Reynolds VC (cont.)

So much for the factual details. Where does this ’hero’ fit into our story? Or does he? And what do we know of his life beyond the heroics?

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The link that connects us to the story of James Henry Reynolds of Dalystown is the marriage in 1911 of Laurence Henry Reynolds (1881-1954) of Ballinalee to Annie Kate Brady. There are circumstantial grounds for assuming that Laurence's father and James Henry VC were first cousins.

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Annie Kate’s aunt Bridget Brady married John Boyle in 1890, but on his early death in 1896 without siblings or cousins nearby, Brigid’s family took on a much greater significance in supporting her to raise her four sons. The Brady connection is explored in detail here.

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Annie Kate was daughter of Bridget’s brother Terence who had made his fortune in Liverpool and who was a significant figure in the life of his nephews, the Boyle brothers.

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James Henry Reynolds was sent to Castleknock College. This was one of several Catholic schools founded in the early 19th century (others being those such as Clongowes, Rockwell and Blackrock) to provide an education for the sons of the emerging Catholic upper middle class. These were modelled the English Public (i.e. private) Schools, such as Eton and Harrow, and intended to create a leadership elite for the Catholic population.

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James Henry proceeded from there to the University of Dublin (Trinity College) to study medicine and graduated in 1867. Soon after, he joined the Royal Army Medical Corps (RAMC) as an Assistant Surgeon. While later generations might view a readiness to join the British Army as evidence of a lack of nationalist fervour, this was not the case in the 1860s. The British Empire was approaching its zenith, and a career in the imperial service was one that many ambitious Irishmen pursued. And there was probably no better place to gain experience in surgery than in the Army! In addition, it is unlikely that he would have had a significant network in the medical establishment in Ireland, a necessary requirement for advancement.

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James Henry’s family

Returning to Ireland from Africa, he was on sick leave for a time but in September 1880 he married Elizabeth McCormick of Westbrook, Glenealy, County Wicklow, daughter of George McCormick, a medical doctor. His residence on the marriage certificate is Richmond Barracks, Dublin and his father’s occupation is described as ‘merchant’.

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But he was soon in action again, as in November 1880 he was in charge of medical services for the large contingent of soldiers sent to Mayo to quell the agitation and defend the imported strike-breakers on the estate managed by the infamous Captain Boycott. His presence there was reported at the time, and may have tarnished his heroic image, at least among the tenant farmer class. He also had postings to Gibraltar and Cyprus.

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Over the following years, James and Elizabeth had three sons and a daughter:

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George Cormac was born on 3rd August 1881 when they lived at 7 Spencer Terrace, New Kilmainham, Dublin, close to Richmond Barracks

Percival (known as Percy) l was born on 9th January 1884 while his father was in Gibraltar.

Henry Laurence was born on 30th June 1885 when their address was 5 Usher’s Island, Dublin. This was the Dublin home of Elizabeth’s father, a prominent doctor. At the time, this was a fashionable address, on the Liffey Quays, and ironically facing Queen St, where James Henry’s father had had his tavern.

Elizabeth Anne was born on 12th November 1886, also at 5 Usher’s Island.

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A few weeks later, tragedy struck the family when Elizabeth (the mother) died on 8th December 1886. The cause of death was ‘parturition fever” which had lasted for 20 days. Also known as puerperal or childbed fever, it is usually the result of infection during the birth process. Today, it can be successfully treated with antibiotics but in the past it was a common cause of death of women in childbirth. It is telling that a young woman, presumably otherwise in good health, should die an agonising death despite being the wife and daughter of doctors.

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James was now left with four children, the oldest only 5 years. It is believed that he had great assistance from his sister-in-law Jennie Cuffe in bringing up his family. But by the time of the 1891 Census, perhaps due to his work commitments, he and the children are living in Cheriton near Folkestone in England. Located nearby was the Shorncliffe Army Camp, a major base of the British Army which at least during the First World War and possibly earlier contained a military hospital, and this was probably his place of work. His household included a governess and two domestic servants. Interestingly, these were all Irish born, so he may have hoped to create an ’Irish’ domestic environment for the children.

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He retired from the army after 27 years’ service with the rank of Brigade Surgeon Lieutenant Colonel in 1896.

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Whether the family ever returned to live in Ireland is doubtful. There is no record of them there in the 1901 or 1911 Irish censuses.

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There are hints that all three sons were eventually estranged from their father, and given their tragic circumstances, disjointed upbringing and the pressures on their father of being a ‘hero’, it is not hard to imagine that relationships suffered. It seems that all three brothers gravitated to the Liverpool Merseyside area.

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​Later, all three sons joined the army in the First World War, but all of them with the rank of Private. At a time when the officer class in the army was usually the preserve of the upper classes it seems odd that the sons of a Lieutenant-Colonel and holder of a significant military honour should not seek a more congenial army life as officers. Perhaps they did not wish to be under an obligation to their father or be known to be associated with him. Even yet, Percy’s details on the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s records make no reference to his father, but simply as a brother of Henry..

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Percival (Percy) does appear in the 1911 England & Wales Census, but in Wallasey, just across the Mersey from Liverpool. What brought Percy to Merseyside is not known, but he is described in the census as a ‘boarder’ in the household of Bernard Cadden at 30 Poulton Rd, and his occupation is ‘Translator, Foreign Languages’, whatever that entailed.

The Cadden household is already cramped, with six sons and two daughters ranging in age from 22 to 5. The Caddens later achieved some success in business, but at this stage in 1911, they were a large, impoverished Irish immigrant family. They had emigrated from Monaghan in unfortunate but not fully  explained circumstances -Bernard was sacked from his job as a Station Master, despite his colleagues' protests at the injustice of the decision. (As my mother was a Cadden from Monaghan, it is just possible that they are also distant relations.) 

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It is remarkable that Percy found such an arrangement to his liking, given his very different background and upbringing. Nevertheless within a few months of the census date, Percy has married Margaret Cadden, aged 20; the following year their first child, Cecilia is born and they move nearby to 9 Eldon Rd. A second daughter Kathleen is born in 1917, but she was never to know her father.

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By this time the First World War was at its height, and it was to have devastating consequences for the Reynolds and Cadden families.

George Reynolds, 34, served as a Private in the 9th Btn Loyal North Lancs. He was accidentally shot and killed on 14th Jan 1916 whilst serving in the trenches.

Percy Reynolds, 32, was killed in action whilst serving as a Private in the 10th Royal Dublin Fusiliers, during the first day of the Battle of Ancre on 13 November 1916.

Henry Reynolds served as a Private in the Liverpool Regt and subsequently the Army Cyclist Corps, Royal Fusiliers and later the RASC. He survived WW1 but later contracted T.B. and died in 1935 in Liverpool, aged 49.

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Margaret’s brothers also suffered

James Cadden, 19, died in action on 12 December 1916

Bernard, 26, died on 5 November 1918 from influenza contracted while in hospital for his war injuries

John, 28, died the following day from the same cause.

Ironically, the war officially ended just a week later.

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Margaret had been informed that Percy was missing, and in the weeks following until his body was found, she placed notices in the local papers requesting any information on him. Subsequently she and her remaining family regularly had In Memoriam notices inserted in the press.

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The war brought a devastating cloud in its wake, in the for of the ‘Spanish Flu’ epidemic. Having taken two of her brothers, Margaret herself fell victim to it, and died, aged 27 on 5th August 1919, leaving her ‘babies’, as she referred to them in her In Memoriam notices, as orphans.

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