I can’t believe my luck; I’ve finally met someone who can tell me a little about my mystery great grandfather’s family – the Collmans!

Thanks to my new friend’s help and her fabulous research I’ve come across some new information about Tom Collman, the man I told you about in Part 2 of my Collman series. Tom is one of two Collman brothers who married two Weston sisters, and either could be my 2x great grandfather. 

And now I’ve seen a picture of him, and that’s something I was certain I would never ever see. It’s a dodgy image but I don’t care, it’s better than no picture at all.

Until now, I was convinced that Tom Collman left his wife Augusta and his children in Hurstville in Sydney around 1905 because that’s when his name started to appear in the newspapers in Casino, northern New South Wales. Now I’ve learned that Tom left Sydney a long time before that.

On the 25th of September 1896 the Sydney Evening News reported

The friends of Mr. Thomas Collman, who is leaving Hurstville for the west, invited that gentleman to spend a social evening with them at the Hurstville Council Chambers on Saturday last… Mr. Collman has been a resident of Hurstville for many years; at all times taking a prominent part in any sports and social gatherings held there, and by his geniality has won the respect of all those who have been associated with him.

The article says that he was leaving ‘for the west’. But the town of Mungindi in the north is where we next find Tom Collman.

I suppose you could say that Mungindi is to the west… of the Pacific Ocean.

In Mungindi, Tom got involved in community affairs, suggesting he was intending on doing more at Mungindi than simply passing through.

The Lismore Northern Star of 7 May 1902 reported that Tom was still the Acting Inspector of Stock at Mungindi and his salary was a hefty 250 pounds per year. An advertisement about a lost horse in 1903 shows that Tom was still in Mungindi as Acting Stock Inspector, but Queensland newspapers say that Tom ‘left the service’ in 1904.

From Mungindi, Tom’s next move was to Casino, which is just a skippety-hop from Mungindi. It’s only a hoppety-pop from Mallanganee, where my great grandmother’s family lived.

I don’t know yet whether any of this new information makes any difference. Will it help me to pinpoint which of the Collman boys is my mystery great grandfather, the elusive MG?

Perhaps it will and perhaps it won’t but with more information to place him in the vicinity of the Willocks, the more likely it seems that one of his sons is my man – and at least I now know what Tom looked like!

I’m off to do some more Collman exploring, stay tuned for more Collman stories…