Holdsworth Vick White Arnot Anderson

Madge's year of birth is based on ages provided in the 1901 census and at death. It is an average of the two possible years. Madge Boyle is the mother's name recorded on the marriage certificates of Fanny McCole and her 2 sisters who married in Australia.

Madge's parents were identified from a variety of records. Parental names were recorded on 1878 Sydney immigration shipping records of her daughters, Bridget and Mary. Also recorded was that they had an uncle named Cornelius Boyle in Sydney. He had arrived in 1859 with the support of the Donegal Relief Fund and his shipping records identified his parents as Cornelius and Fanny Boyle. Cornelius Sn was dead.

Died before 1857 when Fanny was found in the Griffith Valuation on a small parcel of land with Michael McBride.

Cornelius Boyle was on the ship, "Lady Elma Bruce" which arrived in Sydney on 14 Jul 1859. When questioned by the Immigration Board he advised that he was the son of Cornelius and Fanny Boyle in Gweedore and while his mother was alive, his father was dead.

It's possible that Fanny died between 1859 when she was alive at the time of her son Cornelius' departure for NSW and 1864 when birth death and death registrations commenced. However, Fanny shared land in Ardnagappary, which includes Middletown, in the 1857 Griffith's Valuation and death of an 80 year old in 1875 in the same area is also her possible death. A Nellie Boyle registered the death. Fanny had a daughter-in-law named Ellen, a name commonly known as Nelly which increases the likelihood that the death is Fannys.

Cornelius Boyle was killed in a railway accident which occurred at night near a sector where rail was being laid. He was one of four men sitting on a railway truck carrying ballast which was one of about 18 in front an steam engine. The coupling between two trucks broke and there was nothing to prevent the trucks from moving at speed down the hill. There was an enormous pile up of trucks and ballast with Cornelius and another killed and a third injured. The fourth jumped to safety.

Cornelius was seeking work and not well known but was identified as being from Gweedore, Ireland and having arrived a week after the wreck of the Dunbar, a ship which carried immigrants, all of whom perished apart from one crew member. Given so much of the population had arrived by ship an event like that would have captured their attention. He was also identified from letters and papers in his pockets. He was considered to be about 40 and a temperate man. Both bodies were very badly mangled. The men were buried in the Haydonton cemetery.

Two inquests were held with many newspapers reporting the accident and inquests. The second inquest was intensively reported in the Singleton Argus and the Upper Hunter General Advocate of June 12th and while readable the image quality is poor.

Cornelius and the other dead man, Hugh McBride, were buried in Haydonton Cemetery. They were unearthed for the second inquest on 5th June 1878.

Groom was from Middletown and bride from Carrickataskin, known as Ardnagappary in formal documentation. John McGarvey and Maggie Doherty were witnesses.