3. Michael Crehan & Mary Walsh

Michael Crehan and Mary Walsh were my great-grandparents. On Michael's statutory birth record his surname is spelt Creaghan which I have been informed is a mix of the English and Gaelic. His date of birth is given as 24 October 1879 in Creeveroe, district of Killeronan, union of Mount Bellew, county Galway, son of Thomas Creaghan and Catherine Creaghan, formerly Dowd.

Sometime in the early years of the 20th century Michael Crehan moved over to Derbyshire, England. In 1913, he married Mary Walsh at St Patrick's Roman Catholic Church, Wellington Street, in the district of Chesterfield, county of Derbyshire. His profession is given as a coal miner and the spelling of the surname has returned to the Crehan spelling variation. His father is given as Thomas Crehan a farmer. Mary Walsh's father is given as Thomas Walsh who was then "deceased". Mary Walsh was born in Staveley, Derbyshire, England in 1886. Her father, Thomas Walsh, apparently came from County Kilkenny, Ireland but a family tree drawn by Mary says that Thomas's father, Martin Walsh, was from County Tipperary and that Thomas was 61 years old when he died in Chesterfield, England.

Thomas Walsh's wife was Margaret Doran who according to the same family tree was the daughter of Michael Doran of County Wexford and Mary Martin of Mullingar, County Meath. According to the family tree Margaret Doran died aged 87 in Brimington, Chesterfield, England and Mary Martin lived to be 100 years old even though she smoked a pipe.

Mary Crehan nee Walsh 1886-1986. The family always used to say how sad it was that she lived on her own for nearly 50 years after her husband died in 1937

Michael Crehan (Creaghan)

Upon the outbreak of World War 1 in 1914, Michael Crehan joined the Royal Marines. There is an old saying that has been passed down in the family that is "if a country is worth living in then its worth fighting for". Michael Crehan's military record is available in the National Archives at Kew, London, reference: adm/159/209. Oddly, his year of birth is given as 1882 and even more oddly the date of his birth is given as 15 August which happens to have been the birth date of his younger brother James. (Even going by Michael's real year of birth in 1879 he would have been aged 35 in 1914 which would have still put him inside the maximum recruitment age for the British Army which was then 38 years and was changed to 41 years in 1916 by the Recruitment Act. However, I have not been able to ascertain what the World War 1 recruitment age was for the Royal Marines who were not actually part of the British Army and who have always been part of the Royal Navy. In modern times the maximum joining age for the Royal Marines is 32) . All of the other details on the military record match Michael, such as his place of birth and his then residence. He was only a short man, according to the military record he was just 5 feet, 7 and 3 quarter inches tall. Nevertheless Michael Crehan distinguished himself being awarded the Military Medal in 1917.

I have not been able to find any records to tell me exactly what the MM was awarded to him for, the only written mentions being Volume 1 of the London Gazette in 1917 which records a military medal being awarded to Crehan, Pte. M and also a note on his military record as held by the National Archives. A newspaper cutting from the Derbyshire Times in 1940 states that he was awarded the medal for bravery in the Dardanelles. Shown to the left is a photo of Michael Crehan, my thanks to my mum's cousin Joan for sending me this and also to my mum's cousin Angela whose house the original photo is kept. Michael Crehan died 20 March 1937 aged just 57 according to the death record, which matches his date of birth of 24 October 1879, going by both month and year. The witness was his son J Crehan. Mary Walsh died in 1986 in Birmingham just two weeks off 100 years old. When I was a baby my mum took me to visit Mary Walsh in the Little Sisters of the Poor care home in Birmingham and I apparently crawled under a chair which Mary thought was funny. She was one of fourteen children and was close to her sisters Kate, and Frances Walsh who married Alfred Drury. Michael Crehan and Mary Walsh had the following children:

1. James Crehan (b. 1914 - d. 2001), married Ilene Taft and left children and grandchildren.

2. Thomas Crehan (b. 1915 - d. 1940)

3. Catherine (Kitty) Crehan (b.1919 - d. 2015), married Les Ridley and left children and grandchildren.

4. Patrick Terrance Crehan (b.1921 - d. 2016), married Majorie Ann Meakin and left one daughter, and four grandsons.

Michael Crehan in Royal Marines uniform

Thomas Crehan

I would like to make a special mention for my grandad Patrick Crehan's brother Thomas Crehan (1915 -1940), who died in 1940 during World War 2 from malaria. My grandad Patrick used to describe Tom as "the greatest man that ever lived" and I would say the same about my grandad. Tom was a bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force and had survived three plane crashes, two of which were in the sea. Shown to the left is a cutting from the Derbyshire Times from 1940 which was kept by my grandad Patrick Terrance Crehan, reporting Tom's death but also mentioning his two brothers James and (Patrick) Terrance, and also their father M Crehan who apparently was twice mentioned in dispatches in WW1 as well as being awarded the MM, the latter for bravery in the Dardenelles. Tom Crehan who died in 1940 is buried at AL-Ma'ala, 'Adan, Yemen and his grave has been visited by the son of his sister Catherine Crehan.

Below left: Tom's original wooden grave in Yemen which was later replaced with the stone grave (right).

Above photos from left to right all siblings: Tom Crehan (1915 - 1940), James Crehan (1914 - 2001) shown here as a youngster, Catherine (Kitty) Crehan (1919 - 2015) and finally my own grandad Patrick Terrance Crehan (1921 - 2016) shown here as a young man in the army. Patrick later joined the Metropolitan Police in London and rose through the ranks from Police Constable to Chief Super Intendant. I might add more about that in the future. He married in 1948 to Marjorie Ann Meakin and their daughter and only child, Patricia Alana, was my mum who also died in 2016, shortly after her father.

Photos to the right are from Patrick Terrance Crehan's retirement from Highways and Transport at the Greater London Council where he worked from February 1979 to March 1986. His first job there was as a grade 1 technical officer before being promoted to a grade 2 technical officer. His work involved preparing estimates from the schedule of rates and obtaining utility stats from the record office. He always said that his colleagues there were true friends and that he was "happy" working there. The first photo is from the Council chamber.

Below, GLC team photo from Highways and Transport which was within the Transport and Development Department. The man standing 4th from left was Jim Court who was Patrick's line manager.