The above photo is the most thrilling thing I have set eyes upon in the twenty five years that I have been doing family history research. It represents the Holy Grail...the very thing that I barely dared to hope existed...a photograph of the first Sheridan immigrants of our family.
Feast your eyes upon Nicholas Sheridan of Ballyheelan and his wife, Bridget McGrath of County Tyrone, and eight of their ten children!!!!
The provenance of the photo is that it has been in the family of Rose Annie Sheridan, the eldest daughter of Nicholas and Bridget. She married widower James Marshall, and this photo eventually found itself in the hands of their son Jock Marshall. After Jock passed away, his wife collected a few photos and posted them to my aunt, Bette Sidebottom, in Yarrawonga. She put the envelope into a draw until two weeks ago when she and my father, Bas Sheridan,(her brother)happened to be chatting about family history. Aunty Bette remembered the envelope of photos, and lent them to Dad to take back to Albury to scan and copy.
A casual phonecall to me was the first inkling I had as to the precious contents of the Marshall package, when Dad mentioned that there was a "terrific" photo of what seemed to be Nicholas and Bridget and their children outside an old weatherboard house. I had to wait an agonising 24 hours for Dad to scan the photo and send it through via email, but my elation was immeasurable when I finally set eyes upon it...it exceeds my wildest dreams.
I have dated it as c. 1880-81...the baby in arms is Thomas Francis Sheridan, who was born in May 1880. The subjects of the photo are as follows:
Back: Left to Right: Bernard "Barney"; Rose Annie; Paddy; Jack; Mary; Nicholas Sheridan(father); Bridget McGrath Sheridan, baby Tom.
Front: Peter, James.
I thought Nicholas was being a bit harsh on little Mary, gripping her upper arm like she's about to do a runner or won't stop wiggling, but then remembered that Mary was very "lame" in one leg...when you look at her, she's standing awkwardly, so I think her father may be helping her to stand. I found that really touching..it brought tears to my eyes looking at Mary's little leg that is obviously shorter than the other one, and her father helping support her.
This photograph really is amazing...finds like this make all of the hours and frustrations worth while!
