Cornelius Dinneen and Eliza Harriss
Cornelius Dinneen
Cornelius Dinneen was born in the parish of Ballinamona, near the town of Mallow in County Cork in 1831. He was the son of a farmer, Thomas Dinneen, and,Johanna Hagarty. From local church records, Cornelius had two siblings, Judith, born in 1833 and John, born in 1837
Cornelius enlisted into the 70th Regiment of Foot at their barracks in Cork in December 1848. From his army records, there are some anomalies about dates and his age upon joining. The record suggests that he joined the Army on his 16th birthday on the 12th December 1848. However, if we accept the baptism record we found for Cornelius, he was 17 and a half. At that time there were no birth certificates and individuals could attest to what their birthday was. There is some evidence that individuals did lower their ages to make them more attractive candidates for recruiters, and if things were not good in the famine times. In the time and place for Cornelius, this might have been the only option.
The 70th Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment that had its origins in the county of Surrey, but also close historic ties to recruit from Glasgow. The Regiment was stationed in Ireland since 1845, first at Dublin, then Templemore in Tipperary and then in Cork in 1848. In December 1848, the Regiment received orders that they would be travelling first to the Army depot at Chatham in Kent and then onward sailing to Bengal. They landed first at Calcutta in May 1849
The Indian Mutiny
They were initially based around the coast at Dum Dum and Calcutta (Kolkata) before moving inland to Cawnpore (Kanpur) and then in 1854 further north to Ferozepore. (Firzopore) in Punjab. During those first five years in India, there were considerable cholera epidemics and the Regiment was subject to much loss of life. The regimental strength would have been topped up with recruits being sent annually from England but these were hard duty stations. The Regiment moved again in 1856 to Peshawar, in what’s now Pakistan.
The Indian Mutiny/Rebellion broke out in 1857. Many factors led to the uprising, not least that a rumour went around suggesting the ammunition for the new Enfield rifle required the mostly Hindu Indian troops to bite into a cartridge that used beef fat. This was deeply offensive to the Indian Troops. Across the Indian continent, different contingents of Indian Troops took control of British civilian settlements at Lucknow, Cawnpore and Delhi. The British Army regiments, including the 70th Regiment of Foot, were required to act. The 70th Regiment was given the station of guarding the Khyber Pass, the gateway into Afghanistan and Russia.
By this stage, Cornelius had been promoted first to Corporal and then to Sergeant. This means that he would have been one of the most senior and trusted members of the battalion at the time and responsible for the fighting prowess of his section of around 10 to 12 men. He would have undoubtedly fought in the battles in the Khyber Pass and then with the regiment as they worked to suppress the uprising in towns across Pakistan and northern India. In June 1860, while the regiment was stationed at Allahabad in Pakistan, he re-enlisted for a further 11-year term of service. Later in that year appears the only blot on his time in service when he was confined undercharges. Unfortunately, his crime was not recorded, but it can’t have been too serious as he was restored to his Sergeant’s rank 2 days later.
The Maori Wars in New Zealand
1861 saw another change to Cornelius’ service when the Regiment was posted to join the British forces in New Zealand. The battalion left Calcutta in February 1861 and arrived in Auckland 4 months later. This was not a happy voyage as there was a cholera outbreak amongst the troops and 26 men, 4 women and 1 infant died.
Part of the reason the Regiment was sent to New Zealand was to fight in the wars that the British were conducting with the indigenous Māori population. Britain had colonised New Zealand in 1832 and had agreed to a treaty with the Māori population, the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Dissatisfaction with the implementation of the terms of the Treaty led to conflict erupting on the North Island. By the time that Cornelius reached New Zealand, there was a fragile peace. The colonial authorities then instructed the Regiment to act as road builders and create a highway into Māori territory in Waikato.
Over the next few years, Cornelius’ regiment undertook several military tasks including supervising the Otago Goldrush and other peacekeeping missions. The regiment played a key part in the Second Taranaki War including major engagements at Waikato Orakau and Gate Pa. The war ended in late 1865 and the Regiment was posted back to England after 15 years overseas.
Looking at Cornelius’ service through modern eyes, it can seem to be an uneasy experience. This man from rural Ireland acting as the arm of a government that was, in some views, colonising the place where he came from. However, being in the Army was also a way for him to personally advance his career and prospects. In 1863 he was appointed as a Colour Sergeant, a rank making him one of the 8 or so most senior Soldiers in the regiment. As he returned to Victorian Britain, he was still a comparatively young man, between 32 and 35 years old and with a position in society.
Return to England and Marriage
Upon returning to Britain, the Regiment was posted to the south coast of England. We don’t know whether Cornelius would have been granted leave to return to Ireland for a period or whether at that time he was still in touch with his family. He was first stationed in Shorncliffe, a military camp near Dover in 1866 and the Regiment was posted to the newly established garrison at Aldershot in 1867. In 1867 Cornelius returned to Dover to get married. His bride was Eliza Harriss.
Cornelius Dinneen and Eliza(beth) Harriss married at St Paul’s Roman Catholic Church in Dover on 16 September 1867. This church was one of the few Catholic churches in the area and the marriage records for the 1860s are a roll call of regiments of the British Army. On the civil marriage certificate Eliza Harriss was described as a servant living at 2 Clarence Lawn in Dover. At the wedding one of the witnesses was Louisa Fulcher another servant from Clarence Lawn, the same terrace of houses. The other witness at the wedding was James Joyce, the publican of the Rose and Shamrock Pub in Dover and an Irishman from County Limerick.
Eliza Harriss
There is very little information about Eliza Harriss’ background. Her father was William Harriss who was dead before Eliza’s wedding. On the civil wedding certificate it gives the details that Eliza Harriss’ father was a tanner, a person who worked with leather and hides. From records collected later in life, Eliza gave her birthplace as South Africa. As South African records are difficult to unearth, there’s currently no further information about her life before her marriage.
Eliza Harriss’ residence at the time of her marriage, Clarence Lawn was a very prestigious row of apartments in Dover, facing the English Channel. In the 1871 Census (4 years after Eliza was recorded as living there), the main occupier was Mary Tinbury, a wealthy woman making her living from the proceeds of Spanish bonds. Mary Tinbury was recorded as living with a young general servant and it’s plausible that Eliza lived there with her widowed employer when she met and married Cornelius. For a young woman, servant to a rich employer was a very respectable position. And that would have been a good match for Cornelius. A Colour Sergeant in the Victorian Army would have commanded respect from the local population and he would have cut a fine figure in his uniform
After their marriage the new couple would have been entitled to a married quarter in the North Camp in the Aldershot barracks. Social life would have revolved around the Sergeant’s Mess and Eliza Harriss would have had a community to join.
Move to Ireland
The following year the Regiment moved again, this time to Kinsale in County Cork, only about 50 km from where Cornelius Dinneen was born. He had been away from home for around 20 years and there would have many changes that he needed to catch up with.
In 1869 Cornelius and Eliza became parents to a son, Cornelius Patrick while they were stationed in Kinsale. He was baptised on 21st March 1869
The Regiment continued to move. Firstly to Limerick in 1870 and then, to the Royal Barracks in Dublin in 1871. Cornelius and Eliza had another child, Julia, baptised at St Paul’s Church on the North Quay in Dublin.
Leaving the army
At the end of 1871, Cornelius came to the end of his second enlistment with the British Army. He was about 39 or 40 years old and entitled to a pension for his long service. He was discharged from the Army on the 8th December 1871. He had served for 20 years and 355 days. Of that time he had spent almost 17 years overseas. (Ireland was considered the same as England as far as the Army was concerned). He was discharged with the recommendation that his conduct had been very good.
His conduct has been very good and he was when promoted in possession of one Good Conduct Bad and would had he not been promoted have been now in possession of Four Good Conduct Badges. He is also in possession of Medals for The Indian Mutiny, New Zealand and Long Service and Good Conduct with a Gratuity of £5
His name appears once in the Regimental Defaulters Board
He has been once tried by Courts-Martial
Cornelius Dinneen, Army FileThe papers also said that he was discharged without ever have been wounded, which is almost remarkable with a long active career.
Upon discharge, Cornelius stated that his intended place of residence was to be attached to the Militia Barracks in Leeds in Yorkshire. However, the family doesn’t seem to have settled in that area but instead moved to Lancashire, the neighbouring county. In 1872, Cornelius and Eliza’s daughter, Julia, was reported dead in the Lancashire town of Oldham. Two years later, the couple had another child, John, born in Preston and a fourth child, Daniel Francis Dinneen in 1876.
Tragedy hits the family
The Dinneen family was resident at 9 Fitzgerald Street in Preston in the mid-1870s. The area was described as having ‘a South Staffordshire look - is full of children, little groceries, public-houses and beer shops, brick kilns, smoke, smudge, clanging hammers, puddle-holes, dogs, cats, vagrant street hens, unmade roads, and general bewilderment.’ A new Catholic Church, St Joseph’s, had just been completed and there was a new parochial school. Having a respectable status as a former Army sergeant, Cornelius would have had some standing in the community. And then, a disaster for the family.
Fatal fall through a bedroom window
An inquest was held on Wednesday, before Mr. Gilbertson, coroner, on the body of Cornelius Dunieen, pensioner, Aged forty-five, who met with a shocking death on Monday. From the evidence it appeared that Dunieen was leaning over the top storey window of his house, 9, Fitzgerald-street, on Monday morning, when he accidentally overbalanced himself and fell into the street, alighting on his head on the pavement. He was immediately removed into the house, and afterwards to the Infirmary, where, despite all medical aid, he expired the same night at eleven o'clock from the effects of the serious injuries he had received. The jury returned & verdict of "Accidental death”.
Preston Chronicle 20 April 1878Eliza was left with no guaranteed income upon the death of Cornelius with his pension ceasing. Widows of non-commissioned officers were not entitled to any further support from the government apart from some money from the Poor Law and the promise that they would not be sent to the Workhouse within the first 6 months of their widowhood. It must have been a very fragile time for the family. Further information comes from the 1881 census. Eliza, John and Daniel remained in residence at 9 Fitzgerald Street, with Cornelius’ brother, John, another recently retired Army pensioner living there as well. Eliza’s profession was Seamstress.
John Dinneen was the younger brother of Cornelius. He joined the Army in 1853 in Cork. The Regiment he joined was the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot which was immediately dispatched for service to Malta. For 21 years, John Dinneen served in Constantinople and fought at the Inkerman, Alma and Sevastopol Battles in the Crimean war. The regiment was then sent to Canada where his Regiment fought Irish Republicans who launched a raid on Niagara in 1866. John’s army conduct was not as good as Cornelius’ and his record shows numerous charges and imprisonments. On the discharge papers, John’s intended discharge destination was London, but he ended in Preston, which was the home depot of his regiment. He may have had some connections there and his income would have supported Eliza and her young family.
The family move to Canada
In 1884, the household, including Cornelius Patrick, applied for, and received, assisted passage from the Dominion of Ontario to emigrate. The family left Liverpool on the Allan Line ship Sardinian and arrived in Quebec on 10th August 1884.
The family settled in Toronto. By looking at the Toronto City Directories for the next few years, their movements in different rented houses across West Toronto can be tracked. It wasn't until the late 1890s that the family stayed in the same house for more than a couple of years. At some point in their time in Toronto the family changed the spelling of the surname from Dinneen to Dineen.
A connection with the past
Packing up the family house in Preston and moving to Canada would have been quite traumatic for Eliza and her family. Even though they went on an assisted passage they would still have to have left behind furniture, personal items and breakables. One thing that has survived from this branch of the family is a soup tureen and a spoon from the mid-late 1800s. Not much was known of the object itself and it was recently identified by the Spode museum
The Spode Museum said the following:
Your earthenware Tureen and cover is decorated with ‘Silvester’ pattern which has pattern number 2/2472 which is applied by hand in red enamel on the base with a workman’s mark beneath it. This pattern was first introduced c.1884, it is printed in black and coloured over by hand. The printed mark on the base is usually found in the same colour as the printed pattern, in this case black. This mark is found on earthenwares, especially those exported to the USA. You state that this item is in Canada, therefore this links in well. The embossed diamond shape registration mark on the base refers to the moulded shape of the Tureen not the pattern. The shape is called ‘Queen Anne’ and was registered with the British Patent Office on 8th January 1883, registration number 392590.
It's impossible to know when it was bought by the family, but one scenario might be that it was bought by Eliza when she reached Toronto as something to begin a new life and a new home.
A musical family
There's very little direct evidence of what happened to the family in the initial years when they reached Toronto. Cornelius Dineen (Junior) got work at the Heintzman Piano factory and after a number of years where their occupations were described as butcher or baker. John Dineen (junior) and Daniel Dineen became professional musicians operating a school of music and giving lessons. At some point Cornelius Dineen moved to the United States and had a career as a theatre organist, first in the North East states before moving to Bakersfield in California. He died in 1924, while on a visit to see his brothers in Toronto.
Cornelius Dineen passes on train
Cornelius Dineen, well known Bakersfield organist dined on a train in Iowa while en route to visit his brother in Toronto, Canada, according to word received here yesterday by the management of the West Coast Theatres. The body is being held in Iowa pending advices from Dineen's brother in Canada.
Mr Dineen had played the organ in local theatres for the past eight years having been employed by the Gregg Amusement Company, and later by the West Coast Theatres which bought out the Greggs interests here. He was a member of the Elk's and Eagle's lodges and was well known in this city.
The deceased had been in poor health for some time and was granted a leave of absence last Saturday by the theatre management in order to make an extended visit in Canada to regain his health.
Bakersfield Morning Echo 08 March 1924Eliza Harriss lived until 1914. She died on the 28th August 1914 aged 71 years, 8 months and 12 days. One interesting quirk is on her death certificate her father is named as James Harris and yet on her wedding certificate he's named William Harriss. In her life she had lived in three continents, witnessed tragedy and pride in her son's careers as musicians.
Global lives
Up until Covid-19 the world seemed to be getting smaller and it was almost normal to travel between countries. We think this is late 20th century phenomenon, but Cornelius and Eliza's past show that they lived global lives in the 19th century. We know from their children that wherever they ended up they considered themselves to be Irish!