Digging Around My Family Tree
Who was my Grandfather? Pt 2
Alexander Alfred Tyrie (1889-1979)
In the first part of this post, I described how I pieced together small pieces of information about my grandfather:
Alexander Alfred Jenkins who married my grandmother, Edith Henrietta Berriman, in 1927 was actually Alexander Alfred Tyrie, who came to Australia from New Zealand in 1925 using his mother’s maiden name as an alias.
Alfie, as we knew him, returned to New Zealand in 1929 supposedly to attend to family business with the promise he would return promptly to Australia. At that time my grandmother had an infant daughter and was pregnant with my father. He never returned.
It transpired Alfie had married Annie Wilson in New Zealand in 1921 and had a son with her in 1924. He left Annie in very similar circumstances to the way in which he left my grandmother. It now seems likely his return to New Zealand in 1929 was to file for divorce.
It might be an impossible task, but I would like to know why Alfie behaved the way he did:
Did being the youngest child of a family of seven contribute?
Does the five year gap between Alfie and his next youngest sibling indicate he was an unplanned, or unwanted, child?
Alfie’s mother died when he was 18 years old. Did this affect him more deeply than his older siblings?
His father remarried two years later. What sort of relationship did he have with his stepmother?
Does the fact that Alfie didn’t go into his father’s Dunedin plastering business like his brothers suggest he had a problematic relationship with his father?
I don’t expect I can ever fully understand Alfie’s character, but I continue to find snippets of information that add colour and depth to my picture of him. Learning about our ancestors can often answer one question and pose two more:
On 29 September 1929 NSW Police issued an arrest warrant for desertion. The warrant was never served or actioned because Alfie was back in New Zealand at this time.
Edith would have been just pregnant with my father when Alfie deserted. At the fateful meeting after Edith’s death, my father asked Alfie why he wasn’t there for him during his childhood. Alfie’s defence was that he didn’t think he was the father of Edith’s child. Looking at photos of Alfie (left) and my father, with his mother and sister (right), I don’t think there is much doubt. Any possible doubt has been eliminated by recent DNA testing.
Electoral rolls for 1935 and 1938 show Alfie living at 23 Hobson Street, St Clair in Dunedin, a few doors away from his older brother William. He was working as a Warehouseman at this time.
After the outbreak of WW2 in 1939, the 23rd (Canterbury-Otago) Battalion was formed as part of the 2nd New Zealand Division. Alfie enlisted in the 23 Canto but his war service didn’t last long. On 10 September 1941 Alfie is listed in the New Zealand Herald among the sick and wounded personnel returning home.
The next discovery was a curious one:
As discussed in Part 1 of this post, divorce proceedings between Alfie and his first wife, Annie, were commenced in 1932 but the marriage was not dissolved until 1946. By 1943, perhaps Alfie did believe he was divorced or maybe it was wishful thinking but irrespective of the state of his marriage to Annie, he was undeniably married to my grandmother in NSW.
On 12 December 1946 Alfie married for the fourth and final time to Mary Brown (nee McLaughlan). Mary’s first husband Arthur Arnold Brown had died in 1943 and her marriage to Alfie lasted five years until they were divorced in 1952. Mary’s third and final marriage was to Ralph Murray Holland (1914-1972).
Mary died on 9 September 2015 at the venerable age of 96 years in Fitzgerald Hospital, Christchurch. Once again, I am frustrated that I learned of her marriage to Alfie after her passing. It is interesting that her death notice, published in Otago Daily Times, mentions Arthur Brown and Ralph Holland, but not Alfie Tyrie.
Alfie’s final years were spent at the original Montecillo Veterans Home. He died on 7 April 1979 at the age of 79 years and is buried at Andersons Bay Cemetery, Dunedin.
I now know most of the dates and facts relating to Alfie’s life but I feel his character and motivations are still much a mystery. It seems Alfie had a great need for companionship but wasn't prepared for the responsibilities of fatherhood. He was a gregarious and entertaining companion but he kept many secrets to himself.
Whatever the truth about Alfie, I can’t deny I carry a significant proportion of his DNA and I’ve passed it on to my children and grandchildren.
Alexander Alfred Tyrie (29 Aug 1899 - 7 Apr 1979) Rest In Peace.
