

Arthur Benjamin Birkett was from Opunake. He served in the 'Boer War' sailing with the sixth contingent referred to as 'The Silent Six', on the 'Cornwall' on 30 January 1901. He died early, at age 31. Ten years later his son would die in the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (Spanish 'flu). Arthur was my third great uncle - Debbie McCauley (2012).
Arthur was born on 29 September 1876 (reg. 1876/12535) to Edward and Ellen Birkett (nee Hart).
He served in the South African Conflict (Boer War), sailing with the sixth contingent referred to as 'The Silent Six', on the 'Cornwall’ on 30 January 1901. On 5 February 1901 Arthur wrote the following letter to his mother Ellen:
Arthur married Annie Edith Murphy in 1906 (reg. 1906/6105). Annie was born in 1886 (reg. 1886/7517). They had two children together:
Arthur died at age 31, on 14 March 1908 (reg. 1908/740) [cemetery record shows 3 June 1909?]. He was buried in Opunake Cemetery (Plot: 492).
On 24 March 1918 Annie Edith Birkett remarried to Oliver Cross (reg. 1918/537). The Taranaki Daily News reported:
Nine months later Annie and Arthur's nine year old son, Emmett Dennis Birkett, was a victim of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic (Spanish 'flu).
Annie died, aged 75, in 1961 (reg. 1961/27855).
Sources:
Births, Deaths & Marriages Online (New Zealand).
Cenotaph Record (Auckland War Memorial Museum).
Hawera & Normanby Star (2 January 1919, p. 4).
Opunake Cemetery Record (Record Number: 1716).
Military personnel file (Archives New Zealand).
New Plymouth Cemetery Records Online.
Taranaki Daily News (25 March 1918, p. 3).
How to cite this page: McCauley, Debbie (2012). Arthur Benjamin Birkett (1876-1908). Retrieved from http://tauranga.kete.net.nz/remembering_war/topics/show/835 (Tauranga Memories, last updated: *insert date*). In-text citation: (McCauley, 2012).
Year: | 1908 |
Note: | Service Number: 3743 |
First Names: | Arthur Benjamin |
Last Name: | Birkett |
Date of Birth: | 29 September 1876 |
Country of birth: | New Zealand |
Date of death: | 14 March 1908 |
Place of death: | Opunake |
Place of burial: | Opunake Cemetery |
Family Surname: | Birkett |
Occupation: | Labourer |
Residential address: | Opunake |
Spouses name: | Annie Edith Murphy |
Spouses date of birth: | 1886 |
Spouses date of death: | 1961 |
Date of marriage: | 1906 |
Fathers name: | Edward Birkett |
Fathers date of birth: | c1832 |
Fathers date of death: | 2 September 1902 |
Fathers place of death: | New Zealand |
Mothers name: | Ellen Hart |
Mothers date of birth: | 1836 |
Mothers place of birth: | Kent, Maidstone, England |
Mothers date of death: | 29 August 1929 |
Mothers place of death: | New Zealand |
Name of sibilings: | William Birkett, James Henry Birkett, Ellen Watson, Edward Birkett, George Birkett, Sarah Ann Crawford (Birkett), Martha Jane Short, Ada Watson, and Eliza Smith |
Military Service: | South African War (Boer War) (1899-1902) |