Louisa (Lucy) Hickey

   Another name for Louisa was Lucy.

  General Notes:

James Pierce notes:
Did she emigrate to Australia?

Husband and family is hearsay only
I see that Lucy was born in Almouth but older children were born in Ireland. I can find William (jnr) born in Ireland 1854 and he appears in the 1871 census in England but not his father in 1871, nor in 1861? I can only find William Senior in the 1881 census but I guess he was around in Almouth in 1857 for Michael's birth. Was William Senior at sea (R Navy & Coast Guard) and therefore not counted but what of the rest of the family missing in the 1861 & 1871 census?

  Research Notes:

James Pierce notes:
Lucy arrived in Mackay on either 3rd February 1883 or a little later, as the Qld archives list it as arriving in Cooktown on the same date.

The inventory seems to me to show her disembarking at Mackay as a free (unassisted) settler on the 3rd.

The sugar industry was just being established in Mackay and there were 3 schools being opened later that year. Maybe she was going to be a school teacher or governess, as happened to one of my great aunts about 10 years later in Maryborough. (my mother said that she was a prim and educated lady). While there were already 3 schools there maybe she could not wait for the grand openings of the next 3.
Habana State School 24th Sept 1883
Eton State School 20 Aug 1883
Te Kowai State School 13 Nov 1883


From the ships in Australian Waters, the Pendle Hill arrived in Sydney with Herbert Shepherdson as Boatswain from Mackay on 26th November 1883.

The ship was only 222 tons and a sailing ship so I can't see it carrying too many passengers, if at all. On the balance of probabilities I think that Lucy hitched a ride on the Pendle Hill departing Mackay about October 1883.

He married Lucy 3 days later (29 November). He was 23 and she 21. A shipboard romance??

Then they are listed as again arriving in Sydney from Mackay on 27 th February 1884. The crew list shows Lucy Shepherdson as Stewardess. Probably no time to find or afford land accommodation.

That makes a 3 month trip there & back as so I must assume that the ship did the trip North and maybe stopping at other ports, or slow loading.

Wilfred was born later that year (4th December 1894) so that put a stop to Lucy continuing to go to sea.

  Noted events in her life were:

• connection. Marie Smith (nee Darby) is connected to me in this way:

Marie Darby (1930) married Montague Smith (1927)
Her father was William Darby (1893) who married Elizabeth Shepherdson (1897)
Her father was Herbert Shepherdson (1860) who married Louisa Hickey (1860)
Her father was William Hickey (c1816) & he also had William Hickey (1854) who married Susannah Richardson (1876)
Her father was Alexander Richardson (c1850)
His father was Alexander Richardson (1817)
His father was George Richardson (1774) & he also had James Richardson who died in 1875
He had Jane Richardson (1839) who married George Emery (c1835)
They had John Emery (1867) and he married Phoebe Davies (1876)
Her father was Joseph Davies (1852) and he also had George Davies (1894)
He had Colin Davies (1925)
Who had little old me - Robyn Bray (nee Davies) (1950)

Louisa married Herbert Shepherdson on 29 Nov 1883 in Redfern, Sydney, NSW Australia. (Herbert Shepherdson was born on 20 Oct 1860 in Hull, North Humberside England and died 9th Jun 1939 in Concord West, Sydney, NSW Australia.)