CANTY, Maurice Timothy
| Service Number: | 1103 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 30 July 1915, Melbourne, Vic. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 31st Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Mirboo North, Victoria, Australia, 18 June 1896 |
| Home Town: | Mirboo North, Latrobe - Victoria, Australia, Victoria |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Auckland, New Zealand, 20 March 1972, aged 75 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Birkenhead-Glenfield Cemetery (New Zealand) Public Lawn Row 2D Plot 93 |
| Memorials: | Hallston and District WW1 Roll of Honor |
World War 1 Service
| 30 Jul 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 1103, 31st Infantry Battalion, Melbourne, Vic. | |
|---|---|---|
| 9 Nov 1915: | Involvement Private, 1103, 31st Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '16' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Wandilla embarkation_ship_number: A62 public_note: '' | |
| 9 Nov 1915: | Embarked Private, 1103, 31st Infantry Battalion, HMAT Wandilla, Melbourne |
Help us honour Maurice Timothy Canty's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Faithe Jones
Maurice Timothy Canty (Reg No. 1103) was born to James Canty and his common law wife Margaret Hawkless in Mirboo North in 1896, the youngest of 5 children. James was born in Ballarat East during the Gold Rush. His first son was born there in 1885 before the family moved to Mirboo North. Margaret took the name Canty “in the interests and welfare of her children”. Following the birth of Maurice in 1896, Margaret left her husband citing his intemperate, cruel and dissolute habits such that she was compelled to maintain the whole family without assistance – she ran a boarding house at allotment 16, Section 6 Township of Mirboo North, (Cnr Baths Rd and Pincini Street). Margaret died of Typhoid Fever on 18/2/1906 and is buried in the Mirboo North Cemetary.
Maurice went to live with his uncle Daniel Canty and cousins in Leongatha. Daniel and his son Tim were contractors, Mary a farmer and it is likely that Maurice worked with them in the Hallston District. Maurice was a keen footballer, playing for Allambee South.
Maurice enlisted on the 23rd July 1915 in Morwell aged 19. Following initial training in Castlemaine he transferred to the 31st Battalion at Broadmeadows . The unit embarked from Melbourne, Victoria, on board HMAT A62 Wandilla on 9 November 1915 arriving in Suez on 7th Dec 1915. He joined the 5th Divisional Artillery, being taken on strength to the 25th Howitzer Bde and posted to 10/15th Battery. He proceeded overseas to France serving at Etaples. In Feb 1917 he was appointed temporary driver before obtaining a permanent role as a driver in June of that year. He became unwell whilst on leave in England in July 1917 resulting in a significant period of hospitalisation. He returned to active duty 1st Sept 2017 and rejoined his unit on 25th October. Maurice returned to Australia on the Orontes in May 1919.
Following his return home, Maurice emigrated to New Zealand where members of his extended family were living. In 1922 Electoral Rolls indicate he is living in Matiere on the North Island and working as a cream carrier, in 1923 he married Christina McLean, and in 1925 he was living in Aria and his occupation is a farmer. He retired to Browns Bay in 1963 and died in Auckland in 1972. He is buried at Glenfield Cemetery. Christina died 10 years later in 1982.
Courtesy of Avenel Jane
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