Mrs Driscoll

Biography researched by Lynley Chapman and written by Andrea Chapman (great-great-granddaughter of Jane Driscoll).

Mrs Driscoll’s full name was Jane Driscoll (nee Wilson), also known as Jane O’Driscoll. Jane Wilson was born in about 1850 in Neilston, Renfrewshire in Scotland. Her parents were Andrew Wilson (1823-?) and Agnes Allen (1825-1881). Andrew and Agnes were married in Barrhead Renfrewshire in 1848 [1]. In 1851 Andrew and Agnes had three children, John (7 years), Jane (2 years) and Thomas (9 months) and Andrew was a Grocer and Spirit Dealer [2]. Ten years later Jane lived with her mother Agnes and brother Thomas in 7 John Street, Lane B along with three borders. Jane was 12 years old and a scholar [3].

Jane, Agnes and Andrew Wilson traveled to New Zealand from Greenock in Scotland on the Christian McAusland in 1871[4]. The ship left Greenock on 27 September 1871 and arrived in Port Chalmers on 29 of December 1871. Both Jane and Agnes were domestic servants. It is not clear whether Andrew is Mr Wilson, or a son as there are no details of his occupation included on the record.

The following year, Jane married Michael William Driscoll on 23 July 1872 at the St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Oamaru [5].  Michael Driscoll’s profession was Tinsmith at the time of his marriage. Michael emigrated from County Kerry, Ireland on the Mermaid in 1865 [6]. Michael, as an Irish Catholic, was ostracized by his family for marrying Jane, a protestant [7].

Jane and Michael had three sons who, despite the severing in family ties, were named in the O’Driscoll family naming tradition: Thomas William (born 1873), Patrick (born 1876) and Matthew (born 1879). Michael worked as a grocer in Dunedin and later as boiler maker at Dunedin Hospital [8]. They lived in St Andrew Street, Dunedin and it was here that Jane signed the 1893 Suffrage Petition. On the 1893 Caversham Electoral Roll she is listed as a housewife living at St Andrew Street.  Jane later appears in the 1895 City & Area Directory as a storekeeper. Perhaps she worked in Michael’s grocers shop.

Jane died on 12 February 1897 at her residence on the corner of Castle and St Andrew Streets. Her death notice was published in the Otago Daily Times on 13 February 1897 [9]. She was 47 years old and was buried with her mother Agnes in Northern Cemetery, Dunedin.

Photograph of Jane Driscoll from the private collection of Jack and Shirley Chapman.

Sources

[1] Scotland’s People website. FR 5275. Parish # 622 Barony. Reference 190 311
[2] 1851 Scotland Census. Retrieved from Ancestry.com.
[3] 1861 Scotland Census. Retrieved from Ancestry.com
[4] Rootsweb Ship Records.
[5] Online Births, Deaths & Marriages # 8549; Presbyterian Archives.
[6] Lyttleton Times 28 Dec 1865, Papers Past; Assisted Emigration to Canterbury New Zealand by the Ship Mermaid. 30 September 1865. Held at Christchurch City Libraries.
[7] The descendants of Mary (nee Mason) and Patrick O’Driscoll of Ashill, Tralee, Co. Kerry. Researched and Compiled by Marie W. Greaney. 1986; History of the Chapman/Dale family. Researched and complied by Jack Chapman. 1998.
[8] History of the Chapman/Dale family. Researched and compiled by Jack Chapman. 1998.
[9] Papers Past