AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF
ALFRED JAMES CORRIGAN
BORN:19 JANUARY 1913, NEWTATE, FLORENCE COURT,
COUNTY FERMANAGH, NORTHERN IRELAND
FATHER’S NAME: IRWIN CORRIGAN
MOTHER’S NAME: MAGGIE NIXON
MARRIED:RITA HELENA ANDRE, (b. 04 Feb, 1912)  28 DEC, 1946
CHILDREN:RALPH NIXON CORRIGAN, b. 29 MAY 1948
ANN LORRAINE CORRIGAN, b. 30 JUNE 1950
BRIAN JAMES CORRIGAN, b. 11 FEBRUARY 1952
PATRICIA HELENA CORRIGAN, b. 26 MAY 1954
I was born on the 19th January 1913 at Newtate, Florence Court, County Fermanagh, Northern Ireland.  I was the first of two children.  My sister, Winifred Elizabeth, was born in June 1915.  My parents were of farming stock and had lived all their lives in that area.
Shortly after my birth, my parents went to Glasgow, Scotland, where my Dad was employed by an engineering firm.  Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War my Dad joined the Royal Scots Fusiliers and was soon in the front lines in France.
I remember nothing of this period except for a very faint recollection of the last time my Dad was home on leave, he asked me what I would like as a present when he came home on leave again and I asked him for a horse and a sword.  We never saw him again as he was killed in action shortly afterwards.
At the end of the war, my mother returned to Ireland to live with her parents, John and Eliza Nixon, on their farm at Lisderry, Florence Court.
When I was about 6 or 7 years old I started school.  This was a small farm school about 2 miles away.  The total enrolment was between 25 and 30 pupils and the master was Mr. Gourley.  There was one teacher for all classes from beginners up to standard 6.
About this time my mother returned to Glasgow, leaving us children with my grandparents.  There she took up a position as housekeeper/companion to some old lady.  I believe my mother did this to earn sufficient money to give myself and sister a good education – I know this was one of her dearest wishes,  she came home about twice a year on holiday and after about two years she returned home for good.  By this time she was receiving a war widow’s pension.  She then took us to live in Belfast where she rented a very nice little house.
Mother booked us in at a very big school and I will always remember my first few days there.  Hundreds of pupils of all ages, there were more pupils in the class I was assigned to than the total of my old farm school.
My first few weeks there were rather exciting.  I was a bit of a country bumpkin and was the butt for a lot of teasing and practical jokes, never a day passed that I didn’t have a few fights.  So much so that my mother almost gave up in despair.  Fortunately things improved, the fights became less and less and I gradually made a lot of friends.  I seemed to do well in my school work and soon I was in the top three in my class.
I now had an opportunity to participate in sport and soon was a very good soccer player – this was a game I really enjoyed – much more so than cricket.  At this time both my sister and myself were doing well at school and Mother and we children were very happy.
Unfortunately, this happy state of affairs did not last long.  Mother became ill with pneumonia and died sometime in 1924.  My mother’s body was taken back to Florence Court and buried in our old church graveyard.  This to me was a heart-breaking experience.
My sister and myself went to live with one of my mother’s sisters who was married to a Mr. Alexander Vance, who owned a farm bordering on my old grandparents’ farm.
Once again I went back to our little farm school, but now I was away ahead of any of the pupils there and the old school master had me help him with some of the younger children and gave me books to read.  It was very frustrating as far as I was concerned, as I was keen to learn.  I used to bring books home to study, but for some reason my uncle couldn’t stand to see me reading.  As far as he was concerned it was a waste of time and he would find some work for me to do.
When the spring came round, my uncle decided ‘no more school’ for me and I was set to work helping with the planting of the crops etc.
I had to work hard all day and every day and I know from experience the truth of the old proverb: “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”.
I finally decided to run away, so I hiked to the nearest town, Enniskillen, which was about 10 miles away.  There I got a job as a messenger boy in a shoe store.  The owner was a man by the name of John J. Sloan.  I didn’t get any pay, but I got food such as it was and had a room above the shop.  My work was delivering parcels, scrubbing the shop floor, cleaning windows, etc.  I had to start work about 7 a.m. and usually finished about 10:30 p.m.  It certainly was a case of “out of the frying pan and into the fire”.  My uncle found out where I was and I was taken back to the farm.  I stuck it out for about another year and then ran away again.
After a futile search for work, I again finished up with John J. Sloan.  After a few weeks there, my old school master from the farm school and the minister from our parish church came to see me.  We had a long talk and they promised to do something for me.  Some weeks later they were back and the result was I was signed on as an apprentice with John J. Sloan for 5 years, during which time I was supposed to learn the shoe trade.  I would be given food and lodging, but no pay.  However, I was to receive from the government 12 shillings a week war pension until I had finished my apprenticeship.  Well, this seemed fine to me until I discovered my work remained the same and the only qualifications I was likely to gain would be as floor scrubber and window cleaner!
I decided the only thing I could do was stick it out and save up enough to get out of the country.  So every Monday I would go to the Post Office, collect my 12 shillings pension at one counter and deposit the full amount in a savings account at another counter.
I had to draw money from time to time to buy some clothing and other necessities, but I spent nothing on entertainment of any sort.
As the months and then the years went by, I was determined to emigrate to America and then one day sometime during the year 1931, I overheard a man reading a letter to John J. Sloan.  This letter was from someone who had emigrated to Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe).  As I listened to this man’s experiences in Rhodesia, I decided that is the country I must go to.
I had never heard of Rhodesia and didn’t know where it was, but at the first opportunity I visited a travel agency and got all the literature I could on it.  I studied maps, went to the library and got all the information I could regarding Rhodesia.  The more I learned about it, the more I was convinced this was the country for me.
I set about making the necessary arrangements and discovered I would have just about enough money to get there.  I then set about getting a passport but discovered I would have to have permission from my guardians.  I knew I would never obtain this and wondered how I was going to overcome this obstacle.  There was a very nice lady bookkeeper working for John J. Sloan, so I decided to approach here and persuade her to write a letter in my Aunt’s name, granting me the necessary permission.  After much pleading, she finally consented and I obtained a passport.  I made the necessary bookings and was finally booked to sail from Southampton on the Stirling Castle early in March 1932.
A few days before I was due to leave, I told John J. Sloan.  He wouldn’t believe me until I showed him my passport and papers.  He almost broke down and cried.  I had to have a photograph specially taken to give him, which he paid for, and then I rode off on my bicycle to the farm to tell my sister and say goodbye to her.  This was the hardest part, but she took it well and was very brave about it.  She promised not to tell my uncle and aunt until I was well on my way and this promise she kept.
I set off on my long journey by train to Belfast, and by ship across to England.  I spent a day and a night in London and then by train to Southampton, where I boarded the Stirling Castle.  The first people I spoke to on board recognised my Irish accent and nicknamed my “Pat” and that is all I’ve been known by ever since.
I thoroughly enjoyed the voyage to Cape Town, South Africa.  It was my first holiday ever and I felt like a King.  We finally arrived in Cape Town on the 28th March 1932 and there I got off the ship and onto the train for Bulawayo.  I arrived in Bulawayo four days later with five pounds in my pocket, not knowing a soul in the whole of Africa.
As I stood on the platform, I wondered for a few minutes if I had done the right thing, but decided this was not the time to start having doubts, and set off into town.  I wandered around for some time and then saw a boarding house and the proprietor’s name, Mrs. O’Shea.  She proved to be a very nice lady indeed and having heard my story insisted I must stay there which I was only too pleased to do.  Within a few days I found employment with W. M. Cuthbert & Co. Ltd at £17.10.00 per month, which to me seemed a fortune, and so started four very happy years in Rhodesia.
I remained in Bulawayo for about two years, during which time I made some wonderful friends and during this time we did a lot of camping and shooting and I really enjoyed the wide open spaces.  I was then transferred to Salisbury (now Harare) and given a substantial increase in salary.  I soon settled down in Salisbury and again made some very good friends and again I took to the wide open space whenever possible.
Towards the end of 1936, Cuthberts decided to transfer me to Johannesburg.  As I was due for leave, I decided to go to Johannesburg via Beira (Mozambique), Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.  And so, towards the end of November in that year, I set sail from Beira to Cape Town.  I spent about a week in Cape Town and then back to Port Elizabeth by ship.
In Port Elizabeth I stayed with a Mrs. Featherstone, the mother of one of my very good friends in Rhodesia.  I stayed in Port Elizabeth until early January 1937 and then set off to Johannesburg where I started work again in Cuthberts Head Office.  I was there about nine months when I became ill with burst appendix and peritonitis.  I was rushed to hospital and there I remained for almost three months.  The doctors considered it was a miracle that I recovered.  Anyhow, they finally decided I could leave hospital and Cuthberts decided I should go to East London, have a few weeks holiday and then work there for a few months, as it was a nice quiet place and I would be able to take things a bit more quietly than in Johannesburg, and so, early in 1938 I arrived in East London.
I had a month’s holiday before starting work and spent every day on the beach swimming and sun bathing and each day growing stronger.  My first job on resuming work was relieving the branch manager in Queenstown and during the next six months I relieved in Aliwal North, Barkley East, Fort Beaufort, Cathcart, Dordrecht, and Umtata.  I wasn’t overworked in any of these places and soon was feeling quite fit again.
When I had finished relieving at the various branches and finally settled in East London, I decided to take up rowing as I felt this would be good to strengthen my stomach muscles and get fit generally and so I joined the Buffalo Rowing Club.  As a member of one of their junior crews I took part in various regattas and very soon was quite fit again.
I liked East London very much but felt there was no scope there and was thinking of returning to Johannesburg when rumours of war started, and shortly afterwards war was declared.
I joined up with the local regiment, The Kaffrarian Rifles, and after some months training, during which I attained the rank of sergeant, we went north to Egypt.
Our first action was the attack on Bardia which we captured and then we followed up the retreating German forces as far as Tobruk, where we stopped as our line of supplies was pretty well extended.
In the big German counter-offensive in May/June 1942, I, together with thousands of other South African troops, was captured in Tobruk.  I spent a year in Italy and two years in Germany as a prisoner of war, and finally arrived back in East London about September 1945.
I returned to the boarding establishment where I had been staying prior to the war.  There were many new boarders whom I did not know previously, one of them a lady school teacher named Rita Helena Andre was later to become my wife.  On being discharged from the army I returned to my old job at Cuthberts and settled down to civilian life during this period.  I met my future wife, Rita Andre, and our friendship blossomed into courtship and in June 1946 we became engaged and decided we would marry in about a year’s time.
However, about this time, I decided there was no future for me in Cuthberts and decided to take up an appointment with a friend in Graaff-Reinet who owned a mineral water factory.  After a few months, I wrote to Rita suggesting we should get married as I could get a flat almost immediately and so Rita came to Graaff-Reinet and we were married there on the 28th December 1946.  We spent a short honeymoon on a Karoo holiday farm.  We boarded for a short while and then we got our flat.
We started our home very modestly as our budget was limited but we were very happy.  Just over a year later, on the 29th May 1948, our first child, a son whom we named Ralph Nixon, was born.  A few weeks later I was transferred to East London and, as accommodation was very difficult to obtain, and being an ex-serviceman, I managed to get a flat at Collondale, some way outside the city, and there we lived for about three years.  On 30th June 1950 our second child, Ann Lorraine, was born, and Rita and I were very thrilled as we now had a son and a daughter.  About this time we began to seriously look around for a suitable house or a plot of ground where we could build.  Eventually I obtained a plot in Stirling, an area set aside for ex-servicemen and we started planning our home.  In July 1951 our home was completed and we moved in, but our finances were limited and we had to furnish it little by little, when we could afford the various things we needed.
Our third child, Brian James, was born 11th February 1952.  Just prior to this I had a nervous breakdown and my wife went through a very trying period and it was over a year before I recovered.
Early in February 1953 two young Mormon missionaries called at the door, and Rita made an appointment for them to call back one evening when I would be at home.  And so we started having regular meetings.
After a few meetings, I really became interested and looked forward to the meetings.  My wife and I read The Book of Mormon, and for the first time in my life I began to pray regularly and the conviction grew in me that the Book of Mormon was indeed true and this was the restored Gospel in its fullness.  About August we both felt we were ready for baptism.  Having completed the discussions, we now had to obtain the necessary information for the baptism recommends.  This proved to be a most frustrating and onerous task, as they had no records relating to brith date or place of birth or correct parents’ names.  Finally, on the 6th September 1953 we were baptised in the Nahoon Riverby Elders Wayne Mendenhall and Vest Eddy, and confirmed later that morning in the home of Brother Clarence (Clarry) and Sister Edna Krull.
At this time we were still struggling financially and the question of tithing had to be considered.  After discussing and praying about it, my wife and I decided to pay a full tithing.  We are both grateful we made that choice, we have not become rich, but our financial position improved almost immediately and we have enjoyed all the necessities and some of the luxuries of life also.
Our fourth child, Patricia Helena, was born on the 26th May 1954 and by this time both my wife and I were fully occupied in all the activities of the Church.
On the 7th February 1954 I was ordained a Deacon, and in August of the same year I was ordained a Teacher.  In November of the same year I was ordained a Priest and on 16th January 1955 I was ordained an Elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood.
On the 21st August 1955 I was sustained as Branch President of the East London Branch.  At that time we held our meetings in the Sons of England hall and under the inspiration of President LeRoy Duncan and later President Fisher we started raising funds for the purpose of building our chapel.
A few years later we purchased a plot in Belgravia Crescent, where our chapel was built eventually.
About this time, June 1960 to be exact, I started business on my own as a Manufacturers’ Representative.  This meant a lot of travelling and being away from home a great deal.  So with my travelling and Church work I was fully occupied.
We continued our fund raising and in February 1963 we finally started building our (the East London) chapel.  This was completed early in 1964 and in March of that year we held an opening service.  I year later I was released from the office of Branch President, and presently I am serving as Melchizedek Priesthood group leader.  (not sure what year this was written – ALW).
I am grateful for my membership in the Church.  Although we have had our trials and troubles we have been richly blessed and I shall always be grateful to the two young missionaries who brought the Gospel into our lives.
I am thankful our children had the privilege of growing up in the Church and pray they will remain faithful to the things they have learned in Primary, Sunday school and MIA.
I pray that one day in the near future we may be able to visit a Temple of the Lord and there my wife and I shall be joined together in Holy Matrimony and have our children sealed to us.