John's Story.
"Death of a South Lancashire Private. In the list of casualties issued by the War Office on Wednesday, appears the name of 2947 Private Torney, who died at Lydenberg on July Ist. The cause of death is unknown."
Published: Friday 05 July 1901 Newspaper: St. Helens Examiner, Lancashire, England
John was born in Belfast. He married Annie Kilby, and they had one daughter, also called Annie. She was born on 10th June 1899, at 21 Mersey Street, but by August her parents were living at 5 Fell Street, Poulton cum Seacombe, Wallasey, and her father's occupation was shown as cab driver.
Her baptism took place on 5th March 1900, after John had left the country. Her mother's address was by then Soho Street, perhaps in Everton or in Liverpool. John's occupation is recorded as soldier.
I have not found Annie nee Kilby in the 1901 or 1911 censuses, but she is not the Jane Torney married to a John Torney / Tooney, living in Albert Terrace, though some online trees have incorrectly linked her to that family. By 1921, John's daughter, Annie Torney (1899 - 1986), was working in Wallasey as a servant. She married James Henry Edwards (1899 - 1976) in 1923, and they had four children.
After enlisting into the Prince of Wales's Volunteers, 1st Battalion South Lancashire Regiment on 21st November 1899, John was sent almost immediately to South Africa. John's regiment left the Peninsula Barracks, Warrington, UK on Tuesday 5th December 1899, to sail on the steamship Canada from the port of Liverpool. The ship had been due to depart on Thursday 30th November 1899 but was delayed:
"The steamer Canada, at Liverpool, Nov 30, to embark 1827 officers and men, including the staff of the 1/South Lancashire Regt ....." (London Times, 22nd Nov 1899)
John died on either 30th June or 1st July 1901, almost certainly from disease. Official records show his place of death as Lydenburg, Mpumalanga, South Africa, but one record gives the location as Vryheid, about 200 miles away.
From his Soldier's Effects listing, we know that Private John Torney (29 "6" 7) enlisted on 21st November 1899, just five months after the birth of his daughter Annie in June that year. He left a widow (unnamed on the record but probably Annie nee Kilby).
For his service, John would have been entitled to the Queens South Africa medal, with clasps for Orange Free State, Transvaal, Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith and Laing's Nek.
He is shown on the medals list above as "deceased", with no specific cause of death given. It is highly likely that he died of typhoid. A newspaper account from 1904, at the unveiling of the Wallasey Memorial, does not mention Private Torney by name so we can assume he died of disease, rather than of wounds or by accident.
John was born in Belfast. He married Annie Kilby, and they had one daughter, also called Annie. She was born on 10th June 1899, at 21 Mersey Street, but by August her parents were living at 5 Fell Street, Poulton cum Seacombe, Wallasey, and her father's occupation was shown as cab driver.
Her baptism took place on 5th March 1900, after John had left the country. Her mother's address was by then Soho Street, perhaps in Everton or in Liverpool. John's occupation is recorded as soldier.
I have not found Annie nee Kilby in the 1901 or 1911 censuses, but she is not the Jane Torney married to a John Torney / Tooney, living in Albert Terrace, though some online trees have incorrectly linked her to that family. By 1921, John's daughter, Annie Torney (1899 - 1986), was working in Wallasey as a servant. She married James Henry Edwards (1899 - 1976) in 1923, and they had four children.
After enlisting into the Prince of Wales's Volunteers, 1st Battalion South Lancashire Regiment on 21st November 1899, John was sent almost immediately to South Africa. John's regiment left the Peninsula Barracks, Warrington, UK on Tuesday 5th December 1899, to sail on the steamship Canada from the port of Liverpool. The ship had been due to depart on Thursday 30th November 1899 but was delayed:
"The steamer Canada, at Liverpool, Nov 30, to embark 1827 officers and men, including the staff of the 1/South Lancashire Regt ....." (London Times, 22nd Nov 1899)
John died on either 30th June or 1st July 1901, almost certainly from disease. Official records show his place of death as Lydenburg, Mpumalanga, South Africa, but one record gives the location as Vryheid, about 200 miles away.
From his Soldier's Effects listing, we know that Private John Torney (29 "6" 7) enlisted on 21st November 1899, just five months after the birth of his daughter Annie in June that year. He left a widow (unnamed on the record but probably Annie nee Kilby).
For his service, John would have been entitled to the Queens South Africa medal, with clasps for Orange Free State, Transvaal, Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith and Laing's Nek.
He is shown on the medals list above as "deceased", with no specific cause of death given. It is highly likely that he died of typhoid. A newspaper account from 1904, at the unveiling of the Wallasey Memorial, does not mention Private Torney by name so we can assume he died of disease, rather than of wounds or by accident.
John's name also appears on the Boer War memorial in Palmyra Gardens in Warrington, with his regimental number 2947.
Researched by Shena Lewington (June 2026)