Category: Koetong

Patrick John Keady (1876-1951)

Janet Crawford and Patrick John Keady (c:1915)
Janet Crawford and Patrick John Keady (c:1915)

Patrick John Keady moved to New Zealand about 1905 with his brother, Michael Thomas Keady (1869-1940).

Patrick and Michael grew up with their family at Koetong, Victoria, Australia. In their 20s they enlisted with the 3rd NSW Rifles to serve for Australia during the Boer War in South Africa.

The family story is that times were tuff on the land and so they both moved to New Zealand about 1905.

Patrick subsequently joined the New Zealand Army and served at Gallipoli where he was wounded in 1915. Shortly after being repatriated to New Zealand, Patrick married Janet Crawford (1894-1970) in 1916. They had only one child, Jean Elizabeth Keady (1921-1970).

The above photo of Patrick and Janet has been shared by Dean in New Zealand. It is a great find given there are so few photos of the early Keady family. Many thanks to Dean.

One interesting fact shared by Dean is that Patrick was a publican in the town of Orepuki where he seems to have spent most of his years in New Zealand. It is good to see Patrick kept up the family tradition, as his grandfather John Keady (1812-1884), his brother Michael, and some of his other siblings were no doubt skilled in pouring a beer.

Trooper Keady serving in Boer War, South Africa

One of the Keady brothers in Boer War, South Africa, 1900-1902.

Two of the Keady Family joined the 3rd NSW Mounted Rifles and served in South Africa from May 1900 to May 1902. See earlier blog for a little more history. Click here.

The two adventurers were Michael Thomas Keady (1869-1940) and Patrick John Keady (1876-1951), sons of Patrick Keady (1837-1923).

Michael and Patrick were cousins of our grandfather, Thomas Patrick Keady (1874-1946). They would no doubt have shared many experiences as they grew up in Koetong through their teenage years and early 20s. The Koetong community about this time was quite small. On the 1903 electoral roll there were only 61 adults enrolled to vote, of whom 13 were from the Keady families.

The above photo has been discovered by Brian amongst the documents and photos collected by our grandmother, Lillian Keady (nee Crawford).

As is so often the case, there is no writing of any kind to help identify the person in the photo, however I think it is a fair bet to say it is either Patrick or Michael. You can see that the soldier on the horse is not an officer otherwise he’d be decked out in all his regalia. The photo is clearly a posed shot taken in the open by a professional photographer however this wasn’t enough to stop the blurred intruder who walks into the scene on the right hand side as the photo is being taken.

Unfortunately the only photos of Patrick and Michael are taken much latter in life when they are living in New Zealand and it is impossible to make any kind of comparison with the trooper in this photo.

In the absence of any other information coming to light I am quite happy to claim this trooper as one of the Keady family. Anyone seen any photos of similar vintage which might shed light on his identity ?