The cross in the Louth cemetery marks the grave of Mary Mathews, wife of Thomas Andrew Mathews, the founder and 'King' of Louth. T. A. Mathews was born in county Louth, Ireland in 1825, he married Mary Devine in 1850 and together they had five children while Thomas learned the trades of shipwright and wheelwright in England's industrial north. Lured by the reports of gold and the promise of wealth, Mathews left England for Australia in 1857, never to return, leaving Mary and their children at home in the care of his father
Gold proved hard to find however, and it was Mathews' trade that soon
took him to the furthest reaches of colonization, and eventually into
the sprawling west Darling properties like Toorale and
Dunlop. It must have been a terribly hard time for Mathews,
his pockets were not filled with gold as he had expected and he was a
long way from a reunion with his family, indeed, he was a long way from
anywhere and anything. |
The Bush of Australia Will
you come visit me Mary Divine The
troubles of Ireland are so far away Mary
Divine are you soon to set sail The
green hills of Ireland, the dry Western Plains The
Gum trees here Mary are the grey of your skies Mary
Divine will you sail here today Our
children will speak with an Australian tongue ©2002. Words and Music, Andrew Hull and Tonchi Macintosh |