Andrew Behan has kindly carried out some research on this man:
Rifleman Joseph Seward Mahony. Born in 1891 in Marylebone, London, the son of Joseph and Hannah Mahony, née Seward. His father was a Journeyman Tailor. On the 1901 census he was shown as living at 234 Portman Buildings, Lisson Grove, Marylebone, with his parents and four brothers: Daniel, aged 19; John, aged 17; William, aged 13 and Dennis, aged 7, together with two sisters, Ellen, aged 11 and Mary, aged 2. The 1911 census shows the family still at the same address, but by this time his father was a widower and only Ellen, Dennis and Mary were there living with him. His occupation was shown as a Postman. In April 1912 he was appointed as an Assistant Postman at Paddington. He married Florence S. Paxton in 1912 in Marylebone. They had two children, Dennis J Mahony, born in 1913 and Florence J Mahony, born in 1914. He joined the 1st/9th Battalion of the London Regiment (Queen Victoria’s Rifles), service number 4400, and entered France on 12th July 1916. He was Killed in Action whilst serving in ‘C’ Company on the 9th October 1916, aged 24 years, and as he has no known grave is commemorated on Pier and Face 9.C of the Thiepval Memorial, Somme, France. His widow was paid his back pay of £3-8s-1d on the 29th January 1917 and on the 31st October 1919 she received a £6-0s-0d War Gratuity payment. He was posthumously awarded The British War Medal, 1914-1918 and The Victory Medal.
2018: This photo was kindly supplied by Lucy Hooper, Mahony's great granddaughter.
