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 ?
Keady Family in Victoria 