Broderick Family - The Babies of Walloon

The Babies of Walloon

Henry Lawson, 1891

He was lengthman on the railway, and his station scarce deserved

That "pre-eminence in sorrow" of the Majesty he served,

But as dear to him and precious were the gifts reclaimed so soon, --

Were the workman's little daughters who were buried near Walloon.

 

Speak their names in tones that linger, just as tho' you held them dear, 

There are eyes to which the mention of those names will bring a tear.

Little Kate and Bridget, straying in an Autumn afternoon,

Were attracted by the lilies in the water of Walloon.

 

All is dark to us.  The angels sing perhaps in Paradise

Of the younger sister's danger, and the elder's sacrifice;

But the facts were hidden from us, when the soft light from the moon

Glistened on the water-lilies o'er the Babies at Walloon.

 

Ah! the children love the lilies, while we elders are inclined 

To the flowers that have poison for the body and the mind

Better for the "strongly human" to have done with life as soon,

Better perish for a lily like the Babies of Walloon.

 

For they gather flowers early on the river far away,

Where the everlasting lilies keep their purity for aye, 

And while summer brings our lilies to the run and the lagoon

May our children keep the legend of the Babies of Walloon.

Henry Lawson wrote this poem in 1891 about the drowning two sisters in a Lilly pond near the Walloon township.

The ‘Babies of Walloon’ poem is based on the true story of sisters, Bridget and Mary Broderick, who in the latter part of the nineteenth century drowned at a waterhole that lies within the boundaries of the Walloon area. The Broderick sisters, aged six and nine, were the daughters of a lengthman on the railway at Walloon. They were sent on an errand by their parents to collect milk from a nearby homestead. It was felt at the time they were attracted by water lilies in a nearby pond. After a dramatic search, they were both found drowned.

The poem and the publication of a book by Judith Baker has rekindled the local community’s interest in the tragic event. The main park in Walloon has been renamed Henry Lawson Park and the park has been remodelled to the ‘Babies of Walloon’ theme.

Mary Jane and Bridget Kate Broderick were the daughters of Patrick Broderick and Kate (nee Lonergan/Loudrigan). The girls were buried in the Ipswich General Cemetery on 22 March 1891, in the Roman Catholic B section. Mary Jane was recorded as being 6 years old and Bridget was seven.