Sara Teresa O'TOOLE / MCKEEFRY / MALEY
Born 1867 in Connemara, Galway, Ireland [P124]
Daughter of Patrick O'TOOLE and Mary MCDONOUGH [189]
Arrived in Western Australia at the age of 19 years [4: 9-Aug-1952]
Married (1) James Henry MCKEEFRY in Day Dawn in 1901 [15]
Her husband was a barman in Day Dawn in 1901, and in 1902 was hotelkeeper of the Day Dawn Hotel [6] [39: 4-Jun-1901]
In 1903 her husband was the hotelkeeper of the Rose Hotel on Clifton Street in Lawlers [6] [120: 14-Feb-1903]
Her husband died at their home at the Rose Hotel on 4 February 1903, aged 33 years [120: 14-Feb-1903]
Following her husband's death she inherited his estate, which was valued for probate at £713/18/- [39: 20-Mar-1903]
Hotelkeeper of the Rose Hotel in Lawlers 1903-1909 [39: 25-Aug-190, 19-Jul-1927]
In 1905 she had a two year lease on the hotel from Michael COFFEY and Gerald I. STURROCK of Kathleen Valley [39: 25-Aug-1905]
The owners of the hotel went bankrupt and it was offered for sale by tender, with tenders closing on 4 September 1905 [39: 25-Aug-1905]
At that time or shortly afterwards she must have purchased the hotel as she was its freehold owner by 1908 [86: 19-Jul-1927]
While running the Rose Hotel she got to know Charlie MALEY who was the lessee of the Royal Hotel in Lawlers [39: 19-Jul-1927]
Married (2) "Charlie" Charles Crowther MALEY on Tuesday 19 January 1909 at Saint Mary's Church in Lawlers [120: 6-Mar-1909]
After their marriage her husband was licensee of her Rose Hotel and they hired a manager for his Royal Hotel [39: 19-Jul-1927]
During this time they both lived at the Rose Hotel in Lawlers with her husband also spending time at his farm in Three Springs [39]
She sold her Rose Hotel in Lawlers for £2,000 in May 1910 and then managed her husband's Royal Hotel in Lawlers [39]
In July 1911 they left Lawlers and took up permanent residence on her husband's Parakalia Farm in Three Springs [86: 3-Aug-1911]
Resided with her husband on Parakalia Farm in Three Springs 1911-1921 [19] [39: 19-Jul-1927] [86: 3-Aug-1911]
Following the death of her brother-in-law's wife in 1912 she adopted their two year old niece Ethel M. M. MALEY [P124]
She and her husband spent a night in the Murchison town of Sandstone in February 1912 [404: 15-Feb-1912]
Described "as a lover of tree-growth", she commented the street trees there had been allowed to grow without pruning [404]
Attended the Plain & Fancy Dress Ball in Three Springs on Easter Monday 24 March 1913 dressed as a Milkmaid [9:4-Apr-1913]
Received an ovation when she rose to present the awards for the Three Springs State School on 13 December 1913 [9: 19-Dec-1913]
In July 1916, during the First World War, she received the news that one of her brothers had been Killed in Action [10: 25-Jul-1916]
Organiser of a Kitchen Tea to gather kitchen items for the Dominican Convent in Three Springs in August 1916 [10: 25-Aug-1916]
Chief mourner at the funeral of local farmer G. R. WATSON at the Karrakatta Cemetery in Perth on 6 September 1916 [10: 19-Sep-1916]
Member of the Three Springs Saint Patrick's Day Committee 1917-1920 [124]
Joint Secretary with Charles F. THOMAS of the Three Springs Saint Patrick's Day Committee in 1918[10: 22-Mar-1918]
Collected subscriptions for the Three Springs Saint Patrick's Day Committee - £38/3/- worth in 1919 and £31/16/- in 1920 [124]
Conducted a Bazaar at the Committee's Picnic Race Meeting on 17 March 1920, which made £48/4/6 profit [124]
In 1920 donated case of ginger beer for the refreshment booth, milk and cakes for afternoon tea, cakes and tea for the Ball [124]
In 1918 made yeast buns and sold them eight for a shilling, the proceeds going to the Red Cross Society [10: 19-Apr-1918]
Along with Mrs Maude JAMES ran the Bazaar at the Red Cross Gala Day held in Three Springs on 23 May 1918 [10: 31-May-1918]
Attended May BERRIGAN's 21st Birthday held at the Agricultural Hall in Three Springs on Friday 12 September 1919 [9: 19-Sep-1919]
Won the Ladies Prize at the Euchre Party & Dance held at Mrs Annie DAVIESON's in Carnamah on 8 November 1919 [10]
The prize was a set of perfumes, powder and spray, which she donated back to the organisers of the Euchre Party & Dance [10]
The prize was subsequently raffled off, and as a result raised £3/3/0 for the Carnamah Hall Fund [10: 14-Nov-1919]
After her husband leased the Commonwealth Hotel in Geraldton in 1921 she left Three Springs to manage it [39: 19-Jul-1926]
Manager of the Commonwealth Hotel in Geraldton 1921-1926 [39: 19-Jul-1927] [86: 3-Jul-1926, 19-Jul-1927] [44]
Her husband was the hotel's lessee, she was its manager and the license for the hotel was held by Michael QUAIN [39: 19-Jul-1927]
They appear to have run the hotel as a partnership with she and her husband having a half-share and QUAIN the other half [39]
During her management the hotel made enough to repay £1,900 owing for furniture and a profit of £2,600 [86: 19-Jul-1927]
After their lease expired she and Michael QUAIN held a 'Parting Drink' with patrons at 7 p.m. on 3 July 1926 [86: 3-Jul-1926]
Following the severing of their connection with the Commonwealth Hotel she returned to live in Three Springs [86: 19-Jul-1927]
Back in Three Springs relations became strained between her and her husband [39: 19-Jul-1927]
She requested from her husband her half-share of their partnership "and to be allowed to go away" [39: 19-Jul-1927]
Her husband said he could not grant her request but later agreed to pay her £4 per week if she would go away and leave him free [39]
Her brother-in-law and an investigator caught her husband in bed with a barmaid and he admitted committing adultery [39: 13-Apr-1927]
She was granted a judicial separation from her husband at the Divorce Court in Perth on Tuesday 12 April 1927 [86: 14-Apr-1927]
She went before the Supreme Court in Perth on 17 July 1927 seeking a half-interest in all of her husband's assets [39: 19-Jul-1927]
She claimed and her husband denied that they verbally entered into a partnership around the time of their marriage in 1909 [39]
Two blocks of land she owned in Welshpool were mortgaged to secure their bank account, which was in her husband's name [39]
In the short space of time between their marriage in early 1909 and 1911 she contributed £4,321 to the bank account [39]
The money comprised of £2,000 of profits from her Rose Hotel, £2,000 when the hotel was sold and other smaller amounts [39]
Initially some of this money was used in the development of her husband and his brothers' farmland in Three Springs [39]
Subsequently the money was used to purchase additional farmland in Three Springs and to buy out her husband's two brothers [39]
While managing the Commonwealth Hotel in Geraldton she repaid their bank account £1,900 spent on furniture for the hotel [39]
The hotel then made a profit of £2,600 with half of the profits going to the hotel's licensee Michael QUAIN [39]
She and her husband received their half of £1,300 and she put half of this amount (£650) into their bank account [39]
Due to domestic troubles with her husband she kept the other £650, but on her husband's request later lent him £500 and £150 [39]
After being adjourned the case concluded on 19 July 1920 when she and her husband agreed on a settlement [39: 19 & 20-Jul-1927]
The settlement with her husband wavered any future alimony or maintenance claims irrespective of whether they divorced [39: 20-Jul-1927]
She transferred farmland in Three Springs in her name to her husband, and he un-mortgaged her blocks at Welshpool [39]
Her husband had to pay her £11,000 on terms of £3,000 cash and then the remainder over five years at six percent interest [39]
The money was secured with a mortgage over Parakalia Farm in Three Springs and land her husband owned in Bullsbrook [39]
Her husband had to also take over a £482 debt which was owed to Michael QUAIN who they'd had the hotel in Geraldton with [39]
The case received a lot of attention and was reported in newspapers across Western Australia and every other Australian state [--]
Proprietor of the Shamrock Hotel in Geraldton in partnership with a Mrs HICKEY in 1928 [86: 26-Jul-1928]
In 1928 Ernest A. MYERS was sentenced to three months after committing fraud with a cheque at her hotel [86: 9-Feb-1928]
MYERS had only been trying to feed his family and at the trial she offered to pay his family £1 per week while he was in jail [86]
She sold the licence for the Shamrock Hotel to Daniel HICKEY, with the transfer taking place on 29 August 1928 [86: 30-Aug-1928]
Resided in Geraldton until at least October 1928 when she purchased farmland in Three Springs off her husband [86: 3-Nov-1928]
Farmer & Grazier of Parakalia Farm in Three Springs 1929-1952 [4: 9-Feb-1929] [19]
Around October 1928 she purchased from her husband the 3,315 acre freehold of Parakalia Farm in Three Springs [86: 3-Nov-1928]
Purchased the property through the agency of Joseph CHARLES and paid a little over £9 per acre or a total of about £30,000 [86]
The farm was located within two miles of the Three Springs railway station and was a "highly improved property" [86]
The entire property was cleared, fenced and watered and contained a shearing shed and eight-roomed brick homestead [86]
In addition to electric lighting the "modern eight-roomed homestead" was equipped with "every modern convenience" [86]
In February 1929 she once again returned to Three Springs and took up residence on Parakalia Farm [4: 9-Feb-1929] [39: 7-Feb-1929]
Foundation Member of the Three Springs branch of the Country Women's Association in 1929 [206]
Donated a prize for the Fancy Dress Ball held in Three Springs in aid of the local Anglican Church on 27 June 1929 [4: 6-Jul-1929]
In early November 1929 she was absent from Three Springs on a visit to her property in Dartmoor, near Chapman Valley [4: 9-Nov-1929]
A small fire started on her property on 15 February 1930 and destroyed about 50 acres of feed before being extinguished [4: 1-Mar-1930]
Member of the North Midlands District Hospital Appeal Committee in 1933 [5: 26-May-1933]
Member of the organising committee of the Three Springs Bush Fire Brigade fundraising ball held on 20 November 1933 [5: 10-Nov-1933]
Member of the Three Springs Saint Patrick's Day Committee in 1934 [5: 9-Mar-1934]
Exhibited in the Cattle and Wool sections of the Three Springs Agricultural Society's Annual Show on 13 September 1934 [5: 21-Sep-1934]
In the Cattle section won 1st prizes for Red Poll Cow and One Fat Beast; and in Wool a 2nd for a Medium Wool Merino Fleece [5]
Placed a notice in The Irwin Index in December 1934 that trespassers or fox hunters on her property would be prosecuted [4: 15-Dec-1934]
During the first three weeks of October 1935 sold 240 suckers and four shorn ewes through Elder Smith & Co Ltd [5: 4, 11 & 18-Oct-1935]
The 240 suckers consisted of one sold at 20/-, 60 at 12/10, 41 at 14/1, 19 at 13/-, 37 at 12/4, 23 at 9/4 and 59 at 8/1 per head [5]
The four shorn ewes were sold at 6/- per head, all of which were sold at the Midland Market [5]
In November 1935 sold six bullocks - two for £11/2/6, two for £10/12/6, two for £9/0/6, and one for £8/7/6 [5: 22-Nov-1935]
Sent a floral tribute for the grave of William B. SHERIDAN of Carnamah at the Winchester Cemetery on 27 January 1936 [5: 31-Jan-1936]
Hosted a farewell party for Matron Catherine COFFEY at her home on Parakaliaon Friday 13 March 1936 [5: 20-Mar-1936]
Sold 242 sheep through Elder Smith & Co Ltd with two consignments to the Midland Market in 1936 [5: 25-Sep-1936, 23-Oct-1936]
The sheep were 146 lambs (98 at 12/10, 38 at 10/10, 10 at 9/10), 80 suckers (61 at 17/1, 19 at 15/4) and 16 wethers at 16/10 [5]
Donor to the Athletic Sports run by the North Midlands Zone Council of the Wheatgrowers Union in Three Springs in 1936 [5: 8-Jan-1937]
The Three Springs Road Board District Bush Fire Brigade put out a blaze within 15 yards of her crop in December 1936 [5: 4-Dec-1936]
Organised the Valedictory Social for Miss Rachel M. A. WALLACE held in Three Springs on 15 December 1936 [5: 24-Dec-1936]
Attended the wedding of Richard H. S. JAMES and Rachel M. A. WALLACE in Three Springs on Tuesday 5 January 1937 [5]
After the ceremony she assisted the Mrs Catherine WALLACE host the reception at the WALLACE home in Three Springs [5]
She helped welcome guests dressed in a smart black figured silk frock and carrying a bouquet of red roses [5: 8-Jan-1937]
Hosted the Three Springs Rifle Club's Social Evening at her home on Monday 26 April 1937, which raised £3/8/6 [5: 23-Apr-1937]
Loaned her truck to help cart 80 loads of sand, gravel and stones for the nursing quarters in Three Springs in April 1937 [5: 30-Apr-1937]
Sold 10 porkers (4 at £1/19/6, 3 at £1/15/6, 3 at £1/13/6) through Elder Smith & Co Ltd at Midland Market on 7 July 1937 [5: 9-Jul-1937]
She suffered from dislocated hips and could only walk with the aid of two walking sticks [P124]
A special chair was built for her at the Roman Catholic Church in Three Springs to accommodate her infirmities [P124]
During the Second World War she housed evacuated nuns and students from the Dominican Ladies College in Dongara [P124]
Supported the Dominican Convent in Three Springs by supplying them with meat, milk, eggs and bread [P124]
Enjoyed hosting parties, especially for Christmas dinner when the highlight was the lighting of the plum pudding covered in rum [P124]
She was a very generous person but with a no nonsense personality, and was ahead of her time as a female entrepreneur [P124]
In July 1943 she leased Parakalia Farm to Jeremiah J. CLUNE and temporarily left Three Springs to live in Perth [4: 24-Jul-1943] [201]
Later returned to Three Springs and resided with her adopted daughter Mrs Ethel M. M. SHUTE in the Three Springs townsite [P362]
After an extended holiday to Europe she arrived back in Western Australia in mid October 1950 [4: 14-Oct-1950]
She had departed from London on the steamship Himalaya on 6 September 1950 bound for Fremantle, Western Australia [203]
Passed away at the age of 85 years at the Saint John of God Hospital in Geraldton [4: 9-Aug-1952]
Died 1 August 1952; buried at Utakarra Cemetery in Geraldton, Western Australia (Roman Catholic, Row 37, Plot 6) [26]
Her estate was valued for probate at £28,221/5/8 [39: 21-Jan-1953]
In her will she bequeathed three quarters of her Parakalia Farm in Three Springs to relatives in Western Australia [39]
The remaining quarter of her farm was left to her and brother and sister, who were both still alive and living in Ireland [39]
She also left £500 to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Geraldton for foreign mission work and to assist in the education of priests [39]
Parakalia Farm in Three Springs was sold on Saturday 14 February 1953 to "Fred" Fergus CONNAUGHTON for £42,000 [39]
The sale attracted a large number of people but only a few placed bids to buy the property, with bidding opening at £30,000 [39]
The farm was described as having "a large cropping and grazing capacity" [39: 16-Feb-1953]
An auction was held at Parakalia on 20 February 1953 to sell her estate, which included 19 oil paintings and furniture [4: 7-Feb-1953]
| Reference: Carnamah Historical Society & Museum and North Midlands Project, 'Sara Teresa O'Toole / McKeefry / Maley' in Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs, retrieved 21 November 2024 from www.carnamah.com.au/bio/sara-teresa-otoole [reference list] |
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