Patrick Comerford
I recently received photographs from Kathryn Comerford of Commerfords Lane, a long street in Ulmarra, a picturesque small town village in the Clarence Valley in New South Wales, Australia. The street is named after two Irish-born brothers, Denis and Thomas Comerford or Commerford, who were pioneers in the town.
Kathryn Comerford, who sent me the images, is a great-granddaughter of one of these brothers, Denis Comerford (1834-1892), who moved to Australia in 1862 with Thomas Comerford (1837-1900).
Although she says ‘the council incorrectly spelt the surname’, these variations in the spelling of the family name are found regularly. As I looked further into the history of these brothers and their branch of the family, it was interesting to be reminded that they were related to Denis Comerford, who gives his name to Comerford Way, the street in Winslow, Buckinghamshire, that features in the banner image of this blog.
Thomas Comerford was also the grandfather of Gerald Francis Commerford (1919-1945), who died in the Japanese prisoner of war camp in Sandakan, Sabah, north Borneo, on 9 February 1945, and who was one of the people I referred to earlier this month when I wrote about Comerford family members who died during World II.
Ulmarra is a small town on the south bank of the Clarence River in the Clarence Valley district in New South Wales. It is 631 km north of Sydney, 17 km from Grafton on the Pacific Highway, and has a population of about 418 people.
Ulmarra stands on the deep channel side of the Clarence River and is almost bypassed by the Pacific Highway. Ulmarra’s name comes from an Aboriginal word meaning ‘Bend in the river’. With its historic buildings and river ferry, it has an antique charm. It sites can be followed on an interesting heritage trail. The buildings on River Street and Coldstream Street are redolent of the town’s past as a 19th century river port, while the Commercial Hotel was a location in the 1987 television mini-series Fields of Fire as a 1929 Queensland pub.
The town had the distinction of being the smallest local government area in New South Wales until 2000, when it was amalgamated with the Nymboida Shire to form Pristine Waters Shire. This was later merged with Copmanhurst, Grafton and Maclean Shires to become the Clarence Valley Council. The Ulmarra Ferry crossing the Clarence River from a point about 1 km north of Ulmarra, to Southgate on the north bank, closed a year ago on 10 June 2024.
The brothers Denis Comerford and Thomas Comerford, who moved from Ireland to New South Wales and were pioneer figures in Ulmarra were members of a branch of the family that can be traced back to the area around Ballinakill, Co Laois, and to:
Edward Comerford (1769- ), born in 1769 in Rosenallis, Co Laois. He married Dymphna Delaney (born 1758) in Aghaboe, Co Laois. Edward and Dympna Comerford lived in Ballinakill, Co Laois, and they were the parents of:
1, William Comerford (ca 1805-1870), of whom next.
They may also have been the parents of:
2, Patrick Comerford (1801-1870) of Dundalk, Co Louth. He was born in 1801, baptised in 1802, and was the ancestor of the Comerford family of Dundalk.
The first-named son of Edward and Dympna Comerford was:
William Comerford (ca 1797/1807-1870), was born in Ballinakill, Co Laois, ca 1805. He married Mary Talbot (1805-1887), who was born in 1805 in Roscrea, Co Tipperary. William Comerford died in Co Offaly, on 22 January 1870; Mary died in September 1885 in Templemore, Tipperary, or in Nenagh, Co Tipperary, in 1887.
They were the parents of five children, three sons and two daughters:
1, John Comerford (1829-1905), of whom next.
2, Jane (born 1832), born in Templemore, Co Tipperary, 1832, baptised 9 July 1832. She married John Maher (1824-1889), and lived in Chorlton, Lancashire.
3, Denis Comerford (1834-1892), leather merchant. He was born in Templemore, Co Tipperary, in October 1834, and was baptised 6 October 1837 in Templemore, Co Tipperary. and lived in Ulmarra, New South Wales, Australia. The passengers on the Abyssinian, the ship Denis and his brother Thomas travelled on to Australia in 1862, included John Comerford (23), stonemason, of Bagenalstown (Muine Bheag), Co Carlow. He married Emma Stapleton (1843-1915) in Sydney in 1869, and died in Ulmarra on 2 October 1892. This Denis Comerford is the great-grandfather of the Kathryn Comerford who has corresponded with me recently. Emma and Denis Comerford were the parents of six children, five sons and a daughter:
• 1a, William Comerford (1872-1956), born in Maclean, New South Wales, on 18 July.
• 2a, Thomas B Comerford (1873-1946), born in Maclean, on 21 December 1873.
• 3a, Denis Comerford (1875-1944), born in Maclean in 1875.
• 4a, Martin Comerford (1879-1961), born in Maclean in 1879.
• 5a, Edward Comerford (1882-1955), born in Maclean in 1882.
• 6a, Mary Jane (1885-1939), born in Maclean on13 February 1885.
4, Thomas Comerford (1837-1900), born in Templemore, Co Tipperary, on 10 October 1837. He arrived in Australia in 1862 with his brother Denis, registered as a labourer, and lived in Maclean, New South Wales, Australia. He married Bridget Hurley (1844-1890) in Grafton in 1875, and died in Maclean on 4 April 1900. They were the parents of eight children, four sons and four daughters, all born in Maclean:
• 1a, William Comerford (1875-1876).
• 2a, Mary (1875-1924).
• 3a, John Commerford (1877-1953), married Mary Ann Moloney (1877-1950) on 8 January 1908, and they were the parents of five sons and a daughter: Thomas Bede Commerford (1908-1984); John Joseph Commerford (1910-1967); William Clarence (Clarrie) Commerford (1914-1986); Daniel Kevin Commerford (1918-1926); and Annie Teresa Commerford (1918-2008).
• 4a, Denis Comerford (1880-1963). He married Margaret Sarah Ryan (1885-1953). Their children included Gerald Francis Commerford (1919-1945), who died in the Japanese prisoner of war camp in Sandakan, Sabah, Borneo, on 9 February 1945.
• 5a, Jane (1882-1949).
• 6a, Annie (1884-1964).
• 7a, Bridget (1887-1942).
• 8a, … Comerford (1890-1890), a son, died at birth.
5, Mary (1841/1845-1914), of Kerang, Victoria, Australia. She married James Troy (1837-1885) in Geelong on 4 June 1870, and they were the parents of eight children. She died in 1914 in Kerang, Victoria.
The eldest son of William and Mary Comerford was:
John Comerford (1829-1905). He was born in Templemore, Co Tipperary, on 23 November 1829. He married Anastatia (Anty) Tierney (born 1835) in 1860. He died at the age of 76 in 1905. John and Anty Comerford were the parents of at six children, three sons and three daughters:
1, Michael Comerford (1860-1879), born in Co Kilkenny on 18 July 1860, died in Borrisokane, Co Tipperary, in March 1879.
2, Mary (1867-1919), of Fiddown, Co Kilkenny, who married Thomas Butler (1865-1937).
3, Denis Comerford (born 1869), born in Waterford on 21 January 1869.
4, John Comerford (1871-1946), of whom next.
5, Jane (1873-1932), born Pilltown, Co Kilkenny, on 4 March 1873; died in Birmingham in July 1932.
6, Statia (1876-post 1911).
The third son and fourth child of John and Anty Comerford was:
John Comerford (1871-1946). He was born in Piltown, Co Kilkenny, on 12 May 1871, and was baptised in Piltown. He was living in Gortrush, Fiddown, Co Kilkenny, at the time of the 1901 census, but soon moved to England. Two years later, he married Mary Clifton (1868-1932) in Aston, Birmingham, in April 1903. She was born in Cuckfield, Sussex, in April 1868, the daughter of William Henry Clifton (1836-1912) and Mary (Tourle) Clifton (born 1835).
John Comerford worked as a railway guard in the English Midlands. John and Mary Comerford lived in Birmingham, and the couple later lived in Tupton, Derbyshire, and Chesterfield, Derbyshire. Mary (Clifton) Comerford died in Chesterfield in July 1932. Some sources identify John with John Comerford, a former miner, who he died in Castlecomer, Co Kilkenny, at the age of 75 in September 1946, but so far I have been unable to verify this.
John and Mary Comerford were the parents of five sons:
1, John Henry Comerford (1904-1980), born in Birmingham 14 June 1904, living in Tupton, Derbyshire, in 1911. He married Ethel Patricia Wragg (1903–1986) in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, in January 1927. He died in Stafford in 1981. They were the parents of a son:
• 1a, Michael John Comerford (1928–2009), born in Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire, 18 September 1928; he died in Stoke on Trent, 23 November 2009.
2, William Patrick Comerford (1906-1985), born in Birmingham 6 May 1906, living in Tupton, Derbyshire, in 1911. He married Margaret Rose Wragg (1906-1967), Chesterfield, Derbyshire, in Chesterfield, Derbyshire, in April 1928. William died in Chesterfield 16 May 1985; Margaret died in Chesterfield January 1967; they were the parents of a daughter and two sons:
• 1a, Patricia M Comerford (1929-2002)
• 2a, Philip George Comerford (1933-1998)
• 3a, Peter J Comerford (1933–2007)
3, Denis Anthony Comerford (1908-1984), born in Hasland, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, in 1908, of whom next.
4, Bruno Philip Comerford (1910-1992), born in Tupton, Derbyshire, in 1910. He married Rosalind Ann Armstrong (1910-1998) in Chesterfield in January 1934. They later lived in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire, England were the parents of a number of children, including a son:
• 1a Terence Comerford (1937-2010), who was born in Bedford. He married Gwyneth Price (1938-2015) in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, in July 1959, and later lived in Milton Keynes. He died in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, at the age of 72 on 13 September 2010. Their children included a daughter Belinda Comerford (1962–2022), born in Newport Pagnell, 20 May 1962, lived in Milton Keynes, married in Ampthill, and died in Milton Keynes on 15 September 2022.
5, Francis James Comerford (1912-2000), born in Claycross, Derbyshire, 26 October 1912. He married (1) Mary Anne Jones (1919-1949), and they were the parents of two children; he married (2) Sylvia Hepburn (1902–1987). He died in Kettering, Northamptonshire, at the age of 87, on 6 March 2000.
The third son of John and Mary Comerford was:
Denis Anthony Comerford (1908-1994). He was born in Hasland, Chesterfield, Derbyshire, on 1 February 1908. He was living in Tupton, Derbyshire, in 1911. He married Dorothy Clarke (1905-1996) in Saint Vincent’s Catholic Church, Vauxhall Grove, Birmingham North, on 2 August 1931. She was born in Eastwood, Nottinghamshire, on 26 April 1905, the daughter of Horace Clarke (1879-1943) and Emma (Bower) Clarke (1883-1961).
Denis Comerford came to Winslow from Derby in 1937. His father was a railway guard and advised Denis that the railways offered security in hungry times.
Denis later recalled: ‘One of my first jobs was checking Claycross tunnel, Stephenson’s masterpiece near Chesterfield. It were dark, damp and smelt of sooty old steam engines. Winslow were a step up. Mr Brudenell was in charge of the station. He was a solid looking man, always immaculate with his white collar winged and starched. It was his rule to be on the platform to meet every train. An’ he had a remarkable head for figures. He looked after neighbouring Swanbourne as well.’
Denis Comerford continued to work at Winslow station for more than three decades after the end of World War II. However, the station declined after World War II, and in 1963 Winslow station was listed for closure in the Beeching report, which called for the closure of all minor stations on the line.
Winslow closed to goods traffic on 22 May 1967 and to passengers on 1 January 1968; the signal box followed one month later. The closure was delayed because replacement bus services were not able to handle the projected extra traffic. Denis Comerford left British Railways on February 1968, when passenger train services from the Oxford/Bletchley and Bedford/Cambridge Lines were withdrawn. He ded in Winslow at the age of 86 on 20 November 1994; Dorothy died in 1996. They were the parents of two children.
