Patrick Noonan was a farmer from Mutdapilly outside of Ipswich, Queensland, and was one of the most unfortunate people in history. I told a version of this story on West Bremer Radio.

In 1873, Noonan was taken to court by George Dowden who was Ipswich’s first cabinet maker and upholsterer, one of the first undertakers, and the first undertaker in Australia to actually die on the job. 

It didn’t seem really fair, but the upshot was that when Noonan married the widow Ellen Collins in 1868, he also became responsible for the funeral costs of her first husband who had died two years earlier.

While the late husband John Collins had been killed by the wheel of his dray running over him near the One Mile Bridge, the death of Ellen’s former brother-in-law Patrick Collins had been even more dramatic. In 1872 he was hanged in a sickening spectacle at the Brisbane Gaol on Petrie Terrace for murder. Collins was dropped an excessive eleven feet from the gallows with a nauseating result.

Anyway, Patrick Noonan married Ellen and took on raising her two Collins children, and together they had three more.

But when his seventeen-year-old daughter Mary gave birth to an illegitimate child in 1886, Noonan was back in court, this time suing the alleged father Michael Doolan for breach of promise of marriage.

Despite Mary’s uncle, half-brother, mother, and the alleged father’s cousin, all testifying that he had told them he would marry the girl, Doolan denied it. In any case, the court ordered that Noonan’s daughter Mary be paid seven shillings per week for twelve months.

Noonan’s unfortunate experiences didn’t end there.

During the Ipswich floods of 1887 (top picture), Noonan, his wife Ellen, three children and a grandchild, made efforts to reach safety. As soon as the waters reached their home, Noonan took the two youngest children in his arms. They were his seven-year-old daughter Norah and nine-month-old grandson Michael who was the child of his daughter Mary.

Noonan waded through the water toward higher ground. He was followed by the others, with his wife Ellen bringing up the rear. By this time the water was several feet deep, and Noonan had not gone far when he was struck heavily by a passing log. Both children were knocked from his grasp, and they were not seen alive again.

The current got stronger, and those who remained alive had enormous difficulty in reaching safety. When last seen alive, Noonan’s wife Ellen was clinging to a tree. Ellen had survived the Irish Famine in County Tipperary as a girl only to succumb to Australian floods.

So on that awful day in 1887, Noonan had lost his wife, daughter, and grandson, all of whom perished virtually within his grasp.

Noonan’s life continued to be cursed.

In 1914 just before the First World War, Noonan’s son Thomas was still a young man when he died of a heart attack in North Ipswich after running to catch his train to work. 

And then during the war in 1918, Noonan’s grandson Clifford Phister – he was another son of Noonan’s daughter Mary – was a German prisoner of war when he was shot through the head by a German guard while collecting turnips.

Patrick Noonan had lost a grandson in the war, a son before the war, a grandson, daughter, and his wife in the floods, and even had to pay for the funeral of his wife’s first husband whose brother had been hung for murder.

So next time you feel sorry for yourself, just remember the likes of Patrick Noonan – there’s always someone less fortunate.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO A VERSION OF THIS STORY TOLD LIVE ON RADIO.

Photo credits:
Floodwaters rise in the heart of Ipswich, January 1887 – State Library of Queensland.
Ellen Noonan formerly Collins nee O’Brien – uploaded to Find a Grave by Just Jack 3 June 2021.
Ipswich Courthouse c1860 – State Library of Queensland.
Private Clifford Cyril Phister – The Queenslander Pictorial supplement to The Queenslander 1916, State Library of Queensland.