O'BRIEN, Arthur Michael
(Service number 32885)
| First Rank | Sergeant Major | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 12/12/1880 | Place of Birth | Gladstone, Invercargill |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 28 July 1916 | Age | 35 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | C/o C. E. Neiderer, George Street, Invercargill | ||
| Occupation | Labourer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | Christchurch Cycle Corps - disbanded | ||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | Alfred James DURRANT (DURANT) (half-brother), care of E. HENDERSON, Esq., Yellow Bluff, Otautau, Southland | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 22nd Reinforcements, Canterbury Infantry Regiment, C Company | ||
| Date | 16 February 1917 | ||
| Transport | Navua | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Devonport, Devon, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 24 November 1934 | Age | 53 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Waimate | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Waimate Old Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Arthur Michael O’Brien was born on 12 December 1880 at Gladstone, Invercargill, he declared on enlisting. By his obituaries, his parents died when he was young, and he went to Christchurch where he was educated at West Christchurch and Normal schools. There are two records for his admission to Christchurch Normal School on 19 August 1889, giving a birthdate of 20 December 1880. One identifies his parent/guardian as Mr Durant, Cambridge Terrace, the other as G. O’Brien, Cambridge Terrace.
Indeed, Arthur was at Temuka in the early 1900s, working as a porter. Arthur Michael O’Brien was a labourer for Mr Neiderer at Invercargill when he enlisted, nominating his half-brother as next-of-kin – Alfred James Durrant (Durant), care of E. Henderson, Esq., Yellow Bluff, Otautau, Southland. Alfred James Durrant who was the son of George and Susan Durant, was born at Christchurch in 1888. Alfred, too, attended Christchuch Normal School, in 1891, the home address being Cambridge Terrace. His mother died in January 1888, the day after the birth of a daughter. She was 32 years of age and had been in New Zealand for two years. Alfred enlisted in August 1914 at Invercargill and embarked with the Main Body. He arrived home in February 1916 and settled back at Otautau. The relationship between Arthur and Alfred is not readily apparent.
Sergeant-Major A. M. O’Brien embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Regiment of the 22nd Reinforcements, departing for Devonport, England, per the Navua on 16 February 1917. He returned to New Zealand per the Tahiti, embarking at Liverpool on 3 December 1918 and arriving on 12 January 1919. Arthur married Ellen Constance Anstiss (née Gundry), a widow with three sons, in 1920. He farmed at Tawai near Waimate for some time before taking the position of curator at Knottingley Park, Waimate.
Arthur Michael O’Brien died suddenly on 24 November 1934 at Waimate, aged 53 years, and was buried in the Old Waimate Cemetery. He was accorded a military funeral. See attached obituaries.
A Michael Arthur O’Brien was born in April 1881 at Dunedin, the son of Michael and Bridget O’Brien. Bridget died in 1898 at Dunedin. Was this the same man?
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [22 September 2023]; Press, 26 November 1934, Timaru Herald, 30 November 1934 (Papers Past) [22 & 23 September 2023]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [23 September 2023]; Waimate Cemetery records [23 September 2023]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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