There is some residual doubt as to whether Maggie Storey is buried in God’s Acre. However, taking account of all relevant facts, it seems that there are good and sufficient grounds for including this material. The researcher is indebted to Sandra Thurecht for much of what follows. Her comprehensive book on this family may be accessed in the John Oxley Library of Queensland History (SLQ).

Robert James Storey, the son of Robert James (a farmer) and Annie (née Campbell) Storey married 19-year-old Margaret Foster on 11 April 1855. The wedding took place ‘according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the United Church of England and Ireland’ in Robert’s birthplace, Tyholland, County Monaghan. Sadly, their first child Anne Jane₁ (b. 5 January 1857) died as an infant.

Robert and Margaret Storey sailed from Queenstown, Ireland, on the 1256-ton Black Ball ship Bayswater (Captain Pack) on 28 September 1865. Accompanying them were their children: Ann Jane₂ (b. 9 December 1857), Lucinda (b. 27 January 1861) and Mary Eliza (b. about 1864). Another daughter, Littitia, was born three months into the voyage on 31 December 1865 and died at sea on 6 February 1866. Her remains were consigned to the deep in a funeral service conducted by her father. The Storey family arrived in Moreton Bay on 13 February 1866 and were brought up the Brisbane River on the Diamond on the following evening.

For a time the Storeys took up residence in what is now the Brisbane suburb of Enoggera; and it was there that William Henry (b. 22 August 1869) was added to their number. After the family moved to Seventeen Mile Rocks (portion 323) Robert was engaged as a teacher at the local school on 1 April 1870. Though he had no professional formation, he had taught in Ireland at Killoran, Tyholland, Kilmore and Dessertoghill for 12½ years.

Two more children were added to the family at Seventeen Mile Rocks—Robert James Jr (b. 21 February 1872) and Maggie (b. 5 January 1874). Sickly from birth, Maggie Storey survived for barely seven weeks. She died on 25 February 1874 and was laid to rest in the Oxley Cemetery where, in the absence of a clergyman and a regular undertaker, Alfred Grey Sloper conducted the burial in the presence of James McDowell and William Sands (witnesses).

Having resigned his teaching post in 1876, Robert took his family to a new selection at Upper North Pine (Dayboro). Margaret Edith Storey was born there on 13 April 1877. He took up teaching again on 27 November 1883 at Mount Pleasant (near Dayboro) and continued in that profession until he was dismissed on 31 March 1887.

Robert James Storey died aged 77 years and 11 months at Lacey’s Creek (near Dayboro) on 19 July 1906. He was buried in the Upper North Pine Cemetery. Margaret passed away at Brunswick Street, New Farm, on 6 July 1911 and was buried according to the rites of the Presbyterian Church beside her husband. Details of their children’s marriages follow.
 

Ann Jane Storey (a dressmaker) married Frederick James Wilkinson (‘a tailor and habit maker’) in All Saints Church, Wickham Terrace, Brisbane, on 18 August 1878. Their children were: Harry Francis (b. 16 March 1881), Edith (b. 18 April 1882) and Annie Eveline (b. 10 June 1885). Ann Jane died on 21 September 1941 and was buried in Toowong Cemetery in the grave (20 24 2) which had earlier received the remains of her husband who passed away on 15 March 1922.

Lucinda Storey lived for some years with a Swiss-born watchmaker, John Franca (or Francas)—a surname which was later changed to Francis. They became the parents of Alice Maria Margaret (b. Brisbane 11 July 1880), John George (b. Cooktown 21 April 1882) and Robert James (b. Mackay 12 June 1884). John had been working as a miner in Charters Towers when he fell victim to pthisis and died in the hospital there on 11 March 1891. Lucinda then married a widower, Thomas Barrett, the son of Richard and Ann (née Bone) Barrett, on 5 December 1891. Their one child was Lucinda May Barrett (b. 25 April 1892, known as May). Following Thomas’s death on 15 February 1898, Lucinda married William Nugent, the son of John and Elizabeth (née Kilkade) Nugent, on 26 November 1901. A widower with seven children, William passed away on 16 February 1917 and was buried with his first wife Ellen Aspell (d. 9 February 1900) in the North Pine (Lawnton) Cemetery. Lucinda, who lived in her declining years with her daughter May, died on 20 May 1946 aged 85 and was buried in the Lutwyche Cemetery on the following day (GP5 36A 46).

Mary Eliza Storey married Irish-born Hugh Alexander Strain, the son of Alexander and Mary (née Morrison) Strain, on 31 October 1884. The wedding took place in the Storey family home at Samsonvale, North Pine. Their children were as follows: Margaret Edith (b. 30 July 1885), Hugh Alexander Jr (b. 19 May 1887), Mary Lucinda (b. 25 September 1889), William James (b. 18 January 1893), William Henry James (b. 6 April 1895), Amy Alice Muriel (b. 9 March 1897), Herbert Arthur Wilfred (b. 6 April 1900) and Walter Cecil Samuel (b. 21 February 1903). Mary Eliza died on 9 October 1919 and was buried in the Dayboro Cemetery. Her husband was also laid to rest there after his demise on 7 July 1933.

William Henry Storey married Edith Mary Bechly (b. 24 April 1882), the daughter of Christian Frederick and Auguste Marie Elizabeth (née Rieck) Bechly, (the family name is variously spelt) on 12 October 1906. They became the parents of a large family: Elizabeth Mary (b. 8 June 1902), Robert James₁ (b. 20 February 1904; d. 1906), William Henry (b. 20 February 1904), Herbert (b. 30 November 1905), Foster (b. 10 December 1907), Harold (b. 13 October 1909), Hugh (b. 5 April 1911), Robert James₂ (b. 20 March 1913) and Edith Mary (b. 27 July 1914). Edith Mary (mother) died aged only 32 on 27 July 1914 after giving birth to her youngest child and was laid to rest in the Dayboro Cemetery. Her husband was also buried there after his death on 1 April 1923.

Robert James Storey Jr (a farmer and selector) married. Rose Perry, the daughter of George and Mary Ann (née Brown) Perry, on 24 April 1907 in the Presbyterian Church in Samsonvale. Their daughter Mary Margaret was born on 18 March 1913. After Rose’s death on 29 September 1914, Robert married Sarah Horne (née Hancock), the daughter of John and Margaret (née Godfrey) Hancock, on 20 August 1925. He died less than two years later on 8 March 1927 and was buried in the Lutwyche Cemetery (COE 2 8A 49). Sarah passed away on 24 August 1966.

Margaret Edith Storey married William James Bradley on 17 December 1902 in the Orange Hall, Upper North Pine. Their children were: Henry (b. 17 April 1904), Elizabeth Jane (b. 18 January 1907), Desmond (b. 4 July 1910), Winifred Clarice (b. 23 February 1913), Margaret Ellen (b. 20 September 1915) and William Francis (b. 28 November 1918). Both Margaret Edith (d. 29 March 1963) and William James (d. 3 September 1954) were laid to rest in the Dayboro Cemetery.