The earliest ancestor was John Crane born around 1731 at Clooncanragh, Kilskeery Parish, County Tyrone in the north of Ireland. John and his wife Mary had at least four children.
The youngest was Andrew Crane born on 14 November 1767 in Corkhill, Kilskeery Parish, County Tyrone. Andrew married Eleanor Irvine on 5 January 1798 in Kilskeery Parish. Andrew was 31 years of age at the time of his marriage, while Eleanor was a few years younger. Andrew and Eleanor raised a family of six children - four boys and two girls - all born in Corkhill.
Three of Andrew and Eleanor's children - Andrew, Irwin and Thomas immigrated to Australia, along with some of their grand children. Making the decision to leave behind their family for a new life in a far away land must have been a difficult one.
The first of the children to emigrate was Andrew. He was the third child of Andrew and Eleanor born 7 September 1805. At the age of 20, he married his first cousin Isabella Crane at Drumdran, Kilskeery Parish. Andrew and Isabella with their four children sailed from Greenock, Scotland on 10 October 1843 aboard the Herald which arrived Sydney, Australia on 10 January 1844. The family settled around Campbelltown, Australia for a couple of years before moving onto Adelong.
Irwin, the second child of Andrew and Eleanor, was born around 1802. Irwin married Rachel Richardson around 1828 in County Tyrone. Irwin and Rachel and their six children arrived in Sydney, Australia aboard the Oriental in 1850. Shortly after arriving it's likely that Irwin and his family travelled with Andrew and his family to Adelong.
In 1861 two brothers arrived aboard the British Trident - John and Irwin Elliott. The boy's mother was Martha Matilda Elliott nee Crain, daughter of Andrew and Eleanor. Martha was born 23 August 1816 at Corkhill and had married Alexander Elliott around 1839. Their son John married Eleanor Crain, daughter of Thomas and Matilda Crain in 1865 at Gundagai.
In the mid-1860s Mary Anne Wiley and her sister Sarah Jane Wiley arrived in Australia. The two girls were children of Mary Ann Wiley nee Crain, daughter of Andrew and Eleanor. Mary was born 2 September 1813 in Corkhill and had married Joseph Wiley in 1838. It's possible that as a consequence of her husband's death around 1864, Mary sent her two daughters out to Australia. Both girls settled in Adelong near their uncles. Mary Ann married James Prowse in 1864 and Sarah Jane married Robert Spensley in 1872.
Thomas, the youngest child of Andrew and Eleanor, sailed into Sydney aboard the Lobelia on 14 February 1863 after 94 days at sea. Travelling with him was his wife Matilda and their seven children. Thomas' brother Irwin paid a bounty of 33 pounds for the family.
An interesting story was that Thomas and his family got out of Northern Ireland "by the skin of their teeth", with the IRA in hot pursuit. Records of the IRA for 1862 were found in a potato field in Northern Ireland. Apparently, these records showed that the three elder sons were at the top of the IRA list. The boys were suspected of hiding outside the local Roman Catholic church and pulling ugly faces at the girls as they left Sunday School. Tale or true story?
Thomas first spent a few years farming at Picton before moving onto Adelong Creek to join his brothers Andrew and Irwin. It's thought that Thomas and his family arrived in Adelong around 1864. Thomas selected his first block of land at Mount Adrah and was granted the deed of title to one hundred acres on 1 March 1866. Thomas and his sons cleared the land and sowed potatoes, a staple part of their diet, along with salted down wallaby meat. The family did quite well and gradually increased their land holdings.
Thomas and Matilda's fifth child, Irvine was born 8 March 1852 in Corkhill, Kilskeery Parish, County Tyrone. Just after his father had selected land at Adelong, Irvine, at the age of 15, selected land at Spring Creek in March 1868. Irvine, or Jonno as he was known, married Jane Whiticker in 1881. Jane's father George Whiticker was a successful and wealthy squatter of Jellingroo at Adelong Crossing.
Sometime between 1881-1885, Irvine took over the Mount Adrah Pub. After they married, Irvine and Jane made their home here and raised a large family of twelve children - Mabel, Lillian (Lill), Irvine (Son), Florence (Doll), George (Turkey Crain), Edith (Eddie), Rosetta (Rose), Jane, Richard (Bill), Victoria (Vicky), William (Con) and Wallace (Joe) - who grew up wild, strong and healthy. The children were active and good at sports with the five brothers being very competitive sportsmen, particularly with one another. There are many sporting achievements, but the most notable is when Bill was invited to play in the Tumut District Cricket Team against the New South Wales Sheffield Shield Team in 1932, which included Don Bradman.
Irvine lived at Mount Adrah for most of his life, after coming from Ireland, except for a few years during the 1914-18 war, when he moved to Sydney with his wife and the younger members of the family. This move was to enable his children to have access to higher education.
Irvine died on 6 August 1927 and Jane died 22 years later on 9 August 1949. Both are buried at Mount Adrah. Irvin Crain is remembered as a quiet, gentle man who never had much to say and for this reason, even his own family seem to know little of his life, except that which they remember themselves. Granny Crain, as Jane was known, stood only five feet tall. She was the driving force behind their success in later years. She bossed her husband, and the family did things her way.