Dennis Ward introduced Jean Verso, President of the Nillumbik Historical Society Inc. who conducted this section of the Tour.
Jean gave an overview of the Cemetery and walked us through the impressive Gates at the Main Entrance.
The inscription above the Nillumbik Cemetery Gates ‘JANVA VITAE’ is in Latin and means ‘Gates of Life’.
William Ellis, a local farmer, left a bequest of a Hundred Pounds £100 in his Will to erect the Cemetery Entrance Gates and brick archway. They were completed in 1897. The design was submitted to and approved by his wife Louisa. The in inscription facing Main Street reads JANVA VITAE which means “Gate of Life”. Facing inwards towards the cemetery is another inscription “Erected by the late William Ellis in 1897″
Looking down the Hill in about 1900 toward the Nillumbik Cemetery Main Gate. The Cypress Trees that now screen the site from the world do not appear to be planted in this early photograph.
This early photograph shows the Mail Contractor Mr Wicks, with three two horse and coach, with the Ellis Gates and picket fence of the Cemetery beyond.
GODBER and WILSON MEMORIAL 1988
Before we get to the Pioneer Graves there is a Memorial to two of the oldest families in Diamond Creek. There is the Wilsons and the Godbers who are very early settlers in the area. This stone was laid here in 1988 when they had a very huge re-union over a weekend – they laid this here. Both families figure prominently in the development of the district.
There is John Wilson and Margaret Burgess who arrived in Melbourne in 1844. John and his son William who has a headstone over here, was in Diamond Creek in 1846, so very very early in the area.
The Godbers were here not much later. And John’s eldest son William, married their daughter Rosamond, and they have a headstone further up here. “Where did the name Godber come from?” In England – I’m not sure what part, English Family. This is unfortunately a broken headstone here John’s son William Wilson – he died in 1897 and also his wife who was Rosamond Godber, it broke some years ago but all the information is still there.
These are the main Pioneer Headstones in the Cemetery. With related family members and also non-related families.
JOHN and HONOR LAWREY
The Lawreys were obviously very important to this certain part of Diamond Creek because their house “TRENOWNIN” is the white house up on the other side of the Gully over there. That’s the house that they built. John and Honor Lawery lived there. On July 1869 one of their daughters was the first European to be interred in the Nillumbik Cemetery at Diamond Creek.
ALAN MARSHALL
ALAN MARSHALL, 1902 – 1984, the Author, has a little stone. “The modest memorial was at his request”. “Gurrawilla was his aboriginal name”.
Also this must be his daughter Elsie McConnell (nee Marshall). (Next grave stone).
Some research by Dennis Ward:
1.
From the back cover of a 1972 edition of a book formerly owned by Eltham College Library, that I obtained at a Used Book Sale at the Rosanna Library in 2013.
I Can Jump Puddles is the best-known book ever written by an Australian.
It is the story at Alan Marshall’s childhood, in which he suffered a crippling attack of poliomyelitis, but went on to do things no cripple is supposed to do.
Roaming the bush, living the rough-and-tumble life of a boy with two sound legs, gloriously conquering the art of riding hones, the young hero shows that simple courage can defeat affliction—when there is enough of it.
This is a book that moves the reader to tears and laughter, creates a lasting admiration for an extraordinary men, and gives deep pleasure in its reawakening of times and places that aree close to the essence of Australian life.I Can Jump Puddles was filmed in 1970 by Filmova Barrandov, Prague, and directed by Karel Kachyna.
2.
This photograph comes from the frontispiece of “The Diamond Valley Story” by Dianne H Edwards 1979 and below reads “Diamond Creek residents enjoy a Sunday drive in the 1920’s. Author Alan Marshall is on the far right next to his sister Doris (Mrs T Harrington) Courtesy Mrs R Lacey nee Harrington)”.
3. Alan Marshall, c1965
l
4.
Writing A r t
Found About
Marcus Skipper
Alan Marshall
1995
Bronze
1.6m x 1.1m
x 0.7m
p98
Writing A r t
Found About
At the base of the Eltham library steps is Alan Marshall by Marcus Skipper. This life-size bronze of the Australian writer and former Eltham resident shows a strongly naturalistic treatment of subject matter and formidable technique with this most traditional of metals.
Propped up jauntily by a crutch under his right armpit, the author is depicted holding an open book against his upper torso, while his right arm is fully extended, summoning into being the world of imagination and literature for readers entering the library.
The author is ‘down amongst us,’ not set on a plinth, or outside ordinary human concerns. He does not belong to a more refined plane, yet is entirely comfortable with the world of books, ideas and culture.
Marshall had the rare gift of being able to write equally for people of all ages. A humanitarian, socialist and spontaneous story-teller, he was renowned for his unbridled curiosity, and for his rapport with people from all walks of life.
The sculpture has a canopy of three large trees, softening the piece and increasing its sense of approachability. The warmth of the bronze accentuates this – and it would be difficult to imagine it made of any other material. The cuff of the left trouser leg is shown rolled casually over the author’s old shoe. Texturing also suggests the weave of the sloppy jumper he is wearing. To discover the modelling was from Marshall’s own clothing imparts both historical accuracy and greater poignancy.
p99
5. also referring to the sculpture, From Nillumbik Council Arts and Culture Section of the Shire of Nillumbik Website:
Marcus SKIPPER
Alan Marshall 1995
bronze
160cm x 110cm x 70cm
Location: Eltham Library grounds – Panther Place, Eltham
Made by Marcus Skipper, a member of the highly respected family of artists associated with Montsalvat, this work is a near life-size figure of Nillumbik resident Alan Marshall, famous author of I Can Jump Puddles. It has been suggested that Skipper has depicted Marshall in full flight of telling a yarn, either to his little dog or two children sitting nearby.
6 From Nillumbik Council Arts and Culture
The Alan Marshall Short Story Award
The Alan Marshall Short Story Award, founded in 1985, is presented by Nillumbik Shire Council in partnership with Yarra Plenty Regional Library. This annual competition is a prestigious event in the literary calendar.
Alan Marshall AM OBE HON LLD (1902-1984) is one of Australia’s most famous authors. His most well-known books are I Can Jump Puddles and This is the Grass. In 1920, Alan started his first job as a junior clerk at the Eltham Shire Offices in Kangaroo Ground. He lived in Research in the 1940s, and moved to Eltham in 1955 where he lived for nearly 20 years.
2014 Alan Marshall Short Story Award
2013 Winners
The Award ceremony was held on Saturday 24 August at Eltham Library Community Gallery. Esteemed judge, Arnold Zable, had the difficult but enjoyable task of judging the Award from a field of 311 entries in the open section and 388 entries in total. The Award ceremony was a successful event, celebrating literary arts and community. Actors Dennis Coard and Debra Lawrance gave an inspiring reading of the winning stories. Jazz musicians, Radiola Honey, again set a musical ambience to the celebrations. Read Arnold Zable’s judges report (0.33MB) .
Open Section First Prize $3000 Mark Smith for Flood
Local Writers Prize $2000 Julia Twohig for Paradise
Young Writers Prize $400 Cameron Croese for A Hard Girl
Publications for Sale
Illuminations: The Alan Marshall Short Story Awards 2003-2010. Edited by Rachel Hennessy, published by Nillumbik Shire Council, 2011.and
Write On: …further winners from the Alan Marshall Short Story Award 1996-2002. Edited by Peter Dougherty, published by Nillumbik Shire Council, 2003.
These two publications contain stories from the Awards, and comments and quotes from the judges. They can be pubchased from Nillumbik Shire Council for $10 for the two books.
Further information 9433 3359 or email artsinfo@nillumbik.vic.gov.au
7. From Wikipaedia:
Alan Marshall, (2 May 1902, Noorat, Victoria — 21 January 1984, Melbourne) was an Australian writer, story teller, humanist and social documenter.
Marshall received the Australian Literature Society Short Story Award three times, the first in 1933. His best known book, I Can Jump Puddles (1955) is the first of a three-part autobiography. The other two books are This is the Grass (1962) and In Mine Own Heart(1963).
When Marshall was six years old he contracted polio leaving him with a physical disability that grew worse as he grew older. From an early age, he resolved to be a writer, and in I Can Jump Puddles he demonstrated an almost total recall of his childhood in Noorat. The characters and places of his book are thinly disguised from real life: Mount Turalla is Mount Noorat, Lake Turalla is Lake Keilambete, the Curruthers are the Blacks, Mrs. Conlon is Mary Conlon of Dixie, Terang, and his best friend, Joe from the books, is Leo Carmody. Australian poet and contemporary, Hal Porter wrote in 1965 that Marshall is:
… the warmest and most centralized human being … To walk with ease and nonchalance the straight, straight line between appearing tragic and appearing willfully brave is a feat so complex I should not like to have to rake in the dark for the super-bravery to accomplish it.
Marshall wrote numerous short stories, mainly set in the bush. He also wrote newspaper columns and magazine articles. He travelled widely in Australia and overseas. He also collected and published Indigenous Australian stories and legends.
Marshall died in 1984. His remains are interred at Nillumbik (Diamond Creek) Cemetery, Victoria, Australia.
(Jean Verso) Walk this way.
There are a lot of other families in the Cemetery that I don’t have time to talk about today but what I would like to talk about today is my family.
These are the
VERSO GRAVES.
This the Oldest Verso Grave: My Great-Grand-Father
That’s CHARLES JOSEPH VERSO and his wife ANNIE SHIEL VERSO, who was a Herbert from Diamond Creek.
He was born in 1855, during the year after his family came from Dublin. So even though we have an Italian sounding family surname, we are Irish, going back 400 years. He was actually born in Collingwood but he was baptised at the Plenty River, Greensborough, at the age of 2 months. At that time his family were roundabout Research, and Eltham. They came up. They had been in Australia for not a long time. Obviously at that time it was very tough, looking for something to do. There was Gold around Research, so they came up. He also has a connection with Eltham Cemetery because one of his infant sisters died and was buried there in 1859.
In the early 1850’s they went back to Richmond and they were there all through his young life. They opened up a General Store and he actually did a Cabinet Maker’s Apprenticeship, right through his five years of apprenticeship, those times they worked them very hard. He became a Builder, because Father did that as well. His Father was a Cabinet Maker back in Dublin. They were building houses in Richmond, they built out as far as Hawthorn “Grace Park”, Fitzroy, the small housing that was cheap and quick.
He came back up here in the 1870’s. I’m not sure why he came back up here. We don’t know whether he still had connections to the area still or he had opportunities. In 1877 He built the Diamond Creek State School Building, which is now fully renovated.
And in 1878 he built the Upper Diamond Creek School. The original School House has gone, but the house for the School is still there, it has moved closer to Hurstbridge. Between Silvan Road and where you come into the main part of the drag into Hurstbridge, it’s the old weatherboard place up on the right, that’s the old School House. Upper Diamond Creek wasn’t actually Wattle Glen, it was a little bit further than that, around Silvan Road was called Upper Diamond Creek at the time.
So he was doing that up here and he met Annie Herbert and they got married in 1880. By 1883 they were in Northcote. He became a Councillor, for the Borough of Northcote. He also was Mayor of Northcote in 1888. The Foundation Stones on the front of the Northcote Town Hall, there are both Charles and Annie’s names.
Apparently Annie was a bit of a well-liked lady around the place ‘cause she fitted in quite well and it was decided for their Foundation Stone, wasn’t just Charles who had to have a Foundation Stone, Annie had to have one too. So that’s why there are two Foundation Stones on the Northcote Town Hall.
A funny story from back the 1970’s, one of the Councillors at Northcote decided that it was really good that way back in 1888 it was an Italian that was Mayor of Northcote. They didn’t bother doing any historical research before they said that that. So they were actually in Northcote for quite some time – up until the early 1890’s. He didn’t do very well in the land bust after the land boom of the 1880’s and 1890’s. But before they left Northcote and came back up to this area, which was in the early 1890’s, he was part of the group who developed the Preston – Northcote Tramways Route up to Preston. He with his Building Partner, the Building Company, built all the Tramway and the infrastructure that services it all still today along Plenty Road and High Street. Of course that Tramway is developed all the way out to Mill Park but they developed the original part from Clifton Hill, up Rucker’s Hill, through Northcote.
So they moved out here to Hurstbridge, almost to Nuttfield in 1893. They had to leave Northcote. He wasn’t doing well financially because he was investing in housing estates as well. They took up a parcel of land – 57 acres, up in Nutfield which was left to Annie by her Father. (Her Father settled in Diamond Creek in the 1850’s. They had four sons and four daughters). Charles and Annie started an Orchard in 1893 and they kept acquiring more land around the area until they had quite a large Farm and Orchard along Boyd’s Road up to David’s Lane, in Nutfield.
The Farm is still in the Family today – we still have 70 acres that my brother lives on. So that goes back to the 1850’s when that was taken up by my Great-Great- Grand-Father.
The family (Charles and Annie), they had nine children, altogether. The actually had ten, but one died as a baby. They had big strapping men and women all about six feet tall. So if you look behind those over there are some of their children. Next to them, that new grave there, my Father is in there, and his Sister who died when she was six years old. Next it is a little mound, that’s Charles and Annie’s two maiden daughters, Bertha and Florence, and across there behind is my Grand-Parents, Herbert Verso, who was the oldest surviving son and my Grand Mother. And then there is Charles Walter and Lucy another son and his wife, I will skip that one in the middle first, then we have Alan Joseph John and Aunty Leana, then Arthur Frank, then his wife Holly but she hasn’t got her name on the headstone at this stage. And in the middle there is Constance and Cecil, they were never married, that’s just brother and sister. The only child who is not buried here is Stan. He is buried at Heidelberg with his wife.
So as you can see there is quite a large family there. Towards the flowers over there is my Mother and younger Sister. And we just have not got a headstone on that yet. There is a gap there unfortunately. What happened is we are lucky to have this line of graves because Alan Joseph John in 1950 said “We had better get a few grave plots together” and he bought all of those, and he always said “I should have bought to the fence, why didn’t I?” Because when my younger sister passed away we had to buy that plot over there and there was already somebody in between.
So that’s our Verso Graves, but when you look at Annie Shiel’s Family are more associated with Diamond Creek, the Verso’s spread out a bit further, but the Herbert’s were mainly in Diamond Creek. And if you look across this side you can see this bush across here on the side of the path, I only discovered a couple of years ago, that is a grave – a Herbert Grave. There is William Herbert and Elizabeth Wilson, who are Annie’s Mother and Father.
WILLIAM HERBERT AND ELIZABETH WILSON
Elizabeth Wilson is William’s Sister and John Wilson’s Daughter. She arrived in Melbourne when she was 13 years old with her parents in 1844. She married William Herbert. William Herbert came to Diamond Creek in 1852. He took up some land across the Diamond Creek on the other side of the from where the power lines come across the road on the way to Wattle Glen. There are some Creek Flats there and a rise there and it goes up the hill, with a bit of a gully behind.
In there, also some of the other children, there is Martha and oldest son John.
Elizabeth Wilson 1830-1890
Born: 1830 Langley, Essex, England Christening: 1835 St John the Evangelist, Langley, Essex, England
Died: Greenhill Farm, Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
Family Members
* Father John WILSON 1798-1875
* Mother Martha BURGESS 1800-1864
* Brother William Wilson 1827-1897
* Brother John Burgess Wilson 1833-1903
* Brother Joseph WILSON 1835-1887
* Sister Martha (Mary) Wilson 1835-1913
* Brother James Wilson 1840-1922
* Brother David Wilson 1843-1911
* Husband William Wandless Herbert 1812-1876
* Son John William Herbert 1855-1920
* Daughter Martha Herbert 1857-1931
* Daughter Annie Shiel Herbert 1859-1929
* Daughter Elizabeth Herbert 1860-1946
* Daughter Isabella Wandless Herbert 1863-1944
* Son William Wandless Herbert 1865-1930
* Son Andrew Burgess Herbert 1867-1941
* Son George Thomas Herbert 1869-1935
* Story: Shipwreck 1843 Loss of the Burhamptoor at Margate
* Arrival: Ship “Royal Consort”. Travelled (separately From Family?) As Unmarried Female. 1844 Port Phillip, Australia
* Marriage 1854Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
* Death: Reported In Evelyn Observer: “A Colonist Of 46 Years.” 1890 Greenhill Farm, Diamond Creek, Victoria, Australia
Transcript: Will
John Wilson 1875
This is the last Will and Testament of me John Wilson of Diamond Creek made this 20th day of February One Thousand Eight hundred and Seventy Five, as follows:
I give devise and bequeath all that piece and parcel of Land at Diamond Creek now in the occupation of Joseph Wilson my son, to him his heirs
and Assigns for ever Also that piece and parcel of Land that my daughter Martha now lives on, and occupies, I John Wilson give devise and bequeath to her, her heirs or assigns for ever
Further I give devise and bequeath all my messuages Lands and tenements hereditaments and all my household Furniture, ready money, money secured by Life Assurance goods and Chattels and all other my real and personal Estate and Effects whatsoever and wheresoever unto my Children to be equally divided to them namely:
William Wilson,
Elizabeth Herbert,
John Burgess Wilson,
Martha Godber,
James Wilson and
David Wilson
their heirs executors administrators or assigns to and for their own absolute use and benefit according to the nature and quality thereof; respectfully subject only to the payment of my just debts Funeral and Testamentary Expenses and the Proving and Registering of this my Will and
I appoint my sons William and John Burgess Wilson
Executors of this my Will and hereby revoke all other Wills.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand the day and year above written
John Wilson [signed with his mark ]…………………………………………………….
Witnesses: John Lawrey [bootmaker] …………………………………………………..
and John J Driver [miner]…………………………………………………………………..
William, he came to Melbourne in 1847. He was an exile. He had been convicted of sheep stealing in Scotland and he did two years in Pentonville, in the Pentonville system and they exiled them to Melbourne in 1847 for five years of their seven year sentence. While they were exiled they were not allowed to go back to England. After that they could do whatever they wanted to. He decided to stay and came up to Diamond Creek and in between he may have been doing Shepherding for someone like John or William Wilson and became fast friends with that family and that’s how he met his wife Elizabeth Wilson.
William Wandless Herbert 1812-1876
Born: 1812 Northumberland County, England Marriage 1854 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died: 1876 Arthurs Creek, Victoria, Australia
Family Members
* Father Robert Herbert 1768-1846
* Mother Isabella Wandless 1766-1831
* Wife Elizabeth Wilson 1830-1890
* Son John William Herbert 1855-1920
* Daughter Martha Herbert 1857-1931
* Daughter Annie Shiel Herbert 1859-1929
* Daughter Elizabeth Herbert 1860-1946
* Daughter Isabella Wandless Herbert 1863-1944
* Son William Wandless Herbert 1865-1930
* Son Andrew Burgess Herbert 1867-1941
* Son George Thomas Herbert 1869-1935
They got Married. They brought up their eight children – four sons and four daughters – on that farm, they were all born there, and that is where Annie was living when they got married. Now in this Cemetery Annie has a brother and two sisters and they are on this side over here.
There are other families related to the Versos and Herberts:
There are the Apteds, the Limmers, and the Laidlays and they are over here.
APTED
So if you come over here you will see the first prominent gravestone is George Apted and Isabella Wandless, she was Isabella Herbert – that’s Annie’s Sister.
George Apted, he is obviously the Apteds from Strathewan, with the Orchards. Barry who is there now, that’s his GrandFather. We lost Lindsay a couple of years ago, his older brother. But of course when George and Isabella were married they got another parcel of land up at Nutfield, same as Annie did, and they stayed there for some time, then they left the district for a while and then they came back and moved to Strathewen and they put down the Orchard. That Orchard is still there today. George and Isabella’s family are still farming that Orchard today. There are other Apteds around of course.
LIMMER
LIMMER
Another Grave here is a Limmer Grave. You can see it is obviously a Military Grave, with the rising sun and the cross. William Limmer is a nephew of Annie. His parents Harry Limmer and Elizabeth Herbert are buried here as well. William fought in France from about 1916 in the same division as his three cousins – Alan Jacob John Verso, Stanley Verso and William Herbert. William died quite young, he was gassed in the war, he died in 1928. He wasn’t a very well person when he came back.
LAIDLAYS
There are also some other graves around with Laidlays. They come through the lines of the Apteds. So we can see there are a lot of inter-related families in the area, and not all of them come from Diamond Creek. They often have an association with Diamond Creek or start from there. The wider area used this cemetery quite a bit. The majority of burials over time are either Diamond Creek or Arthurs Creek, and many family members you would expect to be buried here are buried at Arthur’s Creek instead.
LIMMER
This is the grave of Henry and Elizabeth Limmer, that is Elizabeth Herbert, Annie and Isabella’s sister. The other fourth sister of course is buried in here – Martha. Now Harry Limmer came here very, very young. He arrived in Melbourne in 1854, he was two years old. They came from Suffolk . The family came to Greensborough first, then on to Diamond Creek. Harry (or Henry as he always called himself) is associated with the Greensborough Cemetery because his two infant sisters were amongst the earliest buried there. Harry made many of the bricks that helped to build St Johns Church up on the hill. My father knew him. They moved up to Nuttfield near Annie, and lived up there for their final years. Their daughter Dorothy married Lex Brock, and she is Peter Brock’s Great-Grand Mother, same as Annie is my Great-Grand Mother. So Louis and Peter and Neil and Philip come from this line here. They lived up in Nuttfield and when Harry died Elizabeth moved in with the Brocks up on the hill across the creek. So Harry was a brick maker, and I think his father was a brick maker as well in England, so that is where he must of got his trade from.
So that’s really the associated families for this General Part of the Cemetery, there are other Apteds around, and there a couple of Laidlays around. There a couple of other graves I would like to show you that are not associated at all, they are a couple of early pioneer graves that are different to the Diamond Creek pioneer graves, and it is important to note certain other families because they are not well known around Diamond Creek or the district. One of them we saw before when we walked up to Alan Marshall’s Grave. This is the one of the Boyd’s.
BOYD
WILLIAM BOYD, his two sisters and his brother. The Boyd family came from Scotland, most of them never married but they lived at Hurstbridge. William Boyd was one of the early settlers in Hurstbridge itself, along the Arthurs Creek north of the township itself. He came from a place in the Highlands near Fort William, a small village called Blarmacfoldach, pronounced Blarmacfalloch, it’s just up in the hills, I have been up there you see a magnificent view of Ben Nevis, it’s fantastic, so that’s where they come from. They lived there for many years along that area and farmed it, and probably did it pretty tough as well but a lot of it was creek flats too. And he died as a bachelor. He never married, and his brother didn’t either. And I think one of his sisters did. But most of them didn’t. So they don’t have many descendants in the area now. Quite a lot of forgotten history for this family but it is a good prominent gravestone. I only know a bit of the history because my grandfather knew him and dad knew that history of him so I have been able to bring some of that myself.
PATRICK BURKE
The other family from Hurstbridge that are pioneers, that are buried here as well are further down this way. She was a Protestant, Patrick Burke was a Catholic so she is buried in a different part of the Cemetery. There was originally 5 different compartments here that was blurred over time.
If you come around here you can see this one with a cross on it. It’s hard to read now because of the marks on the white, but Patrick Burke came to Hurstbridge, Melbourne from Co. Fermanagh in Ireland. He married a lady from the Brennan family in Arthur’s Creek. Patrick Burke, over the years, because he was in Hurstbridge they found sometimes they kept thinking he was related to the Bushranger BOURKE who killed Henry Hurst. But there is absolutely no relationship whatsoever. Bushranger BOURKE was a blow through, Patrick Burke stayed for a long time. He was up along the Arthurs Creek, near William Boyd, they were neighbours. When the Boyds died out, he bought some of their property. There are generations of Patrick Burke’s family still live around Hurstbridge today and are spread from Kangaroo Ground, across to Epping today. So he is actually quite an important historical figure around Hurstbridge because there is land that has been owned by those two families settled that land up in that place still. Mary Burke 95 still lives there.
Applause
WORLD WAR 1 GRAVES in Nillumbik Cemetery
Photographs by Major Terry Phillips (Retired). Research D. Ward, T. Phillips.
5653 PRIVATE F.BARRETT ARMY MEDICAL CORPS Died 2/12/1948, Aged 74
2827 PRIVATE F. J. FOGGIE 38TH BATTALION Died 31/7/1997 Aged 81
Francis John Foggie. Occupation, Farm Laborer. POB, Upper Diamond Creek, Victoria. NOK, Father, James Anderson Foggie, Upper Diamond Creek, Victoria.
Enlisted, S/N 1543 19/10/14. No Parents approval. Discharged 6/2/15.
Enlisted, S/N 2827, 18/2/1916. 37th & 38th Battalions. Embarked, 16/12/1916 HMAT A7 MEDIC. RTA, 3/7/1919. From England to Cape Town RIO PADRO, Stowed away Cape Town to Australia HMAT A72 BELTANA, 26/6/19. Discharged, Medically unfit for duty, 28/8/1919. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory.
35091 GUNNER C. H. FORD 10TH FIELD ARTILLERY BRIGADE Died 13/1/1935, Aged 59
Charles Hewitt Ford. Occupation, Orchardist. S/N35091.NOK Wife May G Ford, Panton Hill, Victoria.
Enlisted, 28/4/1917. Embarked, HMAT A15 (STAR OF ENGLAND) later renamed PORT SYDNEY, 9/11/1917.Gunner 10th Field Artillery Brigade. RTA, HMAT A28 MILTIADES 5/8/1919. Discharged, (41 years 11 months), 29/8/1919. BWM. On Panton Hill List.
5 TROOPER J.C.GARDNER 1 LIGHT HORSE REGIMENT Died 2/7/1956, Aged 61.
John Caleb Gardner. S/N 5. Also served in WW2. S/N V390046.
1547 PRIVATE P. GLENNON 8 BATTALION Died 13/5/1951, Age 64
Percy Glennon. Occupation, Fibrous Plasterer. S/N1547. POB Hurstbridge, Victoria. NOK Mother Elizabeth Glennon.
Enlisted, 16/11/1914. 3rd Reinfts 8th Battalion. At Anzac 21/8/1915. Hospital with Diarrhoea, 24/8/15. Transferred England on HMAT A2 GEELONG. Egypt 10/8/1916. RTA, HMAT A 24 BENALLA 13/2/1917. Discharged, As medically unfit for further military service due to wounds received while on active service, 26/5/1917.
Re-enlisted again on the 27/5/1918 in the Australian Army Medical Corps Sea Transport Service. S/N 77307. DEPOT. Was attached to the 12th Australian General Hospital. Discharged, 15/10/1918. As medically unfit for further military service. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. Found on Panton Hill List.
443 PRIVATE J. W. GRIMSHAW 1 PIONEER BATTALION Died 1st October 1931
John Grimshaw. Occupation, Laborer. Was with the 3rd Imperial Bushmen, during the South African War. S/N443. POB, Richmond Victoria. NOK, A. Grimshaw, Hurstbridge, Victoria.
Enlisted, 26/8/1914. 8th Battalion & 1st Pioneer Battalion. Embarked, HMAT A24 BENALLA 19/10/1914. Served at Gallipoli. RTA, HMAT A38 ULYSSES 13/2/1917. Discharged, 22/5/1917. Overage and medically unfit for further military service. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. Named on the Kangaroo Ground Memorial Tower.
2419 PRIVATE J. HARRIS 57 BATTALION Died 12/7/1952, Aged 75
James Harris. Occupation, Miner S/N 2419 POB, Reigate England. NOK (Father) James Harris, Reigate, England. Recruited Maryborough, Victoria.
Enlisted 22/6/15, Melbourne, Victoria. Embarked HMAT A9 SHROPSHIRE 25/9/16, 5th Reinforcements 57 Battalion. In Hospital – Nephritis and Trench Fever, 28/11/17.RTA, England to Cape Town, DUNVEGAN CASTLE and TOFUA from Capetown. Discharged 1/8/18 Medically unfit. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory.
7230 SAPPER P. H. JACKA 5 FIELD COMPANY ENGINEERS Died 4/12/1954, Aged 58
Percy Hamilton Jacka. Occupation, Labourer. S/N 7230. POB, Geelong, Victoria. NOK (Father) Thomas Jacka.
Enlisted, 17/12/15, Cobden, Victoria. Embarked, HMAT A16 (STAR OF VICTORIA) later renamed PORT MELBOURNE, 4/1/16 and SS BRITON at Alexandria for England, 28/5/1916. Sapper, 31/3/16 5th Reinforcements 5th Field Company Engineers. Hospital – Gastroenteritis 22/7/16. Married Annie Rose Smith, Canning Town, England 31/8/19. RTA SS PORT NAPIER. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. Discharged as medically unfit, 26/4/20
3402 PRIVATE B.R. JONES, 58 BATTALION Died 2/12/1957, Aged 73
Bertrude Robert Jones. Occupation, Grocer and Storkeeper. S/N3402. POB Welshpool, Wales, England. NOK Wife Fanny, North Fitzroy, Victoria
Enlisted, 37th Battalion 8/6/1917. Embarked, HMAT A38 ULYSSES. 58th Battalion 16/7/1917 Sydney, NSW. Admitted to Hospital, Dysentry 30/9/18. RTA LANCASHIRE, 7/2/19. Discharged to Medically unfit for duty, 13/7/19. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. At P.O. Store Ormond, Victoria 19/4/33.
250 DVR WM. WANLISS LIMMER, Died 19th March 1928. Wife Gladys.
William Wandliss Limmer. Occupation, Orchardist. POB, Greensborough Victoria. NOK, Father, Henry Limmer, c/o Nutfield Post Office, Nutfield, Victoria.
Enlisted, S/N250, 7/3/1916. Address on enlistment, c/o Nutfield Post Office, Nutfield, Victoria. 3rd Pioneer Battalion. Embarked, 6/6/1916 HMAT A62 WANDILLA. Promoted to Driver, 17/12/1916. 2 Blue Chevrons, 6/6/17. Vetinary School, July 1917. Broncho pneumonia 26/12/1918 RTA, 3/4/1919 HMAT A11 ASCANIUS. Discharged Medically unfit for duty, 11/5/1919. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. Named on the Hurstbridge and Nutfield District Lists.
20317 DRIVER J. M. MALONE 3 DIVISION AMMUNITION COLUMN, Died 22/3/1957, Aged 66
John Michael Malone. Occupation, Railway Worker. S/N 20317. POB, Ballarat, Victoria. NOK (Father) Michael Malone, East Malvern, Victoria.
Enlisted, 24/7/15 Melbourne, Victoria. Embarked, HMAT A4 PERA , 20/5/16. Promoted to Driver, B A C 3rd Divisional Ammunition Column (late 8th Field Artillery Brigade). Hospital with Gastric Ulcer. RTA HMAT A38 ULYSSES. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. Discharged as medically unfit, 5/10/19
2942 MAJOR ALFRED (FRED) DOUGLAS LENARD HARRY NEVEIN (MC) 2ND PIONEERS 26/10/1885 – 30/7/1964. Captian Nevein was recommended in 1818 for a Military Cross. He also served in WW2, V82777, where he was injured on duty in 1943. DOB, 26/10/1886. POB, Melbourne, Victoria. Enlisted, South Melbourne, Victoria. NOK, Margaret Nevein.
1440 DRIVER W. T. PEARSON 15 LIGHT HORSE REGIMENT Died 12/3/1964, aged 80
William Thomas Pearson. Occupation, Farm Hand. S/N 1440 POB, Slough, Windsor, England. NOK (Mother) Alma J Parsons, Kent, England.
Enlisted, 10/8/15, Melbourne, Victoria. Wounded in shoulder, 9/1/17. Embarked, HMAT A6 CLAN MACCORLINDALE, 15/11/1915. Trooper 3rd Anzac Btn. F. C. Bde., 11th Reinfts. 2/2/17, 8th Light Horse. RTA, HMAT A16 (STAR OF VICTORIA) later renamed PORT MELBOURNE,. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. Discharged, 17/4/19.
2656 DRIVER ALBERT PICKARD 15TH MACHINE GUN COY Died 12/9/1922
Albert Pickard. Occupation, Farmer. POB Burwood, Victoria. NOK, Aunt, Mrs M. Pickard, “Charnswood”, Arthurs Creek, Victoria. Enlisted, S/N2656. 26/6/1915, Melborne, Victoria. Address on enlistment. Wife Ellen A. Pickard, Diamond Creek, Victoria. Driver, 8th Battalion & 15th Brigade Machine Gun Company, 5th Machine Gun Battalion. Embarked, 15/9/1915 SS MAKARINI. Joined 8th Reinfts at Anzac 7/12/15. Epistaxis Feb 1917, Chronic Bronchitis 5/7/19. RTA, 27/5/1919 HMAT A39 PORT MACQUARIE. Discharged Medically unfit for duty, 29/8/1919. Died 12/9/22. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. Named on the Kangaroo Ground Memorial Tower and found on the Arthurs Creek Methodist Church Honour Board.
2955 TROOPER G. E. ROGERS 4 LIGHT HORSE REGIMENT Died 7/4/1947, aged 66
George Edwin Rogers. Occupation, Farrier +Blacksmith +Engineer. S/N 2955. POB, Beaufort, Victoria. NOK, Mother Mrs L Rogers, “WULGUKMERANG”, via Buchan, Victoria. (Two years with Box Hill Light Horse.
Enlisted 17/4/16, Sale, Victoria. Embarked, HMAT A71 NESTOR 1/10/16. 21st RFTS. 4th Light Horse. RTA A29 SUEVIC Discharged, Discharged Medically unfit for duty (Bronchitis),15/7/18. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory.
4898 E. A. SIMMONDS 59 BATTALION Died 26/2/1963, Aged 67
Ernest John Simmonds. Occupation, Clerk. S/N 4898. POB, Benalla, Victoria. NOK (Father) Ernest Simmonds.
Enlisted, Melbourne, Victoria, 3/11/15. Embarked, HMAT A18 WILTSHIRE 16/1/17, 59th Battalion. Hospital with Bronchial Pneumonia, 31/2/1016. RTA HS No2 KANONNA, 16/12/1917. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. Discharged as medically unfit, 21/3/18
14693 GUNNER A.W. SINCLAIR 14 FIELD ARTILLERY BRIGADE Died 29/6/1967, Aged 69
Arthur Walter Sinclair. Occupation, Tuckpointer S/N 14693. POB, Brunswick, Victoria. NOK (Father) Arthur Malcolm Sinclair, Glenhuntly, Victoria.
Enlisted, 22/2/16, Melbourne, Victoria. Embarked Gunner Reinf. 14th Field Artillery Brigade, Embarked LAKE MANITOBA 4/5/16. Wounded in Action, Gunshot Wound to Right Thigh, Partial Fracture 9/10/17, Two chest wounds 12/6/18. RTA HMAT A30 BORDA. Discharged Medically unfit, 11/7/18. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory.
3135 PRIVATE LESLIE C. SLY 59TH BATTALION Died 23/8/1972, Aged 75
Leslie Clarence Sly. Occupation, Farmer. POB Collingwood, Victoria. 1 year Diamond Creek Rifle Club. NOK, Mother, Mrs R. M. McKee, Upper Diamond Creek, Victoria.
Enlisted, S/N 3135. 10/7/1915 Melbourne, Victoria. Embarked, 10/9/1915 RMS OSTERLEY. 6th, 58th & 59th Battalions. Wounded in action, 19/7/16, Gunshot wound to back. Post gas fibrosis, 14/11/19. RTA, 23/8/1919 SS ZEALANDIC with Wife Rose Lander, Married 12/2/19, West Derby, England. Discharged, Medically unfit for duty, 17/1/1920. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory.
3459 PRIVATE WILLIAM SMITH 59 BATTALION Died 26/5/36
William Smith. Occupation, Butcher. S/N3458. POB, Sydney NSW. NOK, Mother, Mrs Rose Smith, 1 Campbell Street, Coburg, Victoria. Widow Mrs Ethel Ruth Smith, Haley’s Gully Rd, Hurstbridge, Victoria.
Enlisted, Nhill, Victoria. 6/7/1915. 8th& Driver with 59th Battalions. Embarked, HMAT A68 ANCHISES 11/10/1915. Transferred England on HMAT A16 (STAR OF VICTORIA) later renamed PORT MELBOURNE. RTA, HMAT A68 ANCHISES 3/1/1918. Discharged, with Heart Condition medically unfit for further military service 5/2/1918. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. Found on the Kangaroo Ground Memorial Tower.
55462 PRIVATE JACK KENNETH TINGMAN 6TH BATTALION Died 8/11/1976, Aged 76
Jack Kenneth Tingman Occupation, Apprentice Fitter (Two of six years served. Master Otis, South Melbourne). S/N 55462 Four years Senior Cadets. POB (4/7/1899). Queenstown, Tasmania. NOK (Mother) Ada Tingman, Gardiner, Victoria.
Enlisted 23/7/17,Malvern Victoria. 23rd Reinfts. 6th Battalion Embarked HMAT A30 BORDA, 17/7/1018 at Sydney. RTA HMAT A34 PERSIC, 13/7/1919. Discharged, Medically unfit,13/9/1919. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory.
558 DRIVER W. H. VON-DAHREN 5 BATTALION Died 4/1/1964, Aged 79
William Henry Von-Dahren. Occupation, Labourer. S/N 558 POB, Dandenong, Victoria. NOK (Father) Peter James Von-Dahren, Taralgon, Victoria.
Enlisted, 2/6/16 Melbourne, Victoria. 3rd and 4th, 2nd Cyclist Battn. Embarked, HMAT A73 COMMONWEALTH 19/9/16, 1st Anzac Cyc Comp. 17/11/16, 2nd Anzac Cyc. Comp. 27/12/1916. 5th Battalion. RTA HMAT A71 NESTOR. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. Discharged 9/8/19.
2280 CORPORAL S. WHITE 46 BATTALION Died 11/3/1960, Aged 75
Samuel White. Occupation, Butcher. S/N 2280 8563. POB, Preston, Victoria. NOK Wife, Winifred White, Blackburn, Victoria. Two years Box Hill Light Horse.
Enlisted, Melbourne, Victoria.1/12/1915. Embarked, RMS ORONTES, 16/8/16. 4/46th Battalion. School of Muskettry 22/8/18 – 21/9/1918. RTA, RMS KARMALA. Medals, 1914-1915 Star, BWM, Victory. Discharged as medically unfit – Trench Fever, 25/3/19.
If you know the story of these WW1 Soldiers, would you like to share it with us. The Stories would be housed a Kangaroo Ground War Memorial Park, and the Yarra Plenty Library Service.
Contact
Dennis Ward – President, Friends of Kangaroo Ground War Memorial Park
or
Liz Pidgeon – Local Historian, Yarra Plenty Library Service
Cemetery Tours 