SWANEY, Thomas Henry
(Service number 91860)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Corporal |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 28 November 1885 (or 1886) | Place of Birth | Invercargill |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 21 June 1918 | Age | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Waipukurau | ||
| Occupation | Traveller | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Married. One child | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs Sarah Amelia SWANEY (wife), Box 95, Waipukurau | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | |||
| Date | |||
| Transport | |||
| Embarked From | Destination | ||
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
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 | 13 June 1941 | Age | 54 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Christchurch | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Linwood Cemetery, Christchurch | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Thomas Henry Swaney was born on 28 November 1885 (or 1886) at Invercargill, the fourth son of James Hume and Harriet (née Crow) Swaney. James (from Scotland) and Harriet (from England) who married in 1880 in New Zealand, had seven sons and two daughters, two sons and one daughter dying in infancy. Thomas may have started his schooling in Gisborne, where his father farmed with a brother David. Thomas transferred to Temuka in 1896 and went back there in 1899 after a year and a half at Orton School. James Hume Swaney died in 1913 at Christchurch and Harriet in 1938, survived by her second husband, a daughter and four sons.
Thomas Swaney married Sarah Amelia Stock (known as Amy) on 14 February 1915 in Christchurch. Their first child, a son Hume Collard Swaney was born on 7 July 1916 at Christchurch. Thomas was a traveller at Waipukurau when his name was drawn in the ballot in April/May 1918. He enlisted at Waipukurau on 21 June 1918, naming his wife as next-of-kin – Mrs Sarah Amelia Swaney, Box 95, Waipukurau. Posted to the 50th Reinforments as Private on 10 October, he was transferred to the 54th Reinforcements as Corporal eight days later. He contracted influenza twice at Trentham – from 18 October 1918 to 28 October and from 11 November 1918 to 20 November. Corporal T. H. Swaney was demobilized from Trentham on 22 November 1918 and finally discharged on 7 August 1919. Four more children were born to Thomas and Sarah, their twin sons dying soon after birth. They remained in Hawke’s Bay until the late 1920s or early 1930s when they moved to Christchurch.
Thomas Henry Swaney died at Christchurch on 13 June 1941, aged 54 years, and was buried with his parents at Linwood Cemetery. He died of heart failure caused by accidental air embolism during an operation for goitre. Survived by her son and two daughters, Amy died in March 1955 at her son’s residence at Little River and was buried with Thomas at Linwood. Their son Hugh Collard Swaney served in World War Two, as did a nephew, James Keith Palliser. Thomas’ younger brothers Inglis McGregor Swaney and Middleton Ryburn Swaney both served in World War One. Their eldest brother Peter Swaney had served in the South African War. John Swaney who died in 1917 while with the Training Unit was a cousin, his father being a brother of James Hume Swaney and his mother a sister of Harriet Crow.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [06 September 2025]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [06 September 2025); Daily Telegraph (Napier), 21 May 1918, Press, 14 June 1941, 17 July 1941 (Papers Past) [07 & 09 September 2025]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [06 September 2025]; Linwood Cemetery burial record (Chrstchurch City Council) [07 September 2025]
External Links
Related Documents
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Geneaology Society
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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