Lt.Col Owen Geary

[bobn]

Can anyone help please. Owen William Geary was born in London on 27 Nov 1895 of Irish parents Owen Geary and formerly Emily Warwick. His father was a theatre conductor who held a succession of appointments in Belfast and London. I cannot find the family in the 1901 census for England, therefore suspect the family could have been in Belfast at the time. If anyone has the facility to look this up in the Irish census I would be grateful. Owen William (the son) went on to serve in the Royal Artillary reaching Lt. Col before his death in 1955. Any further information on the family would be a bonus.

[Sue Mackay]

JSTOR, to which I have no access, has a reference to him:

Owen William Geary
The Musical Times, Vol. 96, No. 1345 (Mar., 1955), p. 158
This article consists of 1 page(s).

You may be able to get a copy via a library.

The Times Digital Archive for July 10 1935 has a mention of Bandmaster Owen GEARY of the 1st Btn The Border Regiment receiving the OBE.

Jan 25 1952: Snippet re The King's School Canterbury
"....On March 23 Col. Owen Geary, Director of Music RA, will conduct a concert by the military band...."

There is a long obituary for him in the Times which I have saved and can send to you if you don't have it.

[bobn]

Many thanks Sue
Yes I would like a copy please, I have an obituary about him but have no idea from which sorce therefore it may only be part of the whole report from the Times.
It sounds interesting about the Musical Times so I will try to see a copy at the main library.
As a bandmaster I assume it could have been possible for changes in regiment as he progressed up the ranks.

[Peter_J]

Can anyone help please. Owen William Geary was born in London on 27 Nov 1895 of Irish parents Owen Geary and formerly Emily Warwick. His father was a theatre conductor who held a succession of appointments in Belfast and London. I cannot find the family in the 1901 census for England, therefore suspect the family could have been in Belfast at the time. If anyone has the facility to look this up in the Irish census I would be grateful. Owen William (the son) went on to serve in the Royal Artillary reaching Lt. Col before his death in 1955. Any further information on the family would be a bonus.

Apologies for digging up an ancient thread but I am a former member of The Royal Artillery Band and know of Lt/Col Geary.
He was Director of Music of The Royal Artillery (Woolwich) Band from 1936 until his death whilst still in service in 1955.
He was awarded an MBE which should be recorded in the London Gazette.
Whilst I did not serve under Col Geary I have known plenty of people that did, the last time I spoke about him was with a man who served in the RA (Woolwich) Band in the 1940s and '50s. This conversation would have been in about 2005ish.
I was doing a gig with the Glenn Miller (UK) band (Ray McVay) and one of the trombonists told me he had served under Col Geary prior to leaving the army and joining The Ted Heath Band.
This guy is called Ted Barker and is well known on the London music scene.
He spoke very highly of Col Geary and The Director of Music post at The RA (Woolwich) Band was regarded as a prestigious posting.
I know for certain that Lt/Col Geary MBE is buried in Charlton Cemetery, London SE7.

I do have a picture of a plaque showing all The Directors of Music RA which includes Lt/Col Geary but I do not know how to upload it to this site, if you want a copy please PM me.

I hope this information is useful for you.

Regards

Peter J.

[JNicLiam]

Hi Bob

The Irish Census is available for free 1901 and 1911 at https://www.census.nationalarchives.ie However I could not see any child Owen Geary when I did a quick look.
He is mentioned in the London Gazette on the 3rd Jan 1950 at https://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/38804/pages/61 Apparently he was already MBE by then.
13th Sep 1936 he was promoted to the post of Director of Music see London Gazette https://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/34324/pages/6004

Hope this helps.
Jill

[Mutley]

Welcome to the forum Peter J.
bobn is a regular visitor to the forum so he should see your post even though the original question was asked some time ago.

If you wish to speed up the process, you can click on his user name and send him a private message, he will receive an email notification of your message.
I hope he finds it as interesting as I did.

[bobn]

Many thanks Peter And Jill.
When I visited the RA Museum in Woolwich there was a book detailing his military career, however, not very much on his personal life.
His obituary does not follow either from the birth certificate information. I do know that he was born in London, but I will look up the Irish census to see if I can find anything about his father as he appears to be missing on the 1901 England census whereas his mother was listed.
regards Bob

[Peter_J]

Welcome to the forum Peter J.
bobn is a regular visitor to the forum so he should see your post even though the original question was asked some time ago.

If you wish to speed up the process, you can click on his user name and send him a private message, he will receive an email notification of your message.
I hope he finds it as interesting as I did.

Many thanks for your kind reply and welcome.

I have spoken to Bobn via the PM system but regrettably I have no further information to give beyond that which I have posted.
Bob might wish to contact the Royal Artillery Band office as they may be able to help. Lt/Col Geary was very much in presence photographically around the bandroom whilst I was a member. Quite a few of the older blokes remembered him well.

Unfortunately I no longer know anyone there (I left in the 1980s) so cannot help any further.
However I can get my hands on the RA Band telephone number should you require it.

Good Luck

[Mutley]

Thank you Peter, I am sure Bob appreciates your input, every crumb of information received is worth looking at.

And if the members can help you in any way, please do post any questions you might have concerning your own brick walls.

Best wishes

[bobn]

Thanks Peter
I have been in touch with the RA at Woolwich and they put me on to the book re the band and has a whole chapter on Col Geary.
Again unfortunately it was all about his army career as one would expect and no personal details at all.
regards