William Tully, the son of Joseph (a gardener or botanist) and Georgina (née Lonsdale) Tully, married Sarah Scott, the daughter of Robert and Sarah (née Stoddart) Scott, in the March quarter of 1868.

When the English census was taken in 1871, the following details were recorded for the Tully household in Low Spennymoor, a town in the civil parish of Ferry Hill, about seven miles south of Durham in County Durham: William (23, boiler tender at the Tudhoe iron works), Sarah (23), Georgina (2). Two more children were added to the family before they set sail for Australia.

William (aged 27) and Sarah Tully (28) and their children—Georgina (6), Arden (1) and William Ledru (infant)—travelled to Queensland as free passengers on the 1314-ton Western Monarch (Captain James Watson). Described as ‘one of the finest vessels that have ever visited this port’, the ship sailed from London on 9 December 1875 with more than 440 immigrants and arrived off Cape Moreton on 14 March 1876. However, bad weather caused it to go to sea again; and, when it entered the Bay on the following day, it was quarantined at Peel Island because there was a case of fever on board. The passengers, who were accommodated there in primitive conditions in tents, were brought up to Brisbane by the steamer Kate on 28 March 1876.

The Tully family expanded with the birth of more children in Australia: Robert (b. 23 November 1878; d. 13 October 1940), Catherine (b. 14 June 1880), Reuben (b. 21 April 1882), Daniel Victor (b. 12 September 1883; d. 5 June 1964); Sarah Elizabeth (b. 13 December 1886; d. 1 April 1930) and Joshua Oliver (b. 17 September 1888). Details of the marriages of these children and their older siblings follow.

Georgina Tully (b. 3 February 1869) married John Crump on 10 March 1890. She died at Cedar Grove near Jimboomba on 17 November 1942 and was laid to rest in the Nambour Cemetery from St John’s Anglican Church.

Arden Tully married Anabella Louise Klumpp (b. 21 November 1879) of Slack’s Creek, the daughter of Henry William and Martha (née Evans) Klumpp, on 29 November 1900. The wedding took place in the Church of St Bartholomew, Logan Road, Mount Gravatt, according to the rites of the Church of England. Arden died on 29 August 1950 and was buried in the Balmoral Cemetery two days later (6 492).

William Ledru Tully married Nora Mary Colebrook, the daughter of William and Emma Maria (née Wyeth) Colebrook, on 26 December 1906. She died on 14 March 1962, he on 30 January 1962.

Reuben Tully married Margaret Lily Slack on 17 August 1908. He died on 25 September 1961.

Catherine Tully married Alexander Tait on 15 February 1911. She died on 22 November 1964 and was buried in the Wondai Cemetery.

Daniel Victor Tully married Annie Johanna Mary Mohr 3 March 1909. He died on 5 June 1974, she on 1 October 1936. Both were buried in the Church of England section of the Toogoolawah Cemetery in the Esk Shire.

Joshua Oliver Tully, the youngest of William and Sarah Tully’s children, married Harriett Jane Slack (b. 25 April 1893), the daughter of William and Catherine (née Lane) Slack at Greenbank on 1 November 1911. Their children were: Edward Oliver (b. 11 May 1912; d. 2000), Olivia Catherine Jane (b. 16 June 1914; d. 16 January 1938), Ernest William (b. 1 November 1918), Noel Wilfred (b. about 1921; d. 27 September 1927), and Cecil Robert (b. about 1924).

Joshua Oliver Tully’s parents did not live to see any of these grandchildren. Sarah passed away on 18 December 1890; and William died at ‘Rockyvale, Greenbank’, on 10 February 1908. He was laid to rest with Sarah in the South Brisbane Cemetery (7C 86).

After Sarah’s death William (a dairyman) married the widowed Martha Matilda Mobbs (a cook) on 19 July 1894 in the Holy Trinity Church of England, Hawthorne Street, Woolloongabba. The Reverend Hugh Simmons presided and the witnesses to the wedding appear to have been (the writing is almost illegible) Charles Sibley and Ada Adelaide Sibley, relatives of the bride.

Martha Matilda, the daughter of Frederick (a plumber) and Elizabeth (née Jelley) Jackson, was born in Ashton-under-Lyne (London) on 27 November 1848 and christened in the historic Church of All Hallows-on-the-Wall, London, on 20 April 1856. She married Joseph (Joe) Mobbs (b. 2 September 1849), the son of William and Mary Ann (née Willis) Mobbs, in London in the September quarter of 1870. Shipping records indicate that Joe (32) and Martha (33) emigrated to Australia as free passengers on the BISN Company’s 1714-ton RMS Chyebassa (Captain Morris). The ship sailed from London on 4 June 1883 and from Plymouth two days later and, after calling at Queensland’s northern ports, reached Moreton Bay on 5 August 1883.

Joseph Mobbs passed away on 27 August 1890 and was buried in the South Brisbane Cemetery after an interval of three days in a grave (7C 39) that would later receive the remains of his sister Harriet (d. 31 January 1899) and her husband Charles Sibley (d.. 3 September 1915). Joseph’s funeral took place from the Sibley residence which was located in Stephens Road, off Boggo Road, Woolloongabba.

Martha Matilda Mobbs outlived her second husband, William Tully, and married for a third time on 25 November 1913. Her new husband was John Wittmann. She died on 29 September 1924 and was buried in the South Brisbane Cemetery (8 177).

Joshua Oliver Tully (drover and butcher), died in the Mater Hospital, South Brisbane, on 2 January 1938 and was buried in the Cooper’s Plains Cemetery on the following day. He was survived by all of his children except Noel. Present at his funeral in an official capacity were: GK O’Neill (undertaker), the Reverend B Arthur Arnold of the Church of England and J Dibble and J Dunstan (witnesses).

Noel Wilfrid Tully was only 6 years old when he died on 27 September 1927. He was buried in the Cooper’s Plains Cemetery on the following day in the grave that would later receive his father’s remains. His graveside service was conducted by the Reverend John Bongers of the Congregational Church in the presence of JG Gallein (undertaker) and O Tully and Tom William Spring (witnesses).