John and Catherine Dunn - Pioneers at Gooramadda 1864 to 1908

(Research by Jack Dunn, Echuca, 1982)

John Dunn was born in Freshford District, County Kilkenny, Ireland in 1833. He was the son of Michael Dunn who was a farmer, and his wife Mary Morrissey. The date of John's arrival in Australia is not known exactly - there were many John Dunns who arrived at that time! There is a story that John and one of his brothers, Thomas, first went from Ireland to the Californian goldfields, and from there John went to Australia with the understanding that Thomas would follow later. Unfortunately, John never again heard from his brother and they presumed Thomas died in one of the mining camps, where outbreaks of disease were common.

After arriving in Australia  John teamed up with a fellow Irishman named Martin Grace and bought land together in Gooramadda. When Martin died in 1875, his death certificate shows that his mother was named Mary Morrissey also, so possibly a family relationship existed between them.

Martin Grace and his wife Bridget (Dalton) arrived in Australia on the ship Tornado in July 1855. They worked for Henry Kelly in Moonee Ponds for 6 months for sixty pounds and rations, before heading north to Gooramadda.

Jointly John Dunn and Martin Grace bought land at Gooramadda in 1860, when the original Gooramadda holding was broken up. The price of the land was about one pound per acre and they purchased about 173 acres between them. They started clearing the land for general farming and planted several acres with fruit trees and grape vines. Periodically they needed to work in the local gold mines to obtain ready cash to purchase farm machinery and live stock such as poultry, sheep, pigs, cattle and horses.

When John married in 1864 the land was evenly divided between John and Martin and they built homes witin several hundred yards of each other. The original homes were constructed from local materials readily available on their own properties, such as bush timber and mud bricks. Later John extended his home with the addition of a brick building. The bricks were hand made by his brother-in-law Thomas Farrell, who was a brickmaker.

John Dunn married Catherine Farrell in Chiltern Catholic Church on 27th July 1864 and their witnesses were William Shelley and Eva Kate McMullens. Catherine came from the village of Muckalee, County Kilkenny, and was born in 1843; she migrated to Australia around 1860 with her sister Margaret and brother Thomas. After arriving in Australia, the Farrells settled in Chiltern where Catherine was employed as a maidservant before she married John.

John and Catherine had seven sons and two daughters (born over 13 years) at Gooramadda. They were Michael (born 1865), John (1867), Edward (1869), Thomas (born 1871 and who married Hannah Butler), Mary (1873), Margaret (who died as an infant), Kyran (1876), James (1877) and William (1878)

John's son Michael once explained to Jack Dunn that John had a good knowledge of building and had built the stable, hay sheds, smithy, creamery, dairy, milking and shearing sheds, and livestock yards himself from timber and posts obtained from his own property. He also built a large shed used as a cellar for making wine from his own grapes.

Catherine died at Gooramadda in 21st May in 1897, aged 54, and John Dunn died there on 23rd January, 1908, aged 65 years - both are buried at the Chiltern new cemetery.

Research by Jack Dunn, Echuca, 1982.