Two brothers left for New Zealand. My great grandfather Maurice O'Connor left Ireland at the end of 1879 and arrived in Timaru December 1879, just turned 20. He was expecting his older brother Patrick to meet him at the wharf bit he wasn't there. Patrick had left Ireland 4 years earlier in 1875 to settle in NZ. Patrick was on prison for a short time either as a result of his boot legoing activities or because he took part in the anti- Orange demonstration a short time earlier. Despite this initial hiccup the two brothers headed inland and took up work on the Brothers Station near Pleasant Point. The rest of their large family left Ireland for the US in two stages. First in 1882 the next three siblings - Dan, twins Maggie and Bridget. Then in 1884 the their parents Patrick O'Connor and Catherine McCarthy and thier youngest 8 siblings. The family initially settled in Springfield Illinois and then later moved to Chicago. So the two sides of the family were separated and settled into quite different lifestyles - urban versus rural, US versus NZ.
| Additional Information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1st Nov 1859 (circa) | |
| Date of Death | 1st Nov 1922 | VIEW SOURCE |
