Joseph Dominic Rochford (son of Michael and Elizabeth Trainer/McCabe)
January 1876, Lancashire, England - 20 July 1950, Montreal, QC
Married Ann O’Grady 1898 in Leicester, England  b: 1879, Leicester, d: 1916, Montreal

James Rochford b: 24 Feb 1899, Leicester  d: 21 Oct 1981, Montreal
Catherine “Kitty” Rochford b: Apr 1900, Leicester  d: 13 apr 1945, Montreal
Bernard Lawrence “Barnie” Rochford b: 27 Oct 1901, Leicester  d: 19 Feb 1970, Montreal
Joseph Rochford b: 13 Dec 1903, Leicester  d: Sep 1980, Ottawa
Henry Michael “Harry” Rochford b: 20 Mar 1905, Leicester d: Jan 1996, Montreal

Married Dora O’Rourke about 1918  b: 6 Dec 1882, County Cork, Ireland d: 27 Jul 1950, Montreal

Maureen Rochford b: 4 Feb 1922, Montreal  d: 10 June 2009, Montreal, St Andrew’s Home

Click here to view a detailed list of Joseph and Ann O’Grady’s descendants.

Reminiscences of Patricia Rochford Johnson – April 2006.

My grandfather, Joseph Rochford was born in Staleybridge, England on January 3, 1876, son of Michael Rochford and Elizabeth McCabe.

Not much is known of his early years. Married to Anne O’Grady and with their five children, James (Jim), Catherine (Kitty), Bernard (Barnie), Joseph and Harry, they emigrated to Canada in the year 1912 and settled in Montreal, Quebec.

Enlisting in the armed forces at the outbreak of war in 1914 in the Canadian Irish Rangers, he was serving overseas when his wife Anne died on January 18, 1916. The responsibility of caring for the children fell to his son James (not yet 17 years old) and daughter Kitty who somehow managed to keep the family together. Joe was granted leave to attend her funeral and was honorably discharged, However he re-enlisted and went back to France where he earned the rank of Sargeant Major. After the Armistice, November 11, 1918 he was sent to Bonn Germany with the army of occupation for two years and then returned to Canada.

ANECDOTE: My father, James had a large and rather unique Rosary which he said his father had given him. The legend has it that his father, Joseph, had found it on the battlefields in France in World War 1 (1914-1918) and it might have belonged to a Chaplain who had lost his life. We keep this as a link to the past.

Sometime after the war Granddad married Dora O’Rourke and from this union a daughter, Maureen was born on February 4, 1922. Within the year, my brother Joe was born and they became good friends and were like brother and sister right into the teen years. Joe would escort Maureen to different functions and was teased by his friends for bringing his Aunt. They were good times for the four of us.

Christmas meant my grandparents would celebrate with us and when the meal was over we would congregate in the living room to chat and sing songs. Granddad’s favorite song was “The Rose of Tralee” and in 1943 (before Joe went overseas), he sang the song for my granddad (Cherished Memories.

Granddad was employed as an Electrician at the CPR, Angus Shops until his retirement and resided in Rosemount until his death on July 20, 1950. Exactly one week later, July 27, 1950 his wife Dora died. They are buried in Montreal, Quebec.

From Kathleen Perrault’s Reminiscences, 1979

Joseph married Anne O’Grady in 1898 in Leicester and had five children, Jim, Kitty, Barney, Joe, and Harry. In 1912, he decided to come to Montreal, moving in next door to George on Bordeaux Street. When war broke out, Joe enlisted. Unfortunately, his wife Ann took ill and died of peritonitis in 1916. Joe was honorably discharged and sent home. But he voluntarily reenlisted after the funeral and returned overseas, leaving the five children, aged eleven to seventeen alone, with Kitty, sixteen in charge. After the war, Joe stayed on two additional years with the army occupation in Bonn, Germany. During a furlough in England he met a war widow Dora O’Rourke whom he married in Montreal on his return there. They had a daughter Maureen (3), born in February 1922.