James Kissane, The Queenslander 24 June 1916 ( JOL).
James Kissane was born on 1 April 1889 in Kilcock Upper, Lissleton, Listowel, County Kerry, Ireland to John Michael and Catherine Cronin (Katie). He came from a large farming Catholic family; and lived with a younger sister, Lizzie, two older sisters, Mary and Norah, and three brothers, Patrick, John and Richard. The farm was quite extensive. The farmstead also had a servant.
Census of Ireland 1901 – Form A.
Kissane departed from London to Brisbane on Oswestry Grange, Queensland Line, on 18 January 1911. He joined the Queensland Police Force on 10 July 1911 (Reg No 1449, QSA 3302), he was 22 years and 3 months at the time. The Register, describes James as 5 feel 11 inches tall, with brown eyes and hair, and of fair complexion.
London to Brisbane on Oswestry Grange, Queensland Line. UK, Outward Passenger Lists, 1890-1960.
Between 1911 and 1915, Constable Kissane received three transfers. He was stationed at Cooyar for nearly a year (1912-1913); Toowoomba for a month (Sep-Oct, 1913); and finally Inglewood. The Queensland Police Gazette shows, Kissane made eight arrests with successful convictions in 1915. The offences ranged from stealing to fraud and obtaining goods or money under false pretences.
On 2 September 1915, a month before the Commissioner of Police Cahill released a memorandum withholding permissions for policemen to join the Expeditionary Forces due to personnel shortages, Kissane took leave from active police duty and volunteered in the Australian Imperial Force. He was soon promoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant and assigned to 11th Machine Gun Company.
Page 22 of the Queenslander Pictorial supplement to The Queenslander 24 June 1916 (JOL).
In February 1917, he was transferred to 3rd Division, England. Following a brief period in Pelham Downs, Kissane was taken on strength to 9th Machine Gun Company, attached to 3rd Divisional MGC. On 7 September, he proceeded to France. At the beginning of 1918, following months on the battlefront, he was granted a brief leave to Ireland. Soon after, on 18 January, he was awarded the Military Cross.
Extract from the London Gazette, Fourth and Fifth Supplements.
In March 1918, Kissane was admitted to the General Hospital with a septic right hand. A month later he was invalidated to the United Kingdom. In August of the same year, he was re-admitted to the hospital with the injury, this time to the Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield Park, Middlesex, England. Following a fortnight at the hospital, Kissane was seconded for duty with Machine Gun Training Depot. Nine months later, he returned to Australia. On 11 October 1919, 2nd Lieutenant’s AIF appointment was terminated.
Kissane returned to Brisbane and on 12 September 1919 resumed police duty. Having said that, James resigned from the Queensland Police at the end of March 1920, less than a year after getting re-appointed. In 1921, he proceeded to take up a full-time paid position of the Queensland Irish Association (QIA) secretary. He remained in this role until 1924.
Following his civilian appointment, James married Mary Agnes O’Driscoll on 10 July 1922 (1922/B/30439), in ‘Dara’, the seat of the Brisbane Archbishop, on Gotha Street, Fortitude Valley. Mary Agnes was a daughter of Kate Mary Cecilia Hayes and Andrew O’Driscoll, the Queensland Police Inspector.
Births, Deaths and Marriages 1922/B/30439
Kissane resigned from his role of the QIA secretary in 1924 and went on to work as Insurance Inspector. The family lived in 8 Cordelia Street. Kissane died at Mater Hospital on 27 October 1953 from complications from cancer and heart failure (1953/B/45993). The obituary indicates he was survived by his children, John Andrew, Katherine Mary, and James Morgan, and grandchildren.
Queensland Police and the Great War Effort, is a project by Dr Anastasia Dukova, a policing historian, which connects personal, police and war service stories and histories of the Queensland Policemen who left active police duty to volunteer in the Australian Imperial Force.
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This information was researched and written for the Police Museum Blog by Police Historian Dr Anastasia Dukova. The Police Museum is open 9am to 4pm Monday to Thursday and 10am to 3pm on the last Sunday of the month (Feb-Nov) and is located on the Ground Floor of Police Headquarters at 200 Roma Street, Brisbane. Email: museum@police.qld.gov.au
“FROM the VAULT – Queensland Police ANZACs: Constable James Kissane (1 Apr 1889-27 Oct 1953)” by the Queensland Police Service is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (BY) 2.5 Australia Licence. Permissions may be available beyond the scope of this licence. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/legalcode