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Irvine Rowland Blennerhassett was born at 9-Dec-1863 at Bayswater, London, son of a respected Irish Doctor and raised at Valentia Island, Co.Kerry, Ireland. Following the death of his father, his mother moved with her children to Crickhowell, Breconshire, South Wales. Irvine was an Accountant, Auctioneer, Valuer, Estate Agent, Insurance Agent and prominant member of the community at Crickhowell and Abergavenny, serving successfully in a variety of official positions for many years.
In 1912 Irvine was suspected of financial irregularities with some of his official posts. When about to be arrested he resigned all his positions, left his home at Llangattock by car about midnight 20-Mar-1912 and disappeared. The following day he sailed from Liverpool on Allen Line RMS "Tunisian", using the alias "Joe Benson, widower", arriving Halifax, Nova Scotia 31-Mar-1912. His destination was given as Kootenay, British Columbia, Canada, to work as a farmer, having with him £240 in cash.
Irvine was traced to the town of Field, British Columbia (some distance from Kootenay) where he had found employment as steward and accountant at the Canadian Pacific Railway "Mount Stephen Hotel", adjacent to Field railway station. Extradited from Canada in 1913, he was tried at Brecon, convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment which he served at Parkhurst prison on the Isle of Wight, Hampshire. In 1915 his first wife Sarah Elizabeth Blennerhassett (nee Williams) died, interred at Crickhowell churchyard.
Following his release in 1916 Irvine took a slightly different alias, "Irvine Benson", and under this name married at Southampton on 15-Feb-1917 to Mrs Matilda Jane Thomas (nee Webber) of Wilcot, Abergavenny, widow of David Francis Thomas (draper, of the Golden Fleece, Abergavenny, who died in 1913). They settled at Sandown, Isle of Wight but two years later on 10-Aug-1919 Irvine died of phthisis (pulmonary tuberculosis of the lungs) at Dudley House Nursing Home, Sandown. Matilda Jane Benson died in 1959 at Southport, Lancashire, aged 94 years.
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS:
Additional thanks are due to Alan Lawson who, while researching his wife's family history, revealed Irvine's second change of name and second marriage (following the unfortunate man's release from prison) and detail of his subsequent death. |
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Irvine Rowland Blennerhassett
"The Brecon County Times" Thursday 5-Jun-1913 |
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Irvine Blennerhassett, newspaper advertisement
reproduced in "Crickhowell Yesterday" by John Addis, vol.2, 1996 [ADDIS]
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Irvine Blennerhassett advertisement
in "Kelly's Directory of Monmouthshire and South Wales, 1895" p.18
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Crickhowell Football Club Fixture Card, 1886-1887
Irvine Blennerhassett, Honorary Secretary
image: courtesy of Maldwyn Powell |
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to Canada... |
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 photo: courtesy of Maldwyn Powell |
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Royal Mail Ship "Tunisian", on which Irvine Blennerhassett, alias Joseph Benson, sailed from Liverpool on 21-Mar-1912 bound for St.John, New Brunswick, via Halifax, Nova Scotia. His destination as declared for the passenger list was Kootenay, British Columbia. |
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The passenger List for SS "Tunisian" sailing from Liverpool on 21-Mar-1912 bound for St.John, New Brunswick (via Halifax, Nova Scotia) has these entries for Joseph Benson:
Page 2
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Port of
Embarkation |
Contract
Ticket Number |
NAMES OF
PASSENGERS |
|
Class (whether
1st, 2nd or 3rd) |
Profession or
Occupation |
ENGLISH |
WELSH |
Port at which contracted to land |
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LIVERPOOL |
59550 |
Mr(?) Benson |
A. |
2nd (Intermediate) |
Lab[ourer] |
male (single or
unaccompanied) |
--- |
St.JOHN,
N.B. |
Page 3
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No. of S.S. Contract
Ticket |
Amount
of cash
(carried) |
NAME
IN FULL |
Age
of
Adults |
Married,
Single or
Widowed |
Ever been in Canada before? |
COUNTRY
OF
BIRTH |
RACE OF PEOPLE |
DESTINATION
Post Office,
Province |
WHAT WAS YOUR
OCCUPATION |
INTENDED
OCCUPATION
IN CANADA |
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RELIGIOUS
DENOMINATION |
Travelling Inland on |
|
59550 |
£240:00 |
Benson, Joseph |
48 |
W |
No |
England |
English |
Kootenay, BC |
Nil |
Farmer |
No |
C. of E. |
C.P.R. |
View original passenger list (courtesy of Maldwyn Powell):
Irvine travelled from St.John, New Brunswick, to British Columbia on the Canadian Pacific Railway, on arrival he finding employment at the "Mount Stephen Canadian Pacific Hotel", adjacent to the railway station at Field, BC.
NOTE: The CPR railway line across Canade was completed in 1885 - the Trans-Canada Highway road was not completed until 1962.
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Rev. EDWARD TOWNSEND BLENNERHASSETT
Irvine's only brother, Rev. Edward Townsend Blennerhassett, left the Anglican clergy c1902 and took up nursing. He served in Royal Army Medical Corps 1907-1911 and again during WWI, signing on 10-Aug-1914 as male nurse for four years with the RAMC Special Reserve.
What became of him after leaving the RAMC c1918, at the end of WWI, is a puzzle... I cannot find his death recorded in England or Wales, so he may have gone abroad after WWI, perhaps to South Africa - it is possible he may be identical with a Rev. Blennerhassett (born c1869) who sailed 16-Feb-1899 from Southampton, England to Mossel Bay, South Africa (half way between Cape Town & Port Elizabeth).
What is known of him:
Rev. Edward Townsend Blennerhassett b.14-Feb-1872 Valentia Island, Co.Kerry; at school 1881; at home (No.4 Pensallt St., Bangor, Carnarvonshire) 1891; Student of Philosophy 1891; educated at University College Durham (L.Th. 1893); Deacon 1895; Curate of St.Andrew's Cardiff 1895-96 (residing 119 Crwys Road, Cardiff 1895); Curate of St.Fagan's Cardiff 1897; Curate of All Saints, Weston, near Bath, Somerset 1897-1900; He is not listed in "Crockford's Clerical Directory" after 1902; Served in Royal Army Medical Corps 1907-1911 (discharged 29-Dec-1911) and again during WWI, signing on 10-Aug-1914 as male nurse for four years with the RAMC Special Reserve.
Where did Rev. Edward Townsend Blennerhassett die and where is he buried? |
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