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The Family Flying Ace


Lieutenant Edward Kenny

And now to the youngest child of Trafalgar's Kenny family: Patrick Edward Kenny...or perhaps Edward Patrick Kenny (it depends which records you look at)...but known as Ted. Due to his wartime achievements, I think he is definitely one of the more notable characters in our family tree.

Ted was born in Trafalgar in 1887. When war broke out in 1914, Ted was a 27-year old bank clerk/accountant in Wonthaggi but the following year decided to enlist in the AIF. He was posted to the 4th Light Horse Regiment (12th Reinforcements) and in November embarked for Egypt. After a year or so with the Light Horse, on 28 January 1917 Ted transferred to No. 1 Squadron, Australia's Flying Corps which had been raised at Point Cook back in Australia the year before. He was promoted to 2nd Lieutenant and after flight training and a course in aerial gunnery, was graded as a pilot on 25 July. (The squadron was at that stage considered part of Britain's Royal Flying Corps, so was designated 67th Squadron to avoid confusion with its own 1st Squadron).

Over the next 18 months Edward Kenny flew 360 hours of 'strategical and photographic recoinnassance' missions in a Bristol Fighter out of the squadron's base at Heliopolis, Egypt into the Middle East. When engaged in aerial combat throughout 1918, he was able to destroy one enemy plane, drive two down out of control and force four to land. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross in October 1918 (gazetted in London February 1919), the citation stating that Kenny had 'shown great gallantry on numerous occasions in attacking ground targets from very low altitudes in face of intense hostile fire.' 

To have such a noteworthy record, I'm surprised that Mum never mentioned him in any of the discussions I had with her about family.   


 A Bristol fighter

Following the end of hostilities in November 1918 Ted became 'dangerously ill' with pneumonia, which required hospitalisation until February 1919. The following month he embarked for home, where he reunited with his girlfriend Eileen. Eileen Edith Mary Kelly had been a teacher in Wonthaggi so presumably knew Ted from before the war. On 13 March 1920 Kenny and Kelly were married at St Joseph's Catholic Church in Malvern (unnecessary story insertion: I lived just around the corner from this church for several years). 

Ted was now working as an agent, but his wartime experience soon led him back to the field of aviation. In 1922 he was working at Point Cook as a flying officer, and at various stages he and Eileen were living in Armadale, Werribee and Auburn. The 1920s saw the birth of four daughters: Marjory Kathleen, Patricia, Cecily and Elaine Madeline. But after a few years, Ted decided to leave the pilot's life behind - he must have been ready for a complete change of scene, because the next we know of him it is the 1930s and he and his family are in Roma, Queensland. He might have been quite close to his sister Nell, who was less than two years older than him, and also perhaps there was a work opportunity in his brother-in-law Lou Borland's expanding business ventures (though that is just speculation on my part).

After working as a secretary, in 1950, at the age of 62, Ted took out advertisements in the newspaper to announce that he was setting up business as a commission agent:


Western Star & Roma Advertiser, 7 July 1950

After several years in that role, by 1958 Ted and Eileen had moved to Brisbane. In 1970 Eileen passed away aged 77, followed by Ted in 1976 aged 88. 

And what of Ted's four daughters? Like their Borland cousins, they too found their way into the social pages of the newspapers. Marjory Kenny moved to Ipswich to work as a nurse, and married John Edward Scrope Shrapnel (there's a name!) at Roma in 1947. Shrapnel's work as a bank manager saw them posted in the outback Queensland towns of Hughenden and Longreach.

Patricia followed in her father's footsteps and as soon as she was 18 enlisted in the RAAF during the Second World War, and was a Corporal in the 3rd Personnel Depot. After the war, Patricia married stock salesman Harry Baynes at Toowoomba in 1948. Harry became a manager which saw the couple living in the regional Queensland towns of Cunnamulla and Charleville. 

At 18 Cecily did exactly the same as Patricia, and served in the RAAF as 'Aircraftwoman', also in the 3rd Personnel Depot. In 1949 Cecily, now a clerk/typist, moved to Townsville for work, where she met accountant William Erwin Cooke. They were married in Brisbane in 1950 and also ended up moving around regional Queensland (Hughenden and St George). 

And finally Elaine, who was also a clerk, moved to Brisbane for work where she met William Brian Chatterton, a sales rep who was more well-known for (a) having married and divorced the granddaughter of a former Queensland Premier, and (b) racing cars as a member of (and also for some time president of) the Queensland Motor Sporting Club. Elaine and Brian married in 1954 and continued to live in Brisbane, where eventually they were joined by all three of Elaine's sisters and their families.

While I haven't been able to locate a picture of Marjory, the other three had their pictures published in the papers (you can also refer to the previous post, to see Elaine, aged 7, as a flower girl at her cousin Dorothea's wedding).

Patricia Kenny

Patricia Kenny, photo courtesy of the Warby family tree on Ancestry.com (owner davidmac42), and (right) newlyweds Patricia and Harry Baynes  

Cecily Kenny

Cecily Kenny at the Ascot races (left) and soon after her marriage to Bill Cooke

Elaine Kenny



Elaine as flower girl at her cousin Dorothea Borland's wedding (see previous post for full photo), and  lunching with a friend in Brisbane (Elaine at left)



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