Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Edgar Joseph Keeffe was born on 10 October 1888 in Alma Cottage, at Burke’s Pass, South Canterbury, the third son and one of ten children of James and Bridget Mary (née Ryan) Keeffe, of Burkes Pass. The cob cottage in which he was born was built by James Keeffe and still stands. He was baptised (as Edgar Joseph O'Keefe) on 29 October 1889 in the Catholic Church at Timaru. James and Mary who had married in 1873 in London, came to New Zealand in 1876 with their first-born, Alice Annie Keeffe, and settled in the Mackenzie district. Edgar and his siblings were all educated at Burke’s Pass School where Mr J. Keeffe was elected to the school committee in 1889, and in successive years. He was voted to the chair in 1897. Edgar started school on 29 November 1893 and left for home just before his 14th birthday.

Mr Keefe’s house was almost unroofed in a nor’wester in mid-November 1894 at Burke’s Pass. In February 1897, James Keeffe applied to the Mackenzie County Council for employment for himself, horse, and dray, as he had had to purchase the horse and dray to do some casual jobs given him by the Council. It was informally agreed any suitable job might be offered him at schedule rates. In October the Council accepted the tender of James Keeffe for pound-keeping at Burke’s Pass, he to pay £3 10s per annum. About a week into March 1898, the annual school treat in connection with the Burke’s Pass School was held. Several games were indulged in by the elders of both sexes, while the juveniles were displaying their physical prowess. At 5.30 to a stirring march on the pipes, everybody adjourned to the school room, where an excellent spread was laid by the ladies of the district. After tea a prize was distributed to every child in the school. Among the attendance prize-winners was Edgar Keeffe. In 1899, Edgar received a Standard III prize, based on the results of the inspector’s examination, and his sister Kate received a Standard V prize. The 1900 annual treat was held in late April. Fortunately, the weather was fine, and a most enjoyable day was spent. Edgar was awarded a Standard IV prize, and his sister Jeannie was also rewarded. He was still at school in October 1902 when he was moved into Standard VI. Alice Keeffe, the eldest of the family, was employed at the Wolds Station when she donated to the Fairlie branch of the Patriotic fund in January 1900. Mr J. Keefe, offered in November 1903 to keep the Burkes Pass cemetery in order for £6 a year. The council engineer and chairman were to inspect and to arrange for the cemetery being looked after as required. Early in 1906, regret was expressed that the railway had not run up to Burke’s Pass from Fairlie, “but the coach services provided by Messrs Kerr and Frayne, and also Mr Keefe, have proved quite sufficient for the present travelling public.” Bridget Keeffe died on 22 February 1906 at Burke’s Pass and James Keeffe on 10 August 1910 at Burke’s Pass. They are buried in Burke’s Pass Cemetery. On the outbreak of war in August 1914, Miss A, Keeffe donated to the Cave War Fund. Sadly, Alice Annie Keeffe died at the Timaru Hospital on 1 February 1918. She was buried alongside her parents at Burke’s Pass.

Like so many young men in the Mackenzie district of South Canterbury, Edgar followed the calling of shepherd, firstly at Burke’s Pass, then at Kimbell. When Edgar Joseph Keefe [sic], known to friends as Joe, enlisted at Trentham on 17 December 1914, he was living at Kimbell and working as a shepherd. He had arrived at Trentham on 13 December, having been medically examined on 4 December. Standing at 5 feet 4½ inches and weighing 140 pounds, with a chest measurement of 32-35¼ inches, he had a fair complexion, grey eyes and brown hair. His sight, hearing, colour vision and teeth were all good, his limbs and chest well formed, and his heart and lungs normal. He was free from diseases, vaccinated and in good bodily and mental health. Single and Roman Catholic, he named his oldest brother as next-of-kin – George Keefe, Kimbell, Fairlie, South Canterbury. As of 29 December 1914, there were sufficient men in the Trentham camp for the Mounted Rifles of the 3rd and 4th reinforcements; there are also sufficient men for the infantry of the 3rd reinforcements, but some 600 more infantry recruits were required to complete the numbers of the 4th reinforcements. “Coming to the question of New Zealand sick and wounded, four cases containing over £100 worth of hospital comforts were forwarded at the beginning of the war to the authorities for immediate use with the main body. Two cases of medical comforts were despatched to the Third Reinforcements, two to Fourth, two to Fifth, two to First Stationary Hospital, two to the Second Stationary Hospital, and two to Hospital Ship. All these cases have been forwarded to members of New Zealand medical staff, and duly acknowledged with suggestion as to things that may be included with advantage.” – Mayoress. [Timaru Herald. 21 July 1915.] Sadly, these comforts would not have reached Joe Keeffe.

Trooper E. J. Keeffe embarked with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles of the 3rd Reinforcements, departing from Wellington per Transport No. 17 on 14 February 1915 and disembarking at Suez, Egypt on 26 March. A private cablegram was in Dunedin in late March 1915, stating that the Third Reinforcements had safely reached their destination. It was noted that he had arrived at the Dardanelles and been posted to the 8th Mounted Rifles on 23 August 1915. Edgar was first reported as missing just five days later, on 28 August 1915. There was, however, an agonising five-month wait for his family to learn the official news. As the result of the Court of Enquiry held at the Canterbury Mounted Rifles Headquarters at Zeitoun on 14 January 1916, it was reported (on 19 January) that he had been killed in action on 28 August 1915 at the Dardanelles. So just six months after embarking for Egypt, this young man was dead in a foreign land. John D. McLeod, a Fairlie man who had embarked with the Australian Forces, noted in his diary three men whom he would have known personally and who all belonged to the 3rd Regiment – Joe Keefe missing 28 August, Alex Hall wounded and Bob Anderson. Edgar was one of two men originating from the Fairlie district to suffer the same fate in the same battle on the same date, the other being Ringin Ballantyne. His medals – 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal, plaque and scroll were all sent to his brother George James Keeffe at Kimbell, George being next-of-kin for both Edgar and Alec. Edgar was well known and much respected in the Mackenzie Country.

The name of Edgar Joseph Keeffe is inscribed on the Hill 60 (New Zealand) Memorial in Turkey, one of the memorials to the victims of the Gallipoli campaign. Hill 60 was attacked on 21 August by a composite Anzac force of Australians, New Zealanders, British and Ghurkas. After 8 days’ intense fighting, the greatest part of the crest, though not the actual summit, had been captured. A feat which Edgar and 182 other New Zealanders did not live to see. “Here are recorded the names of officers and men of New Zealand who fell in the actions of Hill 60, August 1915, and in September 1915, and who have no known grave.” E. Keefe is honoured on the Timaru Memorial Wall and the Mackenzie District War Memorial at Fairlie. The original Mackenzie County War Memorial was unveiled on 15 December 1929. It has since been rebuilt. The parade, including the Timaru Municipal Band, 49 Returned Soldiers, the Executive Committee of the War Memorial, the Mackenzie Pipe Band, and School children from Mackenzie County Schools, formed up at the Post Office and marched to the site of the memorial. After the singing of the National Anthem, and a verse of the Canadian Anthem, the Chairman addressed the gathering, expressing gratification at the fact that at long last they were met to unveil and dedicate the memorial to the soldiers from the Mackenzie County who fell in the Great War. The design was unique in South Canterbury. It was not a cenotaph, or solely a monument of those buried elsewhere. It expressed more than that. It was a catafalque, a cairn upon which symbolically the remains of the Unknown Warrior were elevated, and were contained in the representation of a casket at the top of the structure. The base was composed of glacial boulders, and the shaft of limestone blocks. The whole erection was therefore constructed of indigenous stone. Thus symbolically the Warrior rested on his native soil. The wreath above the tablet, composed of laurel leaves carved in stone symbolised victory. The tablet on which the names were inscribed is of marble. In a lengthy address, Father Barra, who had himself served as a chaplain, outlined clearly the campaigns throughout which New Zealanders had served, fought and died. They had “stood up in their splendid manhood, enthusiastically responding from the first to the call of their country.” He paid sensitive and abundant tribute to all involved in any role in the conflicts. An avenue of oak trees, commemorating Fairlie’s fallen soldiers, lines its main street. A moving tribute to the Anzacs killed at Gallipoli is often attributed to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1st President of Turkey) in 1934:

Those heroes that shed their blood and lost their lives ... You are now lying in the soil of a friendly country. Therefore rest in peace. There is no difference between the Johnnies and the Mehmets to us where they lie side by side here in this country of ours ... You, the mothers who sent their sons from faraway countries, wipe away your tears; your sons are now lying in our bosom and are in peace. After having lost their lives on this land they have become our sons as well.

Edgar’s brother Alexander Bruce Smith Keeffe also served in World War One and was invalided home on the hospital Ship “Maheno”. Their eldest brother George James Keeffe was next-of-kin for both Edgar and Alec. George was called up in 1918. He had married in 1904 and had one daughter. Mrs Keeffe (Kimbell) was elected in January 1917 to a group to manage Fairlie’s Patriotic Shop. The shop had recently met with success and a decision was made to continue it in the interests of the local war guilds (Fairlie, Cricklewood and Kimbell). This would have been George’s wife Elizabeth. Alfred Keeffe, older brother of Edgar and Alexander, donated to the Mackenzie County Prisoners of War Fund in October 1918. George James Keeffe and Alfred John Keeffe who were both married men with children, were listed in the World War One Reserves. At least two nephews of Edgar served in World War Two – Wilfred Lloyd George Allan (son of Jane) and Edgar John Keeffe (son of Alexander; served with Jayforce). Alma Mabel Keeffe’s husband, Murdoch Kerr, served in World War One after their divorce; Kate Agnes Keeffe’s husband, Cecil Bertram Anderson, had served before their marriage; and Jane Elizabeth Keeffe’s husband, Alexander Allan, served after their marriage. A photo of Trooper E. J. Keeffe, Canterbury Mounted, missing, was printed in the Otago Witness of 6 October 1915. The photo is also attached to his Cenotaph record.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [13 April 2014]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5541 0062918) [04 May 2014]; CWGC [14 April]; NZ BDM Indexes (DIA) [14 April 2014]; Timaru Herald, 29 April 1889, 4 May 1891, 15 November 1894, 16 February 1897, 30 April 1897, 18 October 1897, 11 March 1898, 28 April 1900, 27 November 1903, 13 January 1905, January 1906, 30 June 1906, 18 August 1910, 18 August 1914, 31 December 1914, 30 March 1915 21 July 1915, 21 September 1915 [x 2], 21 January 1916, 23 January 1917, 2 & 4 February 1918, 25 October 1918, 2 March 1928, 4 July 1928, 16 December 1929, Temuka Leader, 4 March 1899, South Canterbury Times, 25 January 1900, Ashburton Guardian, 21 September 1915, Evening Post, 21 September 1915, 20 January 1916, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 21 September 1915, 21 January 1916, Otago Witness, 6 October 1915, Oamaru Mail, 21 January 1916, Otago Daily Times, 21 September 1915, 21 January 1916 (Papers Past) [14 April 2014; 05 & 06 May 2014; 27 October 2014; 03 May 2015; 30 January 2020; 30 April 2020; 10 March 2022; 21 May 2022; 14 July 2023; 19 & 22 July 2025]; SCRoll web submission from M Konings, 30 January 2015; McLeod, J D (Sergeant), fl 1915-1917. McLeod, John Duncan, 1887-1938: First World War diary. Ref: MS-Papers-1382. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand; School Admission Records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [03 May 2015]; Marriage & Birth indexes England (Free BDM) [04 May 2015]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [14 November 2014]; Family Trees (ancestry.com.au) [03 May 2015]; Christchurch Catholic Diocese Baptisms Index CD (held by South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [10 May 2015]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

• KEEFFE - newspaper clippings (pdf, 124.5 KB updated 07-Aug-2025)

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

TS