CASEY

My links with this surname are from around Newmarket, north-west County Cork in Ireland. William Casey (c1858-1941) was born there and died in Ballarat North.

William left Ireland soon after he married Ellen Healy (c1859-1899) in Newmarket in May 1877.

William Casey and Ellen Healy Marriage Certificate

It was said that he went first to North America with his new wife and two brothers. A short time later, he, Ellen and one brother moved on to Christchurch, New Zealand. None of this detail has been able to be verified except the arrival in New Zealand.
Ellen and William had 3 children there – Mary (1880-?), Ellen (1882-1950) and Catherine (c1883-1955) – before moving to Australia in 1885. My grandfather William (1885-1953), and two more sisters – Jane (1888-1944) and Johanna (1890-1954) – were born at Penshurst, Victoria.
The family next moved to Ballarat North where five more children were born in seven years, but only one survived beyond 8 months. They were Honora (1892-1893), John St Vista (1893-1894), Patrick (1895-1895), Julia (1896-1974) and Bridget (1899-1899).
William, Ellen and the children who died in Ballarat are all buried in Ballarat New Cemetery, the parents in one grave (RCA 18 16), and the four children in another (RCA 5 44).

Transcript of Ellen Healy (c1859-1899) Death Certificate


After the death of Ellen, William married Alice Lyons in 1905 and they had a daughter Margaret Rose (1907-1989).

William Casey (c1855-1941) Death Certificate

Ginni Swanton’s website www.ginnisw.com has a link to an article on the O’Casey Clan of North Cork and East Kerry. Scroll down on her web page to ‘The O’Casey Clan: Their History’ and click on it, then on ‘The O’Caseys of North Cork and East Kerry’.
Low on page 2 is mentioned a branch of the family in about 1690 which had five sons. From the ensuing text it seems that the fifth son could possibly be my ancestor when the localities in which that branch resided are taken into account.