Margaret Kelleher, nee O'Connor, migrated to Australia in 1881 on the "Windsor Castle". The 1089 ton Windsor Castle left Plymouth on 31 March 1881. The ship's logs show that her as aged 38, with children Ellen (12), Johanna (8), Hanora (8), Margaret (5) and Elizabeth (3). The family settled in Ipswich.

It appears that the family had intended to migrate together but was delayed by the death of John Kelleher in 1880. It was said this resulted in older brothers, who have not been identified, arriving first and then the rest of the family following.

After Daniel Kelleher left school he worked for the Ipswich Advocate as a Court reporter. He joined the Queensland Northern Railway in 1896 as a porter. He became a station master at Marathon, the western terminus of the Great Northern Railway.

He married Mary Catherine Halligan in Townsville in 1903. She was the daughter of Patrick Halligan and Catherine O'Leary. Mary O'Leary appears travelled to have travelled to Queensland, third class, on the "Empress of the Seas" in 1867, aged 20 years.

Patrick was born in Ireland and joined the Irish Constabulary (now the Royal Ulster constabulary) on 18 August 1859 at the aged 19. He resigned in 1865, migrating to Queensland and joining the Queensland police force on 12 June 1865. The Queensland police force had been separated from the NSW force by Act of Parliament in May 1860 but did not commence operations as an entity until 1 January 1864, resulting in his receiving a registration number of 39.

Their uniform comprised dark green trousers with red-striped sides, dark green shirts and a black cap with a red band. Patrick was appointed as a constable on 28 June 1865 and was stationed in Rockhampton, undertaking "general foot and mounted work". He was described as being 5 foot 8 inches tall and having grey eyes and brown hair. He was made a senior constable on 1 September 1869. He moved to Cairns where he was said to have bought land at the first auction. He died in 1924.

Daniel was appointed by the British Imperial Railways in March 1905 as the North China traffic inspector for an initial term of 10 years. This followed an approach by the British Imperial Railways to the Queensland railways for workers.

The family initially lived in Newchwang in Manchuria, and was caught up in the Russo-Japanese war, and then in Tientsin, the Port City of Peking.

Daniel and Catherine had four children. Margaret, in 1905, who was likely to have been born in China or Mongolia. She died an untimely death in 1945 with a burst appendix. Jack was in Mongolia in 1906. Joseph was born in China in 1908 and died a couple of years later. Daniel was born in Tienstin in 1913.

He was Superintendent of the line which ran from Peking to Mukden, which linked the Chinese Eastern and Trans-Siberian lines.

He was later to write in the Brisbane Telegraph that "I was in the midst of three revolutions, and saw a great deal of Chinese soldiery. My duties were to provide cars and arrange trains for the movement of troops, and at the same time to run passenger and goods trains for the public with the few carriages and wagons that the military did not require".

He was decorated in 1915 by the French Government with the "Order of Officer d'Academie" for "excellent international services". He was also decorated in that year by the Chinese Government with the Sixth Class of the "Order of the Striped Tiger" . In 1918 he was decorated with a second class silver medal by the Chinese Ministry of War.

On his return to Australia 1919 he acted as an agent for the sale of merchandise and insurance after opening an office at the Telegraph newspaper's chambers in Brisbane. He helped Jack on the farm for a few years before moving to Mount Isa where he was employed with Mount Isa mines. He was shown as a night watchman when he died on 4 January 1932, aged 58 and lies buried in Mount Isa.

John (Jack) Kelleher was born to Daniel and Mary Catherine in Newchwang, China. He left school, aged around 14, and worked in some major stores in Brisbane. Following a holiday in North Queensland, his father placed both his own and Jack's name in the first land lottery being held to allocate tracks of virgin rain forest at Tully. The cost of entering the ballot was five pounds. Jack was successful, securing a block of 60 acres at "the Bulgun" or " Jurrawong", just North of Tully. He quit his job at TC Beirne on 20 September 1924. Accordingly to a North Queensland article published after his death it was claimed he was the 'first man to win a government land ballot to grow sugar cane in the Tully area.

Jack moved back to Brisbane around around 1949 and married Alma Campbell in 1950. They initially ran some businesses in Brisbane before moving in 1952 to the Gold Coast. Jack purchased, sub- divided and sold a large slab of land at Mermaid Beach. He built a small real estate agency at Mermaid Beach adjacent to the pacific highway which stood alone for many years, with development eventually removing its isolation. He named "Mermaid Avenue". The family was later to move back to Brisbane.

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