Ellen Farrell [c1825-1905]
aka Ellen Taker, Ellen Teager, Ellen Teaguer, Ellen O’Farrell
Daughter of James Farrell and Ellen Kelly
Ellen Taker or Ellen Teager was my great-great-great-grandmother on my mother’s side and the matriarch of the Taker/Teager/Teaguer clan in Australia.
Ellen Taker
1855: Ellen married Jim Taker in Adelaide in February 1855.
1856: Jim and Ellen’s first child – Victoria Julia – was born in Little Bendigo on 13 March 1856.
1857: Jim and Ellen’s second child – Mary Ann Edith – was born on 4 March 1857.
1859: Ellen gave birth to a third child – James – apparently during 1859. Jim was in prison from May 1857 to May 1859.
1860: Jim and Ellen’s fourth child – Ellen – was born during 1860.
1862: Jim and Ellen’s fifth child – Elizabeth Ann – was born on 25 June 1862.
1865: Jim and Ellen’s sixth child – Edward – was born during 1865.
1869: Elizabeth Ann Taker died at the Ballarat Industrial School on 23 May.
Gaol and the Industrial Schools
1866: Ellen appeared in court on 11 April 1866 charged with vagrancy. She and her five children were sentenced to six months gaol. They were transferred to the Prison Hulk Success on 30 April. Jim Taker had been incarcerated there briefly in 1857 [01]. The six-month sentence would have taken them to October, but authority to release them all early was granted on 23 July 1866. They were actually released on remission on 10 August. In October, Ellen and her children were back in court. She took three of the children to an appearance at the Police Court where she asked for them to be cared for as she was unable to support them. She was given 10/- from the poor box and told to bring the children to court the following Monday for a decision.
Ellen Teager
1876: Ellen Teager appeared before the Smythesdale Police Court on 27 October, charged with being drunk and disorderly in a public place at Haddon and with using obscene language. On the bench were B Smith, PM, J F Hughes, JP, and J Keith, JP. The first charge was dismissed and for the second she was fined 5/- plus costs [02] [03].
1879: Ellen was called before the Mayor and J Keith, JP, at the Smythesdale Police Court on 29 July but failed to appear in the case of “Police v Ellen Teagher” for obscene language. Senior-constable Crampton applied for a warrant for her arrest, which was granted. There were two other cases to be heard but neither parties showed: Ellen Teagher v Loo Kim and Loo Kim v Ellen Teagher. No further details about these cases at this stage [04]. Ellen seems to be a repeat offender for obscene language, so it is reasonable to assume that the “Ellen Teagher” is her [05].
Ellen Teager/Teaguer
1880:
“Mrs Teaguer, an old offender, was charged by Constable Daly with obscenity at Haddon on Tuesday morning [7 October 1880] and fined 5/- by Mr Buchanan, JP” [06].
1881: Appearing before Dr Jordan and G J Jones, JP, at the Smythesdale Police Court: on 8 February:
“Ellen Teager was charged by Constable Daly, of Haddon, with making use of obscene language on Saturday, 29th January. Senior-constable Crampton prosecuted in this and following cases. Mrs Ah Tan deposed that the defendant used very bad language on Saturday evening, 29th ult, about 6 o’clock, in the main street of the Chinese camp, Haddon. Theos Williams gave corroborative evidence, and stated that the defendant seemed to be the worse of liquor at the time. Defendant was fined £1, or in default a month’s imprisonment… A separate case of Ellen Teager v Ah Tan, was withdrawn by the plaintiff Teager, and the court adjourned” [07].
1884:
“An elderly woman named Ellen Teager, 60 years of age, was brought into the Hospital on Saturday afternoon [8 November] from Haddon, suffering from a number of extensive burns about the body. Mrs Teager, it appears, was reading in bed, when she fell asleep. The candle set fire to the bedclothes, the bed was soon enveloped in flames, and it was with some difficulty that Mrs Teager was got out of the place. The house was totally destroyed by the fire. The sufferer’s injuries were dressed, and she remained in the institution” [08].
The Mount Alexander Mail elaborated:
“A narrow escape from death by fire occurred at Haddon last Friday night, between ten and eleven o’clock. Just as the men at the No 1 Reform were changing shifts those waiting to go below saw a small building near at hand on fire and hastened to it. On their arrival they found that a Mrs Teager was inside. Mr D Robinson and others rescued the poor woman with much difficulty, having to drag her from the burning house and tear her clothes off and let them burn, the fire having got fast hold of them” [09].
Ellen soon moved to Ararat with her daughter and son-in-law – Victoria Julia and William Ah Hiah – and their children. Victoria died in 1889, William in 1894, and Ellen in 1905. All are buried at the Ararat Cemetery.
Footnotes
| 01⇧ | The Penal Hulks of Williamstown [ 4 April 2024]. |
|---|---|
| 02⇧ | Smythesdale Police Court; The Ballarat Courier, 28 October 1876, p 4 [Trove, 4 April 2024]. |
| 03⇧ | Smythesdale; The Ballarat Star, 28 October 1876, p 3 [Trove, 4 April 2024]. |
| 04⇧ | Smythesdale Police Court; The Ballarat Courier, 30 July 1879, p 4 [Trove, 4 April 2024]. |
| 05⇧ | In the absence of official records, I am assuming that the newspaper has misspelled her surname. The following cases with Loo Kim are interesting, as Ellen’s youngest surviving daughter, also Ellen, had married Lew Kim in 1875. The Lew Kims lived in the Haddon area and had been reported as “Loo Kim” before. |
| 06⇧ | News and Notes; The Ballarat Star, 28 December 1880, p 2 [Trove, 4 April 2024]. |
| 07⇧ | Smythesdale Police Court; The Ballarat Courier, 9 February 1881, p 4 [Trove, 4 April 2024]. |
| 08⇧ | News and Notes; The Ballarat Star, 10 November 1884, p 2 [Trove, 4 April 2024]. |
| 09⇧ | Items of News; Mount Alexander Mail, 11 November 1884, p 2 [Trove, 4 April 2024]. |