Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

John Annand, known as Jack, was born on 19 April 1884 at Oamaru, the eldest son of John and Ann (née Byres) Annand, who had married in Aberdeenshire, Scotland in 1875. By 1876 they were in New Zealand, their first child (daughter) born that year in Dunedin. Ten more children followed, two more born in Dunedin ad eight in Oamaru. John Annand was very active in the Oamaru community, involved especially with St Paul’s Church. In 1891 he was elected to the committee of Oamaru North School, and the following year elected chairman. In December 1894, he gave lollies for all the children of the school. John, junior, and his siblings were educated at Oamaru North School, young John placed third in the Standard VI boys’ aggregate marks and first in reading and being awarded a special prize for second equal in shorthand in 1897. Mr John Annand, senior, was very active in St Paul’s Presbyterian Church, Oamaru. On the evening of 10 August 1903, the office-bearers, choir and Sunday school teachers and friends, to the number of eighty, met to say farewell to Mr John Annand and his family, who were leaving Oamaru the next day to take up their residence in Dunedin. “The Rev. Mr Porter, who presided, spoke of the great loss the congregation and the town would sustain by the removal of Mr Annand and his family. By a strange coincidence it happened that this evening was the nineteenth anniversary of Mr Annand's ordination to the eldership of the church. Mr Annand was their senior elder, and had been one of the most useful office-bearers. Ilis family had been earnest and capable workers in other of the church departments, and their places would be hard to fill.” A small presentation - a purse of sovereigns – was made, and Misses Polly and Annie Annand were presented with mementos. Mr Annand was wished God-speed in his new sphere. In replying, he expressed regret at leaving Oamaru and St Paul’s Church with which he had been so happily connected for so many years. He found it necessary, in his family’s interests, to remove to a larger centre, but they all would carry away pleasant recollections of their stay in Oamaru. He thanked all for their valuable gifts to his daughters and himself.

In 1908, John, junior, was with his family at Caversham, Dunedin, a brick-burner, and his father the brickworks manager. It was at Caversham in 1904 that his eldest sister, Jeannie Auld Annand, married, and there in 1906 another sister, Barbara Helen Annand (Nellie), married. And in 1908 John junior turned his hand to bakery work. By 1911 his parents had moved to Timaru where John senior was employed as a miller. And before 1914 John junior was a grain salesman at Waimate. On 22 January 1914, the Waimate Trades’ Picnic special train left Waimate at 8 o’clock with 800 people on board, and more were picked up at Studholme and Morvcn. The picnickers were welcomed at Oamaru, where hot water, sugar and milk were provided free of charge by the Oamaru Borough Council, and tea was donated to refresh the picnickers at the gardens. “The Waimate Brass Band under Mr J. Annand turned out fairly strong, and marched to the Waimate station, playing stirring strains. All day at the gardens they discoursed selections from the new band rotunda there. The presence of band at such a gathering has a wonderfully enlivening effect. It was good to watch the spontaneous dancing turns that some of the strains evoked in the youngsters as they gambolled about the lawns. It was observed that not even the staid and sunburned gardeners at work in the Domain were immune from the infection of hiccough music — the side thrusts of a fort in keeping with the ragtime syncopations of the cornets and kettledrums bore this out!” Mr J. Annand was a leading cornet in the South Canterbury Regimental Band which left Timaru on 5 February 1914, his brother William a repiano cornet. “The band is playing splendidly, and provided the members do not suffer any ill effects through the long journey, their performances at the forthcoming contest should be of a high standard.” J. Annand scored well up the list in the cornet solo. Mr J. Annand (cornet) performed at the Waimate St Patrick’s School concert in March. The Waimate Brass Band, under the conductorship of Mr J. Annand, journeyed to Waihao Downs in June 1914 and played a programme of music suitable for the occasion, Messrs J. and W. Annand playing a cornet duet, which was nuch appreciated. “There is no organisation in Waimate more deserving of public support than the Brass Band. It is about 16 months since the Band was reorganised under Mr J. Annand’s conductorship.” [Waimate Daily Advertiser, 22 December 1922.] But the band was struggling to meet its expenses. “The plain fact is that the Band has a hard row to hoe, and it is racing to a deficit on the year’s working. It has reached a crisis in its affairs, and the question is ‘To be or not to be?’ We sincerely hope the bandsmen will meet with cordiality and liberality in their Xmas Eve appeal for funds.”

In March 1915, Mr J. Annand (cornet) was a member of a strong orchestra which assisted the choir of St Paul’s Methodist Church, Waimate in presenting a sacred concert. “The gem of the evening was the cornet solo by Mr J. Annand, the able and popular bandmaster.” When Waimate’s quota of the 18th Reinforcements was farewelled on 28 June 1916, the brass Band, under Mr J. Annand, played the squad from the Drill Shed to the station. Unfortunately, when the Waimate men of the 24th Reinforcement was to be farewelled on 5 January 1917, the Brass Band, under Mr J. Annand, did not march or play, the squad being marched to the station by a back way. The ballot drawn in February 1917 included John Annand, grain agent, care of Mrs Drayton, Naylor Street, Waimate. He had been listed on the 1916 Reserve Rolls. John Annand was medically examined on 24 February 1917 at Timaru. He stood at 5 feet 6¾ inches, weighed 141 pounds, and had a chest measurement of 35¾-38 inches. His complexion was fair, his eyes blue, and his hair dark. His sight, hearing, colour vision, heart and lungs were all normal; his limbs and chest well formed. He was free from illnesses and diseases, was vaccinated, and was in good bodily and mental health. There was a slight defect but not sufficient to cause rejection, probably his left inguinal hernia, for which he was to be fitted with a truss in camp. Class A. He enlisted that same day at Timaru, joining the 27th Reinforcements. Single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of-kin – Mr John Annand (Senr), 83 High Street, Timaru.

At the Waimate Trades and School excursion to Oamaru on 1 March 1917, the playing of the Waimate Brass Band under Mr Jack Annand “was not the least enjoyable feature of the day’s pleasures.” “Mr Jack Annand, the popular conductor of the Waimate Brass Baud, who goes into camp at Trentham next week, left Waimate today for Timaru, after saying goodbye to many friends. During his stay here Mr Annand has made himself very agreeable, and his talent as a cornetist has been at the disposal of every promoter of good music in any good cause. His period as conductor of the Band, coinciding as it has done with the advantageous Trustee system, has been marked by the attainment and maintenance of a high standard of playing. The Band members, wishing to show their regard for their departing conductor, met him at the Band Hall on Tuesday evening and presented him with an auto razor, and strop and fountain pen.” [Waimate Daily Advertiser, 8 March 1917.] He arrived at Trentham on 14 March 1917, having been granted leave until 13 March 1917.

“Mr J. Annand, who went to Trentham with a recent batch of reinforcements, has been marked down for home service and transferred to headquarters where he is on ‘light duties’ and playing soprano cornet in the headquarters band. This band is now one of the best in the Dominion. . . . . . Mr Annand, who is spending five days’ leave in Waimate, speaks enthusiastically of camp life. . . . . . Two of Mr Annand’s brothers are in the New Zealand Band at the base in France, their work taking them up and down the line wherever they are required.” [Waimate Daily Advertiser, 7 April 1917.] Jack Annand, the late Conductor of the Waimate Brass Band, was re-classified for “home service” after getting to camp, and transferred to headquarters. Although he was not, for medical reasons, allowed to march out with the Headquarters Band, of which he was a member, he was kept in camp, playing with the combination when it was in quarters.

Examined by a Medical Board on 1 June 1917 at Trentham, he was classified CII and was granted leave without pay the next day. The inguinal hernia, caused by injury, had rendered him unfit for work. It was getting worse and would not improve until he had an operation. Come mid-June 1917 and Mr J. Annand had resumed his post of conductor of the Waimate Brass Band. He was looking for pupils for the cornet. In late August 1917, there was a suggestion to establish a fund to support the Waimate Brass Band. “When Mr Jack Annand, the popular and capable conductor, was induced to come to Waimate the stipend was fixed at £50 a year. Since those days Mr Annand has stood by the Band, though they could, on occasion, only provide half that sum.”

John Annand married Cicely Violet Scott on 30 March 1918 at Chalmers Church, Timaru. By this date, John was a grain merchant residing at Ashburton. Cicely was a sister of John Atkinson Scott who was killed at Gallipoli in April 1915. Jack and Cicely lived at Ashburton for a couple of years before moving to Rangiora and then on to Christchurch in the mid-1920s. The annual meeting of the 8thy (south Canterbury) Regimental Band was held in the band-room (Ashburton) on 30 April 1919. The chairman referred to the enthusiasm and ability displayed by Sergeant-Major Annand, who had rendered valuable services as bandmaster. Sergeant Annand was accorded three hearty cheers. By reason of the retirement of the Bandmaster, “the band was placed, half-way through the year, in the unenviable position of having to find a new bandmaster. The position was advertised with no response, and finally, at, the request of the band, a deputation waited on Mr J. Annand to ask him to consider accepting the position, and although it was at great personal inconvenience, he consented. Subsequent events have proved how fortunate the band were in securing the services of a gentleman of such marked business ability, high musical attainments, and long experience in band work for its conductor. Your committee considers that the organisation is under a deep obligation to Mr Annand, and that we shall be fortunate if he can be persuaded to continue the good work.” The following telegram received from Colonel Millton, Officer Commanding the Regiment, was read at the meeting: — “To Bandmaster Annand and members of Regimental and Junior Bands. — Accept my sincere congratulations upon the occasion of your first annual meeting since the war ceased. I warmly approve the evident determination of all ranks to maintain a band worthy of the regiment and district.” The Bandmaster, Mr J. Annand, briefly addressed members, and thanked them for their co-operation during the six months he had acted as conductor. Mr J. Annand was duly elected conductor for the following year. Just days later, at a meeting of the general committee for the Ashburton district peace celebrations was held, Mr J. Annand was chosen for the bands committee. Come 9 December 1920, and there was a large attendance of bandsmen and ex-bandsmen at the Orange Hall last evening to bid farewell and make a presentation to Mr J. Annand, ex-bandmaster of the 8th (South Canterbury) Mounted Rifles Band. Band-Sergeant S. N. Fenton, in making the presentation of a handsome oak roller-top desk, with a silver plate engraved, “To Bandmaster J. Annand, as a mark of esteem from the Band of the 8th (S.C.) Mounted Rifles December 9, 1920,” spoke of the work Mr Annand had done in connection with the band from the time he took charge, and spoke of the loss sustained by the band through his departure. He wished Mr Annand every prosperity and all good fortune, saying that the gift carried with it the unanimous and hearty appreciation and respect of every member of the band. He also spoke of the esteem in which Mrs Annand was held by the bandsmen, and said the members appreciated the sacrifices she had made in her home life through the large amount of time spent by her husband in band work. And so, Mr Annand was on his way to take up a new position in charge of the seeds department of the New Zealand Farmers’ Co-operative Association at Rangiora. There he was bandmaster. After a stint back in Ashburton, he was promoted to the association’s head office in Christchurch in August 1924. He was associated with the Woolston Band from the late 1920s, and with the Christchurch Municipal Band.

Jack and Cicely spent the remainder of their lives in Christchurch. After turning to work as a pastrycook in the late 1920s, Jack retired in the mid-1950s. John Annand died at Christchurch on 8 February 1972, aged 87 years, his funeral service at the Harewood Memorial Garden Crematorium Chapel. He was survived by his two daughters (Betty and Shirley) and son Murray. His wife, Cecily Violet Annand, predeceased him, dying at Christchurch Public Hospital on 9 October 1967. She, too, was cremated at Harewood. His father, John Annand senior, had died at his Timaru residence on 14 July 1921. At the weekly practice of the 2nd South Canterbury Regimental Band on the evening of 15 July 1921, reference was made to the bereavement which had befallen two members of the band, the Messrs W. J. and A. Annand, through the death of their father (Mr J. Annand). A motion of sympathy was carried with the bereaved family by silent vote, and the practice was thereupon adjourned.

Ann Byers Annand sold up her desirable family home shortly after – “her beautifully situated residential home of five rooms, and section laid out in splendid orchard and gardens”. In 1925 she was living with Jack and Cicely in Christchurch. It was at Christchurch that she died on 17 March 1930. John (senior) and Ann were buried at Timaru, their gravestone inscribed with a memorial to their son, Stanley George Watson Annand who was killed in action at the Somme on 1 October 1916. Two other brothers of Jack also served in World War One – Arthur Douglas Annand and William James Annand. Frank Annand who was born at Cruden, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, and had been in New Zealand for only about six years, a farm hand at Tycho, died of his wounds in France on 22 October 1917. He was a nephew of Mr John Annand, High Street, Timaru, whom he had named alongside his father as next-of-kin. Murray Scott Annand, the only son of Jack and Cicely, served with the Air Force in World War Two, having trained with the Royal Canadian Air Force.

Sources

NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5520 0010189) [06 October 2016]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [01 October 2016]; School Admission records (Oamaru branch NZSG) [01 October 2016]; Evening Star, 22 April 1891, North Otago Times, 19 October 1891, 11 August 1903, Oamaru Mail, 4 December 1897, 13 February 1917, Timaru Herald, 2 January 1914, 5 & 25 February 1914, 29 October 1917, 16 & 20 July 1921, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 23 January 1914, 20 March 1914, 24 June 1914, 22 December 1914, 31 March 1915, 28 June 1916, 5 January 1917, 2 & 8 March 1917, 7 April 1917, 11 May 1917, 12 June 1917, 29 August 1917, Ashburton Guardian, 1 & 7 May 1919, 10 December 1920, Press, 11 December 1920, 15 October 1924, 10 October 1967, 9 February 1972 (Papers Past) [03 December 2015; 01 October 2016; 17 & 18 March 2025]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [16 March 2025]; Chalmers Church marriage record (from personal records) \

External Links

• Military personnel file

Related Documents

• ANNAND John - newspaper clippings (pdf, 143.9 KB updated 12-Aug-2025)

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

TS