First of the McElroy ancestors to be born in Australia. Only son of bounty emigrants Stephen and Margaret. Was named after his uncle Anthony, but with minimal literacy levels it was mispelt.
Was born in Cumberland Street Sydney (now where the Sydney Harbour Bridge is).
His baptism was written as McIIroy (due to the strong Irish accent of his father).
The early years for Antony would have been full of the experiences of a harsh untamed land, having travelled by dray with with his family, especially leaving Sydney when we was only 3 years old.
As they were travelling, they went to the goldfields of Ballarat in 1852 but didn't find their fortune, so continued to Penola.
He was taught to read and write by his sisters. According to stories handed down Antony was left to mind sheep on a station which was of the Pinchaunga tribe.
He married Helen McEwan Shaw (a Scottish immigrant) in Aug 1848 at the home of Stephen McElroy (his father) and by Rev James Don (the 2nd Presbyterian Minister in the district).
In their marriage they had 12 children. Their first (Jesse McFarlane McElroy - named after Helen's mother) only survived 4 months.
In early 1875 they moved to Bordertown to take up land. He purchased 542.5 acres of land in the Hundred of Tatiara. for the sum of £812, 12s, 6d, which was paid to the Treasurer of the Province of South Australia, of which the land was transferred to George Riddock, giving substance to a claim of 'dummying'. The family moved back to Penola.
Anthony did a lot of manual work in the Penola district - shearing sheep, splitting posts, rails and palings, fencing, clearing red gums, planting vines. He lived an active life (of which was passed down to many of his children (some of who would go with him on contracts - eg shearing at Katnook estate).
He settled at Monbulla (not far from Penola) where 3 children were born (Isabella, Stephen Francis and David Shaw).
The original McElroy house in Portland Street Penola had burnt to the ground some years before and was rebuilt closer to the Arthur street corner and when his parents passed he inherited the new weatherboard home of 8 rooms. It is here that their last 3 daughters were born.
Life was hard and he never accumulated a lot of wealth. Later in his life he suffered ill heath and had to undergo several operations. He suffered from 'suppurative cholongitis' and passed away at the age of 68.
At the time of death he owned a vacant block of land on Arthur street and in 2023 that block of land is still vacant and owned by his great grandson Anthony Maxwell McElroy.
His wife lived another 5 years before passing away and they were reunited at the Old Penola Cemetery.