Arthur Pyne (c. 1747 – 1839) was the owner of the lovely house at Ballyvolane, outside Cork in Ireland. In 1794, he married Mary Masters of Castle Masters (aka Carrignacurra) near Inchigeela, Cork, Ireland. They had eleven children (that I’m aware of!) and at least 32 grandchildren. What is most interesting to me, is the number of those grandchildren who immigrated to New Zealand – I’m up to 11 so far.
So this post is an attempt to round up the NZ descendants of Arthur and Mary. All of whom are my cousins. So if you are descended from any of the grandchildren listed below, please comment below and let me know. I have a few already, but there are bound to be more!
I’ve added a Facebook Group to allow descendants to post things of interest to all. It’s a “secret” group (for privacy) so you have to get in touch with me to join.
And thanks to cousin George for letting us scan the family photos!
Children of Sarah Pyne and Denis O’Callaghan
(I’m putting them first because they got to NZ first and I’m descended from this branch!)
Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan (1837-1930) m. (1) Dorothea Louisa Pyne (1846-1874) – see below (2) Florence Hindmarsh (c.1857-1953)
Denis O’Callaghan (1838-1920) m. Martha Jane Philpott (1852-1932)
Jasper Pyne O’Callaghan (1839-1895) m. Winifred Alice Baker (1853-1932)
Thomas Robert O’Callaghan (1842-1874) m. Anna Tubman (?-1874) (I don’t believe they had any children?)
Elizabeth Pyne O’Callaghan (1836-1908) m. John Charles Revell (1837-1906)
Emily Christiana O’Callaghan (1846-1920) m. William Horton Revell (1829-1893)
This photo is enigmatically described as E. O’Callaghan – so it’s either Elizabeth or Emily!
Children of William Masters Pyne and Marian Pyne Maxfield
Arthur John Pyne (1843-1909) m. Caroline Maud Kingshott (1853-1874)
William Baynham Pyne (1845-1894) m. Agnes Walker Smith (?-1891)
Dorothea Louisa Pyne (1846-1874) m. (as his first wife – see above) Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan (1837-1930)
Charles Frank Pyne (1849-1885) m. Caroline Chisholme Smith (c.1855-1885) – sister of Agnes above
William and Agnes and Charles and Caroline are the parents of my ‘Lost Pyne Children‘ – a photo taken in Christchurch currently in the possession of the family in Ireland.
Children of William Masters Pyne and Anne Tamplin
Francis William Pyne (1864-1926) m. Berthan Faith Picken
(I think this is Francis William – the others in my tree are too old or were born in NZ)
So if any these are your ancestors, please leave a comment. I am angling for a reunion. There was one of the descendants of Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan before I was born, so it must be time for another!
My Family Annals 
My grandmother (Paternal) was Dorothy Emily Mary Phipps(Pyne) who was born and lived at Ballyvolane and then bought Kilcor Castle 3 miles away where both my father and my brother, sister and i were born. The Pynes sold Ballyvolane in 1952 for £7500 irish pounds to Squirell Green whose family still own it today.
My Mother was also a Pyne (my father married his first cousin!)
my name is James Phipps but the eldest male of each family carry the christian name Henry as my son does also, though not his first one.
Hi James,
I think we met once in London? Your Dad George was was kind enough to let us scan the family photo albums – which are the photos on my blog. And I returned them to him via you?
Will email you.
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
This history fills many blanks. I am related to Mary Elizabeth Pyne, sister of George Masters Pyne by Rev William’s first marriage to Mary Smyth in1828. I wondered if you wanted any info on this side (though no NZ link) and also whtehr you had any details about William’s first marriage, what happened to George M, and his third marriage? Very nice to know that you are out there!
Pippa
Hi Pippa,
Great to make contact with you! I would be very pleased for any information on Mary Elizabeth’s branch! I’ll email you what I have on your branch so far.
Sarah
I am the eldest grand-daughter of Emily Collingwood (previously O’Callaghan). Emily is the daughter of Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan. My mother Doris was her only daughter and my birth family were very close to Emily all our life until she died in 1984.
I live in Lower Hutt, New Zealand with my husband Godfrey. We have five grown-up children.You are welcome to communicate with me via email and can see my work on the RATO Health website.
I do not use social websites.
Hi Tessa,
Lovely to make contact with you. I’ll email you.
Sarah
This is a wonder of a blog. I just started researching when my ancestors first came to NZ, and came up with Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan in 1865. My great-grandmother is his daughter Ada, who married Ernest Cull.
It is truly amazing to find this treasure trove of familial knowledge.
Hi KC,
There is a lot out there about Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan – he was a much more upstanding member of the community than his brother, my gg-grandfather, Jasper!
I’ll email you.
Sarah
I am a g.grandaughter of Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan living in Christchurch New Zealand. His son Sydney was my grandfather. Great to get the photos of him and his sisters on this site – thanks. Marie
Hello Sarah, I am the oldest daughter of Tessa Therkleson (see her comment above). I live in North Canterbury, in Waipara, with my husband Ben and our two teenage sons. In a couple of weeks we are going, with one of my sisters, brothers (and his family) and cousins, to the 150th Jubilee celebrations at the St James-on-the-Cust church in Cust, North Canterbury. This is the beautiful little church that was built for Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan (my Great-Great-Gandfather) when he came over from Ireland to be the first Vicar for the Cust-Oxford parish. The vicarage where he lived with his family is just West of the Cust township, we visited it a few years ago. If there are other relatives in Canterbury who are interested in going to the Jubilee too I can give them the details of the organisers. I’ve been enjoying reading your work here, thank you. You can find me on FB. Cheers, Viv
Hi Viv,
Great to make contact with you!
I’m not in touch with many of Arthur’s other descendents. But I’ll email the ones I have details for. Hopefully others will find out via other means!
Hope the Jubilee goes well! My Gran went to the 100th Anniversary dinner 50 years ago. At some point we’ll need to organise a reunion of all the Pyne/O’Callaghan descendents we can find!
Best wishes,
Sarah
Hi Sarah,
My Great Grandma Emily Collingwood and Nana Trotman also went to the 100th Anniversary at the Church. They put a plaque in remembrance of APO’C up at the front of the church, it’s still there.
Yes a reunion is a good idea. There might be a lot of descendants now!
Cheers,
Viv
I’ve added a photo of Arthur and Florence on their Golden Wedding anniversary. If it’s not something you have, I can email it to you.
Sarah
Hi, my great grandmother was Winifred Scott O’Callaghan, daughter of Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan. My grandfather was Bruce Tennant, Winifred’s oldest son. I have studied the family tree quite a bit over the years. There are an awful lot of us in NZ descended from Arthur!
Julie (Porirua)
Hi Julie,
Yes there are a lot of Arthur’s descendent’s around! Lots seem to be turning up at the moment!
Join us on Facebook if you’re interested in meeting others (and are on Facebook!). The link is above.
Best wishes,
Sarah
Hi Julie
I met your grandfather Bruce Tennant many times at family occasions and his wife and children. Who are your parents?
You are welcome to contact me, I live in the Hutt.
Tessa Therkleson (see note to Sarah above)
Hi Tessa
Thanks for the reply. Bruce and Esme Tennant had 4 children Ron (now desceased), Lynne, Jean and Gary. My Mum is Jean who lives in the Wairarapa. Lynne and Gary still live in the Porirua area. When I found this website and read the comments I suddenly realised that my husbands niece’s partner was also a descendant of Arthur. A very small world indeed, my husband is Kevin, sister of Julie, mother of Rebecca. You will know who I mean. I have been interested in my family tree since teenage years and am always keen to talk to others who share this interest.
Regards
Julie
Hi Julie
Please could you contact me on my private email using your email address rather than this blog. I well remember your mum and her siblings.
Best wishes
Tessa
Hi, I found your blog when researching Penelope Bird who was the governess to Isabella Martha Pyne after she had been adopted by Harriet Johnston. You probably know, but I was intrigued to find out, that Isabella and Frances William’s mother, Ann Tamplin, was the daughter of William Masters Pyne’s butler.
Hi Hazel,
Thanks for getting in touch. I did have a note about Ann being the butler’s daughter (and MUCH younger than her husband!). Would be interested to hear more about what happened to Isabella?
Thanks,
Sarah
I am inclined to identify the photo of E O’CAllaghan as Elizabeth as she looks rather like a photo I added to the facebook site, from the Canty museum. I have tried without success to find a photo of Emily Christiana the lively wife of William Horton Revell , the gold warden on the West Coast. She came out with Elizabeth and Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan. She was much younger and when William died, she lived at “Beverley” in Timaru. Does anyone have a photo of her – I have a lovely one of her husband William.
Marie Woods
Hi Marie,
I suspect you may be right! A good reminder for us to label our photos!
It’s just clicked that my gt-grandmother Greta O’Callaghan Mrs Alfred Nicholls (Emily’s niece) lived in Timaru during WWI. Alf worked for the Post Office and my Gran was dux of Timaru Girls’ High. So they must have known Emily.
But I don’t have a photo of Emily.
Sarah
I am a descendant of Arthur Pyne O’Callaghan through his daughter Lorna, my grandmother, and am very interested to know if the house at Caherduggan (also known as Cahirduggan and Carduggan) is still standing. The last record I can find lists it as unoccupied, as it was when visited by an aunt in the 1980s, although the family were then still remembered in the district, having owned it into the twentieth century.
Hi Lesley,
Great to make contact!
Yes, Caherduggan is still standing – although quite derelict. Our cousin Peter (descended from Arthur’s sister Elizabeth) visited there in 2016 and managed to find it. If you’re on Facebook, we have a group there https://www.facebook.com/groups/249860911868577/ and there’s a couple of pictures.
Best wishes,
Sarah
Dear Sarah
Thank you for this, although it is of course distressing. Who is the current owner of Caherduggan and why is it being allowed to rot, do you know?
Kind regards
Lesley Beaven
Hi Lesley,
I ‘found’ Cahirduggin in 2016. It was no mean feat! I was using a typo map, Google maps, GPS, and my cheek knocking on doors to find it. It is now situated in a paddock surrounded by cattle and close to a huge, very hi-tech milking unit. To get to it I was escorted by the farmer down a
tree-lined, time-locked farm track for several 100 metres to the house which was in an advanced state of decay, un-occupied for over 80 years. It is a protected building so no-one can demolish it but it is allowed to decay. It would be a huge undertaking to restore it! It was so sad to see it like that. I could imagine what it was like in its heyday after seeng an earlier photo with its lovely gardens ad rhododendrons.
Peter
Dear Peter
I am so very sorry to hear this. There will be no way back for the house, now, unless the present owner (the local farmer, I am assuming) gets an offer he can’t refuse from someone who falls in love with it. Not very likely.
I have some photographs from aunts, one exterior black and white from a time when it was inhabited, and five colour snaps from 1987 including three interiors. If you would like me to send them to you, get in touch with me at lbeaven@snap.net.nz.
Kind regards
Lesley Beaven
hi Sarah I am fairly sure our branch of the O’Callaghan family is descended from Arthur Pyne. My great grand father was Herbert ( my brothers second name ) grandfather was Lesley, Father was Pat. But my brother has more details and we are very interested in your project.. Thankyou
Sharon O’Callaghan
Hi Sharon,
I have you in my tree! Great to make contact! And thanks for joining our little Facebook group.
Merry Christmas!
Sarah