Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Patrick Connell was born on 16 July 1881 at Levels, Timaru, the son of Jeremiah Connell (O’Connell) and Mary née Brosnahan. He was baptised Roman Catholic just twelve days later, on 28 July 1881 at Temuka. Both his birth and his baptism were registered as O’Connell. Patrick was the first-born and eldest surviving son of the family and from a family of ten one of only five who reached adulthood. His mother died on 14 August 1907 at the family home at Levels. She was buried at Temuka with their five young children. Jeremiah Connell died on 18 August 1918 at Christchurch and was buried in Sydenham Cemetery. In May 1915, when Jeremiah left Levels, where he had been resident for over forty years and had “reared a respectable family”, he was accorded a very happy send-off. An impromptu ballroom was provided in a barn and decorated with patriotic flags, the Belgian flag given prime position. The evening was passed in dancing, recitations and speeches, music and the singing of “Auld Lang Syne”, until the “wee sma’ oors”. Mr Connell was accompanied by two sons and a daughter. One of his sons was “at the front fighting for his King and country”, namely John Joseph Connell. Mr Connell left the district “with the good wishes of every settler, leaving no enemy behind him.” Gifts were presented to Mr Connell, his two sons and daughter, and regret was expressed at their departure from the district. The two sons – Patrick and James – were taking up a farm in Hawke’s Bay; the daughter – Mary – was remaining in the district. Had Patrick been successful in a land ballot at Tautane, Waipukurau, in August 1914?

Patrick Connell was 33 years 10 months old when he enlisted on 31 May 1915. Although he gave his address as Care of Shamrock Hotel, Timaru, he was working at Waipukurau. Single and Roman Catholic, he named his sister Julia as his next-of-kin - Mrs J. Hawkins, of Redcliff, Glenavy, Canterbury. He was 5 feet 10 inches tall, weighed 152 pounds, and had a chest measurement of 34½-37¼ inches. His complexion was dark, his eyes brown, and his hair dark brown. His sight, hearing and colour vision were all good, his limbs and chest well formed, and his heart and lungs normal. He had good movement of his joints, and his teeth were good. He was in good bodily and mental health, free of diseases and defects, and was vaccinated.

Private Patrick Connell was initially posted to C Company of the 7th Reinforcements. He embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion on 9 October 1915 at Wellington, and disembarked on 18 November at Suez, Egypt. On 1 November 1915 on the troop ship he was appointed lance-corporal, then reverted to ranks at Ismailia on 10 January following.

He was admitted to the New Zealand General Hospital at Abbassia on 25 December 1915, with what was to be his first bout of bronchitis, and discharged to Zeitoun on 7 January 1916. He embarked on the “Franconia” at Port Said for France on 2 April 1916. In late September 1916, the heaviest list of casualties among New Zealanders that had been issued since the start of the war was released. Private Patrick Connell, 6/2988, Canterbury Infantry Battalion, had been wounded in the Field on 16 September, in the left foot, and admitted first to the No 2 Field Ambulance the next day, then on 19 September to the No 23 General Hospital at Etaples, and a week later embarked on Hospital Ship for the New Zealand General Hospital at Walton. On 12 October he was transferred to the New Zealand Convalescent Hospital at Hornchurch. It was 10 January 1917 when he reported at the Command Depot at Codford from leave at Hornchurch, and 29 March, in England, when he was transferred to the 3rd Battalion Canterbury Infantry Regiment of the 4th New Zealand Infantry Brigade. His wounds were slight and he had remained with his unit, stated another newspaper. He proceeded overseas to France on 28 May. Having been evacuated from the Field, sick, on 10 October, he was admitted to No 1 Canadian General Hospital in France on 12 October 1917, with slight bronchitis. He was discharged to Base Depot in November and attached to Strength at Etaples. In mid December he rejoined his unit in the Field. After attending Reinforcements Camp, he joined the New Zealand Entrenching Battalion from the Canterbury Regiment in March 1918. On 5 July 1918 he went to the UK on leave, rejoining his battalion two weeks later. But on 25 July 1918 he was admitted to the 5th Canadian General Hospital, with another bout of bronchitis. Still affected by bronchitis, he was admitted to the 6th General Hospital at Rouen a few days later. On 2 August he was transferred to England and admitted to the 1st NZ General Hospital at Brockenhurst. P. Connell, 6/2986, Glenavy, was listed in the hospital list issued in August 1918. His was reported as a not severe case. He was re-posted to the Canterbury Infantry Regiment in the UK in October 1918.

By December 1918, afflicted with tuberculosis, he was coming home. He embarked at Liverpool on 2 December, with Returning Draft No. 203, the “Maunganui”, and arrived on 11 January 1919. By this time his sister, Mrs Julia Hawkins, was residing at Eketahuna. Patrick’s intended address was Horopeto Main Trunk. Patrick Connell was discharged on 24 February 1919, no longer physically fit for war service on account of illness contracted on active service. He had served for three years 259 days overseas - in Egypt and Western Europe, and was awarded the 1914-15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

He married Anastatia (Statia) Ingleton in 1928. They lived at Porangahau, where Patrick farmed, and Waipukurai. Patrick Connell died on 29 June 1937 at Waipukurau, of Porangahau, aged 55 years - “. . . dearly-loved husband of Statia Connell, . . . ; eldest son of late Jeremiah and Mary Connell, Timaru; . . .” He was buried in the Waipukurau Cemetery, a services stone marking his grave. Statia died in in 1953 and was buried at Waipukurau with their son, John James Connell, who had died in 1951. Patrick bequeathed to his wife his possessions and the free use of his residuary estate, provided she pay all rates, taxes, insurance premiums, and provided she keep the same in good order and repair. John James Connell was probably their only child as, when Anastatia died, she made bequests to her sisters, brother and step-sisters and to god-children who were distant relatives.

His brother John Joseph, who also served in World War One, died in 1945 in Auckland. A nephew, James Hawkins, the son of Patrick’s next-of-kin sister, lost his life in World War Two, in 1942 in the Western Desert. His next-of-kin was the widow of his uncle James Connell of Waiuku. In time, all the family of Jeremiah and Mary had moved away from Levels. His sister Mary, who died in 1950, was the last survivor of her generation. She made bequests to sisters or nieces of her brother-in-law, Thomas Hawkins. James, the second son, had married in 1918 at Waipipi. He died in 1936 and was buried at Waipipi Cemetery, Auckland. Julia, who had married Thomas Peter Hawkins in 1908 (as O’Connell), lived first at Levels, then at Waihao Downs, Waihaorunga, and Redcliffs near Waimate, before moving to the North Island. Julia died in 1921 at Onga Onga, just 34 years old and leaving three young sons, and is buried in Hawke’s Bay. Her husband died in 1924 at Christchurch.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [14 September 2014]; Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5530 0027476) [20 November 2014]; NZ Christchurch Catholic Diocese Baptisms Index CD (held by South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [10 May 2015]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of internal Affairs) [28 July 2015]; Timaru Herald, 15 August 1907, 18 August 1914, 14 & 29 May 1915, Hastings Standard, 15 August 1914, Sun, 30 September 1916, Evening Post, 30 September 1916, 31 December 1918, Oamaru Mail, 2 October 1916, Otago Daily Times, 2 October 1916, Otago Witness, 11 October 1916, New Zealand Times, 13 August 1918, 1 January 1919, Press, 21 August 1918, Lyttelton Times, 21 August 1918, New Zealand Herald, 1 July 1937 (Papers Past) [12 & 14 September 2014; 15 December 2020; 05 February 2021]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [04 April 2015; 01 January 2021]; Probate record (Archives NZ/FamilySearch) [07 August 2016]; Waipukurau Cemetery headstone image & burial records (Central Hawkes Bay District Council) [2020]; Waipukurau Cemetery headstone transcriptions [29 September 2020]; Temuka Cemetery headstone images (Timaru District Council); Sydenham Cemetery headstone transcription [February 2021], Sydenham Cemetery burial record (Christchurch City Council) [February 2021]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

TS