Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

John Edmund Gorman was born at Christchurch on 18 October 1887, the third son of Irish born John and Catherine (Kate, née Sullivan) Gorman. He was baptized Roman Catholic at the Christchurch Cathedral on 31 October. John and Kate who had married in County Limerick, Ireland, came to New Zealand in about 1879 with two daughters, Bridget and Johanna (Annie). Bridget was born on 27 March 1877 and baptized at Pallasgreen and Templebredin, County Limerick on 29 March 1877. Annie was probably born in 1878. Two more daughters and five sons followed, Mary and the next three (Margaret, Michael and Patrick) probably all born at Oamaru, then Catherine and John registered at Christchurch, and finally Andrew and Leo registered at Rakaia. The four youngest were all baptized at the Cathedral. There is no baptism record for the four eldest in the Christchurch diocese. John (senior) who worked for the railways as a platelayer and ganger, was stationed in Mid-Canterbury in the 1890s. He also had land at Oamaru, which he had held from soon after his arrival in New Zealand. After the turn of the century, John and Kate moved to the Waimate district, where they were at Studholme Junction for about ten years, then at Arno or Kapua. In late March 1899 Kate Gorman, of Lauriston (where the family was living), was successful in the land ballot for sections of Waikakahi Estate. All their children came with them. In 1889, the three oldest – Bridget, Annie and Mary – had featured in the Christchurch Catholic Parochial Girls’ School prize-list. Annie also had mention at the school in 1888. After the annual exhibition at St Patrick’s School, Waimate on 6 February1903, both John Gorman and his younger brother Andrew received prizes, John’s for Standard VI composition. Annie Gorman who had started as a pupil teacher at Lauriston in 1893, was recommended for the position of fourth assistant at the Temuka District High School in 1907 and duly appointed. In early March 1909, John Gorman (ganger) gave evidence in court in a case of trespass on the railway at Hook. Master Leo. Gorman, the youngest son of Mr Gorman, of Waikakahi, having been appointed cadet on the railway at Christchurch, left at the beginning of April 1913 for his new position. Later in the month, the charge against him for breaches of the Defence Act (failure to register and failure to attend parades) was withdrawn. Michael Gorman was serving on the Kapua School Committee in 1913. Catherine Gorman followed her sister Mary into nursing, passing the examination in invalid cookery (first class) at Christchurch in August 1915 and successful in the State examination for Registration of Nurses in late 1916.

Michael and John Gorman both took on farming, as did Leo, all probably working initially on the home farm. Trooper J. Gorman was a member of the Studholme Mounted Rifles in 1910. In September 1915, Mr and Mrs Gorman and M. Gorman made donations, joining “the ranks of the voluntary citizen army of givers”. John Gorman, farm manager, Waimate, and Leo Gorman, farm assistant, Arno Post Office, Waimate, were both drawn in the ninth ballot in July 1917, Leo having been listed on the Reserves Roll. Their oldest brother Michael Gorman, farmer, Arno, who was listed on the 1916 Reserve Rolls, had been called up in June 1917 (eighth ballot). The second youngest son, Andrew Gorman, farmer, Arno, had been called up in November 1916 (first military service ballot).

Medically examined at Timaru on 19 July 1917, John Gorman stood at 5 feet 9 inches, weighed 129 pounds, and had a chest measurement of 32-34½ inches, with a dark complexion, blue eyes and dark hair. His sight, hearing, colour vision, heart and lungs were all normal, his limbs and chest well formed. He was free from diseases except external haemorrhoids and was vaccinated. He was, however, not in good bodily and mental health and had slight defects which could cause rejection. He suffered from indigestion, having to have injections to relieve the trouble on several occasions. Consequently, he was classified C2. He enlisted, simply as John Gorman, at Timaru on 19 July 1917. A farm manager for his mother at Waimate, single and Roman Catholic, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs K. Gorman, Arno, Waimate. He had served with the 8th South Canterbury Mounted Rifles, discharged on serving his time.

When Recruit John Gorman was examined by the C2 Re-examination Board at Timaru on 29 May 1918, his physical features differed little from the 1917 examination. It was noted, however, that 6 years prior he had been off work for six months with scarlet fever and double pneumonia. Contributing to his disability were physique and a history of dyspepsia.

The largest draft of C1 men to leave Timaru for camp went by the afternoon express on 1 July 1918. Included in that draft was J. Gorman. Though they received no official send-off a large number of friends gathered on the railway station to bid them farewell, and they were given a cheer as the train moved off. By 3 July he was in Camp. Posted to D Company, C1 Reinforcements on 1 July 1918, Private J. Gorman was granted leave with pay until further orders on Demobilization just 16 days later. His medical case sheet, prepared at Featherston after 1 week of service, noted Dyspepsia and External Haemorrhoids. The Medical Board which was assembled at Featherston on 24 July 1918 recorded his original disability as severe chronic dyspepsia leading to very poor physique. This condition existed prior to enlistment. Consequently, he was unfit to carry on without dieting (previous attempts left his legs in pain). His progress was slight; his disability was likely to continue indefinitely. It was impossible to obtain a diet. And at Featherston on 26 July 1918, Private John Gorman, 83777, was granted a certificate of Leave in lieu of Discharge.

John continued in farming, moving from Arno to Haka Downs, Hakataramea in the 1920s. John Edmund Gorman married May Josephine Corrigan in 1943 at New Brighton. They were at Hakataramea when their children were born (at Waimate), the children spending their childhood at Hakataramea. They moved from Hakataramea into Waimate in the mid-1950s, John now retired (and in his 60s). May Josephine Gorman died on 26 June 1960 at (Waimate) Hospital, aged 52 (two daughters, one son), and was buried in the Waimate Cemetery. After May’s death John moved to Christchurch, probably to be closer to his siblings and for his children’s education. John Edmond Gorman died at his Christchurch residence on 21 January 1971, aged 82 years. Following a Requiem Mass at St Patrick’s Church, Wamate, he was buried alongside May in the Waimate Cemetery. He was survived by his two daughters and one son – May Josephine (known as Josephine, by 1971 Sister Jane Frances, later Sister Josephine), Elizabeth Margaret and Michael John. All three are still living (2026). By his Will, signed at Waimate in 1957, John Gorman made provision for his wife, May Josephine Gorman. After her death, the capital was to be held in trust for his children. In 1961 he added a Codicil, making a specific bequest to his daughter May Josephine should she become professed in any Religious Order of the Roman Catholic Church. Josephine who wanted to be a nun or a nurse, did enter the religious life, joining the Sisters of Compassion at Island Bay at the age of 17, and is still a nun today. A prized possession is a letter from her father when she became a sister – he was so proud. After secondary education in Christchurch, Michael John Gorman trained for the priesthood at the seminary and worked in several Canterbury parishes, including Waimate. He afterwards engaged in social work, for many years with the Department of Social Welfare and then for 12 years with the Christchurch City Mission.

John Gorman, senior, died at his Waimate residence (“Highcliffs”) on 7 October 1922 and Mrs Catherine Gorman on 23 December 1933. In her Will, dated 1917, Kate Gorman named her daughters Bridget, Johanna, Margaret and Catherine, and her sons Michael, John, Andrew and James Leo. Two children predeceased John and Kate – Patrick Joseph (2nd son) died at Waikakahi in October 1913 (aged 28 years) and Nurse Mary Gorman (3rd daughter) was lost at sea in October 1915, a victim of the Marquette disaster. John and Kate were buried at Waimate with their son Patrick; their daughter Mary is remembered on their gravestone. Bridget Gorman died at Arno in August 1928 and was buried with her parents and siblings. The surviving family members, except John and Leo, moved from Arno to Christchurch in the 1950s and there they died – Johanna Annie in March 1967; Margaret in December 1965; Michael in November 1956; Andrew in October 1970; and Catherine (Kit) in February 1981. The first four were buried at Waimairi Cemetery, while Catherine was buried back at Waimate with her parents. John Edmund Gorman and James Leo Gorman (Leo) were the only two of the ten children of John and Kate to marry. Leo who married Mary Frost in 1932 and had four sons (Pat, Michael, John and Andy), died at Christchurch in February 1976 and was buried at Temuka with Mary who had died in 1961. Descendants of Leo and Mary are still resident in South Canterbury.

Sources

N Z Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5539 0046139) [13 July 2016]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [17 July 2014; 11 August 2015]; Waimate Cemetery headstone transcription [22 August 2015]; Waimate Cemetery headstone image & burial record (Waimate District Council); Timaru Herald, 30 March 1899, 11 February 1903, 4 March 1909, 4 July 1917, 1 & 2 July 1918, Press, 30 March 1899, 13 September 1915, 4 July 1917, 22 January 1971, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 3 March 1909, 18 November 1910, 7 & 16 April 1913, 20 June 1913, 8 September 1915, 6 June 1917, 4 July 1917, Star, 30 December 1916 (Papers Past) [17 August 2022; 27 May 2026]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [1 July 2014; 26 May 2026]; Timaru Herald, 22 January 1971 (Timaru District Library) [13 July 2016]; Catholic Baptisms Index CD (Catholic Diocese of Christchurch - SC NZSG collection) [29 May 2026]; Probate record (Archives NZ Collections – Record numberCH921/1971) [31 May 2026]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Gennealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

TS