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Daniel O’Connell – Most Successful EPG Policeman by Peter Conole February 2009 EPG Gazette
| Name | O’CONNELL – Daniel |
|---|---|
| Regiment (s) | 2nd and 6th Dragoon Guards |
| Regiment Number (s) | 1005 – 2nd Dragoons 1353 – 6th Dragoons |
| Date/Age/Place/Trade or Profession at Attestation | 19th July 1847 / 14 years 10 months 14 days / Newbridge Kildare Ireland Musician |
| Description – Height Complexion/Eyes/Hair/Scars | 5 Ft 6 in Fresh / Black / Brown / Gunshot wound in both thighs resulting in impaired use of left leg |
| Overseas Service/Duration | Crimea and Turkey – 11 months East Indies – 13 months |
| Length of Service | 8 years 4 days |
| Rank/Date/Place of Discharge | Trumpeter / 7th September 1858 / Chatham Kent England |
| Campaign Medals | Crimean War Medal Turkish Crimea Medal Indian Mutiny Medal with Delhi clasp |
| Intended Residence at Discharge | Not stated |
| Pension Districts | 1858 2nd Dublin 1859 Sheffield (Transferred to Tilbury Fort 1860) 1861-1922 Western Australia |
| Pension Paid | 8d per diem 26th March 1903 Increased to 1/6d per diem |
| Date of Departure and Place England or Ireland | 10th November 1860 Portland Dorset England |
| Ship and Date of Arrival Western Australia | PALMERSTON 11th February 1861 |
| Date/Place of Birth | September 1832 Jock’s Lodge Edinburgh Scotland |
| Date/Place of Baptism | Not yet known |
| Father Date/Place of Birth | O’CONNELL John 1802 St Nicholas Galway Ireland |
| Mother Date/Place of Birth Marriage | UNKNOWN Bridget / Bidelie Not yet known Galway Ireland |
| Siblings | Agnes B 1827 Galway Ireland |
| 1st Wife Date of Birth or Baptism | MOONEY Mary 1838 (deduced) Not yet known |
| Date/Place of Marriage | 11th June 1863 Albany Western Australia |
| Children by 1st Wife | John B 1864 Albany Western Australia (tentative) D before 1922. Mary Elizabeth B 1866 Albany Western Australia M CLEARY Patrick 1906 Perth Western Australia D July 1937 Western Australia Daniel Frank B 1868 Mt Barker Western Australia M McALINDEN Amelia 18 October 1897 Western Australia D before 1922 Joseph James B 20th July 1868 Western Australia D 20th April 1887 Fremantle Western Australia (Police Constable murdered by Thomas Hughes) Thomas Daniel B 1870 Albany Western Australia D 8th July 1937 Leederville Western Australia bur Roman Catholic Section Karrakatta Cemetery Western Australia Ann Agnes B 1872 Albany Western Australia D 29th August 1924 Perth Western Australia bur Roman Catholic Section Karrakatta Cemetery Western Australia Frances Theresa B 27th May 1875 Perth Western Australia D 12th June 1944 Leederville Western Australia bur Roman Catholic Section Karrakatta Cemetery Western Australia |
| Father of 1st wife Date/Place of Birth | MOONEY Laurence, late of the 21st Royal Scots Fusiliers |
| Mother of 1st wife Date/Place of Birth Marriage | UNKNOWN Alice |
| Land Grants Western Australia | Granted 13th July 1886 Albany Lot P6 3 acres (Title 8/122). The Lot runs between Albany Highway and Pensioner Street. P6 was formerly allotted to Matthew Carter. |
| Occupation after Arrival | Convict Guard Albany 1861-1865 Police officer appointed September 1865 Sub-Inspector 1893 retired 1901. Stationed at Albany, Gordon River, Fremantle, Greenough, Williams, York, Roebourne, Coolgardie and Northam. |
| Newspaper Articles | Daily News Thursday 21st April 1887 – page 3 The West Australian Wednesday 27th February 1895 page 5 Western Mail Saturday 19th June 1909 – page 31 Daily News 20th November 1909 – page 5 Daily News Saturday 2nd December 1922 – page 10 Sunday Times Sunday 3rd December 1922 – page 16 Western Mail Thursday 7th December 1922 – page 6 Daily News Friday 29th August 1924 – page 12 West Australian Tuesday 2nd September 1924 – page 1 West Australian Monday 12th July 1937 – page 1 West Australian Tuesday 13th June 1944 – page 1 West Australian Monday 2nd July 1945- page 1 |
| Departure from Western Australia | Not applicable |
| Date/Place of Death/Burial | 28th November 1922 Highgate Hill Western Australia Roman Catholic Section Karrakatta Cemetery Western Australia |
| Date/Place of Death/Burial Wife | 14th June 1909 Perth Western Australia Roman Catholic Section Karrakatta Cemetery Western Australia |
| Will or Probate | Copy of Mary O’Connell’s will available from State Records Office of Western Australia (3458/1909/115) |
| Further Information | 1841 Census HO107/1334/29 George Street, Nether Hallam, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England John O’Connell, 35, Army, born Ireland Bidelie O’Connell, 35, born Ireland Agnes O’Connell, 14, born Ireland Daniel O’Connell, 9, born Scotland 1851 Census the O’Connell family HO 107/2355/611/17 York, Yorkshire Gives the exact place of birth for John (St Nicholas, Galway). He is still a serving soldier.British Army Worldwide index 1851 Daniel O’Connell, 1005, Private, 2nd Dragoon Guards, location York, WO12/166 Reason for discharge: a gunshot wound at Delhi on 22 July 1857. The ball passed through both thighs resulting in impaired use of left leg.SROWA Cons 527/1886/2055 15 May 1886 Daniel O’Connell wrote a petition to His Excellency, Governor Sir Frederick Napier Broome in support of the Applications of his daughter and sons Joseph and Thomas to be trained in telegraphy. He said his daughter was 19 years of age, son Joseph would be 18 in July and Thomas who would turn the minimum age or 16 in June. Joseph had a character from the Mercantile store in Cossack where he worked as a store assistant and Thomas had one from the Mercantile store in Roebourne where he had worked as a store assistant for 12 months.Daniel then went on to give a precis of his career both in the army and in the Police Force. He said he was “born and reared in the army, my father being a musician in the service. I was bought up to music from being eight years of age and joined the regiment at 14 years”. He served in the Russian campaign and the Indian Mutiny and was discharged through wounds received during the mutiny. He enlisted in the Enrolled Force and arrived in the Colony in February 1861 and after completing his six months in the Enrolled Force he proceeded to A King George’s Sound and did duty over the convicts until 1865 when he joined the Police Force. Throughout his years in the Police Force he had never been off duty through sickness even after a wound received while serving in the Kimberley (1883) turned poisonous. While in Albany he married Mary Mooney the daughter of Police Corporal Laurence Mooney who had previously been a soldier in the 21st Foot and had taken his gratuity in the Colony.Daniel O’Connell wrote a petition to His Excellency, Governor Sir Frederick Napier BROOME in support of the Applications of his daughter and sons Joseph and Thomas to be trained in telegraphy (SROWA Cons 527/1886/2055 15 May 1886)Retired: 13/12/1901 – O’Connell reached the highest rank known among members of the Enrolled Pensioner Force who joined the Police Force. His career had its ups and downs. In August 1867 he was implicated in a botched attempt to capture the bushranger William Graham. He was suspended, then cleared of wrongdoing and reinstated. In 1876 he was active in searching the Rockingham area during the escape of the Fenians on the ‘Catalpa’. In April 1887 his 19 year-old son Constable Joseph O’Connell was murdered in Fremantle by the bushranger Thomas Hughes. O’ Connell was in general terms an efficient and respected officer. His energy and dedication to duty was particularly noteworthy during the chaotic times of the 1890s, when he had to police the new eastern Gold Fields under very trying circumstances. |