The Patrick Morgan Mystery
The story of an ANZAC
Private Patrick Morgan
26 Battalion
The Barreys and the Morans
Edith Alice Barrey the daughter of Benjamin Barrey (a baker), was born in 1877 at Hindmarsh, South Australia.3
Edith married John Thomas Moran on 2 October 1895 at West Hindmarsh4. Their son Clarence Aves Moran was born on 29 December 1896 7.
Edith and John Moran were judicially separated on 30 March 1899 at Adelaide, South Australia on the grounds of cruelty.5. A newspaper report appeared in The Advertiser on 31 March 1899 under the heading LAW COURTS Police Court - Adelaide
After the seperation, two girls were registered as their children. Kate was born in South Australia on 4 December 1899 and died on 29 December 1900 "accidently burnt." 7, 9. In 1903 Winifred Alice Moran was registered as being born to Edith and John in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia2. So far, no further information has been found about Winifred.
The Gibsons
Edith Alice Barrey married Robert Edwin Gibson, son of Henry Gibson and Sarah Nicholls, in 1908 at Bunbury, Western Australia; in the records, Edith's surname recorded as her maiden name, Barrey1,2. On 9 November 1908 their first child Hulbert Sydney Keith Gibson was born. He died on 13 July 1988.
Edith Alice Barrey married Robert Edwin Gibson, again in 1910 at Wagin, Western Australia; this time Edith's surname recorded as her previous marred name, Moran.2 They had three more children, Thelma Ivy Gibson (1910 - 1971) 2, Kerswell Alpha Gibson (1912 - 14 Jun 1965) 8 and Phyllis May Gibson (1917-) 2
Edith died on 5 May 1954 (with the surname King) at Mosman Park, Western Australia6,2.
In March 1915, a Patrick Morgan enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in Perth, WA. He said he was born in 1896 in Brompton Park, SA and based on his age of 18 years and 3 months, he would have been born towards the end of 1896. He was sent to Blackboy Hill to do his initial training.
He deserted from Blackboy Hill and stowed away on the troopship A11 (Ascanius) “to get to the war”. He was reenlisted in the Red Sea in June 1915 in the 26th Infantry Battalion with the service number of 666. He gave his next of kin as his grandfather, B B Barray, a baker of Brompton Park SA. He stated that he was unmarried.
On the 20th of September 1915 he was shot in the head at Gallipoli and died of his wounds later that day. The authorities contacted his grandfather, B Barrey and Barrey wrote back “Our boy was Private A C Moran not Private P Morgan 26 Batt, he was in the Light Horse and enlisted in Perth. We fear there has been some mistake. When we last heard from him he stated that he was married if that is so we wouldn’t be his next of kin.”
Did Clarence Aves Moran serve under the name of Patrick Morgan?
References:
1. Australian Trove Digitised Newspapers and more Website (http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper). The West Australian 24 January 1941 p1. 'Family Notices'
2. Registry of Births Deaths & Marriages (WA) Website (http://www.bdm.dotag.wa.gov.au/_apps/pioneersindex/default.aspx).
3. Genealogy SA Website (https://www.genealogysa.org.au/)
4. Australian Trove Digitised Newspapers and more Website (http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper). The Express and Telegraph (Adelaide, SA) 4 Oct 1895 p2. 'Marriaages'.
5. Australian Trove Digitised Newspapers and more Website (http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper). The Advertiser 31 March 1899 p3 'LAW COURTS Police Court - Adelaide.'
6. Australian Trove Digitised Newspapers and more Website (http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper). The West Australian 7 May 1954 p50 'Family Notices'.
7. Ancestry.com. Australia, Birth Index, 1788-1922 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010. Website (http://home.ancestry.com.au/).
8. Australian Trove Digitised Newspapers and more Website (http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper). The West Australian 24 January 1941 p1 'Family Notices.'
9. Australian Trove Digitised Newspapers and more Website (http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper). The Advertiser 1 January 1901 p6 'Family Notices'