Robert McCormick/McCormack (1844-1913)
and Margaret McBlain/McBlane (1841-97)

(last updated 26 February 2023)

Life and times

Born at Colmonell in South Ayrshire in Scotland, Robert - pictured on the left shortly before his death in 1913 - was the eldest son of James McCormick (1821-91), an agricultural labourer who was born at Girvan and died at Kirkoswald in Ayrshire, and Janet Brown (1819-85) who was born at Wigtown in the Dumfries and Galloway region of Scotland and died in Lanarkshire. At the time of the 1851 census Robert, together with his parents and three siblings - james, Nathaniel and Margaret McCormick - were living at Ballockillie Cottage in Kirkoswald in South Ayreshire. He was still with his parents at Kirkoswald in 1861 along with six siblings: Nathan, Margaret, Anne, James, Agness and Jane McCormick. On 13 June 1865, Robert, said on his wedding certificate to be a 21 year-old coal miner, married 'after banns and according to the Forms of the Established Church of Scotland', a 24 year-old domestic servant, Margaret McBlane, at Kilgrammie - where both were then residing - near the coal-mining village of Dailly in South Ayrshire. Their wedding certificate, a copy of which can be seen on Ronice Preston's 'Preston Family Tree' on Ancestry, tells us Margaret's parents were William McBlane, who worked as a miner, and Jane Hamilton. The Scotland census data shows William McBlain was born in Ireland and Jane in Dailly in Ayrshire andcthey and their family were also living at Kilgrammie at the time of Margaret's wedding.

By the time of the 1871 census, Robert, a 27 year-old coalminer who was born at Colmonell, and his wife Margaret McCormick (29, Colmonell) were living at 43 Traffhill Row Dalmellington in East Ayreshire with their two children: Sarah (5) and James (3) both of whom were born at Dailly. The NSW Archives' records of assisted immigrants shows that Robert McCormick (aged 30), his wife Margaret (32) and children Sarah (8), James (5), William (3) and Nathaniel (infant) sailed to New South Wales on the emigrant ship TYBURNIA. The ship's records state the TYBURNIA embarked from Plymouth on 5 July 1874 and arrived at Sydney on 5 October the same year (a voyage of 92 days). Robert and Margaret were both said to be able to read and write (even though they had signed their wedding certificate with a 'mark') and neither had relatives in the colony. This was about to change as accompanying them on the voyage out was Margaret's brother Robert McBlain (a miner aged 36), his wife Margaret (22) and their children Jane (3) and Walter (infant). Margaret's parents were said to be Walter and Mary Bourke from Ayrshire. Both Margaret and Robert McBlain/McBlane would die and be buried at Minmi in Newcastle, she in 1891 and he in 1900.

The birthplaces of Robert and Margaret McCormack's last four children show they also lived at Minmi until at least 1881. The NSW 1891 census has a Robert McCormack, along with six males and three females, living on Anvil Street in the small town of Greta located midway between Maitland and Singleton. Margaret McCormck nee McBlane/McBlain died at Greta on 28 September 1897 and was buried in the local cemetery. She and Robert had nine children five of whom - Sarah McBlane Sladden (1865-1943), James (1868-1947), Agnes (1870-70), William (1872-1953) and Nathaniel McCormack (1874-1944) - were born in Scotland while the remaining four - Janet Brown Sladden (1877-1950), Hamilton (1877-1938), Margaret Mills (1879-1953) and Samuel McCormack (1882-1914) - were born in Australia.

In 1901 Robert re-married, to a widow, Maria Ellen Marsh nee Wood (1865-1951) who later the same year gave birth to their only child, Ellen McCormack (1901-36), at Greta. Ronice Preston tells us Maria and her late husband, James Marsh (1862-98), had ten children the last of whom, Walter Everett Marsh (1897-1975) was born at Greta a year before James' death there. The NSW 1901 census has Robert McCormack, along with four males and four females, still registered as living on Anvil Street in Greta. Not long after Ellen's birth, she and her parents moved to Western Australia where, as detailed below, a number of Robert's children also went to to live. The Australian electoral rolls show Robert, who worked as a miner and later a greengrocer, and Maria were living at Collie, a rural town some 60 kilometres inland from the coastal port of Bunbury, at the time of the 1903, 1906, 1910 and 1913 elections (two of Robert's sons, James and Hamilton McCormack, were also working as miners at Collie in 1903 and 1906). Robert McCormack died at Collie on 26 August 1913. His obituary, published in The Collie Miner four days later reads:

The sad death of Mr Robert McCormack, which took place last Tuesday morning, has removed another of the old pioneer miners of Coliie. The deceased was 68 years of age, and was held in high esteem amongst all sections of the community, having been an ardent Salvation Army worker. A service was conducted at the residence of the deceased in the residential area from whence the funeral took place on Wednesday afternoon, and was largely attended, the Army Band and followers being amongst the mourners. The remains were interred in the Salvation Army portion of the Collie cemetery and Captain Bartlett conducted the service at the graveside.

Among the mourners were a number of Robert's children from his first marriage who placed the following notice in the Western Mail on 5 September 1913: 'McCORMACK - On August 26, 1913, at Collie, WA, Robert McCormack (late of Greta, NSW), beloved father of James McCormack, Cannington; Mrs A. Sladen, Mundijong; Mrs E. Sladden, West Leederville; and Mrs A. E. Mills, Osborne Park'; and in The West Australian on 26 August 1914: 'McCORMACK - In loving memory of our dear father, Robert McCormack, who died at Collie on August 26, 1913 - Inserted by his loving daughter and son-in-law, Janet and Ernest Sladden, West Leederville, WA' and 'McCORMACK - In loving memory of our dear father, Robert McCormack, who departed this life on August 26. 1913, at Collie - Inserted by his loving daughter and son-in-law, Sarah and Arthur Sladden, Mundijong WA'.

Following Robert's death in 1913, Maria married another coalminer, James Rhys Pritchard (1865-1949) in 1914 and lived with him at Collie and later Victoria Parkin Perth until his death there in 1949. Although still to be confirmed, we think she then returned to the Hunter region of NSW where she died at Belmont in 1951. Maria and Robert's only child, Ellen McCormack, then aged 35 years and 'of the Salvation Army Aged Women's Retreat in Fremantle' had died on 26 May 1936 following a collision between a bicycle and a motor cycle on the Stirling Highway at Buckland Hill in Fremantle (The West Australian, 29 May 1936). Members of the family placeed the following notice in the same newspaper on 28 May: 'McCORMACK - On May 26, 1936, as result of an accident, Ellen McCormack, dearly beloved daughter of Mrs Pritchard (Victoria Park), beloved sister of James McCormack (Cannington), Mrs Arthur Sladden (Claremont), Mrs Ernest Sladden (West Leederville), Mr H. McCormack (Perth), Mrs Mills (North Perth), Mrs Goldie (NSW), Mrs Kaiser (NSW), Mrs Charlton (NSW), Mr Robert Marsh (NSW), Mrs W. Marsh (NSW), Mr and Mrs Sandford (Mandurah)'.

Family and descendants: Part 2

5. Nathaniel (Nathan or Nipper) McCormack (1874-1944). Born at Dallmellington in Ayreshire in Scotland on 7 February 1874, the infant Nathaniel sailed with his family from Plymouth in England on the immigrant sailing ship TYBURNIA on the 7th of July the same year. After arriving at Sydney Cove on 5 October 1874, the family proceeded to Newcastle where they first lived in the suburb of Minmi. By the time of the NSW 1891 census, they had moved to Greta, a small town located midway between Maitland and Singleton, where both Nathaniel and his father, Robert McCormack, worked as miners. Nathaniel's mother, Margaret McCormack nee McBlane, died at Greta on 28 September 1897 and was buried in the local cemetery. On 20 April the following year, Nathaniel married a local girl, Louisa Gillard (1878-1930), at the residence of a Mr Seth Wilkinson of Greta. Click here to read about Nathaniel and Louisa's life and times and children and descendants.

6. William McBlane/McBlain McCormack (1872-1953). Born at Kilgrammie near Dailly in Ayrshire, William was just over two years old when he sailed with his parents and three siblings on the emigrant ship TYBURNIA from Plymouth to Sydney to begin life anew in Australia. He spent his childhood years at Minmi in Newcastle and then at Greta where he would later work in the mines. He was also married at Greta, to Jane Maughan (1873-1944) in 1893. Born in Durham in England, Jane, together with her parents and four brothers, sailed to Australia on the TREVELYAN which arrived at Sydney on 31 December 1877. The ship's records show Jane's father was 'Bernip' Maughan, a 30 year-old farm labourer. The family went on to Greta where Burnip worked as a miner until his death there on 14 June 1929. His wife, Jane Whitfield, who was also a native of Durham, died at Cessnock in 1833, aged 71 years. Burnip and Jane's daughter, Jane, and her husband William McCormack also died at Cessnock, she in 1944 and he in 1953. His obituary, published in The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder on 9 October of that year, tells us that until his retirement, William 'was employed as an engine driver at Bellblrd Colliery [where h]e held the world's record for hauling coal with a steam engine - 22,000 tons in 11 days. He was [also] a past board member of the Cessnock District Cooperative Society'. A second obituary in The Newcastle Sun informs us William was also 'an active member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church in which he was an elder', spent most of his working life 'in the mining industry at Minmi, Greta and Cessnock' and 'is survived by four daughters and three sons' (5 October 1953). The following death notice published the same day in the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate reads: 'McCORMACK - The Relatives and Friends of Mr and Mrs R. McCORMACK, Mrs E. SHAW, Miss M. McCORMACK, Mr and Mrs B. BATEY, Mr and Mrs J. BROWN and Mr R. McCORMACK and FAMILIES are respectfully invited to attend the Funeral of their dearly beloved father, father-in-law and grandfather. WILLIAM McBLAIN McCORMACK, to leave his late residence 18 High-st, Cessnock. This Morning, after service commencing at 11 o'clock, for the Seventh Day Adventist Cemetery, Cessnock'.

We believe William and Jane had ten children in all, two of whom - Harry (1895-6) and Joseph McCormack (1900-02) - died young at Greta and Singleton respectively. We know nothing about their fourth son, William Alan McCormack beyond his place and date of birth (Scott Street Greta on 12 July 1904). Two of their other children, Madge (1898-1958) and Victor Hamilton McCormack (1909-59) both of whom died at Cessnock, lived with their parents for most of their lives and seem not to have married. We know a little more about their remaining five children as follows:

6.1) Robert McCormack (1894-71). His military record in the National Archives shows Robert McCormack, a miner aged 21 years who was born at Greta, enlisted in the Australian Army in Sydney on 18 November 1915. His stated NOK was his wife Eliza McCormack c/- the Caledonia Hotel Cessnock (the NSW index of BDMs shows a Robert McCormack married Eliza Willis in Sydney in 1915). It seems that Robert, who was appointed as a Gunner in the 5th Field Artillery Battery, sailed from Sydney on the same day he enlisted. After disembarking at Suez he was transferred to the 14th Field Battery and sent on to France in March 1916. He spent much of his time during the War sick and in hospital and didn't return to Australia until 22 January 1920. The Australian electoral rolls show Robert and Eliza were living in Sydney from at least the time of the second World War until around 1960 when Robert retired and they moved to The Entrance on the NSW Central Coast. Robert died on 13 March 1971 and is buried in the Wamberal Cemetery at Wamberal near Gosford (Lawn 2 Row 1 Plot 49). The widowed Eliza went to live with her daughter at Dunedoo near Dubbo and, later on, at Bonnells Bay on Lake Macquarie in the Greater Newcastle region. She died there on 17 April 1985 and is buried in the Avondale Adventis Cemetery at Cooranbong (Plot M2-D-043). Her grave inscription reads: 'In Loving Memory of Eliza McCormack beloved mother of Robert and Shirley. Grandmother of Grenville, Dale and Lola. Great-grandmother of Nicholas and Luke, aged 87 years'. As Eliza's gravestone records, she and Robert had two children:

1) Robert Wallace Thomas (Bobbie) McCormack (1916-76) who was born at Cessnock and married Melva Nellie Inskip/Stott (1913-83) at North Sydney in 1942. The 'Gunther Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us Melva was born in north Sydney, the daughter of John Edward Inskip and Helen Hilda Hannah Henderson who were married at St Thomas' Church there on 26 April 1913. The Department of Veterans Affairs' WW2 nominal roll shows Bobbie served as a Leading Aircraftman in the RAAF from May 1942 until March 1943. After that he and Melva lived in north Sydney where Bobbie worked as a clerk and where they both died, he in 1976 and she in 1983. They had one child we are aware of.

2) Shirley Joy Margaret McCormack who married Arthur Ernest Hawken (1923-2020) at Dunedoo near Dubbo in 1943 (the year Arthur was attending Avondale College at Cooranbong). The Australian electoral rolls show them living at Cobbora near Dunedoo in 1949, Minyon Falls in 1954, Mullumbimby in 1958 and back at Dunedoo until Arthur's retirement in the early 1970s when they moved to Bonnells Bay on Lake Macquarie. The Ryerson Index shows an Arthur Ernest Hawken, 97 and late of Dunedoo, died on 18 January 2020. His death notice, published in the Dubbo Daily Liberal two days later tells us he was the: 'Dearly beloved husband of Shirley (Deceased). Loving father & father-in-law of Grenville & Eve, Dale & Vicki, Lola & Ron Shanks and Sharon (Deceased)'. Along with their daughter Sharon he is buried in the Dunedoo Cemetery.

6.2) Elsie McCormack (1896-1972). Born at Wickham in Newcastle, Elsie married Raymond David Kerr (Dave) Shaw (1886-1932) at Greta on 23 July 1929. Dave's parents were an Irishman, Samuel John Shaw (1852-1902), and Jemima Catherine Hawley (1856-1939), who were married in Sydney in 1882. They later moved to the Newcastle region where Jemima had been born and where both died, he in 1902 and she in 1939. His military record in the National Archives shows 2450 Raymond David Kerr Shaw, a 29 year-old miner who was born at Greta, enlisted in the Australian Army at West Maitland on 25 September 1915 (NOK Jemima Shaw of Park Street Greta). Allocated to the 4th reinforcements for the 30th Battalion, Dave sailed from Sydney on 14 March 1916 bound for Egypt. There he embarked from Alexandria on the IVENIA on 21 June 1916 and disembarked at Marseiles eight days later. He spent the second half of 1917 in hospital in France and later England (at the Norfolk War Hospital) suffering from trench fever. He rejoined his battalion in January 1918 and RTA on the DURHAM which sailed from Liverpool in England on 22 May 1919.

As reported in The Maitland Daily Mercury, Dave Shaw died at Greta on 9 March 1932: 'A highly respected and well-known Identity of Greta, Mr Raymond David Shaw, passed away at the Maltland Hospital on Wednesday afternoon, after a short illness. The cause of death was double pneumonla. Deceased had been gassed at the war, and this did not help in resisting the disease. He was 44 years of age, and leaves a sorrowing wldow, and two young children. He was a popular personality, and in his younger days was a noted footballer. The funeral took place from his late residence in Little Park-street, on Thursday afternoon, and was largely attended. The returned soldiers, marshalled by Mr Geo. Brooker, headed the procession. The coffin, which was draped with the colours of the 30th Battalion, was first taken to the Church of England, and thence to the local cemetery . . . The chief mourners were Wife, Mother, Mrs. N. Cobcroft (sister), Andrew and William (brothers) and Mrs W. McCormack (mother-In-law)' (12 March 1932). The Find a Grave website shows Dave is buried in the Greta Cemetery (Row G, Plot 77) along with his 'beloved son' Victor Leslie Shaw who died on 10 July 1939 aged 8 years and four months. On 10 June 1946, the family published the following 'In MEMORIUM' notice in the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate: 'SHAW - In loving memory of our darIlng son and brother, Victor Leslie Shaw, who passed away June 10 1939 . . . As he lies in peaceful sleep His memory we will always keep. Sadly missed by his loving mother, brother, sister, Greta'.

The 1958 electoral roll shows Elsie was living on Park Street in the Branxton area of Greta. Also registered there were an Elsie Nell Shaw, typist, and William Raymond Shaw, factory worker. Elsie jnr and William Raymond were still there in 1972, the year of Elsie's death. The Find a Grave website shows an Elsie Shaw (1896 - 6 Aug 1972) is buried/memorialised at Newcastle Memorial Park Beresfield. William Raymond Shaw, no occupation, was living at Wallsend in Newcastle at the time of the 1980 census. We have not been able to trace him after that. According to the 'Ermer Family Tree' on Ancestry, Elsie Nell Shaw (1932-2010), married Giulio Carlo Ermer (1934-2007) in Sydney in 1960. It adds that Giulio was born at Fiume in Italy and died in the Newcastle suburb of Waratah. Elsie Nell was born at Cessnock and died on the Queensland Gold Coast. They had two children, one male and one female (the 1980 electoral roll shows Elsie Nell, hd, and Gulio Ermer, labourer, living on Private Lane in Estelville in West Wallsend along with a Marc Ermer, cleaner).

6.3) Myra McCormack (1903-54). Born in the Singleton RD of NSW, Myra married Benjamin Batey (1897-1959) at Cessnock in 1924. According to the 'Jack Family Tree' on Ancestry, Benjamin's parents, James Batey (1859-1926) and Elizabeth Chappell (1862-99), were both from England, James from Northumberland and Elizabeth from Bedfordshire. Married in around 1884, they had nine children between then and 1899, the first two in Durham in England and the remainder at West Wallsend in Newcastle in NSW. His military file in the National Archives shows 21 year-old Benjamin Batey, a wheeler by trade and born at West Wallsend, enlisted in the Australian Army at Newcastle on 1 October 1917. Allocated to the engineer reinforcements, he was discharged on 5 December the same year for being underage and enlisting without his parents' consent. The Australian electoral rolls show Benjamin later worked as a labourer and he and Myra lived at Cessnock until their respective deaths there in 1959 and 1954. The Find a Grave website shows they are buried together in the Cessnock Cemetery (Presbyterian Section 7, Row 5, Lot 13). Buried next to them is their daughter, Elsie Nola Lomas nee Batey (1927-75) and a grand-daughter, Gail Dianne Lomas (1952-3).

We believe Myra and Benjamin Batey had four children: Harold Leslie (1926-91), Elsie Nola (1927-75), Myra Joan (1935-2009) and Benjamin William Batey (who died in Sydney in 1988). We don't know if either of the sons married or had partners. The 'Lomas family Tree' on Ancestry tells us Elsie Nola married Neville Mervyn Lomas (1921-84) at Cessnock in 1946. The youngest of 14 children of Patterson-born Edward Lomas (1874-1941) and Wollombi-born Ellen Frances Amelia Hamilton (1874-1958), Neville served as a private soldier in the 2/31st Australian Infantry Battalion between June 1941 and January 1946. After the War, he and Elsie lived at Cessnock where Neville worked as a railway employee and later as a contractor. As described above, she died and is buried at Cessnock. We think Neville is buried at Newcastle Memorial Park in Beresfield although that has still to be confirmed. According to the 'Lomas Family Tree', they had seven children: Gail Dianne (1952-53), John Neville (1954-2006) who died in Canberra, and five others (three males and two females). The NSW index of BDMs shows Myra Joan Batey married a surveyor's assistant, Leslie Arthur Wakeman, in the Cessnock RD in 1956. They lived together at 65 Desmond Street in Cessnock until around 1977 when Myra began working as a nurse at Allandale Hospital. The 1980 electoral roll shows Les, along with an Ian Leslie Wakeman, mechanic, still living at 65 Desmond Street while Myra was residing at 38 Pokolbin Street Kearsley. The Cessnock City Council Burial Register shows a Myra Joan Wakeman, born 29 December 1935 and died 1 November 2009, is buried in the Gordon Williams Memorial Cemetery at Aberdare (General, Section: 2, Lot: 60).

6.4) George William McCormack (1905-48). Born at Charlestown in Newcastle, George married Margaret Wilson Wardell Jones, eldest daughter of Thomas Jones (1880-1946) and Janet Summers (1886-1972), at Cessnock in 1927. In 1932 George and another man, who had been drinking, were charged with assaulting a man known to them in a camp in south Cessnock. McCormack was sentenced to six months' hard labour, sentence to be suspended on accused entering into a surety of £30 and to be of good behaviour for 12 months. He was again in Court in 1938 and 1939 charged with drunken and offensive behaviour. By this time he and Margaret had separated and George was living with his parents and siblings on High Street in Cessnock. The Department of DVA's WW2 nominal roll shows a George McCormack, born at Redhead in Newcastle on 30 July 1905, enlisted in the Australian Army there on 20 June 1940. He was then living at Cessnock and gave as his NOK William McCormack. He was discharged on 29 March 1945 at which time he was a private soldier in HQ GUARD Battalion. The NSW index of BDMs show George died in the Concord registration district of Sydney in 1948. Ancestry's Index to deceased estate files tells us he died on 27 May 1948, was working as a tramway employee and was residing in North Sydney. He is buried in the Rookwood Cemetery (Zone A Presbyterian Section 05F, Grave 978).

According to the 'Shelby Kennedy Family Tree' on Ancestry, George and Margaret had a daughter who married Clive Aubrey Warden (the NSW index of BDMs shows a Clive Aubrey Warden married Joan Veronica McCormack at Marrackville in Sydney in 1948). The DVA's WW2 nominal roll tells us Clive was born at Petersham in Sydney on 17 February 1921 and served in the 1st Air Maintenance Company Australian Army Service Corps in New Guinea where, in April 1944, he was awarded an MID for 'exceptional services in the field'. The Australian electoral rolls show that after their marriage, Clive and Joan lived at different times at Revesby in Sydney and Gosford on the NSW Central Coast. The 'Shelby Kennedy Family Tree' tells us Clive died at Gosford in 2001 he and Joan had two children: Michael John Warden (1951-2011) and one other (female). Michael John Warden was said to have died in Tasmania, was twice married and had two children.

6.5) Olive Irene McCormack (1906-96). Born at Redhead in Greater Newcastle, Olive married James Brown (1906-69) at Cessnock in 1925. Born at nearby Bellbird, James' parents were John Brown (1879-1924) and Nora Baillie (1879-1967) who were married at Lambton in Newcastle in 1898 and had four girls in addition to James. John Brown was born in Scotland and worked in the coal mining industry there before emigrating to Australia where he was employed as deputy manager and then manager of the Aberdare collieries. He died in September 1923, a victim of the Bellbird Mine disaster in which an underground explosion and subsequent fires took the lives of 21 men. In a statement at the time, the local MLA and former president of the Miners' Federation described john 'as a very fair man to work under, and a most capable manager. His death had removed a man of sterling worth and character. The men would have taken any risk to rescue him . . . if there had remained the slightest chance of success (Sydney Morning Herald, 3 September 1923). John's body was not recovered until July the followingm year. A report in the Sydney Mail tells us his funeral 'was very numerously attended, and was an impressive spectacle' (2 July 1924). He is buried in the Cessnock Cemetery (Presbyterian Section 2, Row 3, Lot 22). His wife Nora, who hailed from Bendigo in Victoria, died in November 1967 and is buried next to John.

The Australian electoral rolls show James Brown, who was working as a bread carter, and Olive were living on David Street in Cessnock at the time of the 1934 election. The DVA's WW2 nominal roll shows N288350 James Brown, born at Cessnock on 4 January 1906, enlisted in the Australian Army at Cessnock on 29 March 1942 (NOK Olive Brown). He was discharged on 17 January 1944 at which time has was serving as a private soldier in the 20th Battalion VDC. The post-War electoral rolls show James and Olive living in Sydney, at Darling Harbour in 1949 and 1953, and then Tempe where James, who was then working as a carpenter, died in 1969. Olive returned to Newcastle where her and Jame's daughter and her family were living in the suburb of Toronto. The Ryerson Index tells us that Olive Irene Brown, 90 and late of Toronto , died on 19 December 1996.

What of her and James' daughter? Born at Cessnock, Joyce Brown (1925-2005) married George Kidd jnr (1924-99) there in 1947. According to the 'Kidd Family Tree' on Ancestry, George's parents were a Durham-born couple, George Kidd snr (1893-1984) and Matilda Pletts (1895-1977), who emigrated to Australia in the early 1920s. They had six children in all, one in England and the remainder in New South Wales. The Australian electoral rolls show George senior worked as a miner and he and Matilda lived at Buttaba on the edge of Lake Macquarie. While still to be confirmed, we believe his and Matilda's ashes are located in Newcastle Memorial Park at Beresfield (Plots E G W 13/2 O/29 and 30). George Kidd jnr also served in the 20th Battalion VDC during the second World War (from February 1942 until September 1945). He also worked as a miner at least until the late 1960s after which the electoral rolls describe him as a shiftman. As mentioned earlier, he and Joyce lived in the Newcastle suburb of Toronto where, according to The 'Brown/McCormack/Kidd Family Tree' on Ancestry, they had three children. These would have included a Stephen George Kidd, who was registered as living with them at Toronto at the time of the 1977 and 1980 elections and was then serving as a member of Australia's armed forces. The Ryerson Index tells us George died on 19 March 1999 and Joyce, aged 79 and late of Toronto, on 16 June 2005.

7. Hamilton McCormack (1877-1938). Born at Minmi in Newcastle, Hamilton, along with his father and brother James, was working as a miner at Collie in Western Australia when he married Margaret Carrie Sharp (1887-1972) at her parent's residence there on 10 January 1901. Born at Balmain in Sydney, Margaret was the daughter of two Glaswegions, William Aitken Sharp (1860-1938) and Janet Fergus Rankin (1862-1956) who were married at Balmain in 1885. Eight years after their marriage, Margaret sued Hamilton for divorce on the grounds of cruelty and adultery. Her application was granted on 14 June 1910 by which time Hamilton was working as a contractor at Cundering in the West Australian Wheatbelt region. There is some evidence he enlisted in the Australian Army in 1916 and may have served for a time with the 11th Infantry Battalion although we have not been able to confirm that. The Australian electoral rolls show him working as a miner at Fimiston near Kalgoorlie in 1917 and on into the 1920s. By the time of the 1937 election he was living in Fremantle where he died on 25 September 1938. Hamilton McCormack is buried at Karrakatta Cemetery (Presbyterian, Sect HA Gravesite 0651).

Hamilton and Margaret had one child we know of: James McCormack who was born at Collie on 29 July 1902 and married Ivy Elsie Winifred Kirwood (1905-45) at St Mary's Church in North Fremantle on 21 December 1930. Born at Fremantle Ivy was the daughter of two Victorians, Hubert Victor Kirwood (1879-1962) and Annie May Carson (1885-1945) who were married there in 1898. Ivy and James, who was working as a miner, lived at Kalgoorlie from the time of their marriage until the early 1940s when they moved to Fremantle where, in 1943, James was working as a boiler maker's assistant. The Department of Veterans Affairs' WW2 nominal roll shows while they were in Kalgoorlie, James served in the Australian Army from 10 September 1941 until 19 November 1942. Ivy McCormack nee Kirwood died at Fremantle on 29 March 1945. Her death notice in The West Australian tells us she was the 'dearly beloved wife of James McCormack, of 9 Livingstone-street, Beaconsfield, loved mother of Laelia and Joy; dearly beloved youngest daughter of Mr Hubert and the late Annie Kirwood; loved sister of Audrey and Eddie, fond aunt of Noel. Loved by all'. She was buried in the Fremantle Cemetery (Church of Christ MON GG Plot 0032).

It seems after Ivy's death James began working for the Western Australian Railways and lived and worked for a time at Wagin in the Western Australian Wheatbelt before returning to Perth in the early 1960s (on 25 February 1954, The Wagin Argus and Arthur, Dumbleyung, Lake Grace Express informed its readers that the 'Misses Joy and Laelia McCormack are at present on holidays in the City'). The 1963 electoral roll shows a James McCormack, a WAGR member, living at 5 Battle Street in Mosman Park. The Perth Metropolitan Cemeteries Board website tells us James McCormack, 66 of Mosman Park, died on 21 October 1968 and is buried with Ivy in the Fremantle Cemetery. The WA Reverse Marriage Index shows an Evangeline Joy McCormack married Kevin Albany Beckman in the Kattanning registration district of Western Australia in 1957 and a Laelia May McCormack married Neville Lewis Hoare in Perth in 1958. The 1963 and subsequent electoral rolls have Neville, a traveller, and Laelia Hoare living at 3 Illumbra Street in the Perth suburb of Nollamara along with a Michael James Hoare, attendant, in 1980.

8.Samuel McCormack (1882-1914). Born at Greta, at the time of the 1913 census Samuel was working as a miner and living with his brother, William McBlane McCormack, and his family on High street in Cessnock. Samuel was also a member of the Salvation Army in which capacity he met and married Mary Elizabeth Brown (1887-1974) at Kanyapella near Echuca in Victoria on 13 December of the same year. Their wedding certificate tells us Mary was born at Kanyapella and her parents were Silas Brown, a local farmer, and Mary Ann Atkins. According to Stuart Mullage's family tree on Geneanet, Silas Brown (1844-1916) was born at Gloucestershire in England and married Mary Ann at Mount Prospect in Victoria in 1869. They had nine children between then and 1889: Paul Henry (1870-1), Alfred James (1871-1957), Ruth Emily (1874-1964) - who was a witness to Samuel and Mary's marriage - Bertha Mary (1876-1958), Edwin John (1880-1952), Agnes Amelia (1884-1959), Silas George (1885-1965) and William Ernest Brown (1889-1916). Their youngest son was killed in action in France in 1916 while serving with the 57th Australian Infantry Battalion, the news of which may have contributed to his father's unexpected death at Kanyapella later the same year (Echuca and Moama Advertiser and Farmers' Gazette, 22 August 1916). Following her husband's death, Mary Ann Brown nee Atkins lived in Echuca until her death there in 1947. Her obituary in The Riverine Herald indicates she, too, had a long association with the Salvation Army: 'Oldest Salvationist. The death occurred on Sunday, at the home of her daughter, Mrs McCormick, Murray Street, Echuca, of Mrs Mary A. Brown who had attained her 97th birthday on June 18. She was the oldest Salvationist in the Northern District and had been a member of the Echuca corps for 57 years, having joined in 1890 when it was in charge of Captain Lord . . . Her daughter Mrs McCormick is treasurer of the corps and other members of the family are also associated with the Army' (1 July 1947).

Three months after he married Mary Elizabeth Brown at Kanyapella, Samuel McCormack died and was buried in the Cessnock Cemetery. His headstone reads: 'In Loving Memory of my dear husband Samuel McCormack died 17th March 1914 aged 30 years. Another line is broken in our household brand but a chain is forming in a better land'. As reported in The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder, a Salvation Army Memorial Service 'to the late Bro. Samuel McCormack, [was also] held . . . in the Salvation Army Hall and Anstey's Hall' (27 March 1914). Mary Elizabeth returned to Echuca where she lived with her mother and where her and Samuel's only child, Samuel William McCormack, was born on 11 October 1914. She later lived in Melbourne where, the Find a Grave website informs us, she died at East Malvern on 1 January 1974 and was buried in the Springvale Botanical Crematorium (Banksia, Wall F, Niche 539).

Samuel William (Sam) McCormack (1914-93) grew up in Echuca. As well attending school there he was also involved in various Salvation Army youth activities including the Army's annual young peoples' demonstrations. As described in The Riverine Herald, these would open 'with the congregation singing, to the accompaniment of the band' [such songs as] "Praise God from Whom all Blessings Flow"'. This would be followed by a 'program of community singing, musical Items by the children, interesting dialogues and character sketches. [In the 1928 demonstration] Commandant Cole occupied the chair, and prizes were distributed by Mrs Marls, superintendent. Highest marks were secured by Merle Cole and Sam McCormack' (18 December 1928). The 1936 electoral roll showed Sam working as a shop assistant and living with his mother and grandmother on Echuca's Murray Street. The roll for the following year has him working as a Salvation Army Officer at the Salvation Army Boys Home in Nedlands in Perth. While there he met his future wife, Isabel Mary Little (1916- 2007), who he would marry three years later. According to Stuart Morrison's Wikitree, Isabel was born at Kalangadoo In South Australia the daughter of Franklin John Little and Lucy Lucilla Oates. 'In 1918 after her mother passed away', Stuart tells us, 'Isabel went to live with Aunt Queenie and then returned to live with her father when he married the second time. Isabel attended Millel and Tarpeena schools, worked as a domestic until 1937. She went into the Salvation Army full time at 20. Her first appointment was to Nedlands boys home Western Australia travelling there on the ship Duntroon in 1938'. The electoral rolls show after their marriage, both Sam and Isabel continued working for the Salvation Army in Western Australia and Victoria until their retirement in around 1980 (by which time they were living in the Jolimont area of Subiaco). The Perth Metropolitan Cemeteries Board website indicates they both died while living at Nedlands, Samuel on 16 January 1993 and Isabel on 12 February 2007. Both were cremated at Karrakatta and are memorialised in the Garden of Remembrance there (RC Section, Garden 12, Position 0187).

The 'Lamperd Family Tree' on Ancestry tells us that Samuel and Isabel McCormack had a son, Daryl Franklin McCormack (1944-91), who was born at Box Hill in Melbourne and died in Perth. It adds Daryl married the daughter of Wilfred Alfred Lines and Nellie Mawby and had two children (one male and one female who has five children). The WA Reverse Marriages index shows Daryl Franklin McCormack married Susan Lines in Perth in 1965 and the Perth Metropolitan Cemeteries Board website tells us Daryl Franklin McCormack, 47 of Morley, died on 12 June 1991, was cremated at Karrakatta and is memorialised at Pinneroo Valley Memorial Park (Banksia Court, Garden 8a, Position 0044).