Reasons Suggesting The High Likelihood Frederick Henry Lee is the father to Cecil James Bull Snr

Given the dates and known information of Catherine and Frederick, it can be seen that there is a high likelihood which suggests Frederick is the father of Cecil James Bull Snr based on circumstantial evidence. A number of factors such as birth and living locations, Catherine’s wishes, the ‘high society’ conversation, the fact of three illegitimate children on Fredericks will, dates of relocation, the DNA of Cecil Jnr and his shared DNA and possible explanations for Cecil Snr’s middle name provide convincing evidence contributing to the conclusive plausibility of the case. #FrederickHenryLee #CatherineMcNamara #CecilJamesBull

Birth and Living Locations

Frederick was born in Molong NSW and Catherine was born in Blayney. These two areas are one hour’s apart however, since Catherine’s sister Julia was born in Molong in 1888 – one year after Catherine and in the 1891 census Catherine and her family are living in Molong she may have met Frederick and the Lee family during this time. Furthermore, her parents may have known the Lee family.

Catherine’s wishes

Julia McNamara, the aunty of Cecil Snr use to watch Cecil walk home from school. One day, Cecil asked his mother Amelia Bull "who is that lady following me around". Mrs Bull did not have a nice reply. Before Catherine gave Cecil to the Bull family who had just lost a child who they were going to name ‘Cecil’, Catherine told her sister Julia to “keep an eye on my little boy and watch him grow up”.

The ‘High Society’ Conversation In a conversation between Cecil Jnr's mother Margaret and Julia McNamara, Margaret asked Julia "do you know who my husband's father is?” Apparently, Julia did not elaborate very much and replied "he is someone of high society". The mention of high society would correspond to the Lee family who were one of the first Europeans to settle inland New South Wales. There were beliefs of the father being Reginald Bowman, a doctor of Parramatta and being related to the Macarthur- Onslow family of Parramatta/Camden, however these have been proven unlikely through DNA evidence.

Fredericks Will

On Frederick’s will, it appears he had three illegitimate children at the time of his death. The will does not mention the names of these children. This reveals he was a father to a total of seven children and most likely became a father to three before his two marriages where the names of those four children – Gerald of first marriage and Mollie, Netta and Frederica of second marriage are recorded.

Dates of Relocation

The marriage of Frederick to his first wife Mary Fitzgerald in North Sydney in January of 1910, to some degree highlights the idea that he may have been in contact with Catherine in the months earlier. Catherine gave birth to Cecil at the Royal Hospital for Women in Paddington on the 29th of May 1909. Moreover, Frederick’s decision to relocate with Mary for the birth of his son Gerald back to his hometown of Molong, in a way evinces his settling down approach.

The DNA of Cecil Jnr

The DNA of Cecil (Jnr) features a high percentage of Ireland/Scotland and Wales – 64%, 19% Europe West and 8% Scandinavia which seems to correspond to surnames such as Dargin – listed in Frederick’s tree which had originated in the Normandy region of North-Western France. Along with this, Cecil had red hair. Since the gene for red hair is recessive, in that, a person needs two copies of the gene for it to be expressed, Frederick must have carried the gene from his mother’s dad side of the ancestral line – The Reads. Moreover, Netta Somerville, the daughter of Frederick who sadly passed away at the age of 100 in the process of creating this document, had a rather high genetic connection with Cecil. Netta shared 251 centimorgans across 10 DNA segments. While there may be some statistical variation, the predicted relationship between Cecil and Netta is likely to be a second-cousin type relationship, which reveals the predicted relationship to be second cousins. This is the most conclusive evidence thus far from the truth.

Cecil Snr’s middle name

Though not a very strong indication, Catherine’s choice of name for her first and only child may have been a ‘clue’ to the possible father and his family. As stated above, Mrs Bull had just lost a baby which they planned on naming Cecil. Whether Catherine decided the name of her child herself is not known. Disregarding the first name, the middle name of ‘James’ may have been chosen and brought to mind as it was Fredericks father’s name (pictured below).

By taking into account these factors and the effects and impacts of them for both the McNamara and Lee family at the time, we begin to ponder of the influences and external factors which may have affected decisions made, actions taken or regrets suffered.

Factors of Consideration

Factors such as the dates of events, the trend in age differences and religious preferences are important considerations when assessing the surmise of the relationship, even with the most guiding and directional of information gathered.

Dates From the dates identified from ancestry sources as well as trove articles, there appears to be a trend in age differences between Frederick and his wives at the time of his two marriages. Just eight months after the birth of his son Cecil James, In January of 1910, Frederick had gotten married for the first time at 46 years of age to Mary Fitzgerald who was aged 26 – a difference of 20 years.

After the birth of his son Gerald and the subsequent death of his wife, he remarried to Jessie Phillips 3 years later who was also aged just 26. Based on the ages identified, the assumption of Frederick’s predilection towards young women can be made.

Adding on to this, since Cecil Snr was born on the 29th of May 1909, Frederick may have been in Sydney at this time possibly up until his marriage the following year. Furthermore, in August of 1910 which is seven month after his marriage, his son Gerald Lee was born in Molong. This signifies he moved back to his hometown of Molong.

Age Difference

At the time of Cecil’s birth Catherine would’ve been 22 years of age and Frederick would’ve been 45. Adding on to this, both of Frederick’s marriages are to women who were both 20 years younger than him.

Religion

The McNamara family were strict Catholics and the Lees were Protestants. Perhaps the marriage was prohibited or both parties were not in agreement. Catholic/Protestant marriages were not uncommon, but there may have been a few eyebrows raised. The wedding venue of Frederick’s first wife Mary Fitzgerald was held at Francis Xavier's Church, North Sydney which is a Catholic church. The religion of his second wife is not known and the venue of the marriage has not been featured in an article. Possibly, Frederick may have preferred marrying someone of the Catholic faith.

These factors increase the understanding of the scope of the situation, by broadening interpretations from a variety of perspectives whilst contemplating the effects and reactions of these factors.

In summary,

Why is it adding up?

• Catherine’s sister Julia noted ‘of high society’.

• Frederick has 3 illegitimate children listed on will and Cecil shares 251 centimorgans across 10 DNA segments, demonstrating high genetic ties to Frederick’s daughter Netta.

• Frederick was born in Molong, same area McNamaras grew up and resided.

• Married 1st wife Mary in North Sydney in Jan 1910 (In Sydney during this time)

• In August 1910, son Gerald was born in Molong (he moved back to hometown)

• Cecil Snr was born 29 May 1909 (Frederick may have been in Sydney)

• Catherine may have chosen the middle name James for her son after his grandfather.

Factors to consider:

• Lees were doing quite well as old pioneering family at the time and Catherine’s father John was a Police constable of Blayney/Dubbo although had died 11 years prior to Cecil’s birth.

• The factor of age difference - at the time of Cecil’s birth Catherine would’ve been 22 years of age. Frederick would’ve been 45.

• McNamara’s were strict Catholics and Lee’s were Protestants.

• Whether Frederick liked Catholics?

• Whether Frederick liked younger women?

• Whether parents knew about it?

Above: Catherine/Kate/Kathleen McNamara, mother to Cecil James Bull (Snr).

Above: Fred Lee, 5th from left in back row. Top from left, Tom Phillips,Reg. Phillips,Nellie nee Phillips,Jessie nee Phillips, Fred. Lee, Herb Whalebone, Parthenia,nee , Whalebone, Eliza Whalebone, Rose & Annie Bailey.on horse rear, Colin Ferguson? 2nd row--? , Henrietta Phillips, Edward Phillips, Juanita, Edwin Ball, Emma Ball. Children unknown. Location: Wellington, NSW. Year: 1914.