GRIMSEY, Joseph Thomas
(Service number 35737)
| First Rank | Trooper | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 24 October 1882 | Place of Birth | Geraldine |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Waitomo | ||
| Occupation | Bushman | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | |||
| Next of Kin | E. GRIMSEY (father), Orari, South Canterbury | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 22nd Reinforcements, Mounted Rifles Brigade | ||
| Date | 15 February 1917 | ||
| Transport | Moeraki | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Suez, Egypt | |
| 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 | 2 March 1922 | Age | 39 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Ashburton Hospital, Ashburton | ||
| Cause | Following operation | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Ashburton Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Joseph Thomas Grimsey was born on 24 October 1882 at Geraldine, the second son of Edward and Fanny Ellis (née Strange) Grimsey. His mother died in 1884 at the birth of her son, John Watson Grimsey. She was 34 years old, and her infant son died at 17 days. Joseph and his siblings were educated at South Orari School, where Joseph was first in the Standards II and III boys’ race in 1891.
Draft 211 - the troopship “Briton” - with over a thousand men aboard including Private T. Grimsey, of Orari, was due at Lyttelton in late January 1919. Grimsey was returning home invalided. Private Grimsey and three comrades were welcomed home at Orari by the Patriotic Society in February 1919. On behalf of his comrades and himself, Private Grimsey thanked those present for their kind welcome.
Joseph married Winifred Amory George in 1920 at St Matthew’s Church, Hastings. Joseph and Winifred lived at Lowcliffe, Mid Canterbury, until his early death. He died on 2 March 1922 at Ashburton Hospital, following an operation to amputate his arm. Joseph Thomas Grimsey was accorded a military funeral at the Ashburton Cemetery. Edward Grimsey died in 1934, survived by his son Edward and two unmarried daughters. Joseph’s older brother, Edward James Grimsey, served in the South African War.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [06 September 2020]; Ashburton Cemetery burial record (Ashburton District Council) [08 September 2020]; Temuka Leader, 24 December 1891, 25 January 1919, 13 February 1919, 6 February 1932, Timaru Herald, 25 January 1919, 8 May 1920, 4 March 1922, Ashburton Guardian, 3 March 1922 [x 3] (Papers Past) [22 August 2020; 07 & 08 September 2020]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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