Alphonsus O’Sullivan

The Luck of the Irish

• 1862 Alphonsus was born in Warrnambool Victoria Australia to James Joseph O’Sullivan aged 29 and his mother Ann who was 30.

• 1886 He married Sarah Gardiner in Bathurst NSW when he was 24

• 1890 Alphonsus (may have been called Lonnie as was the only nickname I found that I liked) is recorded as having lived in Randwick, Sydney in 1890.

• 1893 was the year of the Banking Crisis in Sydney and Alphonsus and Sarah may have had to leave the city to find other opportunities.

• 1903 is the year it all goes wrong. In an article in the Police Gazette for 4th March 1903, while running the Canbelago Working Men’s Club, Alphonsus is summoned for operating without a licence to serve alcohol and running illegal gambling, Lonnie is fined a total of 75 pounds or faces 8 months imprisonment.

• 1904 his death certificate tells that he died of Tuberculosis and is back in Warrnambool with his brother Augustus registering the death. He is only 42.

image_DeathCertificate_OSULLIVAN_Alphonsus_1904

Alphonsus’ father Mr Jas Jos O’Sullivan established the first post office at Dennington near Warrnambool on 5th