o'neills in Rakaia NZ

[Lucy2]

1895 - ONEILL - Walter

Ah ... and another soldier brother.   

Walter O'NEILL - enlistment address - Kylemore, Rakaia

NoK :   Mrs P. McCLOY (sister)

 

[Lucy2]

1889 - O'NEILL - Ruby May

NZ Marriage

Ruby May O'NEILL - Patrick McCLOY -- 1913

[Lucy2]

Hi again J

Well, well, ... my earlier hunch about (father) Benjamin O'NEILL having been married previously, turns out to be correct.        (He in fact was married 3 times.)   

And indeed had many more than 13 children !   

You'll find lots of reading for your "entertainment" at our PapersPast website.

http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz

Search term  "Benjamin O'NEILL"  :

Begin with >>

"Ashburton Guardian"  - 8 December 1911 - Magisterial

~  Lu

[jck1103]

thank you so much for your help ! im interested in leslie benjamin am researching him for a friend who is no good on computers ! was told that leslie had a twin brother but have found no evidence. picked up albert james who died ww1. leslie married in romford essex uk  1918 stated that he was 25 so was working on birth date of c1893 had not thought of benjamin leeson because his year of birth 1891 but its a possibility.  would be grateful for any info. after his marriage leslie returned to new zealand but came back c 1926. for the rest of his days he longed to return to new zealand but sadly never did. the newspapers are brilliant have been wading my way through them Ben was a character thats for sure !  thank you again

jacky

[Lucy2]

Hi Jacky

Yes, old Ben certainly was a colourful character.   
I'm sure your friend will be delighted with all those wonderfully detailed newspaper articles.   

Leslie Benjamin's date of birth and names of his parents, should be listed on the attestation form on his Army service record.   So sad to hear that he pined for his homeland.

The child "Benjamin Leeson" son of Benjamin and Elizabeth O'NEILL, was born on 1st February, 1891.

Have some more information for you, it's getting late here, so will add it in the morning.

~  Lu

[jck1103]

hi lu

thanks for birth date am waiting for Barry to get back to me on his grandads birth date but am pretty convinced now that benjamin leeson is my leslie benjamin. have got following on leslie

name leslie benjamin o'neill
rifleman
headquarters attached
nominal roll vol 1
samoan adv and 2nd nzrb
single
rakaia
benjamin o'neill next of kin
rakaia next of kin address

got info from find my past new zealand soldiers ww1 1914-1919

seeing as benjamin senior populated most of rakaia ha ha it must be right !!

regards jacky

[wayboy2]

Hi J
I have part of the ONEILL family tree, Leslie Benjamin is not one of the issue of Benjamin & Mary (nee ROSS)ONEILL or his second wife Elizabeth CUNNINGHAM. Ben d1927 in Ashburton CBY.
Benjamin b1842 in Rosscommon, Wicklow Son of Richard & Hannah (nee LEESON) married abt 1841.
These are the ONEILL who lived at Rakaia

Regards Wayne

[Beg Clonrode...]

Leslie Benjamin is not one of the issue of Benjamin & Mary (nee ROSS) ONEILL or his second wife Elizabeth CUNNINGHAM.

Hello Wayne....

Welcome to RootsChat :-)

I'm curious as to how many of the names of Benjamin's twenty-five (?) children you have. And is "Benjamin Leeson" one of them. Or any Benjamin at all.

Although the WWI Nominal Rolls at Cenotaph only list Leslie Benjamin O'NEILL's father the attestation in his WW1 Army Service record should list both of his parents. So it's no real problem for the original poster to identify Leslie Benjamin's parents. He/she just needs to post a request to the Wgtn Archives thread asking for the Service record to be digitised and posted on the web.

I think what needs to be sorted is if "Leslie Benjamin" is "Benjamin Leeson". My guess is that "Leeson" is just a transcription error of the birthplace "Leeston" (which is a mile or so from Doyleston). But that's just a guess.

I'd tend to agree with Lucy2's line of reasoning, namely "Leslie Benjamin" and "Benjamin Leeson" are one and the same. And that he is a child of Benjamin and Elizabeth. More than happy to be proven wrong (most likely by the Army Service record)  :-)

I'd tend to agree because.....there is no Leslie Benjamin O'NEILL listed on the NZ BDM Births fiche from 1885 to 1905. The closest is the already mentioned Benjamin Leeson O'NEILL (1891/1757). His birth is registered in Ellesmere. According to the BDM NZ website he is a child of Benjamin and Elizabeth.

Some of the other O'NEILL's registered in Ellesmere are Lily (1888/1860), Ruby May (1889/3993), George Joseph (1892/1801), Albert (1894/4095) and Walter (1895/4161) - again, according to the BDM NZ website, all children of Benjamin and Elizabeth.

The original poster says "Leslie was one of thirteen children possibly brother Albert who died WW1 and sister Lily who married G. H. Edgerton 1913 NZ". The brother is Albert James O'NEILL, died at Ypres in 1916. And the sister is Lily EDGINGTON m.s O'NEILL, buried with her husband George Henry in Ruru Cemetery, Christchurch. The burial record has her place of birth as Doyleston.

So assuming that what the original poster says is true Leslie Benjamin is the brother of Albert and Lily who are children of Benjamin and Elizabeth. Benjamin Leeson, also a child of Benjamin and Elizabeth, must therefore be another brother to Leslie Benjamin. Or, more likely, one and the same person.

The only uncertainty for me is if the father (Benjamin who was married three times, second time to Elizabeth) is the Benjamin who died in 1927 and is buried in Ashburton Cemetery. It seems more than likely but I've yet to see a death notice or certificate.

Curious as to what proof you have that "Leslie Benjamin is not one of the issue of Benjamin & Mary [...] or his second wife Elizabeth".

Regards
Beg

[jck1103]

hi am reading all replies on o'neills with great interest and much confusion !!  on leslie benjamins army card he states his father was benjamin.  how many benjamin o;neills lived in Rakaia ? am assuming its a small place so feel leslie must be the son of benjamin and elizabeth. he states on his marriage certificate that his father was leslie benjamin !! and his age was 25 making his birth year 1893 i looked at births and benjamin leeson is the only one that fits, when he died in 1962 his age was put on his gravestone as 71 which would make his birth year 1891 the same as benjamin leeson. bear with me am new to rootschat and also in uk so am finding my way around the site at the moment. am very grateful for all the imput would really love to get to the bottom of this for leslie benjamins grandson sake. followed the links given to archway but the record is restricted access so at the moment im none the wiser. can anyone prove that benjamin leeson stayed in new zealand had a family and died there ? if not i think my leslie is him can anyone prove me wrong ? i dont mind being wrong what i cant stand is not knowing !!!

regards jacky