Links:

• Family Tree
• Cemetery Records: For Aramoho Cemetery Records since 1915, phone the Sexton on (06) 343 9412 or email gary.gleeson at wanganui.govt.nz

Alphonsus Henry Rush, 1876-1916

This page lists the fifth child of John Henry Rush and Sarah Ruth Grennan.

Alphonsus Henry Rush was born in Palmerston North on 11 September 1876, the fifth child of John Henry and Sarah Rush. He was a keen rugby player, and the 1914 electoral roll lists him as a farmer, living in Avenue Street.

Alphonsus married Gertrude Allaway in 1905, and they had five children:

Ella Sylvia 1905
Alphonsus John 1907
Ida Kathleen 1909/10
Elsie Thelma 1913
Albert Lewis 1917

Gertrude was one of 4 daughters and 1 son of Albert Edward Selman Allaway born 25 January 1850 at Trowbridge, Wiltshire and Ann Hackett born 28 April 1841. Ann had had a previous very short marriage to a Taylor who was killed in an accident. Albert and Ann married in 1878 after their children were born.

Ella Sylvia

Ella married Ernest Sidney Girven in 1928 (BDM Ref 1928/4984).

Alphonsus John

Alphonsus John Rush married Ethel Mildred Norma Berry in 1928 (BDM Ref 1928/10104).

Ida Kathleen

Ida Kathleen married Leslie Cyril Armstrong in 1929 (BDM Ref 1929/2986).

Elsie Thelma Rush

Elsie Thelma was born 10/06/1913, and died 05/05/2003. She was cremated and her ashes were handled by Greenwood Mortuary in the United States. Her SSN was 570-84-0174. She was married to Leon Foxworthy who died 11/07/1971. He was born 11/12/1903. He was a pharmacist for the US Navy.

Elsie was a dancer in New Zealand when she first met Leon who was stationed in New Zealand in the Marine Corp. They were married in 1943. Later Leon and Carl (Veva's husband) were stationed in Guam. This is when (1946) Veva first met Elsie. They were room mates on a ship going from San Francisco to Guam to be with their husbands. It took them 22 days on the open seas with a stop in Hawaii. They were all in Guam for 2 years. Then they returned to San Diego.

Elsie never became a US citizen because she did not want to give up her citizenship in New Zealand. She never had children although she was pregnant once but lost the child due to a miscarriage. She and Veva were friends for almost 60 years. Unfortunately Elsie never admitted or believed Leon had died in 1971 which is one of the reasons Veva began helping with the finances. Elsie stopped paying bills and filing tax returns because she always said Leon was doing it. Her eccentricities led to the conservatorship and Elsie never minded Veva helping her over the years. (Information provided by Elsie's lawyer in the United States, 25 September 2003.)

Albert Lewis Rush

Albert never married and had no children. He died in 1996.

Death

Alphonsus was the youngest of John Henry's children to die, at the age of 40, from cancer, and is buried with other members of the Rush and Barry families at the Aramaho cemetery in Wanganui. His BDM record actually lists his name as Alphonsus Frederick, Ref 1916/9839.

After his death in 1916, Gertrude remarried a William Roy, and they had two more children: twins Isabel (Polly) and Charles. From the BDM records it appears Isabel Mary was born on 27 February 1920 and died in 2011 (BDM 2011/6188). We could find no marriage record for her. Charles William died in 1945 (BDM Ref 1945/42236).

Many descendants of Alphonsus and Gertrude currently live in Wanganui, including the Girven, Davis, Rush and Huria families.

Contact details

If you have any information or photos to add to this page, or any corrections, please contact Dale Hartle in Levin, New Zealand, by phone +64 021 45 34 24 or email .