James Joseph O’Brien James Joseph O’Brien was born on February 4, 1871, in Bega, New South Wales, the eldest child of Peter O’Brien and Mary Ann Goward. His parents, who were remarkably young—Peter 23, Mary Ann just 15—were unmarried at the time of his conception. They wed on October 2, 1870, in Tantawangalo, with Peter … Continue reading James O’Brien and Lena Noonan