[Index]
Henry Roland CURRAN (1867 - 1956)
Children Self + Spouses Parents Grandparents Greatgrandparents
Veronica Kathleen (Vera) CURRAN (1893 - 1938)
Arthur Henry CURRAN (1895 - )
Henry Everard 'Babe' CURRAN (1896 - 1964)
 Henry Roland CURRAN (1867 - 1956)

+

Agnes Florence GRIBBLE (1872 - 1948)
 Henry Joseph CURRAN (1843 - ) Joseph CURRAN (1815 - 1891) Henry CURRAN
Bridget DREW
Margaret CONBA (1819 - 1881) Richard CONBA
Elizabeth O'BRIEN
Ann Eliza LODGE (1843 - ) Henry John LODGE (1806 - 1883) Benjamin LODGE
Mary AKERS
Rebecca FACER (1806 - 1893) Thomas FACER
Rebecca BUSWELL
Henry Roland CURRAN
Henry Roland CURRAN
Henry Roland CURRAN Henry Roland CURRAN
b. 1867 at Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
m. 1893 Agnes Florence GRIBBLE (1872 - 1948) at Canberra, ACT, Australia
d. 17 Aug 1956 at Ginninderra, ACT, Australia aged 89
Near Relatives of Henry Roland CURRAN (1867 - 1956)
Relationship Person Born Birth Place Died Death Place Age
Grandfather Joseph CURRAN 1815 Kilbrin, Co Cork, Ireland 26 Jun 1891 East Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia 76
Grandmother Margaret CONBA abt 1819 Charleville, Co Cork, Ireland 20 May 1881 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 62
Grandfather Henry John LODGE abt 1806 Leicestershire, England 10 Jan 1883 Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia 77
Grandmother Rebecca FACER abt 1806 Leicestershire, England 22 Jun 1893 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 87

Father in Law Thomas GRIBBLE 1837 West Teignmouth, Devon, England 19 Jul 1927 Yass, New South Wales, Australia 90
Mother in Law Katherine WARREN abt 1832 Ireland 27 Jan 1920 Yass, New South Wales, Australia 88

Father Henry Joseph CURRAN 1843 Gundaroo, New South Wales, Australia
Mother Ann Eliza LODGE 1843 Kirkham, New South Wales, Australia

Self Henry Roland CURRAN 1867 Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 17 Aug 1956 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 89

Wife Agnes Florence GRIBBLE 1872 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 20 Apr 1948 Canberra, ACT, Australia 76

Daughter Veronica Kathleen (Vera) CURRAN 1893 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 1938 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 45
Son Arthur Henry CURRAN 1895 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia
Son Henry Everard 'Babe' CURRAN 1896 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia Oct 1964 68

Son in Law William 'Bill' CARNEY 1890 Tarago, New South Wales, Australia 1970 Canberra, ACT, Australia 80
Daughter in Law Amy F REID 1895 Gundaroo, New South Wales, Australia 1977 Canberra, ACT, Australia 82

Uncle Joseph Patrick CURRAN 1842 Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia Y
Uncle Richard CURRAN 1846 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 02 Mar 1904 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 58
Aunt Mary KEEFFE 1846 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 05 Jan 1913 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia 67
Aunt Elizabeth CURRAN 1847 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1924 St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia 77
Uncle James KEEFFE 1839 Ballycahill, Co Tipperary, Ireland 28 Sep 1890 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 51
Uncle Joseph CURRAN 1849 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1864 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 15
Uncle George J CURRAN 1852 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 09 Feb 1918 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 66
Aunt Mary Ann HATCH 1856 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 16 Jul 1941 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 85
Uncle John CURRAN 1855 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Uncle Thomas James F LODGE 1830 Leicestershire, England 1906 Carcoar, New South Wales, Australia 76
Aunt Caroline LODGE 1833 Leicestershire, England abt 1834 1
Uncle Henry LODGE 1835 Bradford, Yorkshire, England bef 1848 13
Aunt Mary Ann LODGE 1838 Bradford, Yorkshire, England abt 1840 2
Aunt Caroline LODGE 1841 Bradford, Yorkshire, England
Aunt Mary Ann LODGE 1846 Menangle, New South Wales, Australia
Uncle Henry LODGE 1848 Menangle, New South Wales, Australia 1848 0
Aunt Rebecca Emma Agnes LODGE 1849 Menangle, New South Wales, Australia 02 Feb 1922 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 73
Uncle James Thomas COLLETT 1852 Appin, New South Wales, Australia 1933 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 81
Uncle John Benjamin LODGE 1851 Menangle, New South Wales, Australia 10 Apr 1910 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 59
Aunt Agnes Ann THOMPSON abt 1863 03 Oct 1943 Canberra, ACT, Australia 80

Cousin Catherine Maud CURRAN 1874 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1899 25
Cousin William Joseph CURRAN 1876 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Patrick CURRAN 1878 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Margaret Lucy CURRAN 1880 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Alice Julia CURRAN 1881 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Henry James CURRAN 1883 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1967 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 84
Cousin Elizabeth Mildred CURRAN 1885 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1895 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 10
Cousin Mary Maud CURRAN 1886 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1887 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1
Cousin Richard CURRAN 1887 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Mary Maud CURRAN 1890 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Mary KEEFFE 1869 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia 1915 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 46
Cousin Jeremiah Joseph KEEFFE 1871 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia 15 Dec 1932 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 61
Cousin Margaret KEEFFE 1873 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Catherine KEEFFE 1875 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia 1962 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 87
Cousin Julia KEEFFE 1877 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia 1930 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 53
Cousin Joseph KEEFFE 1879 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin William Andrew KEEFFE 1881 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia 1962 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 81
Cousin James KEEFFE 1882 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Elizabeth KEEFFE 1884 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Annie Gladstone KEEFFE 1886 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia 1916 Glebe, New South Wales, Australia 30
Cousin Florence M KEEFFE 1889 Williamsdale, New South Wales, Australia 1922 St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia 33
Cousin Joseph William CURRAN 1877 Hall, New South Wales, Australia 1908 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 31
Cousin Margaret Elizabeth CURRAN 1879 Hall, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Florence May CURRAN 1881 Hall, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Mary Jane CURRAN 1884 Hall, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Cecilia Maud CURRAN 1887 Hall, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin George Henry Michael CURRAN 1890 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 1916 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia 26
Cousin Robert John James CURRAN 1892 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin William Patrick CURRAN 1895 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Kathleen Ellen CURRAN 1897 Bungendore, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Percy James Lodge COLLETT 1871 Gunning, New South Wales, Australia 08 Sep 1927 Newtown, New South Wales, Australia 56
Cousin Arthur Henry COLLETT 1872 Gunning, New South Wales, Australia 16 Oct 1956 Manly, New South Wales, Australia 84
Cousin Augustus John Hugh COLLETT 1874 Gunning, New South Wales, Australia 1923 Mosman, New South Wales, Australia 49
Cousin May Rebecca COLLETT 1875 Gunning, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Ida Maud COLLETT 1877 Gunning, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Ada Emily COLLETT 1879 Gunning, New South Wales, Australia 1955 Marrickville, Sydney, Australia 76
Cousin Fanny Lucy COLLETT 1880 Gunning, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Deborah Eliza COLLETT 1882 Gunning, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Pearl Edith COLLETT 1884 Gunning, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Ernest Joseph COLLETT 1886 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 11 Aug 1913 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 27
Cousin Lillian Alice COLLETT 1888 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 15 Aug 1956 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 68
Cousin Edith Pearl LODGE 1886 Michelago, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Ida M LODGE 1888 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Eva Alice LODGE 1890 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Ruby Caroline LODGE 1893 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Arthur Ernest LODGE 1895 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1972 Newtown, New South Wales, Australia 77
Cousin Alice May LODGE 1897 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Charles James LODGE 1900 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1976 New South Wales, Australia 76
Cousin Clara Erskine LODGE 1902 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Verdi Marion LODGE 1905 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Cousin Percy Thomas LODGE 1908 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia

Niece Ethel Merlie GRIBBLE Hall, New South Wales, Australia
Nephew Thomas GRIBBLE Hall, New South Wales, Australia
Niece Zeta Mary GRIBBLE Hall, New South Wales, Australia
Niece Evelyn Harriett Ruth GRIBBLE 1893 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 17 May 1975 Canberra, ACT, Australia 82
Niece Milton S GRIBBLE 1894 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia
Nephew Ernest William GRIBBLE 1896 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 1920 24
Nephew Jack Edwin GRIBBLE 1899 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia
Niece Florence GRIBBLE 1900 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia

Sister in Law Emma Louisa GRIBBLE 1862 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia
Sister in Law Jane M GRIBBLE 1864 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia
Brother in Law William Henry GRIBBLE 1866 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 11 Mar 1946 Hall, New South Wales, Australia 80
Brother in Law George GRIBBLE abt 1868 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 1947 Queanbeyan, New South Wales, Australia 79
Sister in Law Mary GRIBBLE 1870 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia
Brother in Law Thomas GRIBBLE abt 1874 Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 1950 Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia 76
Events in Henry Roland CURRAN (1867 - 1956)'s life
Date Age Event Place Notes Src
1867 Henry Roland CURRAN was born Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia 6
1893 26 Birth of daughter Veronica Kathleen (Vera) CURRAN Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 6
1893 26 Married Agnes Florence GRIBBLE (aged 21) Canberra, ACT, Australia 6
1895 28 Birth of son Arthur Henry CURRAN Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 6
1896 29 Birth of son Henry Everard 'Babe' CURRAN Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 18
1938 71 Death of daughter Veronica Kathleen (Vera) CURRAN (aged 45) Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 80
20 Apr 1948 81 Death of wife Agnes Florence GRIBBLE (aged 76) Canberra, ACT, Australia 6
17 Aug 1956 89 Henry Roland CURRAN died Ginninderra, ACT, Australia 6
Source References:
6. Type: Book, Abbr: Queanbeyan Register, Title: Biographical register of Canberra and Queanbeyan: from the district to the Australian Capital Territory 1820-1930, Auth: Peter Proctor, Publ: The Heraldry & Genealogical Society of Canberra, Date: 2001
- Reference = 126 (Marriage)
- Reference = 67 (Death)
- Reference = 126 (Name, Notes)
- Reference = 67 (Birth)
80. Type: Web Page, Abbr: Hall Museum, Title: Hall School Museum and Heritage Centre, Locn: https://museum.hall.act.au/
- Reference = https://museum.hall.act.au/display/1939/person/1968/henry-harry-curran.html (Name, Notes)
- Notes: Henry 'Harry' Curran

Born: 1867; Died: 1956; Married: Agnes Gribble

Henry 'Harry' Curran
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Henry Roland Curran - known as 'Harry' - was the last full-time blacksmith of the ACT. He worked at the Ginninderra Blacksmith's Workshop first as an apprentice for his uncle, George Curran, from 1882 to 1889. In 1891 he returned to take it over in his own right after Alexander Warwick walked out. He stayed there until he retired in 1949, aged 82. At that time, he was also the oldest professional blacksmith in the country.

Harry's father was Henry Joseph Curran, a journalist with the Catholic presses in Goulburn, Boorowa and Sydney. He and his wife, Anne (nee Lodge), both died suddenly, so that in 1882 fourteen-year-old Harry found himself orphaned and responsible for his five younger siblings. He did his best with factory work in Sydney, but he was forced to put the baby in the care of a Catholic orphanage. Fortunately, his uncle, Patrick Curran, intervened to broker places for all the children amongst different family members. The solution for Harry himself was to be sent to Ginninderra as an apprentice blacksmith and wheelwright to his uncle, George.

Back in Ginninderra, Curran wasted little time in marrying local girl, Agnes Gribble, from The Valley. It also seems that he worked the smithy in the early years in partnership with Agnes' brother, George Gribble. In 1893, he found himself indirectly involved in a criminal case brought against his brother-in-law, who was charged with stealing seed corn from John Southwell, and stowing it in the blacksmith's shop. Fortunately, Gribble was acquitted.

By the late 1890s, George and Agnes had built a weatherboard home with a corrugated iron roof, situated about 100m east of the workshop. Family members recall Harry sitting by the fire, smoking a pipe and punctuating his conversation by spitting directy into the coals. In 1923, artist, Eirene Mort, when compiling a collection of works on the Canberra district, visited Curran and made a pencil sketch of him at work at his anvil. Her drawing is now part of the collection of the National Library of Australia and is on loan to the Canberra Museum and Gallery's permanent display, which also features Curran's smaller anvil and swage block.

Harry Curran might have been a rough diamond, but his workmanship was not. He quickly established himself as the region's most skilled smith. On occasion, he even had to defend the integrity his work, as some thought it was of such high calibre that it could only have been machine-made.

Curran was also prominent in the organisation of the first shows of the Ginninderra Farmers' Union. He was the inaugural treasurer and organised some of the first ploughing matches. He is also recorded as one the founders of the Royal Canberra Show, for which he toiled as an active committeeman until August 1944, when his son, Henry 'Babe' Curran, reported his father's desire to step down after 40-years service.

Ultimately, life in Ginninderra was good for the Currans. Their daughter, Vera, was the driving force behind the earliest local women's cricket team and was one of the district's first professional nurses. She married William Carney, a Gallipoli veteran and spent much of her life in the Ginninderra district. Harry's two boys, 'Chappie' and 'Babe', both became graziers. Babe, in particular, was renowned for putting Canberra on the Australian wool-growing map.

In February 1954, when the Queen visited Canberra, Curran was one of seven elderly 'pioneers' invited to the Albert Hall to meet the royal party. Lionel Wigmore recorded that, when he was introduced to the Duke of Edinburgh, who remarked, 'you must have worked very hard', Harry's laconic reply to young Phillip was, 'Too right I did!' Just two years after he was introduced to the Royal party, Harry Curran, the last professional blacksmith of the ACT, died.

The Ginninderra blacksmith's Ledger

In December 2020 Chris and Lyn McAppion (Benn) donated a treasure to the Hall School Museum and Heritage Centre - the final ledger used by their great grandfather, Henry (Harry) Rowland Curran, the fifth and last smithy to ply his trade at the Ginninderra blacksmith shop which was built in 1860.

The ledger documents, in free-flowing handwriting, the services Harry provided for his many customers from 1914 until 1945, just a few years before his retirement at the age of 82: reputed to be the oldest professional blacksmith in the country. The Centre mounted a display centred on the ledger which was opened in April 2021. The following text was included within the display.

...Still the smithy stands (Longfellow)

Harry worked at the Ginninderra Blacksmith's Workshop first as an apprentice for his uncle, George Curran, from 1882 to 1889. When George sold the Ginninderra smithy to Alexander Warwick Harry followed his uncle to Bungendore for 3 years before returning to his Ginninderra Village home in 1891, when he took over the workshop in his own right after Alexander Warwick walked out, having gone bankrupt.

He established himself as a first-rate artisan, with many acknowledging that he was the most skilled smith of the Limestone Plains. On occasion, he even had to defend the integrity his work, as some thought it was of such high calibre that it could only have been machine-made.

Back in Ginninderra, Curran wasted little time in marrying local girl, Agnes Gribble, from The Valley and together they had three children: Vera, Arthur 'Chappie' and Henry 'Babe'. By the late 1890s, George and Agnes had built a weatherboard home with a corrugated iron roof, situated about 100m east of the workshop where they lived for most of their married life, surviving a massive bushfire in 1905.

Harry and Agnes were highly respected members of the Ginninderra community, with Agnes an accomplished cook, dress maker and sportswoman. Both were gifted in horsemanship – Agnes as a sulky driver and Harry as an expert farrier, travelling each week to tend the horses at the military stable at Duntroon. Perhaps Harry's most important contribution to the local community was his long-term work in supporting and developing the local agricultural shows: primarily that of the Ginninderra Farmers' Union. These shows were held in the field opposite the blacksmith shop.

The blacksmith was an important person in 19th century Australia. He provided an essential service to the local community including shoeing horses, manufacturing small implements such as nails and bolts, and larger ones such as ploughs. He also repaired horse-drawn vehicles. The Maloney family bred and raced horses and were frequent customers. One of their horses 'Moonlight' appears often in Harry's ledger. It won the 1933 St Patrick Day Handicap in front of Prime Minister Lyons and 500 spectators, at the old Acton racecourse wearing four of Harry's best racing quality horse shoes.

In June & July 1914 Harry supplied Freddie Johnston, a young surveyor working with Scrivener and Mouat on defining the Federal Capital Territory border, with his tools of trade. The ledger records show that Freddie was given a discount, probably because he paid at the time he received his goods – an unusual occurrence at the time. Johnston went on to become the Commonwealth Surveyor General.

The Blacksmith was also a focal point for social gatherings, especially in winter with the warmth generated by the forge. The presence of an Aboriginal glass artefact on site supports historical documentation that Aboriginal people were also attracted to the workshop.

Despite the quality of his work by the 1930s demand for his services had waned, with a diminishing reliance in the district on horsepower. The scant entries in his ledger confirm this decline in demand. A brief respite came during the petrol rationing of the war years, which enabled him to continue at his forge but when the Menzies' Government came to power in 1949, promising to end the rationing, he could see that the game was up. The smithy's shop was closed and Harry retired.

The blacksmith shop lay in disrepair for many years. Beginning in 2004, conservation work was completed under the direction of ACT Heritage, an Interpretative History of the site was completed in 2011 and in 2013, under the ACT Government's Canberra Tracks heritage program, the site was stabilised, the original bellows placed in situ and a security fence mounted around the perimeter of the building. Its long-term future is uncertain.

References:

Longfellow, Henry Wadsworth (1807 – 1882), The Village Blacksmith, a poem originally published in 1840.
Bremers, A., 'An Interpretative History of the Ginninderra Blacksmith Shop: from Inception to the Present Day (c. 1859-2011)', Paper of the Cultural Heritage Management Unit of the University of Canberra, Canberra, 2011
Gillespie, L.L., Ginninderra: Forerunner to Canberra, Campbell, 1992
McDonald, James, Three Henry Currans: A Family History, Sorely Boy, 2018
ABC News
Canberra Tracks
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