Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Andrew Francis Rennie was born on 15 February 1895 at West Calder, Midlothian, Scotland, the sixth of the seven sons of Michael and Elizabeth (née Todhunter) Rennie. He was at home at West Calder with his parents and six brothers in 1901. Michael and Mrs Rennie and six sons, including Andrew, departed from London for New Zealand on 13 November 1908 per the “Tainui”. Missing was their oldest son Thomas William who had been with the family in 1891 and 1901. Thomas had, in fact, come to New Zealand in December 1906 and settled in Timaru.

Andrew Francis Rennie, dairyman, James Street, Timaru, enlisted at Trentham on 12 June 1915. Single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of-kin – Michael Rennie, 55 James Street, Timaru. He was still serving with the 2nd South Canterbury Regiment. Private A. F. Rennie embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion of the 7th Reinforcements, leaving from Wellington for Suez, Egypt on 9 October 1915 per the “Aparima”. 6/3138 Andrew F. Rennie returned by the “Willochra” in January 1916, having been invalided home on 26 December 1915. He was discharged on 28 February 1916, in consequence of being medically unfit for Active Service although fit for employment in civil life. He was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. At the October 1917 meeting of the South Canterbury Returned Soldiers’ Association, A. F. Rennie was elected a new member.

After returning home, Andrew took up work as a grocer’s assistant in Timaru. On 1 August 1922 he opened a fruit mart in the Arcade. In 1925 he married Irene Annie Burns. They had a son and a daughter. By 1928 Andrew was a laundry worker in Wellington. He assumed charge of the laundry for the Otago Hospital Board in October 1934, resigning from that position in April 1937. His young son, Peter Chanel Burns Rennie, was stricken down with infantile paralysis in 1936 and spent nine months in Dunedin Hospital, being still there when Andrew was transferred to Wellington. Andrew was especially grateful for the care his boy received in Dunedin and in his transfer to Wellington in August 1937. Andrew Rennie became the manager of the laundry in the Wellington area and was instrumental in improving the work.

In the mid-1950s, Andrew and Irene moved to Wanganui. Andrew Francis Rennie died at Wanganui on 27 November 1960, aged 65 years. He was buried in Aramoho Cemetery, Wanganui. Irene died in December 1988 at Tauranga. Andrew’s younger brother Alexander Todhunter Rennie also served overseas in World War One, while Michael Joseph Rennie enlisted but was not fit for further service and Thomas William Rennie, married with three children, was listed on the Reserve Rolls. The three sons of John Rennie – Dennistoun McKenzie Rennie, Michael Bruce Rennie and Allan James Cullen Rennie - served in World War Two, Allan being killed in action in Italy in April 1943. Andrew’s son Peter Chanel Burns Rennie was drawn in a World War Two ballot.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [23 December 2025]; Scotland 1891 & 1901 census returns (ancestry.com.au) [23 December 2025]; Evening Post, 18 January 1916, Press, 31 January 1916, Timaru Herald, 31 October 1917, 31 July 1922, Evening Star, 26 October 1934, 23 Apri; 1937, 10 September 1937 (Papers Past) [24 December 2025]; Aramoho Cemetery, Wanganui burial record (Whanganui District Council & Find A Grave) [23 December 2025]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.