Patrick James Owens, b. 2 January 1843, Isle of Wight, d. 14 February 1931, New Zealand

Patrick James Owens, b. 2 January 1843, Isle of Wight, d. 14 February 1931, New Zealand

I am very lucky to have a relative in my family who is a keen genealogist. She has filled in a good part of the family tree going back several generations and has been diligent in searching out information relating to my great great grandparents, Patrick Owens and Mary Murphy, who sailed to New Zealand in the late 1800s. What makes this lady particularly dear is how she makes sure to pass this information to the younger generations of the family.

Her latest offering is an obituary she found for Patrick, who enlisted in the army at the tender age of 14 - so heart-breaking. It reminded me of how a while back I talked about the legacy of dysfunction. Human history is full of screw-ups on an epic scale. The many victims of those wars, oppressions, repressions, and famines are damaged directly, but generations to follow can indirectly bear those scars. Here is the obit below:

OBITUARY: The New Zealand Herald Tuesday February 17th 1931


INDIAN MUTINY VETERAN

MR PATRICK J OWENS

The death of Mr Patrick James Owens aged 88, one of the few survivors of the Indian Mutiny, occurred in Auckland on Saturday.

Mr Owens was sent to a Dublin school for the sons of soldiers and upon attaining the age limit, at the school, of 14 years he enlisted. His father and his two uncles were soldiers. In addition to the strong incentive of family traditions Mr Owens was influenced in his decision to become a soldier by the fact that the Indian Mutiny had broken out.

The 60th Rifles, the regiment in which its youth enlisted, reached Madras in December 1857, after a passage of 118 days. The return journey 10 years later in the tea clipper Tweed which conveyed the 97th Regiment, to which Mr. Owens had been transferred, was made in 78 days. On account of his youth Mr Owens did not actually take part in the repression of the Mutiny but he retained a vivid recollection of the horrors associated with it. He was engaged as a soldier in India for about 10 years. At the age of 22 he was drum major. On one occasion the regiment marched over 700 miles, being on the road for three and a half months. Mr Owens was stated to be the youngest drum major in the British Army at that time. His promotion was rapid. He was a corporal at 19 years of age, a sergeant at 20 and a drum major at 22. Failing eyesight however, terminated his military career.

After spending about seven years in civilian life in England, (Ireland) where he was married, Mr Owens came to New Zealand in the ship India in March, 1875. He began life in the new country by working on the cutting down of Fort Britomart and reclamation works. He was later employed at the Auckland Mental Hospital for 23 years. In recent years Mr Owens had been living in retirement in Ponsonby. He enjoyed good health and retained his excellent memory up to the time of his death.

Mr Owens is survived by three daughters and four sons. There are 20 grandchildren