BLENNERHASSETT, William Leonard
(Service number 4921)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 14 September 1881 | Place of Birth | Timaru |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 26 August 1915 | Age | 34 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | |||
| Occupation | Labourer, clerk | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Married. 2 children | ||
| Next of Kin | Mrs Constance Annie BLUNDELL [BLENNERHASSETT], Eltham, New Zealand | ||
Military Service
| Served with | Australian Imperial Force | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | 15th reinforcement | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 12th Battalion | ||
| Date | 18 April 1916 | ||
| Transport | Ballarat | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | ||
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
No information
Prisoner of War Information
| Date of Capture | |
|---|---|
| Where Captured and by Whom | |
| Actions Prior to Capture | |
| PoW Serial Number | |
| PoW Camps | |
| Days Interned | |
| Liberation Date |
Death
| Date | 13 June 1947 | Age | 65 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Grey Lynn, Auckland | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Waikumete Crematorium, Auckland; ashes scattered | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
William Leonard Blundell, born at Timaru and probably known as Leonard, enlisted with the Australian Imperial Force on 26 August 1915 at Claremont, Tasmania. Thirty-four years old, a labourer, and married with two children, he nominated his wife as next-of-kin – Mrs Constance Annie Blundell, Eltham, New Zealand.
This man appears to be William Leonard Blennerhassett who was born on 14 September 1881 at Timaru to Arthur William and Alma Sarah (née Hunter) Blennerhassett, and was known as Len. The family moved to Taranaki after the birth of William’s sister Jane in 1882. William married Constance Annie Worrall in 1908; they had two daughters born at Eltham – Constance Alma in 1909 and Marion in 1911.
William and Constance lived at Eltham from the time of their marriage, but Constance alone from 1914. William was a farmer at Matamata in 1924, when action was taken against Constance by a third party, and was at Te Rapa, Frankton Junction, when he was declared bankrupt. William Leonard Blennerhessatt, fish-dealer of Hawera, was sentenced to two years’ probation on two charges of false pretences in 1926. In 1935 William was a rabbiter in Hawke’s Bay and in 1946 a poultry farm manager at Tatuanui.
William Leonard Blennerhassett, a poultry farmer, died on 13 June 1947 at Grey Lynn, Auckland, aged 65 years, his death being registered at Stratford. He was cremated at Waikumete Crematorium, Auckland, and his ashes were scattered. Constance died in 1963 at Stratford and was buried at Eltham.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [30 March 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [22 April 2020]; Find a Grave [22 April 2020], Waikumete record [22 April 2020]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [22 April 2020]
External Links
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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