James Osborne Burk was born in Dunedin in April 1876 to William and Annie Burk (nee Rose).

Catherine Josephine Hannan was born at sea.  Her parents John and Margaret Hannan (nee Walsh) sailed on the ship “Corona” from London on 22 May 1874 and arrived into Port Chalmers on 28 August.

They had their two daughters Mary (8) and Margaret (4) with them, and Margaret was pregnant with Catherine.  Fifty five days into the voyage she was born – 16 July 1874.

Otago Witness, 5 September 1874

James and Catherine are my great grandparents, and were married in 1898.  They lived in Blacks Rd, Opoho in Dunedin and soon started their family – James Osborne (1900-1950), Kathleen May (1902-1988), Margaret Annie (Grandma Peg 1909-2003) and Helen Imelda (Nell 1915-2007).

James was a plumber by trade but he was also heavily involved in the St Kilda fire brigade, as a lieutenant, and during this time he was awarded a gold medal.

In 1912 James and Catherine sold their Dunedin interests and began their new venture and this was to be as the owner operators of the The Golden Age Hotel in Cromwell.

The littlest girl in white is Margaret (Grandma Peg), and the woman by the door is her mum Catherine.  James (snr) is likely to be the gentleman on the middle of the three sitting and James (jnr) is on the right.

The shift to Cromwell and the year-long attempt to make the hotel venture work was unsuccessful.  Unfortunately James was made bankrupt by the process and returned to Dunedin heavily in debt.  He found work as a plumber to help rebuild the family’s fortune but further misfortune was to come.

They moved to 115 York Place and the photo below shows the Burk family in 1917, minus Catherine (who was cut out of the photo by the future wife of James and step-mother of the children).  From the left is Kath, Grandma Peg, James (Jnr), great grandad James, and Nell.

Catherine Burk passed away on 30 April 1918.  It was said that she died at a grocery shop in St Andrews St, however, the death notice states that she dies suddenly at home.  It may be suggested then that she took very ill at the shop but was able to make it home before her death.

After Catherine’s death James remarried in 1920.  My step great grandmother was Mary Eliza (Lucy) Bolwell.  Lucy had been previously married to William (Frank) Augustus Buckland in 1908 and had two daughters, Lucy Iris (1909) and Lorna Gwendoline (Gwen) (1911), but Frank passed away on 18 Feb 1913 at the age of 32.  James moved the family into Lucy’s house at 66 St David St, and later to 450 Leith St, however Lucy passed away on 9 November 1939.

 

She is buried with her first husband (Frank) at the Northern Cemetery (Bk 60 Lot 19) also with his mother Kate.

James moved in to live with his daughter Helen (Aunty Nell), and her husband James Laing, first at 26 Botha St in the 1940’s and then to 65 Botha St

The above photo shows four generations of the Burk/Lyng/Connor family line with James Burk, Peg Lyng, Margaret Connor and baby Patrice in 1954.

James Osborne Burk passed away the following year on 20 September 1955.

Aunty Nell is widowed in 1973 and she moves to Flat 1 4 Begg St until her passing in 2007 at the Little Sisters.