The Search for James Taker [c1859-?]

My research into the Teager family had led to the discovery of four children of James and Ellen Teager – Victoria Julia, Mary Ann Edith, Ellen, and Edward. Pauline Rule’s notes about Jim Taker – amongst so much other new information – introduced two further children: James and Elizabeth Ann.

James Taker appears in the record on the birth certificate of his sister, Elizabeth Ann. This is the only birth certificate of the Taker children found so far. Four previous children are listed: Victoria, 7, Mary, 6, James, 4, and Ellen, 2. Elizabeth Ann was born on 25 June 1862 but not registered until 12 January 1863. I am going to assume that the ages recorded were at the date of registration (January 1863) and some “rounding” is involved.

Victoria Julia was born on 13 March 1856, so was 6 years 10 months.

Mary Ann Edith was born on 4 March 1857, so was 5 years 10 month.

If James was about 4, this would place his birth in 1859 or perhaps 1858.

Ellen was probably born in 1860, but I don’t have an exact date.

A further child – Edward – was born in around 1865.

Ellen and five children were sentenced to six months’ gaol for vagrancy in April 1866. In October, Ellen was back in court to ask that four of her five children be sent to Industrial Schools as she was unable to support them. Edward was 1, so would stay with her. Julia (Victoria), Mary Ann, Ellen, and Elizabeth are named in the prison records of April and the Childrens’ Homes indices from October. [02]

What happened to James? Had he died before April 1866?

Reconstructing Jim Taker’s timeline from Pauline’s notes and further research led to the conclusion that James was not Jim Taker’s son. Jim was in prison from May 1857 to May 1859, so could not have fathered a child born in 1858 or 1859. The next child, Ellen, was born in 1860.

So who was the father?

Research of newspaper articles about Jim and Ellen Taker in Trove revealed the answer. It would seem that James was actually the son of a Christopher Maloney. In 1865, Ellen sued Maloney “for neglecting to support an illegitimate child.” Maloney was brought from Batesford, near Geelong, for a court appearance. Appearing before the Police Magistrate and Mr McKean, JP, at the District Court on 21 February:

“Mr Lewis, with Mr McCormack, appeared for the defendant, and asked for exemplary costs, as the plaintiff did not appear and the defendant had been brought all the way from Batesford by the plaintiff, who was a married woman, and the child, for whom she now sued for the first time, was six years old. The defendant was anxious to get the plaintiff before the Court, so that the case might be dismissed at once and for ever. Evidence was given that the plaintiff had been warned on the previous day that she must appear, and that she had promised to do so, after failing in an attempt to extract a compromise. His Worship struck out the case, with three guineas costs” .

The child being 6 years old in 1865 would seem to indicate that the child in question was James. The next questions were: What happened to James after February 1865 and before April 1866? Had some agreement been reached between Ellen and Christopher? Again, had James died?

Another newspaper article seems to have answered those questions.

“Ellen Taker, charged with having no lawful means of support, was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. Five children of the woman were similarly charged, their ages varying from about three years to nine years. They were each sentenced to six months’ imprisonment. James Molony, a child of an ex-constable, was remanded for seven days to be forwarded to his father in Melbourne” .

I had previously seen this article and dismissed the mention of James Molony as a separate case. Now with the connection to Christopher Maloney as being the father of James, despite the apparent mis-spelling, this shows that James (junior) was still with Ellen when she was arrested, but the court decided to assign him to his father. James thus avoided the prison and industrial schools that awaited his siblings.

Christopher Maloney had been a constable in the Ballarat area and for some time had been assigned to the Chinese Protector William Henry Foster . By 1862, he was in Batesford, near Geelong, when the license for the Derwent Hotel was transferred to him.

Footnotes[+]

Footnotes
01⇧	Pauline Rule, Notes on Jim Taker, 8 August 2018. See also The Teager Name.
02⇧	The story about these events will be in my article on Ellen Taker, nee Farrell.
03⇧	Police – District Court; The Ballarat Star, 22 February 1865 Supplement, p 1 [Trove, 4 April 2024].
04⇧	Police; The Ballarat Star, 12 April 1866, p 3 [Trove, 4 April 2024].