Ahern, John

AHERN, John (1861–1903) was born in Banteen, County Cork, Ireland, the son of William Ahern, a farmer, and Mary Sullivan. After studying agriculture and surveying in Dublin, he migrated to Queensland, arriving in Townsville in 1881. After two years field work Ahern was licensed as a surveyor and appointed Government District Surveyor for Townsville in 1883. He was briefly in partnership in 1887 with Hugh BENWELL, his relative by marriage, as BENWELL & AHERN, architects and surveyors of Townsville. Ahern then practised alone in Townsville as an architect and mining surveyor until 1891 when he moved to Ravenswood. He worked there as a real property and mining surveyor until 1898. Later he moved to Charters Towers where he was later in partnership with RLB WALKER, surveyor and engineer, until Ahern’s death on 23 June 1903. Thereafter his business was conducted by Walker assisted by Edward Deighton. Ahern married twice, to Sarah Benwell nee Wright, widow of Hugh Benwell’s brother Frank, in Townsville in 1888, and to Mary McKelvey in Ravenswood in 1902.