswich, Queensland
Most branches on this site point toward New York or New Jersey. The Hickey–McGreevy–McGuire cluster points in the opposite direction, to Ipswich, Queensland. The Australian evidence is uneven: cemetery records …
What we still don't know
- Her maiden name and parents
- Whether the reported 1867–1930 dates are correct
- Whether she married William Hickey and had the reported children
- Her own birth registration in Queensland, which would confirm 7 January 1865 and give her parents a second time.
- [CONFLICT] Her age at death is cut on the stone as 65 and her Find a Grave memorial agrees, but the cemetery inscription index reads 64 and one transcription of the stone reads 66. A birth of 7 January 1865 and a death of 8 March 1930 make her 65, which is what the photograph of the stone shows.