The Story of ... the two Bedes - Bede William Connors and Bede Anthony Connors

In my last post, I started recording the stories of people from my family tree who belong on my 'Lonely First Names Club' list.  The list includes all those people (whether they are born into or married into the family) whose first names don't commonly appear in any of the branches of my family.

The first name 'Bede' is quite rare on my family tree and is one of my favourites. In fact, there are only two family members who had that name. One was my father - Bede William Connors - and the other was my paternal 1st cousin twice removed - Bede Anthony (Dick) Connors.  Their common ancestors were William Connor (Connors) and Eleanor Hickey.

Bede is, what I would consider to be, quite an old-fashioned name, and not a name most people would have heard before or be familiar with.  It's a boy's name of old English origin, apparently meaning 'prayer'.  

The original uploader was Timsj at English Wikipedia. -
Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons.,
Public Domain,
https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2259187

There was a famous 7th century saint and church historian known as 'Venerable Bede' who was the saint my Catholic grandparents chose to name my father after.  

'Venerable Bede' was a Benedictine monk, considered to be the first known writer of English prose, and highly influential because of his work 'Ecclesiastical History of the English People', a history of the Church in England.

(The photo to the right is "a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art" known as "The Venerable Bede Translates John" by James Doyle Penrose 1862-1932).

In my family tree, 'Bede' was not chosen very often as a first name, and both men named Bede were not known by that name throughout most of their lives!  Indeed, they were better known by either a shortened version (such as Bernie or Bern in my Dad's case) or by a nickname instead (such as Dick in Bede Anthony's case).

Despite the fact that Bede Anthony was my father's 1st cousin once removed, I don't believe they ever met or actually knew anything about each other.  I wonder if they even knew there was another Bede in the family?

 

Bede William Connors  (1924 - 2016).

Bede William (my Dad) was born in the southern part of Queensland, in Maleny, but he lived most of his life in the small town of Bowen, in northern Queensland.  

Very few people called him by his first name, apart from some of his close family.  I do remember hearing him being called Bede by his two older sisters when I was growing up!

He was mostly known as 'Bernie' though, and is fondly remembered as a bit of a prankster, a man with a wicked, rather irreverent sense of humour. That didn't seem to match his Christian name Bede at all, since that was most commonly associated with a saint!

I've told Dad's story before in one of my first posts on this blog, so instead of repeating exactly what I've previously written, I will just mention a few of the more salient events of his life. 

Bede (known as Bernie) lived an ordinary working man's life.  He and his twin brother Reginald (Reggie) were born into a large family in 1924. Their childhood was spent mostly in Gympie Queensland, with their three older brothers, three older sisters, and their younger sister, who was born when the twins were 5 years old. 

Bede started work at the young age of 16 in 1940, and worked for Queensland Railways his entire life, up unto retirement at the age of 65.  He married Margaret Brigid O'Donnell (my Mum) in his early 30s, and they went on to have two children during their short marriage.

Sadly, Margaret passed away after nine years of marriage, leaving Bede widowed at the age of 43 with two children aged 8 and 6.  Not long after losing his wife, Bede's older sister Chris came to live with the family until both children had reached adulthood.  Bede would continue to live in the family home in Bowen until he died in 2016, at the age of 91.  He was survived by his two children, two grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and his youngest sister. 

For anyone who has not read my previous post about my Dad, please follow this link:  The Story of ... Bede William Connors.  For those who have read the post before, I should mention I've updated it with more accurate information, a few more photos and extra newspaper clippings, so you might want to have another read.

Bede Anthony Connors  (1914 - 1994).

Bede Anthony (known as Dick) was born in August of 1914 in the town of Tumut, New South Wales.  His father, James Connors, was 55 at the time and his mother, Margaret Jane Mulvihill, was aged 44. 

Bede was the youngest child in the family, with five older siblings living at the time of his birth.  One other sibling had passed away soon after birth.

Margaret / Marie Constance (known as Connie) had been born in 1894.

Malcolm had come along in 1897, but sadly died that same year.

Maurice Edward (known as Bob) had been born in 1898.

Thomas John (known as Tom) was born in 1901.

Eileen Joan (known as Joan) was born in 1905.

Frederick Archibald (known as Archie) came along in 1910.

The following family photo was taken around 1920 and shows Bede Anthony sitting on the mat, in front of his father James.  

Back row L-R:  Maurice Edward Connors, Thomas John Connors, and Tom O'Connor, the husband of Margaret Constance Connors.

Middle row, seated L-R:  Eileen Joan Connors, father James Connors, mother Margaret Mulvihill, Margaret Constance with her daughter on her lap.

Front row, seated L-R: Bede Anthony Connors and Frederick Archibald Connors.

At the time this family photo was taken, Bede Anthony would have been around 5 years old.

Sadly, when Bede Anthony was 8 years old, his father James died.  It occurred to me whilst I was writing this post, that this fact is yet another parallel to my own story.  Not only was my father named Bede, like Bede Anthony, but my mother died when I was aged 8, the same age as Bede Anthony lost his father.  I feel I have a little understanding of what his childhood may have been like after the loss of  one of his parents at such a young age.

James Connors' obituary stated that he had been ill for many years and had gone to Sydney for treatment around 1920, but little could be done.  That would have been the same year the photo was taken, so I wonder if Bede Anthony knew at that time his father was very ill.

It sounds as if Bede's father might have had cancer, but that's an unsubstantiated guess on my part.  According to the obituary, James returned home to his family in Tumut after treatment, and returned to work.  When he died in 1923 I'm sure Bede Anthony felt the loss of his father very keenly, especially given that Bede was still only a child.

I only have a limited amount of knowledge about Bede Anthony's life after the death of his father, gleaned mostly from electoral records and his military record.

In the years 1936 and 1937, Bede Anthony was living in the Connors family home on Fitzroy Street in Tumut, with his mother and brother Thomas.  Bede's occupation was listed as 'electrician'. He was aged in his early 20s at that time.  

His cousin Donald and wife Edith were living close by, just one block over, on Russell Street; and brother Maurice Edward and wife Muriel were also living nearby, two blocks over, on Capper Street.  It's likely that the Connors clan was a tightly knit family.

In 1938, Bede Anthony's mother Margaret died, and from information stated in her obituary, it seems she had been ill for quite a while.

Apparently, she had been suffering "heart trouble" for many months and had been hospitalised for a while before Christmas in 1937.

Margaret chose to leave the hospital to be with her family at over Christmas time however, showing just how important the family was to her.

Two months before her death, her second youngest son Archie had taken her to Sydney to seek the advice of a specialist, but in a similar fashion to her husband (Bede Anthony's father), it was "to no avail."  Nothing could be done.  

The week before her death, the obituary states that "a wire was received in Tumut on Thursday that she had taken a bad turn, so son Dick (Bede Anthony) went away by that day's train to be with her."  Margaret passed away on the Saturday night.  Bede Anthony was 23 years old.

It seems that Bede Anthony and his younger brother Archie were quite well-known in the wider Tumut community, and their social life appears to have been of some importance, given that it made the social pages in the newspaper during the Christmas break of 1939-1940.

I'm not sure what "a busy time meeting their Tumut pals" means, but it sounds as if the brothers had lots of good mates, and were great company.

Two years later in 1942, at the age of  28, Bede Anthony enlisted in the 2nd AIF at Wahroonga, naming his oldest sister Connie as his next of kin.  He had in fact joined the CMF (Citizen Military Force) back in 1941, but then went on to enlist with the AIF (Australian Imperial Force) in late 1942.

He had two service numbers - NX138268,whilst serving with the CMF; and N238818, whilst serving for the AIF.   

Upon enlistment in 1942, Bede Anthony joined the 26th Field Company of the RAE (Royal Australian Engineers), 1st Division.  His occupation at that time was recorded as 'plumber', so it seems Bede Anthony had learned a new trade.  His rank was listed as 'Lance Corporal (L/CPL)'.

I'm not entirely sure what the role of the 26th Field Company would have been during WW2, but obviously they were an Engineer Company.  It seems that Bede was still on Australian soil in April of 1943, as it was noted in the social pages of the Tumut & Adelong Times, that he was "back in Tumut on leave".

In mid 1943 however, Bede Anthony (Dick) was shipped up to Thursday Island in the Torres Strait, between New Guinea and Australia.  He remained there with his unit until September of 1944.  

The Tumut & Adelong Times noted that he was home on leave in October of 1944.  By May of 1945, Bede Anthony was on Morotai Island, Indonesia, and served there until the end of 1945.  He was discharged in January of 1946 and at that time was listed as a 'Sapper' in the '9 Aust. Wksp. & Pk. Company, R.A.E. (A.I.F.)'   Bede Anthony was 31 years old.

By the time Bede Anthony's name pops up again in the electoral records of 1949, he is no longer living in Tumut.  He had moved to Bexley, a southern suburb of Sydney.  His occupation was listed as 'plumber'.  It appears that he had moved to be close to his widowed eldest sister, Margaret (known as Connie) O'Connor nee Connors, his other sister Eileen Joan (known as Joan) and her husband Robert O'Neill; and their families,  Bede's nieces and nephews.

Bede Anthony's (Dick's) name had appeared once again in the Tumut & Adelong Times the year before, in 1948.  He had been the best man at "one of the most spectacular weddings ever held in Bexley, Sydney" according to the newspaper item.  Mr. B. A. (Dick) Connors was acting as best man to the groom, Alan McGrath, who was marrying Bede's niece Constance Frances O'Connor, the daughter of Bede's eldest sister Margaret (Connie).

Yet again, Bede is mentioned in the Tumut & Adelong Times in 1950.  

This time he was attending the wedding of his niece Lorna Connors, the daughter of Bede's brother Maurice.  

At this wedding, Bede was toasting the bride's maternal grandparents, the Simmons, and her Uncle Bill Connors.

It sounds very much like Bede was a most favoured uncle, close to many of his extended family, and a man who regarded family as one of the most important things in life.

It seems that Bede Anthony had moved to West Kogarah by 1958, as the electoral record for that year listed his address as Queen Victoria Street.  He was living with Eileen Elma Connors, nee Burrows, whom he had married in 1953.

By this time Bede Anthony had lost his brother Thomas John who had died in 1953.

The 1963 electoral record shows Bede still living on Queen Victoria Street, but there was no Eileen with him.  Bede's sister Eileen Joan (known as Joan) died that same year.

The 1968, 1972, 1977 and 1980 electoral records show Bede living on the same street, but over these years he was living with Gloria Frances Connors, nee Slattery.  So it looks like either Bede had divorced Eileen, or had she died?  Bede married Gloria in 1966 when he was aged 52.  All the electoral records show that Bede worked as a plumber for all of his adult life after the war. 

Bede's oldest brother, Maurice Edward (Bob) had died in 1973.

Bede Anthony (Dick) Connors died on the 13th of April in 1994, aged 79, after a long illness.  He had died just four months before his 80th birthday.  He had apparently passed away in Cronulla, Sydney, but was buried in the cemetery at Tumut, his birthplace.

Special Note to any family members:  If you have memories to add, photos or information to share, can I graciously ask that you do so.  Please use the comments box below or email me.  It may prove to be invaluable to the story and provide future generations with something to truly treasure.