Susannah McMULLEN, 18341876 (aged 42 years)

Birth 1834

MarriageThomas ROWNEYView this family
1851 (aged 17 years)
Birth of a daughterMary Ann ROWNEY
May 26, 1852 (aged 18 years)
Birth of a daughterAgnes ROWNEY
August 6, 1853 (aged 19 years)
Birth of a daughterClara ROWNEY
May 18, 1855 (aged 21 years)
Birth of a sonEdward ROWNEY
July 5, 1857 (aged 23 years)
Birth of a daughterAlice Beatrice ROWNEY
March 1859 (aged 25 years)

Death of a daughterAlice Beatrice ROWNEY
December 17, 1861 (aged 27 years)
Birth of a sonAdolphus Henry ROWNEY
1861 (aged 27 years)

Birth of a sonWalter ROWNEY
September 25, 1864 (aged 30 years)
Birth of a sonThomas Albert ROWNEY
May 20, 1867 (aged 33 years)
Death of a sonThomas Albert ROWNEY
April 7, 1868 (aged 34 years)
Birth of a sonArthur Leonard Frederick PaddyROWNEY
January 1, 1870 (aged 36 years)
Marriage of a childJohn LANGEVINMary Ann ROWNEYView this family
March 28, 1871 (aged 37 years)
Death of a daughterMary Ann ROWNEY
January 14, 1872 (aged 38 years)
Marriage of a childCharles POULTONAgnes ROWNEYView this family
June 11, 1874 (aged 40 years)
Death of a daughterClara ROWNEY
March 10, 1875 (aged 41 years)
Death December 28, 1876 (aged 42 years)
Family with Thomas ROWNEY
husband
18211902
Birth: 1821 23 25Bedfordshire, England.
Death: May 23, 1902Hopetoun, Vic.
herself
Marriage Marriage1851Walkerville, S.A.
17 months
daughter
18521872
Birth: May 26, 1852 31 18Darley, S.A.
Death: January 14, 1872Adelaide, S.A.
15 months
daughter
18531927
Birth: August 6, 1853 32 19Paradise, S.A.
Death: November 27, 1927Hopetoun, Vic.
22 months
daughter
18551875
Birth: May 18, 1855 34 21Darley, S.A.
Death: March 10, 1875Adelaide, S.A.
2 years
son
18571929
Birth: July 5, 1857 36 23Darley, S.A.
Death: July 15, 1929Caulfield, Vic.
21 months
daughter
18591861
Birth: March 1859 38 25
Death: December 17, 1861Darley, S.A.
3 years
son
4 years
son
18641899
Birth: September 25, 1864 43 30Thorndon Park, S.A.
Death: April 20, 1899Warracknabeal, Vic.
3 years
son
18671868
Birth: May 20, 1867 46 33Paradise, S.A.
Death: April 7, 1868Shepley, S.A.
3 years
son
Death

Bk. 77 p. 418

Note

Very little is known of Susannah McMULLEN. No record has yet been found of her arrival in South Australia. No record has been found of her marriage to Thomas ROWNEY. The births of a number of her children appear to have been unrecorded, and the registrations which were carried out show a considerable variation in her name. Her surname is sometimes given as McMULLEN, McCULLEN, or McMILLAN. It is probably fair to say that she was illiterate, but even so there seems to be a remarkable scarcity of information about her.

One speculative hypothesis could be that Susannah might have been an aboriginal, or part-aboriginal. Her date of birth would have approximately coincided with the early colonial settlement of the Adelaide area. Her name does not appear to be an obvious aboriginal name, however it does sound like it could be an Anglicised interpretation of an aboriginal name. This would also help explain the appearance of some possible aboriginal features in some of her descendants, which can not otherwise be easily explained. Another possible explanation for this aboriginal influence could be that Susannah and Thomas may have adopted or fostered some aboriginal children into their family. This would also account for the paucity of birth information for the family. Some of their children's names also suggest some exotic influence. The name Adolphus in particular sounds like it could have arisen in a Lutheran missionary environment. It is perhaps worth noting that there was a special school for aboriginals established at Walkerville (SA) where Thomas ROWNEY and Susannah were understood to have been married. None of this speculation about Susannah, or her family, can be supported by any known evidence however.

It is also possible Susannah may have been German herself. There were many Germans in early South Australia and it was not uncommon for them to have Scots surnames due to a wave of migration from Scotland to Germany a few decades before. The names of her children really do suggest a German influence of some kind.

Susannah's death in 1876, at the age of 42, was registered in Adelaide (SA), but unfortunately the South Australian death registrations do not contain much information of genealogical value.