Barraclough Biographies

Henry Barraclough

Born c.1827 Wibsey, near Bradford, Yorkshire.
Possibly died 1890 Boggabri, NSW, Australia

My great-grandfather, Luke Barraclough, has a brother, Henry Barraclough, born about 1827 at Wibsey, near Bradford in Yorkshire. Both were the children of James Barraclough and Hannah Carter. He may to be the Henry Barraclough who arrived in Victoria, Australia, in 1848 aboard the Tasman with his wife, Mary, whose maiden name is given as Dove, a native of Clickerton, Yorkshire. Henry and Mary were married in 1846 at Dewsbury, West Yorkshire. Henry's birthplace is given as Wibsey, which is correct for Luke's brother. With them is their daughter, Selina Tasman, born aboard the ship. Selina dies aged 9 months in 1849.

On 24 Jan 1853 Henry Barraclough marries Mary Ann Fletcher, and Mary Barraclough nee Dove marries Joe Wright. Henry is witness to the marriage of Mary and Joe Wright, and Joe Wright is witness to the marriage of Henry and Mary Ann Fletcher.  The ceremony took place at the Independent Congregational church in Melbourne, and Henry Hison was witness to both marriages. Divorce was not available in Victoria, Australia until 1861.

In 1853 Henry’s brother, Luke, arrives in Victoria as a single man. He meets and lives with Susannah Hignett, and they have a child in Melbourne. Henry and Luke are both working there as brickmakers. In 1855 Luke and Susannah marry at Ballarat, where they are then living. Henry is a witness to the marriage.

Henry and Mary Ann's children born in Melbourne are:

Henrietta, born 1854, Victoria, died aged 1 year in 1855 (registration place"Redg" - may be Richmond)

Price Fletcher, born B'darra (poss. Kew), Melb, Vic 1855, died 1857 in Melbourne.

Lawford Stroud, born Collingwood, Melb, Vic 1857. (the birth certificate states he was born Rose St, Collingwood, which was also the family's address, that Henry was a brickmaker, and previous children were Price Fletcher and one dau. dec.) Mary Ann Fletcher is given as a native of Staffordshire.

Hannah, born Brunswick, Melb, Vic 1859
Ann (who is probably the Hannah, above), died 1860, under 12mths, Castlemaine in 1860

By 1860 Henry and his family are living in Castlemaine, where Henry is a “Medical Botanist”.

Their son, Henry James, is born Castlemaine, Vic 1861

This is a time of tension between doctors and herbalists. In April 1862 Henry is alleged to maladminister to a woman, Mrs Lillycrap, who dies in childbirth having her twelfth child. Allegations against him are made by Dr Thomas McGrath, and despite two subsequent trials, Henry is acquitted. During the evidence it transpires he was a brickmaker working in Melbourne when he was trained by a Melbourne herbalist.

Henry and his family disappear. By 1870 they are living in New Zealand, where Henry and his wife have their last child, Hebe, about 1870. Henry is practicising as a doctor, and is believed by the family to have been a trained doctor. He then disappears, and the family believed he had died when Hebe was "quite young", but no record can be found of his death. His son, Henry James Barraclough, practices in New Zealand as a herbalist.  Mary Ann Barraclough nee Fletcher dies there, at Nelson, in 1880.

However a Doctor Henry Barraclough dies in 1890 in Boggabri, New South Wales. He is unregistered and does not appear to have any qualifications. In 1886 he is listed as having been there for the last ten years, and having practised for twenty years in Australia. On his death he leaves everything to his housekeeper, Bridget McNeil, who provides the information for the death certificate. Little is known about his parentage, with his father thought to have been called Henry, and he was said to have been born in Bradford about 1828. He is said to have had three daughters, names unknown. But his wife's name had been Mary Dove.

Mary Barraclough nee Dove

[Linda] kapana@netspace.net.au

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Last updated on 21 November 2001