Hello Erin and Wendy and Listers
When I refer to 'my Lawler' family, I mean the parents and siblings of my
grandfather, Hugh Lawler. These were James and Esther Lawler, and their
sons, Michael, John, Hugh, Thomas (twin Joseph died as a baby) and James.
(James' father was also James Lawler and Esther's parents were John Joseph
Walsh and Annie Murray: both families came from Co Wicklow.)
Details of where Hugh and his siblings were born came from their marriage
and death certificates from Victoria, Western Australian and New Zealand,
(these are possibly the most informative certificates available.) From
these, I have been able to locate Hugh's parents' marriage in Dublin in
1844, the baptism of their eldest son Michael in Dublin in 1845, and the
births of brothers Thomas & Joseph, 1856, and James, 1961, in London. I
know that Hugh was born in Wales about 1854, and although I have yet to find
a record of this, his family is recorded on the 1851 census which tells us
that his brother John was born in Aberdare about 1849.
Records are available to show that the Lawler family arrived in New Zealand
aboard the Maori in December 1864: they came from the Cape Colony as part of
the Waikato Immigration Scheme: this can be researched online.
There is a listing of the migrants to the Cape Colony in Esme Bull's "Aided
Immigration from Britain to South Africa 1857-1867." Unfortunately, this
does not have any record of the Lawlers arriving in SA, but it does list
them as leaving on the Maori, and this confirms their stay in South Africa.
Both NZ and Australia also offer a marvellous digitisation service of their
newspapers - free. Therein I have found dozens of references that have
given me a solid picture of their lives.
I hope this email answers your question.
Clare
Victoria, Australia