John MacRae 1836-1906

John MacRae and Elizabeth Ann Loseby's Family

R. Wynne
St. Francis Xavier's (St. Scholastica's) Catholic Church, Berrima, 1966
Photograph 13cm x 9cm
Berrima District Historical & Family History Society

On 23 July 1873, John MacRae aged 36 of Mittagong, married Elizabeth Ann Loseby aged 28 of Bong Bong, according to the rites of the Church of Rome (Roman Catholic Church). The witnesses at their wedding were John's younger brother, Farquhar MacRae, and Sarah Gregg Loseby, the younger sister of Elizabeth, or Ann as she is remembered by the MacRaes. Sarah's middle name, Gregg, being the maiden name of Ann's mother, Mary.

John and Ann's Marriage Certificate records that the wedding took place in Berrima. Although no church is mentioned, as St. Scholastica's was and still is the only Roman Catholic church in Berrima, it is reasonable to conclude that the wedding took place there. St. Scholastica's, known as St. Francis Xavier's since 1880s, still stands.

It is curious that they chose to wed in Berrima as there was a small Roman Catholic chapel in Chapel Lane on Chapel Hill, off Diamond Fields Road, Lower Mittagong. This chapel was situated close by the two properties owned by John's father, Faruqhar MacRae. It seems unlikely that this Chapel had already fallen into disuse. It is believed that John's younger brother and sister, Ewen and Mary Isabella, were wed in this chapel in a double marriage in 1860. Today the chapel no longer stands but the small adjacent cemetery still remains, now referred to as the Marist Brothers cemetery. This cemetery is the last resting place of many of the early MacRaes.

Like John, Ann was not a native born Australian. Ann arrived in the Colony of NSW with her parents and 6 siblings on 15 December 1845 on the ship Tropic. Betsy, as she was called by her father, was just 11 weeks old when they set sail from London on 23 August 1845. Ann's family were from Harby, Leicestershire, England which is approximately 200 kilometres north of London. The first member of the Loseby family to come to Australia was Ann's uncle, Richard Loseby. He arrived as a convict, aged 18, on the Princess Royal over twenty years earlier in 1823. Richard was followed by his brother, Thomas, who as a member of the King's Own 4th Foot Regiment, arrived in March 1832. After his discharge from the army, Thomas joined the police force and was appointed police sergeant for the town of Bong Bong. Richard and Thomas both settled in the Berrima District and prospered. Their success no doubt influenced Charles to follow with his wife and family many years later. Charles was a bootmaker by trade but after purchasing land in Bong Bong took up farming.

Marriage and Family of Elizabeth Ann Loseby (and John MacRae)
from the diary of Elizabeth Ann MacRae

By 1870 John MacRae, had established himself as a farmer. He is found on the 1870 County of Camden Electoral Roll as a leaseholder in Lower Mittagong and he also gave his occupation as farmer for his Marriage Certificate three years later.

Initially, after their wedding John and Ann settled in the Berrima District, most likely on his leasehold property, and their first three children, Kenneth, Charles and Jessie were born. Their other three children Ewen, Colin(1) and Colin(2) were all born in Sydney.

On moving to Sydney, John started up a coachbuilding business. The following illustrations from Driving for pleasure : or, The harness stable and its appointments by Francis T. Underhill, 1896, show the types of horse-driven carriages John would have been building and repairing.

• 
  Cabriolet (cab)
• 
  Buggy (or hooded gig)
• 
  Hansom cab
• 
  Dogcart (four wheeled)
• 
  Vis-a-vis (similar to a sociable)

It was a considerable change John and Elizabeth made from country living to city living, farmer to coachbuilder. Even so, it appears they were happy with their decision as they remained in Sydney until John passed away. Then Ann with Colin, and possibly Ken, returned to the Berrima District but only for a short period.

Kenneth John Alexander MacRae

Kenneth John Alexander MacRae

Kenneth John Alexander MacRae was born on 21 December 1874. According to Ken's Birth Certificate he was born at the town of Bong Bong. However, there is a story in the family that he was born at Bong Bong Street, Bowral.

As his father John MacRae had land in Mittagong, could it be that he was born at Bong Bong Road, Mittagong? Or was he born in Bong Bong at the farm of Charles Losbey, Ann's father?

On the 1903 Electoral Roll for Phillip Ken is listed as living at Abercrombie Street, occupation blacksmith, so it seems mostly likely he was working with his father. After his father's death, it is not known for certain where he lived until his marriage in 1910. As both Elizabeth and Colin where in Bowral and Glenquarry respectively around this time, it is possible that Ken also moved to the Berrima District for a few years.

Did Ken sometimes go by his middle name, John? Could he have opened a business in Bowral after his father passed away?

Is this Ken MacRae's business,
or that of John Nicholas MacRae?

There are a number of advertisements for a Blacksmith, Coachbuilder & Wheelwright business in Bowral, commencing in November 1906 through to October 1908 in the name of John McRae. The record in the council valuation books was also in the name of John McRae. However, later in the 1925 and 1926 Sands Directories, a John McRae is listed at 69 Edward Street, Darlington. Ken purchased the Edward Street property in 1924, so although these listings are in the name of John, this must be Ken. So perhaps the John McRae with business in Bowral is also Ken.

There is another possible owner of this Blacksmith, Coachbuilder & Wheelwright business and that is John Nicholas MacRae, the son of Ewen MacRae and Susanna Fethers.

On 12 January 1910 at St. Benedict's Catholic Church on the corner of Abercrombie street and Broadway, Chippendale, Ken married Laura Mary Regan. Laura was born Laura Griffin on 15 April 1884 in Waterloo. After her father died and her mother remarried, Laura took the surname of her stepfather, John William Regan. For their Marriage Certificate Ken gave his place of residence as 433 Riley Street, Surry Hills, and Laura gave 23 Dick Street, Chippendale, her parents house.

Wedding Bells MacRae - Regan
from the diary of Elizabeth Ann MacRae

By co-incidence St. Benedict's Church was designed by the same English architect, Augustus Pugin, who designed St. Scholastic Catholic Church, Berrima, were Ken's parents were married. Augustus Pugin also designed other churches in Australia but is most famously remembered as the designer of Big Ben tower and the interiors of the Palace of Westminster.

After they married, Laura and Ken lived at 40 Abercrombie Street, Redfern. Sands Directories have listings for them at this address from 1912 to 1924. No. 40, now No. 169, is a few doors south of the former City View Hotel not far from the corner of Vine Street. For a brief time they moved to No. 4 Thomas Street, Redfern, before Ken purchased, in 1924, the property, just a few blocks away, at 69 Edward Street. Both Thomas Street and Edward Street are now in the suburb of Darlington.

On the Certificate of Title for the Edward Street property Ken's designation is Alderman Redfern Council. Ken was a an alderman for Golden Grove Ward from 1924 continuously at least until 1933 and became a Justice of Peace in 1927. For many years Ken was also an employee of the Sydney County Council, later Sydney Municipal Council, in a number of different positions.

Ken and Laura had 10 children, one of which, Laura Therese, died in infancy. It is believed that Laura Therese passed away at the house in Thomas Street. The other children were Mary (Mrs. William B. Finn), Kenneth, Leo, John (Jack), Christopher, Allan, Kathleen (Mrs. John J.O'Hara), Patrick (Pat) and Donald (Don). Seven of their children were born at 40 Abercrombie Street; not the eldest Mary, and not the two youngest, Pat and Don.

Ken was to pass away at the Edward Street house on 11 June 1950 and Laura passed away many years later at Our Lady of Loreto Nursing Home in Strathfield on 2 June 1988, aged 104. Both were buried at Rookwood Catholic Cemetery, together with baby Laura Therese, who died aged 4 months.


Charles Farquhar MacRae

Death of Charles Farquhar MacRae 1900

Charles Farquhar MacRae was born on 28 November 1876 at Mittagong and died of Bright's disease on 10 June 1900 at the home of his parents 67 Abercrombie Street, Redfern. His funeral took place two days later, with his body being transferred to Mittagong and interred with the MacRaes in the Marist Brothers Cemetery, Diamond Fields Road, Lower Mittagong. Charles was aged 23 years.

Jessie Catherine MacRae
Jessie Catherine MacRae was born in Mittagong on 29 June 1878 and died 17 months later on 30 November 1879 in Paddington, Sydney. Sometime after Jessie's birth, in 1878, the family had moved to Sydney.

The first record of John as a coachbuilder in Sydney is in the Paddington Council Assessment books for the year commencing 5 February 1878. The Assessment book of that year lists Thomas and McRae as tenants of a property, with a factory and a house, owned by a William Wainman. There was also a lease agreement between William and Catherine Wainman, on the one side, and W. Thomas and John McRae, on the other. Who was Mr. W. Thomas and how had John come to be in business with him? The answer to these questions we may never know. The Sands Directory of 1879 confirms that they are coachbuilders, with the listing of Thomas, MacCrae and Co., under Carriage and Coach Builders in the Trades and Professions section. The partnership lasted only a few years as in the year commencing 3 February 1880 only McRae is listed at the location. Again in the year commencing 7 February 1882, but this time his full name, John McRae is given, and although he is not the owner, he is the rate payer. Similarly, in the years commencing 6 February 1883 and 5 February 1884.

a selection of advertisements from The Sydney Morning Herald 1879 to 1892

In the Dictionary of Sydney we find that, as early as the 1840s, "What emerged in the suburb [Paddington] was a clear class distinction; the working-class population, located largely on or near the South Head Road and involved in day-by-day activities in their trades - carpenters, stonemasons, builders, blacksmiths, plasterers, fencers, coachbuilders" - who serviced the needs of the locals and the then "emerging gentry in the 'Rushcutters Valley'". This is reflected in Sands Directory listings. During the years that the MacRaes lived at this location, there were living nearby to John MacRae, coachbuilder, three other coachbuilders, Fletcher, McEnerney and Woods, amongst other types of tradesmen including a wheelwright, printer, tailor, sadler, signwriter, painter, plumber, plasterer and a bootmaker.

• Oxford Street Scenes 1869 - 1910
  American and Australasian Photographic Company
  Streetscape at the corner of South Head Road (later named Oxford Street) and Bourke Street, circa 1869-1871
  Photograph ‐ 6.4 x 9.5 cm. ‐ albumen photoprint
  Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW
• Oxford Street Scenes 1869 - 1910
  Johnston's Family Hotel [Oxford Street, Sydney], 1875
  Photograph - 5.7 x 9 cm. - albumen photoprint
  Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW
• Oxford Street Scenes 1869 - 1910
  Junction of Liverpool St. and Oxford St., 1890
  from Chapter V - Sydney in the Twenties, The City of Sydney The Story of its Growth - From its Foundation to Present,
  A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook
• Oxford Street Scenes 1869 - 1910
  Oxford Street at night, circa 1900
  Oversized black and white print
  Sydney Reference Collection, SRC21851
  ArchivePix, © City of Sydney
• Oxford Street Scenes 1869 - 1910
  Oxford Street, 10 August 1910
  Photographic print in album from glass plate negative
  Demolition Books, 1900­-1949, NSCA CRS 51/2981
  ArchivePix, © City of Sydney

The property in Paddington was located, according to the Sands Directories from 1879 to 1883, on Old South Head Road between Hopewell and Comber Streets. Those who know the inner east of Sydney will recognise that this street address no longer exists. This section of Old South Head Road was, at that time, also sometimes referred to as Oxford Street and from 1884 that was how it was known. The 1884 Sands Directory lists John MacRae, coachbuilder, living at 94 Oxford Street. Their house was on the north side of the street just a few doors closer to the city than the Unicorn Hotel which still stands, but now in a newer building, on the corner of Hopewell Street. This property is probably where Nos. 92 and 94 now stand today.

Location of the house in Oxford Street, Paddington
Base: Department of Lands. (1883). City of Sydney section [Paddington] sheet 9, courtesy of the Mitchell Map Collection, State Library of NSW
Inserts: Sands Directory 1884 part 3 and Building Surveyor’s Detail Sheets, 1949-1972, sheet 11 - Paddington
courtesy of the City of Sydney Archives

Ewen Robert MacRae

Ewen Robert MacRae

Ewen Robert MacRae was born at Paddington on 11 May 1882. On the 1903 Electoral Roll for Phillip, Ewen, aged 21, was listed as living at 67 Abercrombie Street, occupation labourer. Was he working with his father? It seems highly likely but there was also work at the nearby Eveleigh railway workshop.

According to Ann's diary, shortly after his father passed away, on 29 April 1907, aged 24, Ewen entered the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart. He would remain with the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, apart from a period of 9 months with the Marist Brothers in 1916, until February 1917.

Ewen died of Bright's disease, on 20 October 1925, and was buried in Rookwood Catholic Cemetery in the same general area of Ken and Laura's graves. Towards the end of his life, Ewen, who became very thin and frail, would sometimes stay at his brother Ken's house. At this time, Ken's older children were known to have expressed their concern fearing when Uncle Ewen left their home that they would not see him again.

Colin Christopher MacRae (1)
The first son of John and Ann's that was christened Colin Christopher MacRae died in infancy aged only nine weeks on 25 January 1886 at Redfern.

By 7 November 1885, when Colin Christopher MacRae (1) was born, the family was living at 77 Abercrombie Street, Redfern. Now this may come as a surprise to those familiar with the old address in Abercrombie Street. In about 1891 the street was renumbered and No. 77 became No. 67 as it is remembered by John descendants. From an 1883 map of Redfern and from the listings in the Sands Directory, there was a large block of land at this location that appears to have included at Nos. 67 to 73. It was also remembered by John's grandson, Leo Benedict MacRae, that John had owned three properties. A number of years John shares this address with another tradesman, such as a blacksmith or a coachpainter, as seen on Sands Directory insert on the map below.

Location of the house in Abercrombie Street, Redfern
Base: Department of Lands. (1883). City of Sydney section [Redfern] sheet 21, courtesy of the Mitchell Map Collection, State Library of NSW
Inserts: Sands Directory 1897 part 5 and Building Surveyor’s Detail Sheets, 1949-1972, sheet 14 - University
courtesy of the City of Sydney Archives

The Certificate of Title for the Abercrombie Street property shows that it was purchased in the name of Elizabeth Ann MacRae on 4 July 1884. There is a story that has been passed down in the family that John went bankrupt due to his customers not paying him for his work. However, there is no record of an official bankruptcy in the Government Gazettes of the time. But the house at Abercrombie Street was in Ann's name and a series of mortgages were taken out over the years. The final mortgagee was Ann's brother, Robert Loseby; mortgage dated 5 December 1889. It was Robert Loseby who sold the property with the transfer taking place 13 July 1905. It is not known what proportion of the property was at that time owned by Ann but no doubt John and Ann would have been left in a difficult situation by the sale of the property. Not only did they lose their house but also the associated coach building and blacksmith workshop. Their sons Ken, Ewen and Colin would also have had to look elsewhere for employment.

Although this area of Sydney in now known as Redfern, the land to the west of the railway line was part of 95 acres granted to William Chippendale in 1819. In the Dictionary of Sydney we find Chippendale described as, "The area was once densely covered in vegetation, with rich alluvial soil and several creeks that discharged into Blackwattle Swamp. Fresh water and ready food supplies made this an attractive area for the Gadigal people [original occupiers of the land], and also for the Europeans."

Around 1827, Thomas Shepherd, a neighbour of Chippendale's and after whom Shepherd Street is named, established a nursery in the area. A short history of Darlington can also be found in the Dictionary of Sydney where it states, "In deference to the governor, Shepherd named the house he built Darling House, and called his business the Darling Nursery. From this came the name Darlington. Shepherd was a leading horticulturalist in Sydney for many years, and street names such as Rose and Ivy refer to the nursery, while Shepherd's experiments with vineyards gave the name to Vine Street."

B.E. Minns
Blackfriars sugar refinery, (detail), undated
Watercolour on silk
Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW

But by the 1830s industry had arrived with a distillery and a brewery on Parramatta Street (now Broadway) and by the 1840s a sugar refinery. Again, the Dictionary of Sydney on Chippendale records that, "In the 1830s and 1840s an increasing number of narrow streets appeared, providing cramped and substandard housing to Chippendale's working families, especially near Parramatta Street and the headwaters of the Blackwattle swamp".

The industrialisation of the area continued. Then, in 1880, building commenced on the Eveleigh railway workshops. A year later nearby land was subdivided into the Golden Grove estate to provide housing for workers and the "last open land, Shepherd's nursery, was subdivided in 1883, and the area was rapidly built out with mean working-class terraces and narrow streets". These same terrace houses are now prized for inner city living. The Eveleigh railway workshops were initially designed for the maintenance and repair of locomotives but by 1907 the first locomotives manufactured in Australia were being produced there.

• Chippendale, Darlington & Redfern Scenes 1870 - 1940
  American & Australasian Photographic Company
  General store and residence, (corner Abercrombie Place [later Street] & Wattle (later Myrtle) Street, Chippendale), circa 1870 - 1875
  Glass photonegative
  Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW
• Chippendale, Darlington & Redfern Scenes 1870 - 1940
  American & Australasian Photographic Company
  Royal Oak Inn (corner Abercrombie Place [later Street] & Wattle [later Myrtle] Street, Chippendale), circa 1870 - 1875
  Glass photonegative
  Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW
• Chippendale, Darlington & Redfern Scenes 1870 - 1940
  Elvy's butchery and residence Codrington Street, Darlington, circa 1890s
  Sepia print
  Sydney Reference Collection, SRC23235
  ArchivePix, © City of Sydney
• Chippendale, Darlington & Redfern Scenes 1870 - 1940
  A. O'Callaghan, 355 Abercrombie Street, Redfern, circa 1900
  Black and white photograph
  NSW State Archives & Records
• Chippendale, Darlington & Redfern Scenes 1870 - 1940
  Workshop of Hallam Coach Builder, Baptist Street, Redfern, circa 1908
  Black and white photograph
  NSW State Archives & Records
• Chippendale, Darlington & Redfern Scenes 1870 - 1940
  Dwellings, Myrtle St (89-­97) Chippendale, circa 1909­-1913
  Black & white photographic print from glass plate original negative
  Demolition books, 1900­-1949, NSCA CRS 51/335
  ArchivePix, © City of Sydney
• Chippendale, Darlington & Redfern Scenes 1870 - 1940
  Eveleigh Hotel card 2 side 2 (detail), 1930
  Photograph
  Archive and Library Collections, Tooth & Company Limited yellow cards - city hotels E, N60-YC-244
  Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Australian National University
• Chippendale, Darlington & Redfern Scenes 1870 - 1940
  Blyths Corner Butchery, NE cnr of Abercrombie Street & Meagher Street, Chippendale, 31 July 1940
  Black & white print
  Sydney Reference Collection, SRC1666. Originally CRS 57/1546
  ArchivePix, © City of Sydney
• Chippendale, Darlington & Redfern Scenes 1870 - 1940
  Bill McConnell's Athletic Club, NW cnr of Abercrombie Street & Meagher Street, Chippendale, 31 July 1940
  Black & white photographic print from glass plate original negative
  Demolition Books, 1900­-1949, NSCA CRS 51/3610
  ArchivePix, © City of Sydney

Colin Christopher MacRae (2)
Colin Christopher MacRae (2) was born at Redfern on 15 February 1888, and like Ken, Colin also worked for the Sydney County Council.

Over the years Colin lived at a number of locations. His first known address was 8 Myrtle Street, Chippendale. This, according to his father's Death Certificate, is where John passed away on 13 October 1906. In Ann's diary it is written that 67 Abercrombie Street was sold on 4 July 1905, only 15 months earlier. Was John visiting Colin at the time or could it have been that John and Ann were living with Colin? In the 1905 and 1906 Sands Directories a Charles Smith is listed at this address so perhaps it was a boarding house or perhaps Colin was sub-letting. This house still stands today.

Sale of 67 Abercrombie Street
from the diary of Elizabeth Ann MacRae

The next record of an address is on the 1913 Electoral Roll for Bowral polling station where he is recorded as living at Fern Hill, working as a labourer. Fern Hill, at Glenquarry near Bowral, was the property of Colin's uncle, Farquhar MacRae. Farquhar passed away in 1912 but the 1913 Electoral Roll shows Farquhar's wife Sarah still living there together with her son Ewen, two daughters Lillian and Laura, and Colin. On the same Electoral Roll Ann (Elizabeth) is listed at Boolwey Street, Bowral. Ann's sister, Sarah Gregg Loseby, purchased a property in Boolwey Street in 1908 so it is most likely that Ann is staying there. It is not known when Ann and Colin moved to the Berrima district. Possibly they moved there shortly after John passed away. Similarly, it is not known exactly when they returned to Sydney.

On 1 September 1915, Colin married Elizabeth Charlton in Sydney. However, the first known street address for Colin in Sydney is not until 1917 when there is a listing in Sands Directory for 364 Bourke Street, Surry Hills. Did Ann return to Sydney with Colin? Was she living with Colin and his wife from 1915? She was certainly there in 1926 as from Ann's Death Certificate it was here at 364 Bourke Street on 20 June 1926 that she passed away. It is also remembered by her family that Ann lived with Colin for sometime. The house at 364 Bourke no longer stands. It and two neighbouring houses have been replaced by a small block of units.

Marriage of Colin C. MacRae and Elizabeth Charlton
and Death of Elizabeth MacRae
from the diary of Elizabeth Ann MacRae

Sadly Colin's time with his first wife Elizabeth was very short. Elizabeth passed away on 23 July 1916 less than a year after they married and was buried in Rookwood Catholic cemetery not too far from Ken and Laura's graves. She was aged 30.

Three years later, on 26 November 1919, Colin married again. His second wife was Johanna (Annie) Flynn. Colin and Annie continued to live at 364 Bourke Street until about 1930, when they moved only a few minutes walk away; around the corner, down a lane and around another corner to 1 Clare Street. The Sands Directories have Colin listed at Bourke Street until 1929 and then at Clare Street until 1933. Similarly City of Sydney Assessment Books have Colin paying rates at Bourke Street in 1918 and from 1924 to 1927 and then Clare Street from 1930 to 1933 and in 1936. The gaps in rate years are due to missing assessment books so mostly likely Colin and Annie lived at Clare Street until at least 1936. Coincidentally, Colin's brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Thomas Tricillian Moore and Mary Ursula Moore nee Flynn, were living at this same address in 1950 when Thomas passed away.

The photograph below show Surry Hills in 1916. It was taken looking south-easterly down Maiden Lane and shows the rear of the houses in Flinders Street, and Gordon Pianos at 40 Flinders Street. Nos. 364 Bourke Street and 1 Clare Street are a few blocks further south, in the top right corner of the photo.

Maiden Lane, Surry Hills,
looking SE showing on the left Gordon's Pianos, 40 Flinders Street, 1 August 1916
Demolition books, 1900­-1949, NSCA CRS 51/4441
ArchivePix, © City of Sydney

On 19 February 1938, Colin purchased the property at 345 Dowling Street, Surry Hills. The Old System Deed for the property shows that he paid the sum of £650. The house stills stand but this address is now known as 345 South Dowling Street, Woolloomooloo. Colin's nephew, Patrick, remembered visiting this house with his parents. It must have been shortly after the property was purchased as Patrick was a young boy at the time. He also remembered being served tea in a china tea set. Something his family never had.

It was here at Dowling Street on 4 October 1945 that Annie passed away. She was 52 years old. Colin died some years later, on 6 January 1954, in the outdoor backyard toilet, intestate. He was aged 65. Both Colin and Annie are buried together at Botany Cemetery which is now known as Eastern Suburbs Memorial Park. After Colin passed away the family was concerned about leaving the property empty so to keep the property secure his nephew, Patrick, stayed there with his new wife, Laureen, until probate came through.

Although Colin married twice there were no children from either of these marriages. Colin had a work relate accident that resulted in a stiff neck and as a result he was nicknamed "Goose-neck".

Death and Burial of John and Ann
Both John and Ann died of heart failure and both died at the residence of their son Colin, although these were two different houses; 8 Myrtle Street, Darlington and 364 Bourke Street, Darlinghurst.

New headstone of John MacRae and his son Charles
arranged by John's grandson Patrick MacRae
made by Patrick's grandson Ben Wood

However, sadly, John and Ann were not buried together. John, as confirmed by his death certificate, was buried at the Marist Brothers Cemetery, Lower Mittagong. It is not known for sure whether John's grave ever had a headstone but if it did, there had been no headstone for sometime. Over the years, his descendants had remembered where he was buried and handed down this information to their children.

Then a few years ago, John's grandson, Patrick, decided to ensure that John's grave was properly marked. With the help of his grandson, Ben, a stonemason, a new headstone was made for both John and John's son Charles. Charles's headstone was also missing. On 18 March 2018, Patrick, with all his children and many other members of his family travelled to Mittagong for the occasion. This date was chosen as it was part of a weekend of events visiting the places of Patrick's early life to celebrate Patrick's 93rd birth.

Ann died just 13 days after her 81st birthday and was buried not far away at the Bong Bong Cemetery.

On her death, the Loseby family requested that Ann be buried in the Loseby family plot in the old Church of England Cemetery at Bong Bong. During her married life, Ann was known to be deeply religious and true to her marriage vows she was a devout Catholic.

It is not clear why Ann's sons did not, at the time, insist on Ann being buried with John and her son Charles at the Roman Catholic Marist Brothers cemetery in Lower Mittagong. I wonder where Ann would have chosen to be buried if she had been given the choice?

Headstone of Elizabeth Ann MacRae

It has been remembered by John descendants that Ann was disowned by her father; being never forgiven by her father for marrying a Catholic. Nonetheless, over the years there was contact between the two families evidenced in the Death Notice of her son Charles (pictured above), a cousin George Farthing-Loseby living nearby in Chippendale who was himself a Catholic, and the fact that Ann was staying with her sister, Sarah, in Bowral after John passed away.

Do you have a story about this family that you would like to contribute? Any comments or corrections? Get in touch.

Many thanks to Patrick MacRae, Helensburgh, and Peter Arthur, Tweed River, for kindly providing background information and supporting documents on the family of John and Elizabeth, and Julie MacRae, Natalie MacRae and Joanne Ryan for photographs.

Mentioned on this page
 ● Farmer, Steve, "Loseby", Surnames index, Farmer Family Website, viewed 02 Dec 2017, http://www.farmergroup.com/personsheet/ps_idx/idx004.htm#LOSEBY
 ● 1870-1871 County of Camden Electoral Roll,Internet History Resources (IHR) NSW Family History Documents, viewed 06 Dec 2017, https://www.ihr.com.au/secure/docimages/camdengif/100.GIF
 ● Underhill, Francis T, 1895, Driving for pleasure : or, The harness stable and its appointments, New York : D. Appleton and company, Plates 68, 72, 81, 124, viewed 03 Feb 2018, https://archive.org/embed/drivingforpleasu00unde
 ● St. Benedict's Church, Looking SW from top of Herald & Sun building on George Street West (Broadway), Sydney Reference Collection, SRC15275, ArchivePix, © City of Sydney, viewed 03 Jan 2018, http://www.photosau.com.au/cos/scripts/home.asp
 ● 1879 - 1885, McRae, Old South Head Road (later Oxford Street), Lower Ward, Paddington Assessment Books, Borough of Paddington, City of Sydney Archives
For Sale advertisements
 ● 1879 'Advertising', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 2 July, p. 9. , viewed 03 Feb 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13437537
 ● 1882 'Advertising', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 5 September, p. 9. , viewed 03 Feb 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28376656
 ● 1884 'Advertising', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 28 June, p. 13. , viewed 03 Feb 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28368696
 ● 1886 'Advertising', Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), 16 July, p. 8. , viewed 03 Feb 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107282013
 ● 1886 'Advertising', Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), 1 November, p. 1. , viewed 03 Feb 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107315303
 ● 1892 'Advertising', Evening News (Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931), 16 February, p. 8. , viewed 03 Feb 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article113760417
 ● Wotherspoon, Garry, 2012, "Paddington", Dictionary of Sydney, viewed 13 Dec 2017, http://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/paddington
 ● Barry, John Arthur, 1902, "Modern Sydney - Junction of Liverpool St. and Oxford St.", The City of Sydney The Story of its Growth - From its Foundation to Present, A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook, Chapter V - Sydney in the Twenties, viewed 07 Feb 2018, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks16/1600981h.html, (see also SRC24668, ArchivePix, City of Sydney Archives, http://www.photosau.com.au/cos/scripts/home.asp)
 ● City of Sydney Archives, "Sands Directory",  viewed 09 Dec 2017, http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/search-our-collections/sands-directory/sands-search
 ● New South Wales. Department of Lands. (1883). City of Sydney section [Paddington] Sheet 9 and [Redfern] Sheet 21, [cartographic material] / lithographed & printed at the Surveyor General's Office Sydney N.S.W. Sydney: Surveyor-General's Office, Mitchell Map Collection, State Library of NSW, viewed 28 Jan 2018, https://primo-slnsw.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=SLNSW_ALMA2193462470002626&context=L&vid=SLNSW&search_scope=EEA&tab=default_tab&lang=en_USdocid=SLNSW_ALMA2193462470002626
 ● City of Sydney – Building Surveyor’s Detail Sheets, 1949-1972, Sheet 11 - Paddington and Sheet 14 - University, Historical Atlas of Sydney, City of Sydney Archives, viewed 06 Jan 2018, http://atlas.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/maps/city-of-sydney-building-surveyors-detail-sheets-1949-1972/
 ● Fitzgerald, Shirley, 2008, "Chippendale", Dictionary of Sydney, viewed 10 Feb 2018, https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/chippendale
 ● Fitzgerald, Shirley, 2008, "Darlington", Dictionary of Sydney, viewed 10 Feb 2018, https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/darlington
 ●  1998, Teaching Heritage: Chronology of Eveleigh Workshops, From Steam Trains to Silicon Chips, NSW Heritage Office, Archived at the Wayback Machine, viewed 10 Feb 2018, http://www.teachingheritage.nsw.edu.au/a_forming/wa2_eveleighchron.html
 ●  1999, Teaching Heritage: Historian’s perspective on the Eveleigh Workshops, NSW Department of Education and Training, Sites and Scenes, Archived at the Wayback Machine, viewed 10 Feb 2018, http://www.teachingheritage.nsw.edu.au/a_forming/wa2_sshist.html
Charles Farquhar MacRae
 ● 1900 'Local and General.', Bowral Free Press and Berrima District Intelligencer (NSW : 1884 - 1901), 13 June, p. 2. , viewed 31 Jan 2018, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124509650
Colin Christopoher MacRae (2)
 ● City of Sydney Archives, "Assessment Books 1845-1948",  viewed 24 Feb 2018, http://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/learn/search-our-collections/house-and-building-histories/assessment-books
Further reading
 ● Andrews, Brian, "St Francis Xavier's Church, Berrima, New South Wales" (pdf/2.3MB), Pugin Foundation of Australia Resources, Pugin Sources, Educational Resources, The Pugin Society, viewed 16 Dec 2017, http://www.thepuginsociety.co.uk/uploads/2/0/5/6/20562880/berrima_essay.pdf
 ● Andrews, Brian, "St Benedict’s Church, Broadway, New South Wale", Pugin Foundation of Australia Resources, Pugin Sources, Educational Resources, The Pugin Society, viewed 04 Feb 2018, http://www.thepuginsociety.co.uk/uploads/2/0/5/6/20562880/broadway_essay.pdf
 ● Barry, John Arthur, 1902, The City of Sydney The Story of its Growth - From its Foundation to Present, A Project Gutenberg of Australia eBook, viewed 07 Feb 2018, http://gutenberg.net.au/ebooks16/1600981h.html
 ● Jervis, James, 1978, "A History of the Berrima District 1798-1973", Sydney, Library of Australian History
 ● HLRV (Historical Lands Record Viewer), NSW Land Registry Services, viewed 06 Sep 2017, http://www.nswlrs.com.au
 ● Evolution of Eveleigh - The Railway Workshops, viewed 17 Feb 2018, http://eveleighstories.com.au/story/evolution-eveleigh-railway-workshops
 ● Terminus, viewed 17 Feb 2018, http://eveleighstories.com.au/story/terminus