I really need help to find my Grandfather please

Question

I am looking for help please to try to trace my grandfather Patrick J. O'Keefe.   I have a copy of his Marriage Certificate dated 18th January 1912 at St Patrick's Cathedral Melbourne Vic.  On there it says he was 31 years old and Born Drouin Victoria.  Married to Margaret Bourke of Burramine Victoria. His Parents names are Patrick O'Keefe and Catherine O'Keefe (nee Nagle).   He is believed to  have had 4 siblings. Michael, Ellen,John and another ?.   I have no idea where HE was born and even if his age is correct.

His parents are believed to be Irish.   Because I'm new at this,  I'm really struggling to find any record of him prior to his marriage to my grandmother.   I'd really appreciate any help or hints anyone can give me please. Thank you.  Maureen

Comments

I see neither Ancestry or Family Search have the answers you are looking for.  But it looks like you may have cousins in the hunt as well.

---

You might add the tag AUSTRALIA to your question so those with knowlege of these sources can help.

---

Thank you

Answer 1

Have you seen his profile on Family Search?

https://www.familysearch.org/tree/person/details/GX76-3ZQ

Comments

No, I haven't

Answer 2

Here is a sourced profile on Ancestry.

https://www.ancestry.com/family-tree/person/tree/63423680/person/222318644768/facts

Answer 3

Ancestry has a profile of Patrick Joseph O'Keefe born Drouin, Victoria in 1881, Father Patrick, mother Byrnes, Married Margaret Bourke, in 1912 in Burramine Victoria, and died Sep 27 1961 in Kew Victoria. Very well sourced. Also records for military service in WWII for Army Citizens Military Forces. Those will be available on the National Australia Archives website. Hope this helps.

Jeanne

P.S Patricks death cert is also availble on this profile. States mothers name as Byrnes. Perhaps the Nagle name is an error.

Comments

This Trove article is possibly Patrick O'Keefe senior, having a little financial trouble.It also mentions an uncle James. I have tried looking for marriages in Victoria, NSW and QLD with no luck. Possibly married before they arrived in Aus.

Patrick O'Keefe of Drouin

---

Wooohoo!!!! I think this is your Patrick and Catherine's marriage in Ireland, What do you think? This tells you that they were in Ireland in 1864 and in Queensland by 1868 at the birth of Ellen. We need to fill in that 4 years.

Name Catherine Byrnes & Patrick O Keefe Marriage Jan 31 1864 288, Killilagh, Clare, Ireland Wife Catherine Byrnes Father Edmond Byrnes Husband Patrick O Keefe Father Michael O Keefe Indexing Project (Batch) Number M70230-4 System Origin Ireland-ODM GS Film number 101455

---

Thank you again Jeanne, you are wonderful and amazing.  I have learnt more about my family from you in the short time we have been communicating than I have in my 76 years.

Over the years, we had been told things  by my father, but there seems to be little fact in it. There were some threads to go on, but not all that much. As I said before, I'm very new at this and have a long way to go,  but can't thank you enough for the help you have given me to set me on the path.   Thank you.    Maureen

---

Hi again Jeanne,    I couldn't find the Trove article that you were referring to regarding financial problems.   

Is there any way I can find out the names of the siblings of Patrick O'Keefe (senior).   I know there was a Dennis and you referred to James, but don't know of any others.

A fair while ago I found an article on Trove about Michael (my grandfather's brother, I think) he was a publican most of his life.  The article referred to a Michael O'Keefe watering down his alcohol at a hotel in Richmond, but I have tried and tried and haven't been able to find it again.

Thank you so much again   Maureen

---

There is a link in that reply  hilighted in green, which gets you the insolvency article. just click on it. Its titled Patrick O'Keefe of Drouin.

---

Thank you ONCE AGAIN Jeanne.   As I've said before you are amazing.    Maureen

---

Hi again Jeanne,  You have been an enormous help to me, so I have another curly query about my  great great grandfather.  John Bourke.  Convict. Transported to Australia on ship Augusta Jessie. 1839. To Norfolk Island.   My question is : Is there anyway I can get a list of the passengers/convicts on that ship. please.

Also birth record of my Grandmother:  Margaret Bourke believed to have been born about 1888 around Burramine  Victoria.  Parents : Thomas & Mary (nee Davis) Bourke

Thank you very much      Maureen

---

Still looking but I'm finding it difficult to get a convict list outside of the Ancestry website for Augusta Jessie. He is 1 of 155 convicts.Here is a page that gives details about the ship and the voyage, along with the surgeons report of the voyage.Just click on the below link

Augusta Jessie 1839

Your Margaret was born in 1882 , see below birth entry link.  Surname is spelt differently which was very common at the time. Not sure which place Yarr stands for as there are 11 places, in victoria that that code could represent. 

Registration number:6401 / 1882 Family name:BURKE, Given name(s):,Margaret , Place of event::YARR, Australia , Mother's name: Mary nee DAVIS , Father's Name: Thomas

---

@Jeanne. I have watched this conversation with interest. I admire the work you are doing to answer this G2G question.

---

Thanks Steve, its a fun challenge.

Answer 4

I could not find any O'Keefe's born in Drouin in a 20 year search of 1880. Perhaps the births were not registered. All I could find was the marriage and death registrations that others have found ie 

1912,01382,,Bourke,Margaret,Okeefe,Patrick James,Burramine,

1912,01382,,Okeefe,Patrick James,Bourke,Margaret,Drouin,

1961,18996,,Okeefe,Patrick Joseph,Patrick,Byrnes,Kew,83,

The age on the death reg indicates birth in 1878.

I also found

1937,03949,,Lacey,Ellen Mary,Okeefe Patrick,Byrne Catherine,E Melbne,69,

1962,14349,,Hannan,Bridget Ann,Okeefe Patrick,Byrnes Catherine,Fitzroy,85,

if that helps.

Comments

Thank you.  I really appreciate your help.

---

Thank you for your help, but I'm finding it a little hard to follow, the way they are written.   I'm not quite understanding the way the names and dates fit together,  sorry.

Thank you

Maureen

---

They are CSV format.
Deaths

year, registration number, gender, surname, first names, father, mother, death place, age, other information,

Marriages

year, registration number, gender, surname, first names, spouse surname, spouse first names, marriage place, other information,

Where there are 2 commas such as ,, it indicates no information (usually gender not stated).

So, with

1912,01382,,Bourke,Margaret,Okeefe,Patrick James,Burramine,

1912,01382,,Okeefe,Patrick James,Bourke,Margaret,Drouin,

the information is reg year 1912, reg number 01382,Margaret Bourke married Patrick James O'Keefe, margaret birthplace Burramine
the next line is from Patrick's perspective, same info but he was born in Drouin.
 

With 

1961,18996,,Okeefe,Patrick Joseph,Patrick,Byrnes,Kew,83,

Reg year 1961, reg number 18996, Patrick Joseph O'Keefe, son of Patrick O'Keefe (although O'Keefe is implied rather than stated in this case) and unknown Byrnes (mothers first name not given when death reg details given), death registered in Kew.

 

---

Thank you Leslie for bringing to my attention a relative I'd never heard of.  Bridget Ann O'Keefe was a sister of my grandfather whom had never been mentioned before.

My grandfather is STILL  a huge mystery, but it was exciting to find that he had a sister I'd never heard of.

Thank you    Maureen

---

Hi Maureen
Bridget's birth
1872,13407,,Okeefe,Bridget Ann,Patrick,Burns Catherine,Aven,

Her marriage

1906,05374,,Hannan,John James,Okeefe,Bridget Ann,Bendigo,

1906,05374,,Hannon,John James,Okeefe,Bridget Ann,Bendigo,reg(R)

1906,05374,,Okeefe,Bridget Ann,Hannan,John James,Avenel,reg(R)

1906,05374,,Okeefe,Bridget Ann,Hannon,John James,Avenel,

---

Thank you

Answer 5

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/9540994?searchTerm=%22patrick%20o%27keefe%22%20drouin Potential tragic story about an incident with his father.

Comments

"resided in Drouin a good many years" would suggest that he was not born there. 23 in 1900 matches with 31 in 1912.

Some good info about family connections in the article. Good find!

---

Thank you,   but from what I have read, in the past,  that is a cousin.   Unfortunately,  the name Patrick was used 'far too many times' over many generations, even to this day.

Thank you

Maureen

---

Apologies, maybe I misunderstood which article.  I thought it was the article about Patrick O'Keefe shooting his brother-in-law.   Is there another one that I have missed

---

No, I was referring to that article. Agreed about the names!

---

Thank you.   Still an interesting bit of history attached to our family,  even if it was only a cousin. Thank you for finding it an pointing it out.  Always glad to get any snippets I can get hold of.

Maureen

Answer 6

Searching PROV I found a divorce in 1899 that could match his parents:
https://prov.vic.gov.au/archive/013C2259-F367-11E9-AE98-DF7FD41F91C6

Comments

Thank you Mike,  I'm not really sure that it's the right Patrick O'Keefe's parents,  but I do thank you for having such a keen eye.  Any help or hints that I can get are gratefully accepted.

Maureen