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| thomas_de_montmorenci_florence_mary_m-p [2024/10/21 15:07] – judith | thomas_de_montmorenci_florence_mary_m-p [2026/07/07 21:22] (current) – judith |
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| **Thomas de Montmorenci M-P and Mary Bundock** | **Thomas de Montmorenci M-P and Mary Bundock** |
| \\ | On 30 August 1902, the year after Florence died, Thomas married 57-year-old Mary Bundock (1845-1924).((BDM, marriage registration no. 5779/1902)) Thomas' young half-brother Robert was reportedly his best man at the wedding.((N.C. Hewitt, 'Early History Recalled', //Northern Star// [Lismore], 9 January 1940.)) The Bundocks and M-Ps were on visiting terms at least from 1880,((Praed papers, Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 1880, OM64-1, 4/2/1-4)) and Thomas de M. M-P had a connection to the area where Mary Bundock's family had a property, Wyangarie, on the Richmond River in northern NSW. Isabel McBryde states that Mary's father owned a property called //Kooralbyn// near Beaudesert (and thus //Maroon//) and also owned //Bulliwallah//, south of Charters Towers, which appears also as a M-P property. One bond between Thomas de M. and Mary was their love of horses. Mary was known as 'a fearless horsewoman, and would ride for miles to set a broken limb or succour a settler in distress in that then sparsely settled district'.((Sydney Morning Herald, 23April 1924,p.10)) Oral history recollections are frequently not-quite-right, and the former description particularly fitted her sister Alice,((Praed papers, Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 1880, OM64-1, 4/2/1-4)) but it is likely both sisters were that way inclined. Another recollection of Mary described her as 'the Florence Nightingale of the Upper Richmond, of whom all the early settlers still speak with affectionate regard. She was a wonderful woman, admired and remembered by all with gratitude.'((N.C. Hewitt, 'Early History Recalled', //Northern Star// [Lismore], 9 January 1940.)) \\ |
| On 30 August 1902, the year after Florence died, Thomas married 57-year-old Mary Bundock (1845-1924).((BDM, marriage registration no. 5779/1902)) Thomas' young step-brother Robert was reportedly his best man at the wedding.((N.C. Hewitt, 'Early History Recalled', //Northern Star// [Lismore], 9 January 1940.)) The Bundocks and M-Ps were on visiting terms at least from 1880,((Praed papers, Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 1880, OM64-1, 4/2/1-4)) and Thomas de M. M-P had a connection to the area where Mary Bundock's family had a property, Wyangarie, on the Richmond River in northern NSW. Isabel McBryde states that Mary's father owned a property called Kooralbyn near Beaudesert (and thus Maroon) and also owned Bulliwallah, south of Charters Towers, which appears also as a M-P property. One bond between Thomas de M. and Mary was their love of horses. Mary was known as 'a fearless horsewoman, and would ride for miles to set a broken limb or succour a settler in distress in that then sparsely settled district'.((Sydney Morning Herald, 23April 1924,p.10)) Oral history recollections are frequently not-quite-right, and the former description particularly fitted her sister Alice,((Praed papers, Nora M-P to Rosa Praed, 1880, OM64-1, 4/2/1-4)) but perhaps both sisters were that way inclined. Another recollection of Mary described her as 'the Florence Nightingale of the Upper Richmond, of whom all the early settlers still speak with affectionate regard. She was a wonderful woman, admired and remembered by all with gratitude.'((N.C. Hewitt, 'Early History Recalled', //Northern Star// [Lismore], 9 January 1940.)) \\ | |
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| The family story((T.A. M-P, pers comm.)) is that it was a marriage based on friendship and trust, to enable Mary to look after Thomas de M.'s soon-to-be orphaned children and Maroon. Thomas de M. was already suffering from the stomach cancer that would kill him four months after the wedding.((Queensland Death certificate 1902/C1918.)) Maroon was struggling due to the prolonged drought, and Thomas B. was only 19 years old, too young to effectively take on such a challenge. His four sisters ranged in age from 23 to 16 years old. Three months after he married Mary, Thomas de M. was described as an 'invalid'; his sister Lizzie and brother Egerton came to Maroon to say goodbye.((//The Telegraph//, 29 November 1902, p.13.)) A month later, on 11 December 1902, he died there.((//SMH// death notice, 16 December 1902; //The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser//, 17 December 1902, p.1614; Queensland Death certificate 1902/C1918.)) Like Florence, he was buried at Maroon but on 25 June 1920, re-interred in the family plot at [[family_burial_site_toowong_cemetery_brisbane|Toowong cemetery]].((Queensland Death certificate 1902/C1918.))\\ | The family story((T.A. M-P, pers comm.)) is that it was a marriage based on friendship and trust, to enable Mary to look after Thomas de M.'s soon-to-be orphaned children and Maroon. Thomas de M. was already suffering from the stomach cancer that would kill him four months after the wedding.((Queensland Death certificate 1902/C1918.)) Maroon was struggling due to the prolonged drought, and Thomas B. was only 19 years old, too young to effectively take on such a challenge. His four sisters ranged in age from 23 to 16 years old. Three months after he married Mary, Thomas de M. was described as an 'invalid'; his sister Lizzie and brother Egerton came to Maroon to say goodbye.((//The Telegraph//, 29 November 1902, p.13.)) A month later, on 11 December 1902, he died there.((//SMH// death notice, 16 December 1902; //The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser//, 17 December 1902, p.1614; Queensland Death certificate 1902/C1918.)) Like Florence, he was buried at Maroon but on 25 June 1920, re-interred in the family plot at [[family_burial_site_toowong_cemetery_brisbane|Toowong cemetery]].((Queensland Death certificate 1902/C1918.))\\ |