Bush Whisky
On the 29 December 1893 a Melbourne detective and his troopers seized an illicit whisky distillery with a capacity of about 50 gallons near Nirranda. Sparks and Hopkins were arrested, taken to Warrnambool and released on bail. When they appeared before the Warrnambool Court on 5 January 1894 charged with having an unlicensed still, John Sparks was fined £200 or 12 months in gaol and Hopkins, an old man and a carpenter, was released without charge on the word of Sparks who said he had nothing to do with the still. In cahoots with Sparks were the brothers John and Tom Delaney and Robert Brumby who had posted bail for Sparks and Hopkins. However this largesse did not extend to the fine imposed and John Sparks was imprisoned in the Geelong Gaol much to the distress of his wife and three children. A grandson related a family story that it was Sparks turn to have the still and that it was his grandmother Bridget who was responsible for keeping the fire going 24 hours a day in the fireplace where the still was kept. Customs officials declared that the whisky seized was of excellent quality and there was no better made in the Colony of Victoria.
On the 20 January 1894 a systematic search began for other illegal whisky stills, rumoured to be no fewer than five, with dawn raids on the Delaney brothers' houses at Nirranda. Despite the discovery of kegs and demijohns no apparatus or whisky was found by Detective Christie and his party which included a sergeant, three constables and two trackers. News of the provisioning of the armed and mounted party of seven had travelled from Warrnambool and the spirits were well hidden in the scrub.
(Information from a book on the Delaney family provided by Jeff McLoughlan who said, "The illegal whisky story has now become quite a tourist attraction in the Timboon area.")

Nine children of John SPARK and Bridget Mary DUGGAN:

1. Kate SPARK b 1890 Charlton d/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 21291]
Kate GLEESON d 1986 Donald, Victoria.
Kate SPARK m 1917 Thomas GLEESON [Vic 5583] (lived Wycheproof 1935)

2. Margaret Jane SPARK b 1892 Port Campbell d/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 6860]
Margaret Jane SPARK d 1926 aged 54 yrs Charlton d/o John SPARK/Bridgett Mary DUGGAN [Vic 9150] (Single)

3. Eveline Mary SPARK b 1893 Nirranda d/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 25192] (Nirranda between Warrnambool and Peterborough)
Evelyn Mary SPARK d 1974 aged 81 yrs Swan Hill d/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 17240]
Evelyn Mary SPARK m 1922 Robert Paulin CLEARY [Vic 1258]
Robert Paulin CLEARY b 1892 Wooroonooke s/o Michael CLEARY/Margaret PAULIN [Vic 9160] (Wooroonook is 15k W of Charlton)
Robert Paulin CLEARY d 1938 aged 46 yrs Sea Lake s/o Michael CLEARY/Margaret PAULIN [Vic 13196] (lived Berriwillock 1935 abt 60k N of Wycheproof)

4. Rubena Rose SPARK b 1895 Nirranda d/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 23346]
Rubina Rose BRENNAN d 1974 aged 79 yrs Swan Hill d/o John SPARKS/Bridget DUGGAN [Vic 18074]
Rubina Rose SPARK m 1918 Andrew Joseph BRENNAN [Vic 2867]
Andrew BRENNAN b 1887 Corack s/o Andrew BRENNAN/Annie BRENNAN [Vic 18773] (Corack is abt 30k W of Charlton)
Andrew Joseph BRENNAN d 1943 aged 56 yrs Donald s/o Andrew BRENNAN/Annie BRENNAN [Vic 19660] (lived Corack 1945)

5. Jessie Hilda SPARK b 1897 Nirranda d/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 21596]
Jessie Hilda CONNOR d 1974 aged 76 yrs Cheltenham d/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 16192]
Jessie Hilda SPARK m 1925 William CONNOR [Vic 4134] (lived Nowie Nth, Via Swan Hill 1935, also Tatura nr Shepparton)

6. William Archibald SPARK b 1899 Nirranda s/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 20977]
William Archibald SPARK d 1986 Swan Hill.
William Archibald SPARK m 1931 Margaret Cecelia CONNOR [Vic 3623]
Margaret Cecilia CONNOR b 1906 Swan Hill d/o Stephen CONNOR/Margaret Elizabeth BOMBARDERIE [Vic 30259]
Margaret Cecilia SPARK d 1984 aged 77 yrs Swan Hill d/o Stephen CONNOR/Elizabeth - [Vic 2659] (lived Ultima 1935)

7. John Adrian Lewis SPARK b 1901 Nirranda s/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 13337 as SPARKS]
John Adrian Lewis SPARK d 1958 aged 57 yrs Heidelberg s/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 13365]
John A L SPARK m 1945 Birmingham District, Warwickshire, England Doris LYNE [FreeBMD Jun Qtr Vol/Pg 6d/992]
John Adrian Lewis SPARK enlisted 18 Jun 1926 in the Royal Australian Navy, Service Number 17613, DOB 9 Apr 1901, Birth Place Naranda (Nirranda), C OF E.
Description: Height 5ft 8 1/2in, Hair Auburn, Eyes Hazel, Complexion Fresh, Scar 2nd finger at left.
Service record until 31 Dec 1929 shows he was a stoker on five ships: Cerberus, Platypus, Adelaide, Sydney and Canberra. His character was assessed four times as Very Good and he was granted a 1st rate Good Conduct Badge. Although he had signed up for 12 years he must have been released early as on the 1931 Electoral Roll for Morwell he is listed as a plant attendant, very likely at the coal-fired electricity generating plant.
John Adrian Lewis SPARK was living in Ultima in 1935 before further enlistment, Service Number VX10349, WW2 service record 1939-1948. He again returned to Ultima with his war bride, recorded as Doris Patricia SPARK on the 1954 Electoral Roll.
(Information kindly provided by Wayne Woonton 31 Jul 2013)
More about John Adrian Lewis SPARK on page 91, Scotland to Clunes : The story of John Spark, Ann Spark and their descendants, by Peter Spark, 2007.

8. Doris SPARK b 1904 Wooroonooke d/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 22406]
Doris CASEY d 1942 aged 38 yrs Bendigo d/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 22817]
Doris SPARK m 1925 Thomas Laurence CASEY [Vic 8074]
Thomas William Lawrence CASEY b 1903 Sea Lake s/o George William CASEY/Grace HEAVYSIDE [Vic 28658] (lived Swan Hill 1935, also Waitchie)

9. Clara SPARK b 1906 Charlton d/o John SPARK/Bridget Mary DUGGAN [Vic 1966 as SPARKS]
Clara BOOTH d 1936 aged 30 yrs Bendigo d/o John SPARK/unk [Vic 16871]
Clara BOOTH (deceased) who died in Victoria 7 Aug 1936. Her husband is entitled to one-third of the estate (of Clara's aunt) and her children to the remaining two-thirds equally between them. (Probate papers of Mary Ann Waddell who died 12 Oct 1935 Fremantle, WA, provided by Jeanette Lee)
Clara SPARK m 1924 Arthur Leslie BOOTH [Vic 10788]
Arthur Leslie BOOTH b 1902 Bendigo s/o John BOOTH/Margaret Frances TEICHELMANN [Vic 14344]
Arthur Leslie BOOTH d 1964 aged 61 yrs Bendigo s/o John BOOTH/Frances TEICHELMANN [Vic 203]