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Orphan Number: 2968
Orphan: Walter Percival KEEN
Mother:McLEOD, Jessie
Father:KEEN, William Norman Shadwell
Mother's ship:
Father's ship:William & Jane
Age when admitted:3yrs
Date admitted:30 Mar 1864
Date discharged:1875, 20 Jul 1878
Institution(s):Queens Orphan School
Discharged to: William Barnett, Newbold, ,
Remarks: mother in England - won Church of England prize 1872/3 - absconded from Newbold 20 Jul 1878 - , father a surgeon died in Auckland, NZ, Aug 1866
References: SWD26/7, 27, 52/2, 53, 54, 55/20, CSD25/19/1674, POL709, HAP1871/63, Mercury 23 Aug 1866

This orphan has been claimed by: michael keen

I am trying to find more details on the life of Walter Keen after he left the orphanage in 1878


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This orphan has been claimed by: Sandy Perry

Walter Percival Keen,  a saddler by trade, song writer, comedian and ventriloquist He attempted suicide in London in 1904 returning home to Australia shortly after. From 1908-1912 he spent in Liverpool Hospital for infirm and destitute. He died in Sydney in 1913 


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This orphan has been claimed by: Christopher Smith

Walter P Keen was my great grandfather. He married my great grandmother, Bessie Davis, in Buffalo NY when he was in America. They had one child, Frances Keen, my paternal grandfather. I am especially interested in the songs of WP Keen. I collected a couple of dozen from the British Library, but I have also found printed lyrics with no known melodies. And, because of his work as an entertainer, I suspect there must be a photo of him somewhere in the world, but I have yet to find it. 


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 Site last updated June 2021