Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

John Romney McGuinness enlisted twice with the New Zealand Forces, giving two quite different birthdates. When he enlisted on 6 January 1915 at Trentham, his birthdate was 8 April 1879, at Londonderry, Ireland; whereas, when he enlisted on 6 October 1916 at Trentham, his birthdate was 21 April 1885, Ireland. The latter is closer to the truth. His birth was registered in 1886 [April-June] at Ashton, Lancashire-Cheshire, England. He stated that he was born in Londonderry, Ireland. The 1891, 1901 and 1911 census returns suggest that John and most of his siblings were born in Dunkinfield, Cheshire, the births all registered at Ashton Under Lyne, on the border of Lancashire and Cheshire. The three youngest were born at Oldham, Lancashire. He was the fourth child and the third son of the nine children believed born to Robert and Cecilia (née Tobin) McGuinness. Robert was from Londonderry, Ireland and deceased by 1911 and Cecilia from Dublin, details noted by John on enlistment (including his mother’s maiden name) and confirmed by census records. John was at home with his family at Ashton under Lyne, Dukinfield, Cheshire in 1891 (4 years old), at Oldham, Lancashire in 1901, and still at Oldham in 1911 (an ironworks labourer at the cotton mill). His father Robert, who was a tailor, died in 1907, his widowed mother living on till 1932.

John had been in New Zealand for 3½ years when he enlisted. At the medical examination in January 1915, he was fit for Samoa. A turner for M. O’Brien at the Waimate Hotel, single at Roman Catholic, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs Cecilia McGuinness, care of 5 Knight Street, Oldham, England. Private J. R. McGinness embarked with the Infantry of the Samoan Relief Force, leaving Auckland for Apia, Western Samoa on 27 March 1915 per the “Talune”. Private J. R. McGuinness was one of four members of the Samoan Relief Force who returned to Wellington on 20 July 1915 on account of being medically unfit. He was discharged on 24 July 1915, medically unfit for Active Service. John Romney McGuinness was listed on the 1916-1917 World War One Reserve Rolls – hotel porter, Empire Hotel, Timaru. In October 1916, he was a turner for New Zealand Railways and residing at the Thistle Inn, Wellington. He again named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs C. McGuinness, 16 Robson Street, Oldham, England. Robson Street was the address for Cecilia and her youngest daughter in 1921. He also named a friend – Miss Gonaley, Thistle Inn, Wellington. His mother and two sisters were partly dependent on him. This time he embarked with the Otago Infantry Battalion of the 18th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington for Devonport, England on 16 October 1916 per the “Willochra”. The hospital report issued on 12 February 1917 listed Private John R. McGuinness 19/165, as not a severe case. This was still the position as per the reports issued on 9 and 31 July 1917. J. R. McGuinness was in a draft that arrived home from active service at the front on 3 January 1918. John R. McGuinness was discharged on 29 February 1918, no longer physically fit for War Service.

From 20 April 1916 through to 28 February 1918, J. R. McGuinness was recorded in Waimate’s Roll of Honour (Answered the Call), which was published regularly in the Waimate Daily Advertiser. He intended initially to go to the Empire Hotel, Timaru. In 1919 John Romney was a barman at the Masonic Hotel, Napier, and later in the year a barman at the Thistle Inn Hotel, Wellington. As of September 1921, he was at the Military Hospital at Trentham thoihg, and by 1922 he was a barman in Albany. By 1925 a barman at Ohaupo in the Waikato. What became of John Romney McGuinness?

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [12 November 2025]; 1881, 1891, 1901 & 1911 England census returns (ancestry.com.au) [16 November 2025]; England BDM Indexes (Free BMD) [16 November 2025]; NZ Times, 21 July 1915, 13 February 1917, 10 July 1917, 3 January 1918, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 20 April 1916, 28 February 1918, Marlborough Express, 13 February 1917, Nelson Evening Mail, 13 February 1917, Sun, 13 February 1917, Wanganui Herald, 13 February 1917, Evening Post, 13 February 1917, 9 July 1917, 1 August 1917, 3 January 1918, Hawke’s Bay Tribune, 10 July 1917, Poverty Bay Herald, 10 July 1917, Dominion, 10 July 1917, 1 August 1917, 4 January 1918 (Papers Past) [12, 16 & 17 November 2025]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [13 November 2025]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file
• Other military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.