Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

John Joseph O'Brien appears on the Peak Crossing Honour Roll as he, his sister Hannorah (Norah) and brother Michael were all enrolled at the Peak Mountain School (now Peak Crossing School) in 1897. As the three children were enrolled at the one time this would indicate that 1897 was the year the family moved to Peak Crossing. Their father William was a sawyer and most likely worked in one of the local saw mills. The Harrisville Honour Roll names enlistees from the Normanby Shire who enlisted in WW1, Normanby Shire encompassed, among other areas, Peak Crossing, hence his name on both the Peak and Harrisville Rolls. The 1913 electoral roll records dad William living at Arababy Creek in the Esk electorate along with John and Michael. When John returned from the War he returned to Moore. As you say the name O'Brien is fairly common and nothing of certainty could be found on what John did from 1925 to 1963 when he retired to Sandgate. He died in 1975 aged 85 years and was buried in the Redcliffe cemetery. There are quite a number of O'Briens who lived in the Peak Crossing area at the time of the First World War and 6 enlisted. Maybe John was related to some of the other families and they put forward his name as an ex-pupil to be included on Honour Roll. Interesting to note John was 5 ft tall and listed his occupation as jockey when he enlisted. All the above comes from a book "World War One Soldiers of the Normanby Shire'' which I (Eris) wrote for the Harrisville Historical Society as a Centenary of Anzac project.