Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Hugh Cornelius Brosnahan was born at Pleasant Point on 26 June 1897, the third child and only son of Hugh Cornelius and Fanny Janet Elizabeth (née Downes) Brosnahan. He was baptized on 29 September 1897 at St Alban’s Anglican Church, Pleasant Point, just as his sisters had been in 1896. Hugh Cornelius Brosnahan (senior), who came from County Kerry, Ireland, was in New Zealand by early 1878 when he was imprisoned at Timaru over a debt issue. His parents (Cornelius and Ellen) emigrated in 1879, and his brother Benjamin and sisters Ellen and Hannah also settled in South Canterbury. Hugh and New Zealand born Fanny married on 19 April 1893 at Temuka. Hugh’s sister Ellen Brosnahan married Fanny’s brother Thomas Chadwick Downes in 1885 at Timaru. Benjamin married in 1882 and Hannah in 1891. Fanny Janet Elizabeth Brosnahan died on 28 August 1898 aged 31 years, her second child Sarah dying the day before aged 3 years. The funeral for mother and child, which was conducted by Rev Hinson of St Alban’s Church left their Pleasant Point residence for the cemetery on 31 August. Hugh (senior) was left with two little children, little Hugh only 14 months old. Young Hugh spent from October 1911 till July 1912 at Mackenzie School in Canterbury, coming from Temuka and returning there. His father was resident at Cheviot. In late 1912 he spent a month at Leader Valley School, also in Canterbury. He had come from Cheviot School and went on to Temuka again. Probably it was St Joseph’s School that he attended. Hugh senior was recorded on the electoral roll for Temuka from about 1905 till about 1913 but with an absentee voter’s permit.

When the call went out for men in March 1917, Hugh Cornelius Brosnahan, a labourer, care of T. W. Edwards, Cashmere Road, Christchurch, registered at the Christchurch Recruiting Office on 9 March. Enlisting at Christchurch on 15 March 1917, he was medically examined the next day. Standing at 5 feet 2½ inches and weighing 105 pounds, with a chest measurement of 29-33 inches, he had a fresh complexion, grey eyes and dark brown hair. His sight was good in the right eye but very poor in the left. His hearing, colour vision, heart and lungs were all normal, his limbs and chest well formed. He was free from diseases and in good bodily and mental health but not vaccinated. His pulse was 96. He was classified B1 camp. A farm labourer at Halswell, single and Roman Catholic, he named his father as next-of-kin – Mr H. C. Brosnahan, C/o T. C. Downes, Temuka. His father is said to have moved to Christchurch in 1915, but was residing at Temuka, with his late wife’s family, when Hugh (junior) enlisted.

Posted initially to the 27th Reinforcements, Hugh was transferred to the 26th Reinforcements a few weeks later. Private H. C. Brosnahan embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Regiment of the 26th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington on 9 June 1917 per the “Willochra” (Transport 85). Disembarking at Devonport, England on 16 August 1917, he marched into Sling and was posted to the 4 Reserve Battalion, Canterbury Company. He left Sling for France on 26 October, marched into camp at Etaples three days later, then joined his Battalion on 10 November. He rejoined his Battalion on 27 November 1917, a week after being detailed to Brigade School.

On 19 December 1917 he was admitted to No. 4 New Zealand Field Ambulance, sick, and on 26 December admitted to the No. 63 Casualty Clearing Station. After being transferred to another Casualty Clearing Station on 2 January 1918, he was admitted to No. 7 Stationary Hospital at Boulogne on 5 January, with a mild foot complaint (inflammation of connecting tissue). He was transferred from the 3rd Canadian General Hospital to the 6th Convalescent Depot at Boulogne on 31 January. He was then discharged from the Convalescent Depot to the Base Depot in France on 16 February. Having been attached to Strength at the General Base Depot at Etaples on 20 February 1918, he marched into Camp at Abiele just over week later, then rejoined his Battalion in the Field on 10 March. But on 13 April 1918, Hugh suffered a severe gunshot wound to his left arm (elbow) and was admitted to the New Zealand Field Ambulance then to No. 56 Casualty Clearing Station. The next day he was admitted to No. 6 General Hospital at Rouen. Embarking for the UK on 17 April 1918, he was admitted to No. 1 New Zealand General Hospital at Brockenhurst on 19 April. Some weeks later, on 23 May 1918, he was transferred from Brockenhurst to the 3rd New Zealand General Hospital at Codford, and on 6 June transferred from there to the Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch. Admitted to the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch on 11 June, he was discharged to the NZ Command Depot at Codford on 13 July and went on leave until 29 July. Hugh had spent many months being shunted from one hospital to another. He marched into Camp at Sling on 22 August 1918.

On 15 January 1919, while on Active Service at Torquay, Hugh forfeited one day’s pay for absence without leave. At his medical examination conducted on 20 March 1919 prior to his leaving the service, all was good and normal. From Torquay he marched into the Canterbury Provincial Depot at Sling Camp, awaiting a ship home, on 16 April 1919. H. C. Brosnahan, 51258, of Temuka, returned to to Port Chalmers, New Zealand for demobilization, one of 1128 soldiers aboard the “Maunganui”, embarking at Liverpool on 17 May 1919 and arriving at Wellington on 24 June 1919. Notwithstanding the inclement weather, a fairly large number of people gathered at Temuka railway station to greet the returning men, H. Brosnahan one of them. The Temuka Juvenile Brass Band was in attendance, and the men were driven to the Post Office Square for the official welcome. The Mayor extended a very hearty welcome to the soldiers and said he was proud to greet the boys “who had brought us to where we are to-day”. Three cheers were lustily given, and the men were motored home. Hugh went to his Downes relatives at Temuka. He was discharged on 21 July 1919, on the termination of his period of engagement, and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Later in 1919, he was a porter at the Royal Hotel, Christchurch. In 1920/21 he was a labourer employed for two weeks and four days planting trees at a property at Rolleston. He gave evidence when a dispute over the contract went to court in December 1921. Hugh married Gladys May Sanders in 1925. They had six sons, the youngest Thomas dying at birth in 1943, and one daughter. Settling in Thackeray Street, Christchurch in the 1930s, Christchurch, the couple remained there until their respective deaths, Hugh employed as a labourer and factory hand. In January 1932, Hugh Cornelius Brosnahan was convicted and fined 5 shillings for a breach of the Fire-Arms Act, his cousin Henry Battersby Downes likewise. Mr and Mrs H. C. Brosnahan and family (Christchurch) spent Christmas 1932 with Downes relatives at Temuka. Was Hugh Cornelius a relative of Timothy Brosnahan (married to Eliza Connor), whose granddaughter’s farewell immediately following her wedding at Seadown, which he and Gladys appeared to have attended? Or just shared ancestral roots? So many Hugh, Cornelius, Patrick, Deborah, Ellen intertwined.

Hugh Cornelius Brosnahan (Tony) died at Christchurch on 10 May 1974, aged 76 years. His funeral service was held in the Canterbury Crematorium Chapel. He was survived by his five sons (Hugh, Stanley, Allan, Colin, Kevin) and one daughter (Gladys). He had signed his Will in 1955, bequeathing all his estate to his wife should she survive him and appointing her sole executrix. If his wife were to predecease him, he appointed his two sons, Hugh Cornelius Brosnahan and Stanley Leo Brosnahan, executors and trustees of his estate which would be shared equally among his six children. Gladys May Brosnahan, dearly loved wife and loved mother, did predecease Hugh Cornelius, dying at Christchurch on 11 June 1973. Hugh and family published a personal acknowledgement the following month. Hugh’s sister Ellen Brosnahan married returned serviceman John Patrick Clarke in 1921. They had a family of eight and lived until about 1963 in Timaru.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [29 July 2013]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5530 0018534) [27August 2013]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [2013]; School Admission records (Canterbury Branch NZSG); Timaru Herald, 30 August 1898, 29 April 1918, 16 June 1919, 5 January 1933, 24 February 1938, Lyttelton Times, 10 March 1917, Sun, 10 March 1917, 3 May 1918, Evening Post, 27 April 1918, 3 May 1918, Colonist, 3 May 1918, NZ Times, 14 June 1919, Temuka Leader, 30 April 1918, 24 June 1919, Press, 6 25 June 1919, December 1921, 22 January 1932, 25 February 1938, 12 June 1973, 7 July 1973, 11 May 1974, Star, 6 December 1921, 21 January 1932 (Papers Past) [17 September 2013; 11 August 2014; 07 April 2015; 10 & 13S February 2016; July 2021; 28 September 2022; 25 April 2025; 04 February 2026]; St Alban’s Anglican Parish, Pleasant Point, Baptism & Burial records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG records); Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au); Probate record (Archive NZ Collections – Record number CH671/1974) [05 February 2026]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

• BROSNAHAN Hugh Cornelius - newspaper clippings (pdf, 108.1 KB updated 06-Apr-2026)

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

TS