Tom Corrigan (1851-1894), Martin Loughlin's jockey

From the Australian Dictionary of National Biography's entry on Tom Corrigan by John Ritchie:

"Tom (Tommy) Corrigan (1851-1894), jockey and trainer, was born in County Meath, Ireland, son of Thomas Corrigan and his wife Bridget, née Carney. In 1864 the family migrated to Victoria where he worked for his father on a dairy farm near Woodford. At 14 Tom rode his own mare, Juliet, to victory in the hack steeplechase at the Woodford publicans' picnic race meeting, won a saddle, and persuaded his father to allow him to leave home and join the stable of Tozer & Moran at Warrnambool. He served his apprenticeship in the bush circuit of the Western District, had his first mount at Flemington in 1867 and rode in the Melbourne Cup in 1872. By 1877 he was settled in Ballarat where he found a patron, Martin Loughlin. For over a decade the combination of Loughlin owner, Wilson trainer and Corrigan jockey dominated the Melbourne and Victorian country race-courses. Corrigan also rode at city and country tracks in New South Wales and Tasmania; on Loughlin's retirement he set himself up at Caulfield. In 1866-94 Corrigan had 238 wins, 135 seconds and 95 thirds from 788 starts. He won seven Grand Nationals: the Victoria Racing Club's Grand National Hurdle on Sir Peter and Grand National Steeplechase on Great Western, Wymlet and Game; and the Victoria Amateur Turf Club's Grand National Steeplechase on Left Bower, Game and Sir Wilfred.

Corrigan was small even by jockeys' standards and proudly sported a huge moustache. Contemporaries saw him as 'a merry hearted little Irishman', courteous, devoted to his Church and family, generous, unfailing in good temper, and superstitious though pretending not to be; even Henry Lawson in his agonizings warmed to Corrigan's bright smile. He was not an artistic horseman but was strong and game, with a fine sense of pace which enabled him to handle the most fractious mount. To the Age, which usually found racing 'morally dubious', he was a model of fair dealing and unquestionable integrity. He always rode to win. This combination of temper, capability and 'straightness' ensured his fame. The Argus acclaimed him the most popular and best cross-country rider in Australia and doubted whether England could boast a superior, Banjo Paterson wrote a poem about him, and Thomas Haydon saw him as an institution: 'The first inquiry backers made on reaching a race-course would be “What's Corrigan riding?”'

On 11 August 1894 his mount, Waiter, fell in the Caulfield Grand National Steeplechase and Corrigan suffered laceration of the brain. Next day crowds waited outside his home and prayers were offered at St Francis's Church. He died early on the 13th without regaining consciousness. Though once worth £15,000, Corrigan died poor. A fund was opened for his young widow Robena, née Jamieson, and two children. His funeral was reputed the largest Melbourne had known. Before the cortège left his home, the route from Caulfield to the Melbourne general cemetery was lined with thousands and by 2 p.m. Swanston Street was 'one mass of humanity'. Road traffic was suspended for two hours, flags flew at half-mast and shops closed. A hundred jockeys and trainers preceded the hearse, Corrigan's boots and green and white jacket rested on his coffin, and the procession was two miles (3.2 km) long; carriages, horsemen and pedestrians, from chairmen of committees to mere stable lads. Among the cartloads of wreaths one was from Governor and Lady Hopetoun, another shaped as a horseshoe from some urchin newsboys. 'A stranger would have imagined that the remains of some great warrior or statesman were being conveyed to the grave'.

In the depressed 1890s hungry-eyed men at race-courses seeking money, escape and perhaps a new identity saw Corrigan as a man they could trust, a cross-class phenomenon who brought colour into the darkness and misery of many lives."

The Count and Father Hackett, S.J.

Archbishop Daniel Mannix of Melbourne

From: The riddle of Father Hackett: a priest in politics in Ireland and Australia, by Brenda Niall.

p. 153 ff."...William Hackett was given his parallel mission: to found a library that would help to educate Melbourne Catholics to know their faith and to take their place in the world... One of the first and most important patrons of the Library was a Kilkenny man, Count Thomas O'Loughlin. Hackett met the Count in 1923, when he and Murphy, then both at Xavier, were invited to O'Loughlin's home, Tara Hall, in Studley Park Road near Raheen. In this neo-Elizabethan mansion, complete with turrets and gargoyles, spacious reception rooms and a splendid staircase, O'Loughlin lived in state, with a manservant and a cook, several maids, and a governess for his daughters. All this came from a legacy. The archetypical of the rich uncle who struck lucky at the goldfields was the literal truth for the O'Loughlins. Martin Loughlin (1833-1894), born into a farming family in Kilkenny, made such a large fortune on the Victorian goldfields and in subsequent speculations in land, hotels and racehorses, that even the 1890s depression left him relatively untroubled. He died leaving an estate of £250,000.

His nephew Thomas, the ultimate beneficiary, came to Australia, where he passed on large portions of his wealth to the Catholic Church. One spectacular gift was the Church of St. John the Evangelist, which he endowed in his native Kilkenny in 1908. On his wedding day in 1911, Thomas was given the papal title in recognition of his benefactions. The farmer's son became Count O'Loughlin and his bride was addressed as Countess. Like everyone else in Kilkenny, Hackett and Murphy grew with the stories of Martin Loughlin's luck and the nephew's inheritance; they knew the Church that was built on Australian gold.

In the first five years of the Central Catholic Library, O'Loughlin was its main patron. Hackett became a family friend and visitor to Tara Hall, which was so close to Raheen that he could call on the Count before seeing the Archbishop. For O'Loughliin, as for few others, Mannix made a small adjustment to his policy of never accepting private hospitality. Except on a condolence visit in 1925, when the Countess died, he would not enter the front door of Tara, but at least once he crossed Studley Park Road and stood for a talk in his neighbour's garden. He brought the Archbishop of Brisbane, Dr. Duhig, and Cardinal Cerretti, the Apostolic Delegate of the time, his guests at Raheen. Two purple birettas and one scarlet cap made a brilliant spectacle for the little O'Loughlin girls. 'Look, look! Three popes in the garden!' one of them called to her governess.

When his wife died, Thomas O'Loughlin gave up Tara for a smaller house in Hawthorne. His own death in 1929 left five daughters to the care of an aunt from Ireland. Hackett did not forget the friendship, though five girls, the eldest only 17, strained his social resources. Card games were the best he could do: bridge or solo. He did not care for cards, nor did the O'Loughlin girls, but politeness on both sides kept them at the table..."

p 172 "Most important, in the early years of the library, was that other Kilkenny man, Count O'Loughlin, who wrote in 1927 that he would have great pleasure in paying the next year's rent of the Collins Street building. 'I shall also put my hand to raising the £10,000 you hope to reach within the next twelve months,' O'Loughlin added. His death in 1929, just as the Depression hit hard, was a serious setback."

Martin Loughlin's Obituary

The Otago Daily Times of 13th October, 1894 gave the following obituary:

Mr. Martin Loughlin

This well-known racing man died at Ballarat last Sunday night, after a protracted illness. His brother Michael Loughlin came out from Ireland a month or two ago to take him Home if possible, but it was not possible. He has left property, chiefly realty, valued at from £240,000 to £250,000. It comprises the Glengower estate of 18,000 acres, a large interest in the Seven Hills Estate, Kingston, and in Queensland station property, mortgages on land and station property, Melbourne Tramway, bank and other shares. £15,000 is to be at once paid in bequests, including £5,000 to the deceased's brother, Michael Loughlin, farmer, Ireland, who is at present in Ballarat, £5,000 to the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ballarat for the benefit of the Roman Catholic schools and other institutions; £500 each to the Ballarat Hospital, the Ballarat Orphan Asylum and the Ballarat Benevolent Asylum; £2,000 to distant relatives in New South Wales; and sums ranging from £100 to £300 to his godchildren. The residue is to be managed for the benefit of his brother, Michael Loughlin, and the two sons of the latter, Michael and Thomas Loughlin.

The Children of Count O'Loughlin

Kathleen Mary Fitzgerald née O'Loughlin b. 1912, d. 1969.

Kathleen Mary travelled from Melbourne to Ireland on the Orient liner Orsavo to London England arriving on 21st June, 1913, continuing to Ireland, with her parents and Delian Mescall (possibly a nanny).

She travelled from Melbourne to Ireland in May 1920 via London, England on the Red Funnel Line.

After the death of her mother she travelled with her family for a holiday to Hawaii from Sydney to Honolulu arriving on 30th December 1927.

After the death of her father travelled to England age 18 with her sister Margaret age 17 arriving in London on May 6th 1931. By 1937, she had taken up residence in Horsham.

m. Maurice Southwell Fitzgerald (1904-1991) of 49, Maresfield Gardens, Hampstead (Apr-Jun, 1938, Registration District Kensington, Middlesex, Vol. 1a, p. 567) and had issue:

1. Arthur Thomas b. 1939, d. 2000
2. A girl b. 1941
3. A girl b. 1942, m. and had issue 2 children
4. A boy b. 1946, m. and had issue 2 girls
5. A girl b. 1948, m. and had issue 2 girls
6. A girl, m.

The engagement of Maurice Southwell Fitzgerald of 49, Maresfield Gardens, Hampstead, to Kathleen Mary O'Loughlin of 111, Sloane St., London SW1, daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. T J O'Loughlin of Melbourne was announced in the Melbourne newspaper The Argus of 5th March, 1938.

Margaret Honor O'Loughlin b. 1914, at Dublin, Ireland

After the death of her father travelled to England age 17 with her sister Kathleen age 18 arriving in London on May 6th 1931.

Margaret Honor enlisted in the Royal Australian Naval Service at Port Melbourne in 1944, Service Number WR/2211. Her service record can be viewed at: http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/recordsearch/index.aspx

A girl O'Loughlin b. 1915

Mary Agatha Devine née O'Loughlin b. 1917

m. John Berchmans Devine in 1940, who died in 1955. Marriage Registration Number 8927
JB Devine, son of Sir Hugh Berchmans Devine (1878-1959), son of John and Mary Anne Devine née Gleeson, both of Geelong.

Dorothy Gertrude O'Loughlin b. 1919.

In 1943 by the electoral rolls have Dorothy Gertrude and Margaret Honor living at Irving Road, Toorak, Victoria, the former registered as having home duties, the latter as R.C. Transport Driver.

Gerald Thomas O'Loughlin b. 1922 but lived only 26 hours, buried on 2nd September, 1922. Kew reg. no. 9762

Mary O'Loughlin b. 1925, appears to have died with her mother in childbirth. Mother and daughter have consecutive death certificate registration numbers: Kew reg. no. 10046 and 10047 respectively.

From Rootschat.com.

Graves of Count Thomas James O'Loughlin, his wife Kathleen, son Gerald Thomas and daughter Mary. Brighton Cemetery, Melbourne, Catholic Section, Row R, Graves 208 and 209.

"In loving memory of
Kathleen
beloved wife of
Count O'LOUGHLIN K.S.G.
who died 1st August 1925
aged 43 years
R.I.P.
also the above
Count O'LOUGHLIN K.S.G
who died 21st June 1929 aged 63 years
R.I.P.
and of their son
Gerard Thomas
also their daughter
Mary
who both died in infancy."