Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

John Wade, 61006, was the second son of John Edward and Catherine (née Nesbit) Wade, both of whom were born in County Cavan, Ireland. John Edward and Catherine married on 10 May 1877 at Knockbride, County Cavan and emigrated to New Zealand soon after. Their first child (William) was born on 8 August 1878 at or near Oamaru. John was born on 13 June 1884 at Papakaio, North Otago. His older brother, William, attended Papakaio School from August 1883 until May 1885 when he went out to herd cows at the age of 6½. As of 1887 John Edward Wade was a farmer at Kurow, North Otago. He also held a coal licence in the area. In February 1893, still a farmer at Kurow, he filed for bankruptcy. In 1897 he was accused of alleged fraudulent bankruptcy, mainly concealment of property. When 40-year-old Wade did appear in court, he pleaded guilty to several charges of breaches of the Bankruptcy Act, having voluntarily admitted to the breaches. He had suffered from refusal of work, imprisonment for debt and criminal blackmail. A sentence of three months’ hard labour was imposed in November. The sale of his assets was completed in early 1898. It appears that Mrs Wade owned the lignite licence, it being on the property where she lived under a grazing right. By late 1898 the Wade family was at Upper Waitohi, South Canterbury. It was in 1910 that John Edward Wade applied for discharge from bankruptcy. In May 1908, the transfer of Sections 9 and 10, Rakitaki settlement from William Wade to John Wade was sanctioned. Presumably William was John and Catherine’s eldest son.

John’s older brother, William Wade who had been a farmer at Hilton in the early 1900s, committed suicide in his hut at his farm at Airedale near Oamaru in January 1910. It was understood that William hailed “from the neighbourhood of Temuka, where his parents are said to reside.” The workman who found Wade said that he (Wade) seemed to worry as to how he would get his crop harvested. William was buried in the Oamaru Cemetery. John was likely the J. Wade who, on 25 November 1912, requested the Rangitata Island River Board for “five or six chains of boulder and netting embankment to prevent the encroachment of the Rangitata river against his property”. The following April £50 was allowed for this work. He was still asking for protection from flood damage in 1930.

Before enlisting, John Wade, junior, was farming with his father in the Upper Waitohi district. His name was drawn in the ballot of May 1917, to complete South Canterbury’s quota or the 31st Reinforcement. His brother Samuel who had previously volunteered, was drawn in the same ballot. In June 1917 John applied for time to get in some wheat, but he did not appear before the Military Appeal Board and his case was dismissed. John Wade enlisted, for the duration of the war, on 23 May 1917 at Timaru. He had been medically examined that day. Standing at 5 feet 6 inches and weighing 130 pounds, with a chest measurement of 32-36½ inches, he had a dark complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. His sight, hearing, colour vision, heart and lungs were all normal, his limbs and chest well formed. Free from diseases, vaccinated, and in good bodily and mental health, he was passed Class A. There was a depressed scar on his left jaw. Single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of-kin – Mr John Edward Wade, Winchester Road, Temuka.

On 23 July 1917, at the Temuka Drill Hall, the Temuka and Geraldine quota of the 32nd Reinforcement and their relatives were entertained at luncheon by the ladies of the Temuka Patriotic Entertainment Committee. During the luncheon musical selections, songs and speeches were given. The chairman of the Temuka Patriotic Entertainment Committee said that folk must keep the home fires burning, and the men now going into camp were going to help to keep the old flag flying. All were proud of the men who were going to fight for freedom and wished them the best of luck. “Behave as men right through, and we will give you a hearty welcome back.” Col. Mclnnes, in a stirring address, said the men were going to fight in a righteous war. There were some things more precious than life to a Britisher, and one of them was liberty, and these men were going out to fight for that liberty. He wished them God speed and was sure they would put up a good fight as other New Zealanders had done. “Play your part like men and all will be well. Don’t forget to write to your people at home; keep up your correspondence; it will be one way to keep you in remembrance of your homeland.” Promptly at 1.30 the men, led by the Temuka Brass and Pipe Bands, marched through the town to the railway station, where, despite the wet ground, a fair crowd had assembled to wish them farewell. Speeches were delivered and the Maoris of Arowhenua Pa sang their farewell song. As the train moved off cheers were given for the soldiers. Among those who left was J. Wade.

On arrival at camp, John Wade was posted to the 30th Reinforcements. He was transferred to the 31st Reinforcements on 18 August then back to the 30th on 12 October. Private J. Wade embarked with the 30th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington per the “Corinthic” on 13 October 1917. Disembarking at Liverpool on 8 December 1917, he marched into Sling on 9 December and was posted to the Canterbury Infantry Regiment. On 29 January 1918, however, he was admitted to the Military Hospital at Tidworth, afflicted with rubella, then promptly discharged to the Quarantine Camp. He was re-admitted at Tidworth on 5 February. He was placed on the seriously ill list on 18 February 1918, remaining so throughout March. He was then transferred to the 3rd New Zealand General Hospital at Codford on 9 April, suffering from purulent bronchitis and seriously ill. 21 June brought a transfer to the dangerously ill list, with a diagnosis of tuberculosis of the lung. He remained dangerously ill throughout July and August, getting weaker and weaker. Thus, Private John Wade was to see very little, if any, action and appears to have spent some seven months in hospital, dangerously ill, before he died of disease (tuberculosis of the lung) at Codford Military Hospital, England on 23 August 1918, aged 34 years. “He died for his Country.” What a lonely and miserable time he must have had. He was buried in the Soldiers’ Cemetery at St Mary’s Churchyard, Codford, Wiltshire, England. It had been on 7 March 1918 that Mr J. E. Wade received word that his son, Private Wade, was still ill in hospital as of 3 March. The official hospital report of early April 1918 listed Private J. Wade (Temuka) as still seriously ill. And again, in mid-June and in mid-July. The hospital report published on 13 August stated that he was still dangerously ill.

His medal (British War Medal), plaque and scroll were duly sent to his father. In the short will which he drew up at Trentham a few days before embarkation, John appointed the Public Trustee his executor and he left all his estate to his three sisters (Jane Gerrity, of Temuka; Marie Gibson, of Timaru; Lena (Kathleen) Wade, of Temuka) in equal shares. On 7 September 1918, Private John Wade was added to the Temuka Leader’s regularly published Roll of Honour. A photograph of Private John Wade (Temuka), died of sickness, was printed in the Otago Witness of 11 September 1918. At the annual meeting of the parishioners of the Parish of Temuka and Winchester, held in May 1919, the vicar recorded that eight names – John Wade being one of them - had been added to the parish Roll of Honour during the past year. The report also dealt with “the establishment of a permanent memorial in the church to the fallen, as a reminder to future generations, of these men, and the priceless service they had rendered to the parish and the nation”. Mr and Mrs J. Wade contributed £4.4s. to the Temuka War Memorial fund, in September 1920. In 1919 John’s brother Samuel and eldest sister, Jane Gerrity, inserted a notice in loving memory of Private Jack Wade, 30th Reinforcements, wh0 died of sickness in the New Zealand General Hospital at Codford on 23 August 1918 – “We miss his cheery greetings, We miss his sunny smile; But though on earth we’ve parted, ‘Tis only for a while.” In 1920 Jane again inserted a notice in memory of her brother Private J. Wade – “To-day brings back sad memories Of a loved one gone to rest; And those who think of him to-day, Are those who loved him best.”

John Wade’s name is inscribed on several South Canterbury War Memorials – Timaru Memorial Wall, Temuka War Memorial, Waitohi District War Memorial, St Peter’s Church Temuka Memorial. A service was held in St. Peter’s Church, Temuka, on Anzac Day 1921, when a splendid memorial tablet (of brass in the form of a cross), erected in memory of the men of the parish who fell in the Great War, was unveiled by the Ven. Archdeacon J. A. Jacobs, O.B.E., of Timaru, before a crowded congregation. Some beautiful laurel wreaths were placed below the memorial tablet. The service commenced with hymn and prayer, after which the Archdeacon unveiled the tablet. He then read the inscription and names on the tablet – “To the glory of God and in memory of the men of this parish who fought for their country and died the death of honour in the Great War. 1914-1918.” One of the names is John Wade, probably the last to die. “Their name liveth for evermore. Jesus saith, ‘Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.’” The beautiful notes of “The Last Post” were played on the cornet, the silence being so intense that one could have heard a pin drop. After a hymn and the benediction, the very impressive ceremony was brought to a close with the singing of the National Anthem.

John Wade was one of ten men in the Waitohi district who had made the supreme sacrifice. Individual memorial certificates were to be delivered to their relatives by the Waitohi Flat Presentation and Memorial Committee, and their names were to be inscribed on the war memorial. The names inscribed on the Waitohi Memorial are embraced by the inscriptions “In honour of our glorious dead who fell In the Great War 1914-1918” and “That life is long which answers life’s great end”. The memorial, which is a granite obelisk mounted on a granite base, was unveiled on Anzac Day 1922 by Mr T. D. Burnett, M.P., who made an earnest appeal to all to show their appreciation of the sacrifices made by the men whose memory they had come to honour. The Lord’s Prayer was recited and the hymn “Abide with me” sung, followed by the singing of the National Anthem and the sounding of the “Last Post”.

The name of Private John Wade appeared in the original list of names to be inscribed on the Temuka War Memorial, which was notified in December 1921. On 10 August 1922 the Temuka Borough memorial was unveiled before a very large gathering in the domain, including Temuka Territorials and Cadets, Temuka and Geraldine returned soldiers, the Temuka Pipe Band, the Salvation Army Band, the children of the district schools, national and local dignitaries, and local folk. Opening proceedings, the Mayor said “We regret that this occasion has arisen, but having done so we must look back with pride at the actions of those who rose to the call of the Motherland, which was in peril. Many of those brave boys who left these shores did not return, and we have erected this memorial to their memory, . . . “Following hymns and scripture readings, His Excellency the Governor-General formally unveiled the monument and the local M.P. read out the names inscribed thereon.

John’s three younger brothers enlisted for service. Samuel and Thomas served in New Zealand only, while Robert did not see any service. Their mother died at her Winchester Road home on 20 April 1932; their father died at his Timaru residence on 4 July 1937. They are buried at Temuka. John Edward Wade made specific bequests to his daughters Kathleen Wade and Maria Gibson and the children of his son Thomas Wade. When Kathleen Wade died in 1963, she made provision for her sister Marie Gibson or Marie’s grandchildren, and she also left a bequest to her brother Robert Wade and provided an annuity (free of tax) for Robert during his lifetime. On Robert’s death, the children of her brother Thomas Wade were to benefit. John’s brother-in-law, Ernest Stanley Gibson had also served in World War One.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [21 July 2013]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK18805 W5557 0117605) [27 July 2014]; CWGC [26 August 2013]; Timaru Herald, 9 May 1917, 22 June 1917, 3 & 24 July 1917, 8 March 1918, 5 & 20 April 1918, 15 June 1918, 15 July 1918, 29 August 1918, 2 September 1918, 23 August 1919, 10 November 1919, 23 August 1920, 26 April 1921, 17 & 28 April 1922, 11 August 1922, 21 April 1932, North Otago Times, 18 January 1910, Oamaru Mail, 18 January 1910, Temuka Leader, 3 December 1912, 3 May 1913, 10 May 1917, 13 August 1918, 7 September 1918, 15 May 1919, 9 September 1920, 26 April 1921, 1 December 1921, 15, 26 & 27 April 1922, 12 August 1922, Press, 29 August 1918, Otago Witness, 11 September 1918 (Papers Past) [23 October 2013; 28 November 2013; 09 April 2014; 19 April 2014; 06 & 11 May 2014; 06 & 08 February 2018; 07 & 08 September 2021; 06 May 2022; 16 July 2023; 08 February 2026]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [11 May 2014]; Probate record (Archives NZ/FamilySearch) [05 February 2016]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [11 May 2014]; Death Certificate verifying mother’s maiden name [21 January 2026]; Birth Certificate recording birthplace & birthdate & verifying mother’s maiden name [22 January 2026]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

• WADE John - newspaper clippings (pdf, 207.9 KB updated 02-Apr-2026)

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

TS