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From: S & I PHELAN <>
Subject: PHELAN- HARRIS
Date: Sat, 16 Jan 1999 08:34:29 +-1100

Hi All
My grandfather RICHARD JAMES PHELAN was born in Waterford Ireland in 1838. He served in the Royal Irish Constabulary from 1855-1863. He then emigrated to Australia and joined the South Australian police in 1864 and died at Peterborough whilst still a member in 1904. He mainly served in the outback but was at once stage was in command of the police barracks in Adelaide. My father was the youngest of his 11 children and was in his forties when I was born. My father shifted to Melbourne when he married and had little further contact with his siblings, none of whom I ever met. Several of his siblings either never married or if they did had no children. One of his sisters married Roy Hack (later managing director of Vacuum Oil Mobil) a descendant of John Barton Hack. Another sister married Jim Heggie and a now deceased cousin's image appears on bottles of Heggies Wines. I never met him.
My father's eldest brother Richard worked for the South Australian Railways and was station master at Peterborough when he inherited some money. He then bought the Federal Hotel at Peterborough in about 1914. A few years later he was killed in a fall from a horse. His widow Margaret, 2 sons Lancelot and Tom and a daughter Nelva, continued to run hotels either in partnership or individually into the 1940s at Peterborough, Burra, Kapunda, the hotel at the tram terminus at Glenelg and other hotels in South Australia. As well as running hotels the daughter Nelva was also a hairdresser. She married Jack Harris and had two sons Richard and Michael. Nelva was at least 20 years older than me. Her descendants are the only ones about whom I know nothing. I met someone whilst on an European tour last year who worked for the family at the hotel opposite the bandstand at Burra, but he does not know what happened to the family. Can anyone help please?

Ian

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