He was born to Anne, née Burliegh (sic), at Waterville, County Kerry, Ireland, on 19 December 1867.
His father, Lot Connell, served in the Irish Coast Guard.
[1] Robert Connell travelled to Australia, joined the police in 1886, working at the ports of Albany and Fremantle, the goldfields of Coolgardie and the state's capital, Perth.
[1] He is mentioned in a 1913 newspaper report about a murder near Collier Bay.
[2] Connell was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1932.