Historical information

Irishman John McDonagh and his wife Martha, nee Mathews, arrived at Port Phillip on the ship 'Oliver Lang' in August 1855. They brought with them their first three children: Martha, Jane and Robert, and also two of John McDonagh's nieces: Jane and Isabella McDonagh, whose parents had died in Ireland. The McDonaghs had five more children in Australia. They lived at Linton from the mid-1860s. In the Ballarat Star [newspaper] in 1867, John McDonagh was described as a "sheep and cattle dealer". He was a member of the Woady Yaloak Roads Board, and later a member of the Council of the Shire of Grenville.

John McDonagh died at Linton in 1871. An inquest into his sudden and unexpected death (copy in McDonagh file) concluded he died of apoplexy (= stroke).

Physical description

Sepia photograph.

Inscriptions & markings

"John McDonagh"