Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

John William Canavan, known as Jack, was born on 17 May 1875 at Ohapi, Temuka, the eldest son of George and Jane (née Collie) Canavan. George was likely the George Canavan from County Down, Ireland, a labourer and single, who arrived at Lyttelton by the “Zealandia” on 23 December 1870. He may well have been a son of James Canavan and Jane née Joyce, whose son Samuel Joyce Canavan was born in Ireland in 1851 and died in Canada in 1925. When John Joyce, an uncle of George died in Canterbury, New Zealand, in 1879, George Canavan of South Rangitata was one of his next-of-kin and the intended administrator of his estate. John Joyce died on 20 June 1879 at Upper Ashburton, aged 50 years, when he fell down a well. Besides his nephew George Canavan, John had in New Zealand another nephew – James Henry Canavan, also of Rangitata at the time, a sister Mary and her husband William Ullyatt, a sister Rachel Wilson and her husband David Wilson, of Ashburton but at the time in Ireland. He also had brothers Samuel Joyce and William Joyce living in Canada, a brother James Joyce and a sister Jane Canavan living in Ireland, and in Canada the child(ren) of his deceased brother George Joyce. George Canavan and Scottish-born Jane Collie married in 1875 in New Zealand and had, it appears, six or seven children – John William (1875 – 1960); Jane (born about 1877; died 13 November 1883; 6 years; buried Temuka); James; George (born 1881/82, Temuka; died 1958); Sarah Rachel (born 1885, Temuka; died 21 February 1893; 8 years; bur. Temuka), Samuel Joyce (born 1889, Timaru; died 1955, Christchurch); Lily (Lilian) Jane (born 1893, reg. Timaru, probably not of George; married Jack Wilson Hawkins, 1913; died 1973). From 1880 at least, George was a farmer at Rangitata South. There was also James Henry Canavan in the area, probably his brother. George Canavan’s name appeared in the sheep farmers’ returns throughout the 1880s at South Rangitata and at Canavans. In 1878 George was elected to the North Orari School committee and served for some years thereafter. In the early 1880s a Timaru district post office was opened at Canavans. He was also involved with the Winchester Masonic Lodge and from the mid-1880s, when he was living in the vicinity of Rangitata, he was a member of the Temuka Road Board. At the June 1887 meeting of the Road Board, however, it was recorded that Mr Canavan had left the district but not resigned. In August it was proposed to fill his vacant seat by election. In May 1886 he had faced bankruptcy, his farm of about 90 acres at Rangitata was sold by auction in August, and the first meeting of creditors was held in December 1887. It was noted that he had left his home on 18 May and “was believed to have levanted to America.”

The Canavan children, including John, were educated at Winchester School and Orari (South) School. At the Winchester School sports in June 1887, John Canavan finished first in the Standard III boys’ obstacle race and second in another, while his brother James was successful in Standard I boys. James, George, Sarah, Sam and Lily enjoyed further success at school and in sports at South Orari and Winchester.

In February 1900, John William Canavan, Orari was sworn in as a member of the Canterbury Troop for Transvaal. Trooper Canavan was a farmer, 24 years old, 5 feet 11 inches in height, 35 inches round the chest, and weighed 11 stone. At the time, he was a member of the Geraldine Rifle Corps. The South Canterbury Times of 9 August 1900 published extracts from a letter written at various dates and places and received by Mrs Canavan, Orari, from her son, Trooper J. Canavan, of the Third Contingent New Zealand Rough Riders). Further extracts from a letter written on 14 December 1900 were published in the Temuka Leader of 12 February 1901. In April 1901 Jack and several South Canterbury mates were on their way home by the “Tongariro”. In May four of the men were given a very warm welcome at a social in the Orari schoolroom, and later at Winchester. Come December 1901, John William Canavan and James Henderson, his Orari pal and probably relative (their mothers were both born Collie from New Machar, Aberdeenshire, Scotland), were selected, along with others, for the 8th Contingent. On 3 January 1902 they left for camp, and by March they were on board the troopship “Cornwall”.

John was with his mother at Orari until 1908 or later. By 1900 Jane recorded herself a widow. By 1914 John was at Gisborne. John William Canavan was a contractor residing at 8 Grey Street, Gisborne, when he enlisted for World War One on 14 November 1915 at Trentham. He had reported earlier in the month that he would be able to get away with the Gisborne draft of the Tenth Reinforcements (Mounteds) on 14 November. Single and of Church of England affiliation, he named a friend as next-of-kin – James Weston, Carrier, Grey Street, Gisborne. And he had previously served with the 3rd and 8th Mounted Rifles in South Africa. After promotions in rank while at camp, Sergeant J. W. Canavan embarked with the Auckland Mounted Rifles, departing for Suez, Egypt, on 29 February 1916 per the “Aparima”.

Temporary Corporal J. W. Canavan, 13/3009, O.I.R., was reported wounded on 12 October 1917, and admitted to hospital. By 1917 Jane Canavan had moved to the Christchurch area to be closer to her daughter Lily and her husband. Returning Draft 209 from Egypt was to arrive in New Zealand in February 1919, bringing Sergeant J. W. Canavan, 13/3009. After his return to New Zealand, John William Canavan spent all his days at or in the vicinity of Gisborne, employed as a station hand until the early 1940s. He died on 31 December 1960 at Gisborne, aged 85 years. He was buried in the RSA section of Taruheru Cemetery, a services plaque marking his grave.

In early June 1916, a Roll of Honour was unveiled at a concert in the Orari Hall. On the list were the names of 38 Orari men who were once residents of the district and had gone to the war, including J. Canavan and S. Canavan. The Orari Patriotic Committee “thought it right to honour without distinction these men, each one of whom had faced his duty, not knowing what was before him.” At the close of the concert, supper was provided, after which the hall was cleared for dancing. The brothers (as Canovan) and more than sixty others are remembered on the Orari Roll of Honour 1914-1918 which is displayed in the Orari Hall.

Jack’s youngest brother, Samuel Joyce Canavan, also served in World War One, while Archibald Roy Canavan and John Colllie Canavan, sons of Jack’s brother George, and Samuel Fricourt John Hawkins, son of his sister Lily, served in World War Two. William Henderson, 29166, who also hailed from Orari and served in World War One may have been a relative of Jack and Sam Canavan. In March 1932, when she was living in Christchurch, Mrs Jane Canavan spent a holiday with Mrs W. Henderson at Orari, Mrs Henderson possibly a relative. Jane Canavan died In May 1933 at her Christchurch residence.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [14 November 2023]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [14 November 2023]; Temuka Leader, 7 June 1887, 24 December 1891, 21 January 1893, 25 May 1893, 25 May 1895, 28 January 1899, 29 March 1900, 12 February 1901, 11 & 25 April 1901, 21 May 1901, 28 December 1901, 4 January 1902, 16 October 1902, 27 January 1903, Timaru Herald, 15 August 1887, 17 February 1900, 9 August 1900, 28 December 1901, 7 June 1916, 10 March 1932, 16 December 1939, South Canterbury Times, 8 December 1887, 10 November 1894, 8 June 1896, 3 & 9 February 1900, 9 & 11 August 1900, 10 April 1901, 21 May 1901, Press, 14 February 1900, 10 April 1901, 11 December 1917, 8 March 1932, 12 May 1933, Lyttelton Times, 17 March 1902, 12 June 1916, Poverty Bay Herald, 6 November 1915, Evening Post, 8 November 1917, 28 January 1919 (Papers Past) [12, 14 & 16 November 2023]; Taruheru Cemetery headstone image & burial record (Gisborne District Council) [16 November 2023]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au – part search) [November 2023]

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.