Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Michael Joseph Brosnahan was born (Michael Brosnahan) at Kerrytown, South Canterbury on 13 November 1887, the second son of David and Mary (née Scollard) Brosnahan, and baptised Roman Catholic at Temuka three days later (Michael). David and Mary who had married in January 1872 at Castleisland, County Kerry, Ireland, landed in Timaru, New Zealand in 1875 with their first-born (David Joseph). They went straight to Kerrytown where they took up a holding of 40 acres and remained for the rest of their lives. There four daughters were born followed by four sons. Mrs Brosnahan played a prominent part in the establishment of the Kerrytown School and one of her sons (David) was the first pupil. So, Michael and his siblings were educated at the Kerrytown Convent School. His younger brother Maurice spent 18 months in 1904-1905 at Waihao Native School, probably in the custody of his eldest brother David; he had come from Kerrytown School and returned there.

This family sometimes used the Brosnan spelling. From his youth, Michael was a farm labourer at Levels Plains or Kerrytown. Michael Joseph Brosnahan, labourer, Kerrytown was listed on the 1916 Reserve Rolls. Michael was one of four Brosnahan brothers who appealed their call-up at the Canterbury Military Service Appeal Board sitting at Timaru on 6 February 1917, the others being Barry Bernard, Maurice Joseph and Robert Michael. Two of the brothers had been passed as fit, one as unfit, the fourth had not yet been examined. Mrs Brosnahan said that she must have some of the boys at home. The appeals were dismissed. Along with his brothers Barry and Robert, he was to leave for Trentham by the second express on 20 February 1917 (for the 26th Reinforcements).

In mid-April 1917, Michael Joseph Brosnahan, labourer, Kerrytown, was called up, his name being one of 358 drawn in the sixth ballot for the South Canterbury Military District to fill vacancies in the 30th Reinforcements. When he enlisted at Timaru on 2 May 1917, Michael stated that he had been medically examined for service with the New Zealand Expeditionary Force at Timaru in December 1916 and rejected as unfit on account of his heart. He was medically examined at Timaru again on 2 May 1917. He stood at 5 feet 9 inches, weighed 168 pounds, and had a chest measurement of 35-37½ inches, with a dark complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. His sight, hearing, colour vision and lungs were all normal, but not his heart. His limbs and chest were well formed. He was free from most diseases and had had no illnesses or fits. He did have varicose veins, morbus cordias, and slight defects but not sufficient to cause rejection. He was assessed as Class C2 (permanently unfit for active service but fit for service in New Zealand). Single and Roman Catholic, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs Mary Brosnahan, Kerrytown, Timaru. He was residing at Kerrytown but had been employed by M. Sullivan at Otaio. Three people were absolutely dependant on him.

When the Military Appeal Board sat at Timaru on 16 May 1917, Michael Joseph Brosnahan (Kerrytown) was one of those who having been passed in Class C2 (fit only for home service) by the Medical Board, had their appeals dismissed, they to be held for home service and called up when wanted. At the Timaru sitting of the Military Service Board on 12 December 1917 to hear Second Division appeals, Michael J. Brosnahan, farmer, Kerrytown, who was classed C1, said he was the only man left at home. He had two brothers at the front. He had one brother classed C2. He looked after his mother. He had been called up under section 35. The appeal was referred to the Efficiency Board. At the sitting of the Military Service appeal Board at Timaru in February 1918, Michael Joseph Brosnahan, a farmer at Kerrytown, said that he had been called up under Clause 35 and wanted time. He was allowed till 8 April. On 8 April 1918 at Camp, Michael Joseph Brosnahan confirmed these details. He was posted to B Company, C.1. Classed 2 at Trentham on 16 April 1918, because of severe varicose veins, he was granted Leave with pay until further orders on Demobilization on 23 April. In July 1918, Michael Brosnahan, farmer, Kerrytown, was, on the Efficiency Board’s report, allowed until 23 September.

Michael lived on at Kerrytown for most his life, engaging in farm work, he and his brother Robert being the only Brosnahans at Kerrytown in the 1930s. An accident occurred at Temuka about 4.30 on 26 May 1927, which resulted in two men being badly injured. It appears that both men, whose names are Mr M. J. Brosnahan, Kerrytown, and Mr Te WereWhaitiri, Maori Pa, left Temuka going south, in Brosnahan’s gig, and when about Mr J. Bremner’s residence, the horse took fright and began kicking. While an endeavour was being made to pacify the animal, one of the reins broke, with the result that Whaitiri was thrown heavily out of the gig. The horse continued at breakneck speed towards the Temuka bridge, and finally dashed into a barb-wire fence. Brosnahan was thrown out, and the horse broke free from the traces and finally was brought to a standstill in Epworth, about two miles away. A constable and a doctor were on the scene in a short time, and Whaitiri was removed to Te Rata Hospital in an unconscious condition. Brosnahan suffered a very badly lacerated ear, which necessitated a number of stitches, and his clothing was almost torn to ribbons, apparently in the barbed wire fence. Mr Brosnahan had purchased the horse only a week or two before.

“This is a serious offence, and you are fortunate that you are not charged with a more serious offence, in that you might have killed someone in the other car,” said the Magistrate in the Timaru Magistrate’s Court on 19 April 1938, when Michael Joseph Brosnahan, single, a labourer, aged 50, of Kerrytown. pleaded guilty to a charge of being intoxicated in charge of a car. He was fined £20, his licence was cancelled until June 1,1939, and he was ordered to pay medical expenses. The charge was the sequel to a collision near Arowhenua on Saturday night, when Brosnahan veered into an approaching vehicle containing four passengers, one of whom was thrown through the windscreen and suffered minor injuries. Brosnahan was injured also. Both vehicles were extensively damaged.

Michael Joseph Brosnahan spent his last few years in Talbot Hospital, Timaru, an invalid. He died at Timaru on 29 January 1964, aged 76 years. Following a Requiem Mass at St Joseph’s Church, Temuka, he was buried at Temuka Cemetery with his sister Theresa who had died in August 1962. Michael’s brothers, Barry Joseph (Bernard) Brosnahan and Robert Joseph (Michael) Brosnahan both served in World War One; his oldest brother David Joseph Brosnahan, a farmer and married with a family, was listed on the Reserve Rolls, as was his brother Maurice, a farm labourer. Henry Francis Brosnan, son of David Joseph, served in World War Two. This family also used the two surname spellings – Brosnahan and Brosnan. David Brosnahan (senior) died on 10 October 1924 at his Kerrytown residence and Mary on 14 November 1937 at Kerrytown where she had lived continuously on the holding which they had taken up on their arrival in 1875.

Sources

NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5530 0018541) [27 March 2016]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [08 February]; Ireland Select Marriages (ancestry.com.au) [08 February 2016]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [16 April 2014]; Temuka Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council) [08 February 2016]; Timaru Herald, 31 January 1964 (Timaru District Library) [03 May 2016]; Timaru Herald, 7 & 20 February 1917, 18 April 1917, 17 May 1917, 13 December 1917, 27 February 1918, 11 October 1924, 27 May 1927, 15, 16 & 17 November 1937, Temuka Leader, 17 February 1917, 17 May 1917, 13 December 1917, 28 February 1918, 4 July 1918, 28 May 1927, Sun, 17 April 1917, Star, 17 April 1917, Press, 18 April 1917, 28 May 1927, 20 April 1938, Ashburton Guardian, 19 April 1938 (Papers Past) [24, 28 & 29 August 2020; 08 October 2021; 07 & 26 February 2026; 05 March 2026]; NZ Police Gazette, 1938; Baptism record (Christchurch Catholic Diocese Baptisms Index CD - held by South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [05 February 2026]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [08 February 2016; 04 March 2026]

External Links

• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

TS