Edward B Bourke (Burk or Burke)
b. approx. 1826 in Laois (Queens) Co. IRL Father named as Michael
m. 8 October 1866 Isabella Coburn (Colbourn, Cockburn) in Redfern NSW AUS. Isabella was born in 1830 in Slievenaboley, Co. Down IRL. The oral history is that religion in this catholic to protestant marriage caused some problems and their son Edward James was baptised twice.
d. 3 August 1870 Glebe NSW AUS. He was buried in the Roman Catholic section at Rookwood Cemetery.
He worked as a Drayman and on his death certificate he is listed as a labourer living in Cowper Street Glebe NSW .
With Isabella he had one son Edward James (Ned) Bourke born in 1868. There is an older boy in the family named Robert Bourke born in 1855. Robert Bourke seems to predate his mother’s marriage to Edward B Bourke and even her arrival in Sydney in 1863 but he wasn’t listed as arriving with her. I can’t be sure yet but it looks like he was adopted but treated as if he was Edward B Bourke’s son. The other possibility is that he was Edward’s son from a previous relationship. Robert was buried in the same grave as Isabella int the Church of England Cemetery at Rookwood.
There is an Edward Bourke aged 27 listed as a passenger arriving in Sydney on the Eastern Empire on 26th November 1862 but his county of origin is Tipperary. I haven’t found another Edward Bourke (Burke or Burk) that is a better match.
I have his death certificate, marriage certificate and son's birth certificate but none of them tell me which ship he arrived on nor what parish he was born in. There are quite a few Edward Burkes arriving in Australia in the 1840s, 1850s and 1860s as free and assisted settlers. There is also the chance that he was a convict and arrived in Sydney before 1840,.
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1st Jan 1826 (circa) | |
| Date of Death | 3rd Aug 1870 | |
