Catherine Amelia Alley (1833–1904)

Catherine Amelia Alley (1833-1904), the eldest daughter of Dr George Underwood Alley and Catherine Amelia Smith, was born on the 20 January 1833 in Dublin, and died on 27 January 1904, in Araluen. 

On 16 June 1886 at St Michael’s Church of England, Surry Hills, NSW, aged 53, and detailed as a spinster, Catherine married William Blackwood Bruce, a widower and storekeeper, also born in Araluen.¹Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870-1919), Saturday 17 July 1886, p 35. The Braidwood and Araluen Express and People’s Advocate²Braidwood and Araluen Express and People’s Advocate (NSW : 1899-1904), Friday 29 January 1904, p 2. detailed in January 1904 the death of Mrs. W. B. Bruce,³FindaGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/174291147/catherine-amelia-bruce  Accessed 4 January 2024. of Araluen, aged 71, who had been suffering from severe cold which developed into pneumonia, which caused her death, and described that fourteen months ago Mrs Bruce had a lengthy illness, from which she never really recovered. ‘Deceased was the eldest daughter of the late Dr. Alley, and was greatly beloved in Araluen, where she had resided for many years‘ and ‘a sister of Messrs. Trevor Underwood Alley, Arthur Underwood Alley, George Underwood Alley, and of Mrs. J. Hyland, of Bettowynd’. ⁴Catherine’s sisters were Christina Augusta Underwood Fitzgerald (1833-1904) and Cecilia Underwood Fell (1843-1919).  On 8 February 1899, at St John’s Church, Araluen, William James, eldest son of John Hyland, Bettowynd, Araluen, married Elizabeth Louisa Edith, second daughter of Arthur Underwood Alley.  John Hyland (1828-1919) married Mary Clarissa Pass (1841-1933) in March 1865. The Braidwood and Araluen Express⁵Braidwood and Araluen Express and People’s Advocate (NSW : 1899-1904), Tuesday 16 February 1904, p 2. further noted on 16 February 1904 that ‘In the evening [Sunday] a service in memory of the late Mrs. W. B. Bruce, of Araluen, was conducted in St John’s, Araluen, when special reference was made to the life and works of the deceased lady.’

References

• 1
  Australian Town and Country Journal (Sydney, NSW : 1870-1919), Saturday 17 July 1886, p 35.
• 2
  Braidwood and Araluen Express and People’s Advocate (NSW : 1899-1904), Friday 29 January 1904, p 2.
• 3
  FindaGrave.com, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/174291147/catherine-amelia-bruce  Accessed 4 January 2024.
• 4
  Catherine’s sisters were Christina Augusta Underwood Fitzgerald (1833-1904) and Cecilia Underwood Fell (1843-1919).  On 8 February 1899, at St John’s Church, Araluen, William James, eldest son of John Hyland, Bettowynd, Araluen, married Elizabeth Louisa Edith, second daughter of Arthur Underwood Alley.  John Hyland (1828-1919) married Mary Clarissa Pass (1841-1933) in March 1865.
• 5
  Braidwood and Araluen Express and People’s Advocate (NSW : 1899-1904), Tuesday 16 February 1904, p 2.