Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Martin Joseph McPherson was born on 29 November 1884 at Waimate, the fourth son of Donald and Janet (Jessie, née Cameron) McPherson. He was baptized Roman Catholic on 4 January 1885 at Waimate. Donald and Jessie who had married at Glenelg, Inverness-shire, Scotland in 1869, emigrated in 1874 with four children (Mary Anne known as Annie, Jessie just two days old at the 1871 census, Allan and Mary born in 1874). In New Zealand six more children were born (Alexander, Catherine, Martin who died in 1882 at two years, Donald, Martin and Christina), all the births registered at Waimate, South Canterbury. In 1871 Donald and Jessie and two children had been at Glenelg with Jessie’s parents, Donald an innkeeper and farmer. In August 1880, a temporary transfer of license was granted to Mr Donald McPherson, for the Waihao Forks Hotel, in the Waitaki district, Mr McPherson having lately purchased the hotel from the late licensee. In 1896 he was granted an accommodation licence. After the turn of the century, he moved into farming at Waihao Forks. Mr Donald McPherson, of Waihao Forks, and Mr Rupert Cameron, of Upper Waihao, who were preparing for a trip to Scotland, were leaving the colony about 18 May 1903. Their many friends joined in wishing them a pleasant trip. Guinness and LeCren reported the sale of the Forks paddock, containing 78 acres, to Mr Donald McPherson at a satisfactory price, in November 1903. “This is the last lot for sale of the Waihao Downs Estate, and as it adjoins the proposed new saleyards at Waihao Forks, Mr McPherson is to congratulated on having secured so valuable a property.” Mr Donald McPherson died on 15 June 1906 and was buried at Waimate after Requiem Mass at St Patrick’s Church.

By the 1907 Wise’s Directory, the three brothers – Allan, Alex and Martin McPherson – were farmers at Waihao Forks. Their other brother, Donald, had embarked on medical studies. In 1908 Martin was a labourer at Waihao Forks but by 1911 he had moved to the North Island where he was a ploughman in the Wairapa and Hawke’s Bay districts. Martin Joseph McPherson was medically examined on 25 May 1915. He was 5 feet 8 inches tall, weighed 11 stone 6 pounds, and had a chest measurement of 34½-37½ inches. His complexion was florid, his eyes brown and his hair dark brown. His sight, hearing, colour vision, heart and lungs were all normal, his limbs and chest well formed. He had lost 6 teeth and 2 were unsound. He was free from most diseases and from illnesses, was vaccinated, and was in good bodily and mental health. There was a slight defect but not sufficient to cause rejection - psoriasis on leg. There was a patch of psoriasis on his right leg and a small patch near his right elbow. It had never caused him trouble, though he walked all day ploughing.

M. J. McPherson (Mounted Infantry) was among the Waipukurau volunteers who left for camp on 18 October 1915. On that day there was a big farewell at Waipukurau for the men of the Second Draft of the 9th Reinforcements who were “off to the Front”. Flags “were to be seen flying in all directions, and all the business premises of the town were closed for a couple of hours in the morning in honour of the departure from our midst of a large contingent of 48 men, who left by the mail train to go into camp.” At 9.30 a.m. at the Town Hall, the men were tendered an enthusiastic public farewell. They were wished God-speed, “all sorts of good luck” and a safe and speedy return. The Town Band played “God Save the King,” the audience joining in, and three ringing cheers for the boys were then enthusiastically given. A procession headed by the Town Band, and followed by the departing men, the School Drum and Fife Band, the schoolchildren and the National Reserve and Waipukurau Rifle Club then marched through the main thoroughfare, accompanied by music being played en route by the Town Band, School Drum and Fife Band and Piper Sutherland (bagpipes). “As the train steamed out of the station loud and prolonged cheers were heard to echo and re-echo, first by the public and then answered by the departing lads.”

A farmer at Waipukurau, single and Roman Catholic, Martin McPherson enlisted on 18 October 1915 at Trentham and named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs D. McPherson, Waihao Forks, Waimate. She was later of Belt Street, Waimate. McPherson was posted to B Squadron, 9th Reinforcements - to the Wellington Rifles on 20 October 1915 at Trentham. Trooper M. J. McPherson embarked with the Wellington Mounted Rifles of the 9th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington for Suez, Egypt per the “Maunganui” on 8 January 1916, then disembarking at Suez on 8 February 1916 from the “Tahiti”. He was transferred to the 2nd Brigade Ammunition Column on 9 March 1916 and embarked at Alexandria for France a month later.

On 9 May 1916 he was admitted to No. 1 New Zealand Field Ambulance at Morbecque, with bronchitis. He was discharged from Hospital on 15 May 1916 and rejoined his Unit. Sent to hospital, sick, on 5 November 1916, Trooper Martin Joseph McPherson was admitted to the New Zealand Divisional Rest Station. Then on 14 November he was admitted to No. 1 Australian Casualty Clearing Station, and ten days later to No. 2 Australian General Hospital. He was transferred to England per Hospital Ship “St Andrew” on 2 December 1916 and admitted to No. 1 New Zealand General Hospital at Brockenhurst the next day. The casualty list issued on 12 December 1916 noted his progress as satisfactory. The Hospital Progress List issued a few days later and again on 31 January 1917 noted that his was not a severe case. Notification had been received on 30 November 1916, that Dvr M. J. McPherson, 11/2178, of the N.Z. Divisional Ammunition Column, had become a casualty through being accidentally injured. The No. 1 Australian Casualty Clearing Station reported I.C.T. (Inflammation connecting tissue) of the left leg – accidental. The report of 11 December 1916 read – “This man was kicked by a mule on or about 15 October 1915, receiving attention from our R.M.O. (Regimental Medical Officer) but his leg failing to improve he was sent to hospital on 5 November. Driver McPherson was at “Stables” at the time of the accident and was in no way to blame.” On 3 December [1916] he was at the New Zealand General Hospital at Brockenhurst - leg, slight. On 20 December 1916 he was discharged from Brockenhurst to the Base Depot at Codford and was posted to Strength with D Company. He was admitted to Walton-on-Thames Hospital on 22 January 1917 with measles. Transferred to the Base Depot at Codford on 26 February 1917, he was again posted to D Company. Having reported at the New Zealand Field Artillery Depot at Aldershot on 2 March 1917, Gunner McPherson proceeded overseas on 19 March and was posted to the 2nd Battery of the Brigade Ammunition Column on 28 March.

Having gone on leave to the UK on 9 February 1918, he rejoined his Unit on 28 February. Evacuated sick the next day, he was admitted to the 2nd Canadian Casualty Clearing Station on 3 March, then transferred to Ambulance Transport 17 on 4 March. On 5 March 1918 he was admitted to No. 51 General Hospital in France – venereal disease (gonorrhea). Discharged from the Venereal Hospital on 7 June 1918, he was promptly re-admitted and remained in the Venereal Hospital from 5 June 1918 to 22 July 1918, suffering from Non-Venereal Disease. Discharged on 22 July 1918, he was attached to the New Zealand Infantry and General Base Depot at Etaples, France. A week later he was transferred to No. 3 New Zealand Entrenching Battalion. On 29 August 1918 he was posted to No. 2 New Zealand Army Field Artillery Brigade.

Detached to the UK from France on 4 February 1919, he marched into Brocton a week later, then into the Canterbury Provincial Depot at Sling (awaiting a ship home) on 11 April. All was well at the Medical Examination conducted at Sling on 28 April 1919. M. J. McPherson, 11/2178, of Waimate, returned to New Zealand for demobilization, one of 1128 soldiers aboard the “Maunganui”, embarking at Liverpool on 17 May 1919 and due to arrive at Port Chalmers on 21 June 1919. He was one of 20 Waimate district men on the Draft. He was discharged on 21 July 1919, on the termination of his period of engagement. He was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal, having served for more than three years in Egypt and Western Europe.

In mid-November 1919, the Waihao Downs and Arno Soldiers’ Welcome Home Committees amalgamated at the Arno Soldiers’ Memorial Hall “for the purpose of giving the last of their respective men to return a hearty and monster welcome back to their old homes.” Among the last five men to return was Gunner Martin McPherson (Arno). Dancing was enjoyed and several items were given, the singing of “When the Bells of Peace are Ringing,” getting a great hearing. After supper, medals were presented to the men and pinned on their coats. The recipients responded, thanking the people for their appreciation, and after “They are Jolly Good Fellows” was sung, the dancing resumed. The name of M. J. McPherson is inscribed on the Arno Hall Roll of Honour, beneath the inscription “Lest We Forget”.

Martin McPherson settled back at Waihaorunga after the war and took on farming. In June 1919, the transfer of Education Reserve 2003, Waihaorunga, 990 acres 1 rood 19 perches from Annie O’Donnell to Martin Joseph McPherson was approved. (Annie O’Donnell was Martin’s widowed oldest sister.) In 1920 he married Ellen Breslin, almost always known as Nellie. On the evening of 19 July 1922, “the Waimate Ambulance received another call, this time the message coming from Tavistock, Otaio. It appears that Mr Martin McPherson was driving home from Waimate, and when near Robinson’s Corner at Tavistock, the horse shied at some object on the road, with the result that the driver was thrown heavily out of the trap. Mr McPherson, though in a dazed condition and suffering severe pain, was able to walk to a neighbouring farm, from where the message was sent to Dr Pitts and the Waimate ambulance. The ambulance accompanied by Dr Pitts left for the scene of the accident at about midnight. Meantime Mr McPherson had been conveyed to the residence of Mr Randal [Rendall] (his brother-in-law). On arrival the doctor found diagnosis to be difficult owing to the very swollen nature of the shoulder, but found that he was suffering from a dislocation and fracture close to the shoulder joint. For the purpose of treating the injuries an anaesthetic was administered. The ambulance arrived back in Waimate this morning at 5.35 after a most unpleasant journey owing to the bad state of the roads, a driving rain adding greatly to the unpleasantness. Two sons and three daughters were born to Martin and Nellie between 1921 and 1929.

In June 1929 at the Waimate Magistrate’s Court, Martin McPherson was fined 10s with costs 12s for driving a vehicle in Glasgow Street at night without two lights attached. After farming for some years at Kohika, Martin and Nellie moved into Timaru in the mid-1930s. There they lived the rest of their days at 136 North Street. It was in the morning of 13 November 1939 that considerable damage was caused by fire which completely gutted a washhouse on the property of Mr M. J. McPherson. When the Brigade arrived, the washhouse was blazing from end to end. “The building was detached from the residence, but the flames were so fierce that the paintwork on the back wall of the house was considerably blistered and the barge boards were alight when the brigade arrived.” As it was obvious that little could be done to save the wash-house, the brigade turned their attention to saving the house. “Mrs McPherson had been in the washhouse early, and had gone inside to attend to household duties. She was in the house for some time, and when she went outside she was unable to get near the wash-house for the flames.” It was presumed that some firing fell out on to the floor from under the copper, and that some clothing lying on the floor caught alight, and from this the building took fire. The contents of the washhouse, including the washing, were destroyed.

Janet (Jessie) McPherson, Martin’s mother moved from Waihao Forks into Waimate in the early 1920. She died there on 6 October 1944, aged 90 years. She too was buried at Waimate after Requiem Mass at St Patrick’s. She remembered her family in her Will, as well as stipulating that money be spent “in repairing the graveplot in Little River, Australia, in which my parents are buried.” Martin Joseph McPherson was predeceased by all his siblings – Annie in 1945, Jessie in 1961, Allan in 1958, Mary in 1969, Alexander in 1956, (first Martin in 1882), Catherine in 1952, Donald in 1956, and Christina in 1965. The oldest of the family, Annie (McPherson) O’Donnell, who died without issue, made provision in her Will for many family members, including her brother Martin Joseph McPherson. Her niece Annie McPherson to whom specific bequests were made, was surely the daughter of Martin and Nellie. She bequeathed £100 to her sister-in-law Nellie McPherson, requesting her to apply the same towards the upbringing of her daughter Jean McPherson (Janet Mary McPherson). Donald Gregory MacPherson, medical practitioner, died at Waimate in 1956, unmarried. He, too, remembered all his family members – siblings and nephews and nieces - in his Will. He left £400 to his brother Martin; £200 to Nellie MacPherson, the wife of Martin; £250 to his nephew John Donald MacPherson, the son of Martin; £300 and his gold watch to his nephew Martin MacPherson, the son of Martin; £200 to his niece Noni Mulcahy (née Norah Mary McPherson, daughter of Martin); and £50 to his niece Jean MacPherson (Janet Mary), daughter of Martin. (Annie Patricia McPherson, the second daughter of Martin and Nellie) had died some years before Donald signed his Will.)

Martin Joseph McPherson died on 27 November 1974 at his Timaru residence (136 North Street), two days before his 90th birthday. He was buried at Timaru Cemetery alongside his daughter Anne who had died in 1947, aged 23 years. His wife Nellie died on 10 September 1976 and his daughter Janet in 1985, both buried in the same double plot. Their names are all inscribed as MacPherson on the one headstone marking their burials. Martin was survived by his wife Nellie, sons Martin and John, daughter Janet (Jean) and grandchildren, and was predeceased by daughters Anne and Nonie (Mrs Mulcahy). Members of the South Canterbury Returned Services Association were invited to attend his Requiem Mass at the Sacred Heart Church, Timaru. He appointed the Public Trustee as executor of his Will, and bequeathed his estate, after the payment of just debts, funeral and testamentary expenses, to his wife Nellie McPherson. Should she have predeceased him, the residue was to be dived into four equal parts – one part for his son Martin Blaise McPherson; one part for his son John Donald McPherson; one part for his grandchildren Michael Mulcahy, Martin Mulcahy, Barry Mulcahy, Terence Mulcahy and William Mulcahy (children of his deceased daughter Norah Mary Mulcahy); one part – “the trust part” – for the maintenance and benefit (particularly the provision of clothing and comforts) for his daughter Janet Mary McPherson. His estate amounted to $6,300, made up from a Savings Account and three Investment Accounts, the War Veteran’s Allowance not known.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [27 November 2013]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ ref. AABK 18805 W5544 0076577) [16 September 2016]; Timaru Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council) [27 July 2014]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [21 January 2016]; Baptism records (Christchurch Catholic Diocese CD held by South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [24 January 2016]; Timaru Herald, 14 August 1880, 9 May 1903, 20 November 1903, 16 June 1906, 16 June 1919, 14 November 1939, 7 October 1944, Hawke’s Bay Tribune, 4 & 19 October 1915, 15 December 1916, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 12 & 16 June 1916, 21 September 1918, 21 November 1919, 20 July 1922, 18 June 1929, Sun, 12 & 15 December 1916, 31 January 1917, Ashburton Guardian, 12 & 15 December 1916, 31 January 1917, NZ Times, 31 January 1917, 14 June 1919, Press, 1 February 1917, 14 June 1919, 11 September 1976, Oamaru Mail, 26 July 1919 (Papers Past) [07 April 2015; 13 November 2015; July 2021; 08, 10 & 13 October 2024]; Timaru Herald, 28 & 29 November 1974 (Timaru District Library) [19 January 2016]; 1871 Scotland census (ancestry.com.au) [08 October 2024]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [10 October 2024]; Probate record (Archives NZ Collections – Record number TU753/1974) [12 October 2024]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

• McPHERSON Martin Joseph - newspaper clippings (pdf, 144.5 KB updated 16-Oct-2024)

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