Profile

REYNOLDS, Samuel
(Service number 6/1702)

Aliases
First Rank Private Last Rank

Birth

Date 13 April 1879 Place of Birth Waimate

Enlistment Information

Date 29 December 1914 Age 35 years
Address at Enlistment G.P.O. Christchurch
Occupation Labourer
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin George REYNOLDS (brother), Willowbridge, Canterbury
Religion Church of England
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation 3rd Reinforcements
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Canterbury Infantry Battalion
Date 14 February 1915
Transport Maunganui or Tahiti or Aparima
Embarked From Wellington Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals 1914-1915 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal
Military Awards

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

Discharge

Date 8 July 1916 Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Labourer

Death

Date 8 November 1951 Age 72 years
Place of Death Auckland
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Cremated; ashes interred Waikumete Cemetery, Auckland
Memorial Reference Cremation Lawn Old, Row B, Plot 11
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Samuel Reynolds was born on 13 April 1879 at Waimate, the third son of William and Mary Ann (née Surkitt) Reynolds. William and Mary Ann had come to New Zealand soon after marrying in 1874 in England and settled at Waimate where thirteen children were born. Mary Ann died in 1908 and William, a well-known Willowbridge farmer and fruitgrower, died at Waimate in August 1911. Samuel was likely very involved in competitive cycling in his youth.

Samuel was a labourer and single when he enlisted on 29 December 1914 at Trentham, naming his oldest brother as next-of-kin – George Reynolds, Willowbridge, Canterbury. Private S. Reynolds embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion of the 3rdy Reinforcements, departing from Wellington for Suez, Egypt, on 14 February 1915. Private Sam Reynolds embarked on 5 May 1916 at Suez to return to New Zealand by the “Tahiti”, which was expected at Port Chalmers in early June. He was discharged on 8 July 1916 and awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. The name of Private Samuel Reynolds appeared regularly on the Waimate Daily Advertiser Roll of Honour under the sub-title of Answered the Call, from 2 June 1915. As of July 1925 George Reynolds did not know the address of his soldier brother.

It was in 1925 that Samuel married Elizabeth Rohan. Elizabeth was born Elizabeth Palmer and had been widowed at Gisborne in 1923. Samuel and Elizabeth lived together for many years at Gisborne, where he was a labouer, although there was a court order in September 1927 for him to pay maintenance for his wife. Samuel Reynolds died 8 November 1951 at Auckland, late of Gisborne. He was cremated, his ashes being interred in Waikumete Cemetery. He was 72 years old. His estate was administered by the Public Trustee, who held £657 in cash. Elizabeth, a widow, died on 10 August 1958 at Gisborne and was buried with Rohan family members at Taruheru Cemetery, Gisborne. By her Will signed in 1954, she left legacies to her granddaughter Sandra Rohan, her son Patrick Joseph Rohan (wife Freda) and her daughter Catherine Hannah Hogan (Rohan). Samuel’s brother William also served in World War One. Neither Samuel nor William was a beneficiary of their father’s estate.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [29 June 2022]; Waimate Daily Advertiser, 7 August 1911, 2 June 1915, 2 June 1916, 30 May 1918 (Papers Past) [18 September 2019; 29 June 2022; 01 July 2022]; Waikumete Cemetery record (Auckland Council) [30 June 2022]; Taruheru Cemetery records (Gisborne District Council) [30 June 2022]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [30 June 2022]; Probate records (Archives NZ/Family Search) [30 June 2022]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, South Canterbury Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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