James McFarland Emigrates to Australia

We don't know why James emigrated from Ireland but there are vague stories that the farm his father George owned was too small to subdivide between the brothers. Looking at the George and Elizas marriage date and James and Williams birth date, it seams likely there were more than two children in the family.

Northern Ireland was going through great political upheaval, wanting home rule. The third home rule bill was passed in 1912. On the Public Records of Northern Ireland website you can view quite a few McFarland signatures in the area where George and Eliza lived. This is the web address:http://www.proni.gov.uk/ulstercovenantsearch/ .

In 1914 World War 1 began and in 1916 the Easter rising occurred. After the World War 1 ended in 1918 the Irish Civil War began in 1922, ending in 1923.