Before I knew that Edna’s surname was Willock, I was looking for Dorneys in Waterloo or Redfern. There was only one Dorney family living there in 1910. They were William, his wife Lucy, and their four children; Florence Ada, William Vincent, John Francis and Eugene Frederick. Two other Dorney children, Lucy and ‘Bertie’, had not survived childhood.

William Dorney was a Sydney hansom cab driver. A hansom cab was a horse-driven vehicle and much like a modern-day taxi they took passengers where they wanted to go, for a fee.

William Dorney and his family lived in in Byrne’s Lane, just off Cooper Street in Waterloo. They had a number of horses and stables in and around Waterloo and found themselves in the newspaper on regular occasions over the years, usually because of something to do with their horses.

In 1906, a 54-year-old domestic servant named Sarah Bernard was staggering across the road, trying to avoid being hit by a tram. Instead, she made a wobbly bee-line straight into the path of William’s oncoming horse, collided with his horse’s head and fell awkwardly to the ground. She later died in Sydney hospital from a fractured skull. The coroner thought that there could have been grounds for a murder inquiry but he ruled Sarah’s death an accident and cleared William Dorney of any wrong.

In 1908, a spring-cart was being driven down Regent Street towards Waterloo at a slow trot. Somewhere near Edwards’ butcher shop, a 78- year-old Irishman named Eugene Dorney stepped out from behind the butcher’s cart that was parked at the side of the roadway and was knocked down and then run over by the spring-cart. Eugene was taken straight to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital where he died of his injuries a few hours later. The coroner determined that Eugene Dorney’s death was accidental. Eugene Dorney was William Dorney’s father.

In 1909, Vince Dorney was driving a horse and buggy for Wood, Coffill and Company funerals. He was just moving through the intersection of Grosvenor and Princess Streets in the city when the horse took fright and bolted, galloping madly down the street, smashing into another cart and spilling Vince out onto the roadway. The horse broke free and continued its rampage until it was killed when it slammed into the side of a tram in George Street.

1909 is the year that Edna May Willock, known as Edna May Dorney, was born in Crown Street hospital.

The hospital admission record provided me with tantalising clues about Edna’s birth and I felt I was getting closer… and yet further away.

On 28 August 1909, a young woman named May Willock was admitted to the hospital; her age 23, her occupation waitress, her address the Fitzroy Hotel in Cooper Street Redfern. The Fitzroy Hotel was actually in Waterloo, but because Cooper Street Waterloo was so close to Redfern, the Hotel was sometimes described as being in Redfern rather than in Waterloo. (It didn’t help that there was also a Cooper Street in Redfern, just to confuse things.)

The Fitzroy Hotel was on the corner of two streets, and for that reason, the address of the Fitzroy Hotel was sometimes described as being at number 3 Cooper Street and sometimes as being in Byrne’s Lane in Waterloo. The proprietor of the Fitzroy Hotel in 1909 was Mrs Lucy McFarlane. Mrs Lucy McFarlane of the Fitzroy Hotel in Waterloo just happened to be the mother of Mrs Lucy Dorney – William Dorney’s wife.

The plot thickens!

May and baby Edna were discharged from hospital on 16 September. When May registered Edna’s birth, she gave her own age as a year younger than when she had arrived at the hospital a few weeks earlier. She gave her address as ‘Burnses’ Lane in Waterloo and her birthplace as Wellington NSW.

May Willock then vanished into a mysterious puff of smoke, mysteriously absent from the records, at least not that I could find or not that I was certain about. A person named May Willock didn’t seem to have been born anywhere in Australia before 1909, or got married or died anywhere in Australia after 1909. There were plenty of Willocks in Wellington but none of them with the right name. My head was full of questions and the records had no answers!

What is going on ?!?!?!?!