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Note: e as Eliza was born Westport) Eliza had a broken romance as a nineteen year old which left her "disturbed and gloomy".
She married Christopher McMahon in Westport Ireland when she was 21 years old in 1884/1885 and they had three children born in Ireland before migrating to Australia. Eliza and Christopher moved to Dublin at some point in time with first born Annie being born there in 1886.The interview goes on to say that at Eliza's request, Christopher gave up his job as a station master and sold the property they owned in Dublin and set out for Australia.
The family travelled by boat and train to England and boarded the vessel " ELBE " destined for Sydney, Australia. Records show the Elbe sailed only three times to Australia, the first arriving in Melbourne from New York on 22/12/1888,the second into Melbourne on 15/12/1889 from Southampton (arrived Sydney 31/12/1889) and a final Australian voyage arriving via Southhampton and Bremen on 17/12/1890. As the first 1888 voyage was too early( Kathleen born Ireland 1889) and the second is not showing the family on the passenger list, all indications are that the McMahon family sailed on the final Australian voyage of the Elbe,arriving in Port Phillip bay on the 17th December 1890.(Eliza's D/cert also states 29 years in Victoria at her death in 1919) The interview continued saying that the family did not go as far as Sydney with Christopher being offered and accepting a job with the Victorian Railways when the ship called at Melbourne.The family first lived in a hotel in Flinders street, Melbourne before finding their own home in the very muddy conditions of West Melbourne in a narrow terrace house they were thankful to get.According to her death certificate Eliza died at South Yarra and her parents, named for the first time in any other known certificates were discovered to be Patrick Durkin and Bridget Waldron. The Certificate says Eliza died at " Burwood road, Hawthorne "------" St.Kilda road South Yarra from heart disease with the duration of last illness at 14 days.
*** THE VESSEL "ELBE" HISTORY from various sources The steamship ELBE was built by John Elder & Co, Glasgow, for NorddeutscherLloyd, and launched on 2 April 1881. 4,510 tons; 131,9 x 13,7 meters (length x breadth); straight bow, 2 funnels, 4 masts; iron construction, screw propulsion, double-expansion engines, service speed 16 knots; accommodation for 179 passengers in 1st class, 142 in 2nd class, and 796 in steerage.
Draft: 10.81 meters Gross tonnage: 4,510 gross register tons The ELBE was Norddeutscher Lloyd's first express steamer, and the first Norddeutscher Lloyd vessel with first class amidships instead of aft however she was later to prove uneconomical due to high coal consumption, and small amount of freight space.The maiden voyage took place on the 26th June 1881, from Bremen via Southampton to New York.
The ELBE combined speed with comfort and was designed to give passengers in 1st and 2nd class considerably more space. The interior designer Johann G. Poppe was the first to realize the idea of a "floating luxury hotel". Passengers in steerage class did not enjoy great luxury but their accommodation was reasonable,there were iron bedsteads and space for 796 adult passengers. Bathrooms and toilets were two floors up on the lower promenade deck. Meals were eaten in the cabins. The cabins were disinfected after every crossing and the mattresses changed. Since the bedsteads were not permanent fixtures, freight could also be taken on board on the return voyage to Europe. On the evening of 29 January 1895, the Elbe sailed from Nordenham for New York with 352 passengers and crew. At approximately 5:30 the following morning, 30 January 1895, approximately 30 miles west of Ijmuiden, Netherlands, collided with the British steamship CRAITHIE, bound from Aberdeen for Rotterdam with a cargo of coal, and sank in 20 minutes, in 30 fathoms of water. Of the 352 on board, 332, including Capt v. Gossel, died, being the highest loss of life in Norddeutscher Lloyd history. The 20 survivors were taken by herring catcher to Lowestoft.Early in 1993,Dutch amateur divers located the wreck, and salvaged much of the glasswork and tea sets.Pictures avaialable from palmers list of merchant vessels. ELBE (1881) [Right] Photograph of the ELBE anchored at Bremerhaven with the tender LLOYD. Source: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), p. 29. [Left] Photograph of the ELBE about 1890. Source: Arnold Kludas, Die Seeschiffe des Norddeutschen Lloyd, Bd. 1: 1857 bis 1919 (Herford: Koehler, c1991), p. 30.
Note: In an interview conducted around 1964, Eliza's daughter, Bridget Esther recalled that Eliza was referred to as Anna Eliza Durkin and born at O'connell Street, the Main street of Dublin,Ireland.(This address probably refers to Bridget's birthplac
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