Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Martin McGill was born on 7 June 1889 at Ballyduff, County Wexford, Ireland, the second son of Patrick and Kathleen (Catherina, née Mitten) McGill. Patrick and Catherine who had married in 1880 had four daughters and three sons. Martin and all his siblings were at home with their parents at Ballyduff in 1901. Missing from the household in 1911 are Catherine (younger) and Martin. Martin’s sister, Catherine McGill, who married James Murphy in 1906 in County Wexford, emigrated to New Zealand, and by 1911 they were in Hawke’s Bay. James, a constable, and Catherine were at Temuka by 1917. Another sister, Bridget McGill, emigrated to New Zealand in 1913 and married William Crawford in 1922. Martin McGill had come to New Zealand in about 1909. His father had died by 1917 and his mother had never been in New Zealand. In 1914 Martin was residing at the Royal Hotel, Temuka.

Martin McGill was listed on the 1916 Reserve Rolls – ploughman at Green Vale Farm, Temuka. When he enlisted on 14 September 1917 at Timaru, he was a farm labourer at Clandeboye, single, and Roman Catholic. He named his sister as next-of-kin – Mrs Cathleen Murphy, Police Station, Temuka. He had been medically examined that same day. Private M. McGill embarked with the Otago Infantry Regiment of the 34th Reinforcements, departing for Liverpool, England, per the “Ulimaroa” on 8 February 1918. M. McGill, of Temuka, returned to New Zealand per the “Kigoma” which was due at Wellington about 20 January 1920. His intended address was Police Station, Temuka.

“A number of returned soldiers, who had arrived in Wellington on Monday in the troopship Kigoma, came through in the express train from Christchurch on Tuesday afternoon. Only one man was for Temuka, Rifleman Martin McGill, and as his arrival was unexpected by the general public the attendance at the railway station was not large. He was warmly welcomed by the Mayor and chairman of the Temnka Patriotc Entertainment Committee, Mr T. Gunnion, Mr T. H. Street, a member of the committee, and Cr. Evans, after which he was motored home in a car kindly provided by Mr W. Hally. Rifleman McGill had been away for two years.” [Temuka Leader, 15 January 1920.] When the Mayor of Temuka welcomed home Rifleman Frisby on 31 January 1920, he “also took the opportunity of welcoming and thanking Private Martin McGill, who arrived a few days previously, but through some mismanagement or lack of organisation, did not get the reception that they gave to all their returned soldiers. He was in the same position as Rifleman Frisby, and had been away for two years, had done his best, and they were very pleased to have him back again.” Rifleman McGill was discharged on 10 February 1920, on the termination of his period of engagement, and awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

Yet, Martin McGill was one of 45 returned soldiers who were presented with gold medals at a most memorable gathering organised by the Waitohi Flat Presentation and Memorial Committee and held in the Waitohi schoolroom in November 1919. An enjoyable concert was provided before the returned soldiers, assembled in the front seats, were thanked and welcomed home. All involved were thanked for their kindness and mementoes of the war and the ladies of Waitohi were thanked for the much-valued parcels sent to the front.

Martin married Ivy Jackman (born Burrows) at Timaru in 1922. They had two sons – James Martin born in 1924 and Rex born in 1926. A daughter (Betty Margaret) was born to Ivy in 1929. The case of McGill v. McGill, in which the wife asked for a maintenance order under the Destitute Persons’ Act, 1924, against her husband, was heard in the Geraldine Magistrate’s Court on 1 February 1926. “Mr T. C. Farnie appeared for the complainant, Ivy McGill, and Mr Russell, of Ashburton, for the defendant, Martin McGill. Evidence was adduced by Mr Farnie to show that the husband had formed excessive drinking habits since his marriage in 1922, and had failed for some considerable time to provide his wife and child with sufficient maintenance. After a lengthy hearing, his Worship made an order that defendant was to pay 35s a week for the maintenance of his wife and child, the first payment to be made on the 8th February; and further, that he was to pay the sum of £l0 for past maintenance, together with £2 2s for plaintiff’s solicitor’s costs.” In the case of Ivy McGill v. Martin McGill, Mr Farnie appeared for defendant again on 3 May, and said that in February last defendant was ordered to pay 35s a week and £l0 arrears, but had only paid £4. His Worship made an order that defendant be imprisoned for three months with hard labour, the warrant to be suspended if he pays £l0 on account of arrears, keeps up the current maintenance payments and pays the balance by monthly instalments of £3. In Christchurch in December 1926, Martin McGill was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment for being in arrears to the extent of £2l 5s in respect of maintenance orders regarding his wife and child, the warrant to be suspended provided be pays £5 on December 28rd, January, 23rd, and March 23rd. The remainder of the arrears were remitted, and a fresh order was made for £1 per week in favour of complainant. In late October 1929 at the Supreme Court, Napier, Martin McGill petitioned for divorce from Ivy McGill on the grounds of separation. He stated that he was married at Timaru in December, 1922. There was one child of the marriage. In 1925 it was agreed that there should be a separation. A decree nisi was granted, to be moved absolute in three months, interim custody of the child being given petitioner.

The family story is that Martin took his son, James Martin McGill (known as Jim) from Ivy in about 1926 before Rex was born. Jim was brought up by Martin’s sister. Indeed, his birth was registered as James Martin Murphy, child of Catherine and James, in 1932. Between 1925 and 1928, Martin had moved from Mitcham (Mid-Canterbury), where he was farming, to the Hawke’s Bay district, where he was a shepherd, while Ivy moved from Mitcham to Temuka in about 1928. Ivy stayed on at Temuka for many years. In 1935 Martin was at the Takapau Hotel with his aunt and uncle (Catherine and James Murphy). Martin McGill was a station hand at Takapau, Hawke’s Bay when he enlisted in November 1940 at Wellington for Home Service. He was divorced and had one child aged 17. His next-of-kin was his sister – Mrs Murphy, Takapau Hotel. In the mid-1940s, Martin McGill moved to Lower Hutt. He died on 21 May 1948 at Wellington, aged 58 years, and was buried at Taita Cemetery, Lower Hutt, a services stone marking his grave. Ivy died at Christchurch in January 1959 and was cremated. She was survived by two children – Rex and Betty. When Ivy’s mother died in 1964, she was survived by her two grandchildren – Rex and Betty, Ivy’s sister Beatrice having died in 1938.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [10 April 2025]; Timaru Herald, 10 November 1919, Press, 17 December 1919, Temuka Leader, 15 January 1920, 3 February 1920, 2 February 1926, 4 May 1926, Press, 21 December 1926, Hawke’s Bay Tribune, 30 October 1929, 7 November 1929, Daily Telegraph, 30 October 1929, 7 November 1929, Press, 14 January 1959 (Papers Past) [10 April 2025]; 1901 & 1911 Ireland Census returns (ancestry.com.au) [13 April 2025]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [13 April 2025]; Taita Cemetery record [13 April 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.