Minnie & John Crimmings

Minnie C Gooud was born in 1865 and died in 1927. Minnie married John Bede Crimmings , a school teacher, at Balmain in 1892. They lived at 18 Bruce St Balmain (1906) and Drummoyne. John died in 1911 at Wentworth Falls, NSW, aged 46 years. Minnie and John had seven children:

• John Vincent (Jack) Crimmings b. 1893. Jack married Kathleen Mary Beach in 1937 at North Sydney. They may have lived at North Ryde and had three children, John, Pat and Rosemary.

• Mary V Crimmings married Stephen Gibbs at Orange in 1920. They had one daughter Mary (Zita).   Stephen died in 1947

• Josephine Agnes Crimmings (b. 1896; d. 20/8/1970) married Hugh Ellis O'Keeffe at Balmain North, in 1915.

  Hugh was a marine engineer with Burns Philp. His ships were: Malabar wrecked at Long Bay, April 1931; MacDhui, and Malaita. Hugh was transferred off the Macdhui before its last voyage to Port Moresby, where it was sunk by Japanese dive bombers in1942 and is still there. He was then Chief Engineer on the Malaita. Malaita was torpedoed by a Japanese submarine off the Queensland coast in 1943, returning from New Guinea. Had it been hit on the outward journey, all would have been lost as it had been loaded with munitions. The crew took Malaita to Sydney where it was repaired and put back into service about 6 months later. Hugh last served on the Burnside. He died in 1960.

  Hugh and Josephine's children

  • Mary O'Keeffe (born 1916) served in WAAF with Agnes Crimmings. They joined the WAAF soon after its formation when Japan came into the war. Mary d. some years ago.

  • Hugh O'Keeffe, joined 2nd AIF the day after Australia declared war in 1939. Served in Timor and Borneo. Hugh and wife (Mavis Solomons) both deceased. Only child - daughter, Kerry Ann (married to unknown)

  • James O'Keeffe married to Jeanne; 4 children

  • John (Jack) O'Keeffe served in the RAAF in ww2. Married Edna and they had 4 sons. Edna died and Jack married Margaret; one son. They live in Adelaide.

  • Josephine Agnes O'Keeffe married Charles Lawrence O'Toole (dec) in 1944 at Burwood. One son, one daughter. [Sr Dorothea: Charles was a Captain with ANL. Prior to his retirement was Master of a new giant bulk carrier carrying aluminium ore from Weipa to Yampi Sound.]

  • Kevin O'Keeffe went to sea as Cadet Midshipman with Burns Philp. He served on the Murkur, a merchant navy cargo ship used by the Navy as supply ship to HMAS Canberra, which was sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea in 1943. Kevin married Patricia Doyle. Kevin moved to Perth where he had a shore job there for medical reasons. They had two children. Patricia died several years ago and Kevin married Lesley.

• Alice Angela (Zita) Crimmings (b. 1897; d. 10/10/1938 @41) married Leo Avondale Noonan (d. 2/6/1952 @55) in Marrickville, 24/4/24. Leo served in the AIF in France and Belgium with the 22nd m/c gun Coy. From 1916 until 7th Oct 1917 when he was blown up during a sudden attack in Belgium. He then spent 2 months in a military hospital in France, followed by 4 months in 3rd London General Hospital. He lost the sight of his left eye and both forearms were permanently broken. Discharged in 1918 as TPI. He was in partnership with his younger brother, Philip Darcy Noonan at Barcaldine, Central Western Queensland. They had the property "Orange Downs". They lived in the town. They moved to Sydney in late 1930 for Alice Angela to receive treatment for cancer. She died in 1938.

  Three children:

  • John Gerrard (Jack) Noonan joined RAAF in 1944. Married Veronica Mary Dowley Oct 48. Veronica was registered as Vera May but baptised as Veronica Mary. After marriage, she chose to use her baptismal names. Jack and Veronica had six children. They separated some years ago and the marriage was annulled by the Catholic Marriage Tribunal of the Sydney Archdiocese. Jack subsequently married Hermenia Peralta and they had one daughter. Jack d. 19/10/2002 @77

  • Brian Leo Noonan married Joan Evans (b. 18/1/1927; only daughter of Joseph and Mabel Evans), April 1970. No family. Brian died 29/5/1983 @56.

  • Leo Francis Noonan was born 12 Mar 1928. He was a boarder at St Joseph's College, Hunter's Hill from 1939-44 where he was bow in the winning First Four in the 1944 GPS Regatta and in the front row of the undefeated 3rd XV.  On leaving school he really wanted to join the Navy, but in the meantime he might have studied school teaching although his father wanted him to be a doctor – something Leo did not want. He accepted dentistry as a compromise and knew from the first day he had made the wrong choice, but he stuck it out for over two years. He then worked for 2½ years before beginning studies for the Priesthood in 1950. Leo suffered a breakdown, from which he has never fully recovered and has been an invalid pensioner since then.

• Francis J Crimmings b. 1899; married Cora M Kanaley at Balmain South in 1923

• Agnes Gooud Crimmings (Tops) died some years ago. Served in WAAF some years. Section Officer during ww2

• Marie Gertrude Crimmings married Daniel Cahill Clyne (d.11/3/1985@82) in 1928 at Marrickville. Marie died 20/6/1968@60. They had four children.

Parents