Bessie Patricia Bourke1

#29, (5 April 1912-9 January 1977)
FatherDonald Hugh Aloysius Bourke (10 Feb 1877-2 Jun 1941)
MotherIvy Pearl Owens (23 Nov 1889-12 Sep 1959)
ChartsBourke family - descendants
Brown family - descendants
Miller Family (Scotland) - descendants
Nicholson Family 1 - descendants
Descendents of Patrick Bourke
Last Edited18 Feb 2019
'Bessie' Bourke c1930
Source; Malcolm Cocks
     (For a brief history and context on the Bourke family - which this person is an extended member of - see this page)

NOTE: The information on this page is my research to date and is subject to change as I become better informed. I very much welcome any corrections or additional info you might have - my email address is at the bottom of this page. Whilst historical facts are not copyright, my writing about these facts are. If you wish to use any text from this site on Ancestry or on any other website, please ask me first - Tim Hill.
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Bessie was born at 'Walden'' Pacific Street on Friday, 5 April 1912 at the Sydney suburb of Manly.2,3 She was the daughter of Donald Hugh Aloysius Bourke and Ivy Pearl Owens. Her common name was Betty. She presumably moved with her parents to the Sydney suburb of Manly. She lived with her parents at at 'Amaroo' 60 (now 34) Addison Road in the Sydney suburb of Manly in 1917. Just next door to them was Don's sister Mary and her family; they apparently both moved in to these houses in the same year. The Bourkes were to have this as their home base for at least the next twenty years.4 She presumably moved with her parents to Melbourne in October 1917.5 She lived with her parents at Melbourne in 1918. By all accounts this was only a short term posting away from his Sydney base by his employer. Apparently there was some acrimony in the way it was done by a Mr. Bennett. NCR was a company that was undergoing increased sales throughout the early years of the century. Just seven years before NCR had sold their millionth cash register.6,7,8 By this time they had also had the telephone connected at home (Manly 327), as had the Hill's next door.9 Bessie Patricia Bourke lived with Don Bourke and Ivy Pearl Owens in 1936 at "Amaroo'.1011
A newspaper photograph of Betty before departure for the Olympics
(source: 1936 'Social and Personal.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 12 May, p. 13 Supplement: Women's Supplement, viewed 21 September, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27992538)


Bessie left Sydney to attend the Olympic Games in Berlin, as well as England and America.11

Donald was mentioned in the paper on 1 April 1937:
"DONALD BOURKE, advertising man, paralysed his confreres at the Australian Club at the week-end with a tie to all appearances fashioned out of a printed sheet of advertisements from a newspaper - his daughter, Betty, had sent it to him from Paris. The one consolation of those who saw it was that the young lady had contented her self with sending him a tie. She might have sent a suit of clothes."12

Bessie Patricia Bourke was found on a passenger list on 5 April 1937 from Southampton, England to New York.13 She was found on a passenger list on 23 April 1937 from Canada to Blaine, Washington.14 She lived with Rowland Hugh Argyle Bourke and Ivy Pearl Owens in September 1939 at at 61 Greenknowe Flats in Greenknowe Avenue in the Sydney suburb of Potts Point.15

In Rowland Hugh Argyle Bourke's will on 2 January 1940 at Ingleburn Army Camp, in Ingleburn, New South Wales, Bessie Patricia Bourke and Ivy Pearl Owens were named as heirs. He left everything to his mother, but in the event she had died, everything was to go to his sister.15

Her father died 2 June 1941 at the age of 64. Bessie was aged 29 when this happened.16

Bessie's brother Donald began military service on Friday, 14 November 1941 at the Sydney suburb of Paddington at age 27.17

She may have attended the wedding of her brother in the marriage of Donald Owen Nicholson Bourke and Leila Peard Barker in a Church of England cermony at St. Thomas' on Saturday, 20 April 1946 at the Melbourne suburb of Essendon. Donald and Leila went on to have two known children together.18 Bessie Patricia Bourke was a stenographer in 1949.19 Bessie and Ivy lived in 1949 at at 2 Greenknowe Avenue in the Sydney suburb of Potts Point.19

Her mother died 12 September 1959 at the age of 69. Bessie was aged 47 when this happened.2

Bessie died on 9 January 1977 at the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy at age 64.17 Her body was interred at Springvale cemetery on 11 January 1977 at the Melbourne suburb of Springvale.20

Timeline

DateEventPlace
Family
Family
1912Birth at 'Walden'' Pacific Street in the Sydney suburb of Manly2,3
Name-Comm
1936Note memo only CR CRBerlin11
1937Quotation type 212
1937Passngr listNew York13
1937Passngr listBlaine, Washington14
1949Occupation19
1949Residence at 2 Greenknowe Avenue in the Sydney suburb of Potts Point19
1977Deaththe Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy17
1977Burial at Springvale cemetery in the Melbourne suburb of Springvale20

Citations

  1. [S1] New South Wales, Birth Certificate, Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages 1912 No.18375 extract only.
  2. [S2] New South Wales, Death Certificate, Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages 1959 No.18958.
  3. [S1] New South Wales, Birth Certificate, Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages 1912 No.18375.
  4. [S31] Sand's Directory,NSW, Australia (various dates), 1917 p.555.
  5. [S668] The Sunday Times [Sydney], Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1917 'HOME and SOCIETY.', Sunday Times (Sydney, NSW : 1895 - 1930), 14 October, p. 18, viewed 24 September, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122797840
  6. [S204] Letter from Susie Bourke to Marie Hill, 4th February 1918.
  7. [S226] Letter from Susie Bourke to unknown recipient, to Don Bourke 15th November 1917.
  8. [S249] Information Technology: NCR Corporation.
  9. [S217] White Pages Telstra Corporation Ltd., all areas of Australia, October 1925.
  10. [S338] Ancestry.com.au Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.com.au/) Australian Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. District of Warringah, Subdistrict of Manly (1936).
  11. [S268] The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1936 'Social and Personal.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 12 May, p. 13 Supplement: Women's Supplement, viewed 21 September, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27992538
  12. [S679] The Referee, Sydney New South Wales, Australia, 1937 'HOOKS, Slices & Tops.', Referee (Sydney, NSW : 1886 - 1939), 1 April, p. 3, viewed 24 September, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article127621548
  13. [S487] New York Passenger Lists, 1820-1957 Ancestry.com, Name: Bessie Patricia Bourke; Birth     1913 - Australia; Origin: Australia; Departure: Southampton, England; Arrival: 5 Apr 1937 - New York, New York.
  14. [S584] National Archives and Records Administration, Border Crossing, 1895-1954 Name: Bessie Patricia Bourke; Birth: 1913; Arrival: 23 Apr 1937 - Blaine, Washington, USA.
  15. [S4] Supreme Court of NSW - Probate and Administration, Rowland Bourke, No.276073 Series 4.
  16. [S268] The Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 1942 'Family Notices.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 28 August, p. 10, viewed 24 September, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17802232
  17. [S613] Michael Watt, Descendents of Daniel Brown, April 2013, New Zealand (Tim Hill's collection, \namesBrown) p.49.
  18. [S264] Victoria, Marriage Certificate, Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages 1946 No.2346.
  19. [S338] Ancestry.com.au Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.com.au/) Australian Electoral Rolls, 1903-1980 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2010. District of Blaxland, Subdistrict of Lidcombe South (1949).
  20. [S338] Ancestry.com.au Ancestry.com, (http://www.ancestry.com.au/) http://trees.ancestry.com.au/tree/32351648/person/…