Living

William married Jean McKenzie Rankin in Sep 1942. Jean was born on 21 May 1916; died on 21 Aug 1980. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

William married Ellen Purcell Cotter on 3 Sep 1907. Ellen (daughter of John Quarry Cotter and Catherine Wenz) was born on 2 Oct 1875 in Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia; died on 30 Jul 1934. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Farmer, minister
• Religion: Wesleyan

Notes:

John Quarry Cotter was probably born in the rectory of the church at Castlemagner, County Cork . Nothing is known of his early life in Ireland but, judging from his family background and the academic achievements of his brothers, he probably attended a good school . Family tradition , which of course must be treated cautiously, indicates that J.Q. Cotter's health failed while he was studying law, and he came to Australia to recuperate. It was intended that he return to County Cork when his health was restored, but it is said he liked life in the colony so well that he refused to do so - much to the irritation of his father, who had sent him money for his return fare (which he may have used to buy his property in Waverley Road). Hence his father disinherited him. He is said to have emigrated to England and lived there a short time before embarking for Australia. This may have been to circumvent the then current system of limited quotas of Irish immigrants to Australia by travelling to England to board a migrant ship, so that the records showed them as English migrants. J. Q. Cotter, then aged 16, was on the immigrant ship "Chaseley" when it sailed from "the Downs" on 27 December 1848. He was in the company (and probably in the charge) of his sister Jane Emily Percival Butler and her husband, Joseph Rogerson Cotter Butler, who was a cousin of Jane and John. Both Cotter and Butler are described as farmers on the passenger list. (John and Jane were apparently also related to the Butlers through their father's first wife, who was Anne Charlotte, daughter of Capt G.B. Butler, who was probably J.R.C. Butler's father's sister). The ship reached the Moreton Bay (Brisbane) settlement on 1 May 1849 .

John married Catherine Wenz on 20 Mar 1857 in St. James (Church of England), Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Catherine (daughter of Johann Wenz and Julia Anne Webster) was born on 29 Jul 1833 in Hattenheim, Germany; died on 11 Sep 1901 in Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia; was buried on 13 Sep 1901 in Oakleigh Cemetery, Oakleigh, Victoria, Australia. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Religion: Weslyan

Notes:

On 23 April 1838 Catherine Wenz , then aged 4 years, arrived in Sydney with her father Johann (John) aged 44, her mother Julia Anne (nee Webster) also aged 44, and her two older sisters Margaret aged 15 and Anna Maria aged 8 . They were one of six families brought out to Australia from the wine-growing town of Hattenheim on the Rhine by Edward, James, and William MacArthur, to look after their vineyards at Camden under a five year contract . According to some reports, the MacArthurs treated their employees very badly and the Wenz family was probably glad to end their employment on 22 Feb 1845. They then moved to Lochinvar in the Hunter Valley north of Sydney, where John was later described as an innkeeper. John was naturalised in 1849 and died at Lochinvar in 1853; his wife died there two years later.

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Clergyman

Notes:

Joseph Rogerson Cotter, B.A., served as Rector of Donoughmore, Senior Prebendary of Cloyne, and Rural Dean. He is said to have been very musical, and invented a large bass instrument which he named the Basso-Hibernicon.

Joseph married Mary Susannah Purcell on 5 Aug 1819. Mary (daughter of George Purcell and unknown) died on 15 Apr 1851. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Johann + Julia Anne Webster. Julia was born in cir 1810. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Education: St. Peter's College, Cambridge, England
• Education: Westminster School, London, England

Notes:

From: The Dictionary of National Biography, edited by Sir Leslie Stephen and Sir Sidney Lee; Vol. IV. London: Oxford University Press, 1964.

"Cotter, George Sackville (1755-1831), poet and translator, was the fourth son of Sir James Cotter. He was educated at Westminster School, of which he was captain in 1770, and in 1771 he was elected to St. Peter's College, Cambridge. He graduated B.A. in 1775 and M.A. in 1779. Having taken holy orders he became vicar of Kilmacdonough, and rector of Kilcreddan-Garrivoe and Ightermorragh, diocese of Cloyne. In 1788 he published two volumes of 'Poems,' dedicated to Lady Shannon, and consisting of a poem in two books, entitled 'Prospects,' and a collection of odes and other fugitive pieces. In 1826 he published a translation of Terence for the use of the schools, in the preface to which he states that when at Westminster School he had been an actor in three of Terence's comedies. In the following year he printed seven of the plays of Plautus, 'translated literally and grammatically, and cleared of objectionable passages.' The later years of his life were spent at Youghal, Cork, and he died in 1831. By his wife, a daughter of Bayly Rogers, physician and banker of Cork, he left, with other issue, four sons."

George Sackville Cotter was named after Lord George Sackville, a friend of his father's, and was known as "a great musician." His translations of the comedies of Plautus was "Plauti Comoediae septem selectae; Anglice redditae, expurgatae." The comedies are Aulularia, Epidicus, Menaechmi, Mercator, Pseudolus, Trinummus, and Rudens. The book was published by J. F. Dove, London, in 1827. The poems dedicated to Lady Shannon were published by William Flynn, Cork, in 1788. The full title is "Poems, consisting of odes, songs, pastorals, satyrs, &c, and a descriptive poem in four books, called Prospects." His translations of the comedies of Terence was "Four Comedies of Terence, translated, and the stage management and mode of acting them set down, as they were acted at Westminster School; and also the other two comedies of Terence, the Heautotimorumenos and the Hecyra..." It was published by Dodges and M'Arthur, Dublin, in 1824. George Cotter also wrote "An Essay on the Best Mode of Extension of Agriculture in Ireland, by the breaking up and cultivating lay or grasslands." It was printed by A. Edwards, Cork, in 1802. It was originally published in "Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society, 1801." Grorge Cotter is listed in "A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors" by A. Austin Allibone, published by J.B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, in 1858, and in "The Poets of Ireland: A Biographical Dictionary" by David J. O'Donoghue, published by the author, London, in 1892-3.

George married Margaret Rogers on 4 Nov 1775 in St. Finbarr's, Cork, Ireland. Margaret (daughter of Bayly Rogers and Martha Pigott) died on 11 Feb 1832 in (probably) Dublin, Ireland. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

George + unknown. unknown died in cir 1810. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]