Michael Beggan and Margaret Murphy

Hi Roger,

I was re-visiting this post from just over a year ago and realized that I never thanked you for the information that you provided! Thank you for your response, the information about Michael Beggan's death was very helpful. Since that last post I have been able to connect with several DNA relatives, great grandchildren of  Michael Beggan and Margaret Murphy. I now believe that Michael Beggan was born In 1826, married Margaret Murphy in 1860 and died in 1904 (the document you provided). No one that I have been in cotact with has been able to trace the tree to Michael Beggan's parents and we have not found any other information about his wife Margaret Murphy. I've been fortunate that the surname Beggan is not as common as other Irish names so it has been easier for me to find relatives. Apparenlty it changed from Beggan to Beggins when two children of Michael Beggan and Margaret Murphy moved to the United States. And when the eldest son, Bernard Beggan moved to England the name changed again to Beggin. Anyway, I will continue to search for the parents of Michael Beggan but I just wanted to take a moment and send you a belated thank you for your help! 

Lisa

I stumbled across this thread while researching my great grandmother Catherine Brennan. She was baptised at Rochfortbridge, County Westmeath, on 14 May 1844, and arrived in Townsville, Australia on 17 Nov 1875. From there she made her way to Millchester, now a suburb of Charters Towers, which was then a gold rush town. The gold was mined at Charters Towers and extracted from the ore at Millchester. She married William Turner at Beggan's Family Hotel, Millchester, on 3 Apr 1876. We know there was a Mrs Bernard Beggan who had a  baby in Sep 1877. And there was a C Beggan who donated to the Church of England building fund in 1875. The Beggan who ran the hotels and a local policeman named Beggan were different people, possibly brothers. Presumably one of them was Bernard. C Beggan might have been a wife. My cousin and I recently visited Millchester/Charters Towers and had a good session with the local family history association. We were wondering if William Turner had been in Townsville when Catherine's ship arrived, or if he had gone to Townsville in search of a wife (it was then a two-day trip in a stagecoach). The family history group thought it more likely that Catherine had come to Australia with the express purpose of travelling to Charters Towers in the hope of getting a well-paid job or a gold-rich husband. They thought she might have known the Beggans, which is why they married in that hotel. She may have even been working in the hotel. So I was interested to read that your Beggans came from the next county. I guess that increases the likelihood that she might have known of them before she arrived. Of course, the name Beggan probably comes from St  Bécán, one of the "Twelve Apostles of Ireland", so there may be no connection at all, but I thought you might like to know of some Beggans in Australia -- who didn't change their name to Beggin or Beggins! Geoff Turner, Brisbane Australia.