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| John (Duck) Donoghue taken about 1910 when Duck was about 30yrs of age with his son John (Jack) Donoghue. |
| John (Duck) Donoghue, son of: Michael,Michael,John John or Duck as he was known(why we don't know yet) was born in 1877 3 New Road, West Ham, London, England. New Zealand folklore has it that he was a fire stoker on a steam ship that came out to New Zealand, having arrived, he jumped ship in Wellington. We don't know when this may have been. His brother Michael also came out to New Zealand, but we don't know if they came together or not. (These two brothers lost contact with each other and their grandchildren only found each other in April of 2002!!) Duck, at the age of 25yrs married Martha Ann Tasker in 1904 in Wellington?. They had one son, John (Jack) Donoghue, the marriage didn't last. Jack was brought up by Duck until he was 13yrs old. Martha re-married Fred Chapman they had a further 7 children. Duck enlisted in the New Zealand Army on the 12th October 1915, serving overseas for around 7 months of his total 1 year and 76 days of service. He was described as a Rifleman. He was medically discharged on the 26th December 1916 through 'being no longer fit for war service on account of a pre-enlistment injury aggravated by active service' Duck was 35/36yrs old when he enlisted and apparently suffered from Osteo-arthritis of his right knee. He was awarded the British War Medal and Illuminated Certificate of Service. Duck had two more son's Desmond O'Donoghue and Dennis O'Donoghue, for some reason Duck by now had added an 'O' to the surname. Duck settled on Waiheke Island in the Hauraki Gulf, out from Auckland, NZ, in the later years. Duck died on the 4th April 1963 in Auckland and is buried in the Waikamete Cemetery, Auckland in the Soldiers area in an unmarked grave. |