The Short Sad Life of Sweet Baby Jane ...

Little Jane Gardner was my maternal grandfather's baby sister.  She was born at home in Evelyn St, East Brighton, Victoria, on 13th September 1905, the day of parents Jane and Charles 11th wedding anniversary. Jane was her mothers' 9th child, the 8th with Charles, but at the time of her birth, only her half-sister Elsie and four of the Gardner children were still living - my grandfather Will and his siblings Vera, Emmy and Arty.  

Five days later, Jane senior died suddenly, leaving baby Jane motherless.  On the 19th September Charles Gardner registered both the birth of his daughter and the death of his wife. I wonder if the baby's name was always going to be Jane, or if this was a last minute change to honour her mother?

Jane Gardner (nee Postlethwaite) was 37 years old. She had buried 3 of her 9 children. There is no inquest for Jane's death, but according to her death certificate she died suddenly from pneumonia and heart failure, certified by the Coroner.
 

Jane Gardner, nee Postlethwaite 1868-1905

Jane Gardner Memorial Card

What of sweet baby Jane? Her father left a widower with 5 young children and a newborn baby, plus a business to run, would have needed some help with the family.

Baby Jane was taken in by a neighbour in the area, a Mrs Elizabeth McCurry. In baby Jane's inquest report, her father states Mrs McCurry took the child the same night her mother died, and kept her for almost 4 months, without payment. Charles acknowledges the help and assistance provided by Mrs McCurry and others in a public notice placed in the local newspaper after Jane's funeral.

    Family Notices (1905, September 23). Brighton Southern Cross (Vic.: 1896 - 1918), p. 5. 

                                                                    Retrieved December 29, 2024, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165445479                                            

Elizabeth McCurry nee Lindsay was born in 1849, the daughter of one of the original settlers in the Brighton area. She married in 1866 to Henry McCurry and between 1867 and 1891 the couple had a family of 12 children. Electoral Rolls for the period 1900-1910 record Elizabeth as a nurse, Henry as a market gardener. Elizabeth's youngest children would have been approaching adulthood by the time baby Jane was born, so it would be unlikely that she would have been wet nursing the baby.

The Victorian Government had enacted the Infant Life Protection Act in 1891 in an attempt to regulate the activities of "baby farmers" who would take illegitimate or orphaned babies for payment. For some time there had been extensive discussions regarding the higher than expected infant mortality rate amongst children left in this type of care.

The Act required that all houses where such children were cared for were required to be registered, and the care-giver registered as a resident at that address. Oversight was given to the Chief Commissioner of Police. The details of the Act are provided here: Infant Life Protection Act 1890

I have been unable to establish if Mrs McCurry was a registered provider, although the fact that she describes herself in Electoral Rolls as a nurse would make it likely. 

In order to care for his older children, Charles Gardner found a housekeeper. Margaret Mary Miller Fielding was a young woman of 21 years with a small child of her own. It would have been a bit daunting taking on the Gardner household and becoming instant mother to Jane's children. She must have been doing a good job, because on 22 January 1906 she and Charles married, making her a permanent feature in the family home.

According to the Inquest statements, baby Jane was returned to the Gardner home by Mrs McCurry about 3 weeks prior to her death. This was probably around the time it became apparent that Maggie Fielding was there to stay. The baby was reported to have been healthy at this time.

In those days prior to refrigeration, feeding a baby anything other than breast milk was problematic. Unmodified cow's milk was not easily digestible by human babies (not surprisingly, since its purpose is to nourish baby cows!) Although pasteurisation had been shown to reduce microbial contamination of milk, it was not compulsory in Australia until the 1950's.

In order to modify the risks associated with feeding a baby raw cow's milk, it was common practice to scald the milk.  Scalding involved heating the milk until just below boiling point, then allowing it to cool. This killed off any bacteria, and also modified the bovine proteins, making it more easily digested by babies.

Even after treating milk in this manner, storage was still a problem. Given that Jane died in January, mid-summer in Australia, this would have been a significant concern. There is no record in the Inquest papers of how this milk was stored, but a common solution was to use a Coolgardie safe. This was a metal or wooden framed box with hessian sides. The box stood in a tray of water, and another tray of water on top into which the hessian was attached. It was often hung or placed outside in the shade of a tree. The process of air flow over the wet hessian caused evaporative cooling, thus providing safer storage for perishable food items.

Charles Gardner reported at the inquest that he had obtained the baby's milk that morning from a local dairyman. The milk was always scalded, and the baby was fed a mix of half cold milk and half water by a bottle. He stated that baby Jane slept in the same room as he and his new wife. The baby had been a little restless the night before, and had taken a bottle of milk at 4am, then another at 10am. Up to that point he had not noticed anything to be wrong with little Jane. 

Maggie Gardner fed Jane again at 3pm, but this time she vomited the milk back. By 4pm she was looking unwell and Maggie called for Charles to come home from his nearby blacksmith shop. When Charles arrived, he said Jane was looking "blue and glassy". He immediately sent for a doctor, but Jane died about 10 mins later, before the doctor arrived.

Dr. Joyce, of South Brighton, examined baby Jane and samples of her milk. His conclusion was that she died from acute milk poisoning, but he declined to certify the death. Consequently, an autopsy was held and inquest.  The post-mortem exam found that Jane died from acute inflammation of the bowels caused by fermentative changes in the milk.  It was also noted that there were no marks of violence and no evidence of suffocation. Baby Jane was otherwise healthy and of average weight for her age.

Jane Gardner was laid to rest with her mother and older brother Charles Allen Gardner who died in 1903 at Brighton Cemetery. Interestingly, another child also named Charles Abram who died in 1904 at 2 months of age is buried in a different plot. The grave was unmarked until 2008, when my cousin Brendon organised a plaque and memorial service for descendants of Jane and Charles. Coincidently, when I went back to my files to check what year that event was, I found that today, 29 December, is the anniversary of the memorial service!

Little Jane Gardner did not have much of a life. I was heartbroken to read the inquest papers where she was always referred to as "the child", "it or its", rather than Jane, she or her. Even her father's deposition referred to her as it. I hope Mrs McCurry was a kind woman, and that Jane was shown some love and attention during her time with her.

Photo courtesy of V. Pilkington

References:

DENNETT RH. THE USE OF BOILED MILK IN INFANT-FEEDING. JAMA. 1914;LXIII(23):1991–1996. doi:10.1001/jama.1914.02570230001001

Australasian Legal Information Institute
Infant Life Protection Act 1890

Public Record Office Victoria

Inquest Deposition Files

VPRS 24/P0000, 1906/113

Butterworth, Lee Throwing the Baby out with the Bathwater: The Infant Life Protection Act 1905

Paper given at the Australian Social welfare History Workshop, University of Tasmania, 10-11 February 2014

(DOC) Throwing the baby out with the bath water: The Infant Life Protection Act of 1905 | Lee Butterworth - Academia.edu

Ordinary Women ...

March is officially designated Women’s History Month, so to mark the occasion I thought I would post information about the lives of some of the women who came before me.  I’ve chosen to honour my four great-grandmothers, women from different backgrounds whose lives were typical of the times they lived in.  Although their lives were unremarkable in that context, they each faced challenging personal circumstances and lived through difficult times.  I am grateful for their lives, and for the strength and resilience passed down the generations. Here are their stories.

JANE POSTLETHWAITE 1868-1905

Jane was my maternal grandfather’s mother.  She was born at Queenstown (now St. Andrews) in Victoria, the sixth of eleven children of Abraham Postlethwaite and Ann Victoria nee Humphries.  As a child, her family moved to Tarrawarra near Healesville where her father had taken up a selection of land.  Abraham, a carpenter by trade, had emigrated from Cumberland, England as a young man.  Her mother Ann was born in Van Diemen’s Land (Tasmania) and came to Victoria as a baby with her parents in the earliest days of Melbourne’s settlement.  I’ve written about Ann’s mother in another post here: The Enterprize Voyage.

I don’t know a lot about Jane’s childhood.  She was part of a large extended family on her mother’s side.    At 23, Jane became a single mum to baby Elsie, born at home in Tarrawarra.  Three years later she married my great grandfather Charles Gardner, in Brighton where he had a blacksmith business.  On her marriage certificate she is described as a “domestic”, but I don’t know if this was paid employment or simply home duties.  

I’d love to be able to say the couple lived happily ever after, but sadly this was not the case.  Their first baby Clara was born the following year but died as an infant. The next child Charles died at age 5.  Then came my grandfather Will, followed by Vera, Emily and Arthur.  Next, another Charles who also died in infancy.  Another baby proved too much for her and Jane passed away eighteen months later, five days after giving birth to her ninth baby, a girl named Jane.  Cause of death was pneumonia and heart failure.  She was thirty-seven years old.

Jane was laid to rest in Brighton Cemetery, her grave unmarked until 100 years later, when my cousin Brendon arranged a plaque and we had a family gathering of Jane’s descendants to mark the occasion.

Left with a young family including newborn baby, widowed Charles found a young woman with a baby of her own to move in as nurse/housekeeper. The arrangement became permanent when Charles married Margaret Fielding four months later in January 1906.  Sadly, baby Jane followed her mother to the grave only four days after the marriage.  Charles and Margaret went on to have another six children together. So, with Jane’s daughter Elsie, Jane & Charles’ four children, Margaret’s daughter Olive, and Margaret & Charles’ six children, it’s clear that blended families are not a new phenomenon!

ELIZABETH DUFFY 1873-1940

Elizabeth was my maternal grandmother’s mother.  The daughter of an English mother and an Irish father, she was the only child of both parents’ second marriage.  Born in Brighton, Victoria in 1873, when her father William was 65 years old and her mother 41.  

William was a bootmaker by trade, but was also a lay preacher and Sunday School Superintendent on the Brighton Wesleyan Circuit.  He had emigrated to Port Phillip from Donegal, Ireland, in 1840 with his wife and young baby. Another son was born soon after they arrived.  Her mother, Elizabeth Jennings, was from Atherstone in Warwickshire, England.  She and her first husband left England two weeks after their marriage, arriving in Port Phillip as assisted immigrants in 1852.  Together they had a family of seven children, although the two eldest both died as infants. Her husband died suddenly in 1868, leaving her a widow with her youngest child still a baby.

William and Elizabeth (senior) married in 1871, and two years later young Elizabeth was born. By all accounts her father was well-respected in his community, but given the teachings and customs of the Wesleyan Church at the time, one could imagine she had a fairly strict upbringing.  Her father died when she was only seven years old, and her mother when she was fourteen, leaving her in the care of her older half-sister Emily.

At nineteen, Elizabeth met and married John Grant, grandson of Scottish immigrants.  His father and grandfather had well established businesses and property in Brighton.  John was a wood & coal merchant, and the couple lived in Brighton where they raised five daughters including my grandmother Amy. 

Elizabeth died in 1940 as a result of heart disease.  She was 66 years old, and pre-deceased her husband by 8 years.  They are buried together at Brighton Cemetery.

MARGARET HILL 1835-1899

Margaret is my mystery great-grandmother, about whom I know the least.  She was my paternal grandmother’s mother.  Margaret was born in London, England in 1835 – two years before civil registration began.  According to her Australian marriage and death certificates, her parents were John (or James) Hill and Mary (or Margaret) Chipping.  I’m inclined to go with John & Mary as listed on her marriage certificate because it was herself providing that information, rather than James & Margaret listed by her husband for her death certificate.  She also stated her father was a carpenter.

Despite extensive searches, I have not been able to locate a baptism record for Margaret, and have not been able to locate the family on the 1841 or 1851 censuses.  There are one or two possibilities, including a baptism for a child named Margaret Hill in 1836 in the London Foundling Hospital, which needs further investigation. Nor have I been able to locate a marriage for her presumed parents.

UPDATE: As of 2026, I have confirmed my great grandmother is indeed the Margaret Hill baptised at the London Foundling Hospital. You can read her story here - Margaret Hill - A Mystery Solved...

Margaret came to Australia as an assisted immigrant in 1856, arriving in Port Phillip (Geelong) on the ship Arthur the Great.  She was aged 20, could read and write, and her occupation was housemaid.  I wonder what trepidation or excitement she must have felt about voyaging alone across the world to a new life in an unknown land.  On arrival, she was employed by a Mr. Anderson of Darneville for a period of three months at wages of 25 shillings.  I haven’t been able to find out if she extended her employment there, or moved on to another position.  

In 1859, Margaret married James Dewar in Geelong.  He was a Scotsman who was working as a quarryman.  The couple spent the next 11 years in the Geelong area where their first six children were born.  James then became involved in the lime-burning industry and they moved across to Rye on the other side of the bay where he was employed in the kilns.  My grandmother and her youngest brother were born there. 

By the mid-1870’s James and Margaret had moved again, this time to Waratah Bay to a new lime-burning venture where James was employed as manager.  This was an isolated location where contact in the early years of the settlement was only by sea.  It must have been quite a challenge for London-raised Margaret, coming from the comparative bustle of gold-rush era Melbourne and Geelong to adapt to this isolation, bringing up her children and educating them herself until a part-time school was established.  There is more about life at Waratah in the posts I wrote about James Dewar and Walkerville.

The only “memory” we have of Margaret comes from a grand-daughter, my father’s older 1st cousin, who wrote some memories of her childhood at Waratah in which she says her grandmother always wore a little lace cap.

Margaret passed away in 1898, after an illness of several days with bronchitis.  She was 63 years old. My great-uncle Fred wrote in his diary about hearing of the death of Mrs Dewar, and riding around the bay to pay his respects.  Margaret was buried in the little bush cemetery on the cliffs at Waratah, where her husband James joined her nine years later.

MARY HAUGHTON 1835-1884

Mary was my paternal grandfather’s mother.  She was born near Athy, county Kildare in Ireland, the second of six children born to Alfred Haughton and Henrietta nee Osburne.  The Haughton's were part of a large Quaker family, although it doesn’t appear that Alfred and Henrietta were practicing Quakers themselves.  Alfred owned the Ardreigh mill on the River Barrow just outside the market town of Athy, so Mary and her siblings were born into quite a privileged lifestyle.  

Her education would most likely have been at home, provided by a governess, although it is possible she may have attended a nearby Quaker school for some lessons.  Like most girls of her class, her education would have included art , music and embroidery.  A sketchbook belonging to Mary’s sister Sarah Anne is still in the family, and some of her sketches can be seen on this page.

At 23, Mary married Thomas Pilkington of Ennis in county Clare.  Earlier that year, her brother John had married Thomas’s sister Maria.  The Pilkington’s were minor Anglo-Irish gentry and Thomas acted as a land agent for the vast Connyngham estate.  He also served as Magistrate and JP on the local court circuit. 

After their marriage, Mary moved to her husband’s family home Waterpark, in Ennis.  The couple had nine children and unusually for the times, all survived childhood.  Mary’s life as the Lady of a small estate would have revolved around housekeeping, directing the servants, supporting her husband in entertaining, and a regular round of visiting local gentry. She would have also been involved in “good works” distributing charity to the poor.

This lifestyle came to an end for the family with the sudden death of Thomas in 1884, dying in his sleep from heart disease.  Eldest son Tom inherited his fathers estate as was normal for the times, however it transpired that Thomas had been living beyond his means for some time, and left a large debt with minimal assets.  Although the eldest two sons were already established with their own careers at this time, Mary still had three unmarried daughters aged 18 – 23, and four young sons between 7 – 17 years to bring up.  Thomas’s aunt Charlotte describes his passing in her journal, writing  “poor Mary and nine children, in an agony of grief”.
  
Following her husbands death and the change in her circumstances, Mary’s own health suffered.  She was 48 years old and only six months later, despite seeking treatment in Dublin, she died from an abscess in her kidney caused by a kidney stone.  According to the doctor on her death certificate, the duration of her illness was six months.  Mary was interred in a family grave at Mt Jerome Cemetery in Dublin.  Possibly due to the transport costs involved, she was not reunited with her husband in his resting place in Ennis. 

The Bravest Thing God Ever Made …

My tribute to Anzac Day this year comes about as a result of a little book I came across recently when looking through a box of old books:

THE AUSTRALIAN and other verses, by Will H. Ogilvie.  Published in Australia in 1916 by Angus & Robertson.


William Henry Ogilvie (1869-1963) was a Scottish poet and journalist who spent some 12 years in Australia as a young man.  Inspired by the works of Adam Lindsay Gordon, his poems told tales of life in the Australian bush.  Back in Britain during the 1st World War, he overheard a British Officer describe Australian soldiers as “the bravest thing God ever made”, and consequently penned his poem The Australian.

Clement Semmler, 'Ogilvie, William Henry (Will) (1869–1963)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ogilvie-william-henry-will-7890/text13719, published first in hardcopy 1988, accessed online 23 April 2016.

 

THE AUSTRALIAN

“The bravest thing God ever made” –

A British Officer’s opinion.

 

The skies that arched his land were blue,

His bush-born winds were warm and sweet,

And yet from earliest hours he knew

The tides of victory and defeat;

From fierce floods thundering at his birth,

From red droughts ravening while he played,

He learned to fear no foes on earth –

“The bravest thing God ever made!”

 

The bugles of the Motherland

Rang ceaselessly across the sea,

To call him and his lean brown band

To shape Imperial destiny;

He went, by youth’s grave purpose willed,

The goal unknown, the cost unweighed,

The promise of his blood fulfilled-

“The bravest thing God ever made!”

 

We know – it is our deathless pride!-

The splendour of his first fierce blow;

How, reckless, glorious, undenied,

He stormed those steel-lined cliffs we know!

And none who saw him scale the height

Behind his reeking bayonet blade

Would rob him of his title-right –

“The bravest thing God ever made!”

 

Bravest, where half a world of men

Are brave beyond all earth’s rewards,

So stoutly none shall charge again

Till the last breaking of the swords;

Wounded or hale, won home from war,

Or yonder by the Lone Pine laid,

Give him his due for evermore –

“The bravest thing God ever made!”

  

Private Leonard James POSTLETHWAITE died 3 May 1917

Private Mark SMITH died 25 April 1918

Private William Humphrey GRADY died 4 October 1917

Private William Joseph BYRNE

Driver James Joshua PERRY

Staff Nurse Eleanor Anne PERRY

Private John Patrick PERRY

Private Percy Victor Bristow VINCENT

 

Private Louis Adrian VINCENT

 

Bombardier Leslie Moore VINCENT

 

Private Victor Valentine VINCENT

Private William Dale VINCENT died 22 July 1916

 

Private Arthur James VINCENT died 8 June 1917

 

Private Hubert Claude VINCENT

Private George White VINCENT

 

Lance Corporal Roy Curtis KENNEDY died 4 October 1917

 

Driver Ernest Vincent WHITE

 

Private William Henry DOBBIE

 

Private George Ernest Vincent WOODBERRY

 

and all Australians who served. 

LEST WE FORGET.

Heroes of World War 1

As we celebrate Remembrance Day in this, the 100th year since the start of World War 1, I wanted to spare a thought for those members of our extended family who paid the ultimate sacrifice in that conflict.
My paternal grandfather served in the Boer War (1899-1902) and my father in the 2nd World War (1939-1945), while my maternal grandfather was too young for WW1, so the 1st World War was 'between generations' for my immediate family line.
However, there were numerous relatives on both sides of my family who did serve, and some of them paid with their lives.

Charles Richard Griffin VANCE, my father's 2nd cousin.
Born 2 December 1893 in Limerick, Ireland.  He was the youngest of 8 children of Canon Joseph Vance and Anna Mary Griffin.  His mother died when he was just 2 years old, and he was brought up by his aunt Amy Griffin, who moved into the Vance family home to take over the care of her nephews & nieces.  He was known to the extended family as "Dickie". 
Dickie attended school at Campbell College in Belfast.  After completing school, he commenced an apprenticeship in February 1912 with UK Railways in London, initially on a 1 month trial.  He is listed as a student of the Institute of Civil Engineers in 1914.
With the outbreak of WW1, Dick enlisted and was a 2nd Lieutenant with the 3rd Battalion of the Cheshire Regiment.  He was attached to 1st Battalion from December 1914.  He was killed in action in Belgium on 9 March 1915.  His grave is D 25, Ramparts Cemetery, Lille Gate, Belgium
The UK Railways books record his final payment of 24 shillings on 17 March 1915.  Listed as Killed in Action, his period of employment was 3 years 1 month, and his character and abilities noted as 'Good'.

His older brother, Robert Lancelot Vance, served as 2nd Lieutenant in the Royal Irish Fusiliers, transferring to the Indian Army at the completion of the war.

Henry Colpoys GLOSTER, my grandfather's 2nd cousin.
Born September 1894 in Kensington, London, he was the only son of Dr. James Cockburn Gloster and Aphra Keane, and grandson of Henry Keane of county Clare.  Educated at St Paul's School, and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, he was studying medicine when the war broke out.
He received a commission in the 6th Gordon Highlanders Regiment and after initial training, went to the front in November 1914.  He was killed in action at Neuve Chapelle in France on 12 March 1915.  His death is memorialised at Le Touret Memorial, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.

Otho Charles WARD, a double 2nd cousin of my grandfather.  Born in Dublin on 17 February 1884, he was the 2nd son of  Major Espine C R Ward, R.A.M.C and Jane Maria Colpoys Keane.  His parents were 2nd cousins.  Otho was educated at Epsom College in England, following which in January 1903, he enlisted in the Indian Army, in 124th Duchess of Connaught's Baluchistan Regiment.  He attained the rank of Captain in 1912.  When war broke out, his regiment was posted to Mesopotamia where he saw active service until he was killed in action against the Turks in the 2nd Battle of Kut, on 11 January 1917.  His grave is in the Amara War Cemetery, Iraq.

Thomas Lionel PILKINGTON, my father's 1st cousin, was born in Ennis in 1896, 2nd child and eldest son to Thomas Henry Pilkington and his wife Florence Greene. After completing school, he went to Sandhurst Royal Military College in August 1915, and was posted to the Royal Irish Regiment in January 1916.  In July of that year, he was sent to France to join the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment at the Somme. Thomas was wounded and evacuated twice during the next 2 years.  At the end of the war, he volunteered for transfer to the Indian Army and was posted to the 2nd Battalion 128th Bombay Pioneers.  He continued as a career soldier in the Indian Army until invalided out in 1943 due to failing sight as a result of retinitis contracted while serving in Constantinople in 1921.

Cecil John Mahon TWEEDY, a 3rd cousin of my grandfather, but also related by the marriage of my great-aunt to his uncle.  The following comes from the Our Heroes website. 
"He was the elder son of Mr. Thomas Tweedy, County Inspector, Royal Irish Constabulary, Bandon. He entered Trinity College, Dublin, in October, 1911. On the 26th August, 1914, he received a commission in the Royal Munster Fusiliers from the D.U.O.T.C., and was later transferred to the Special Reserve R.D.F. He was a well known boxer. In 1912 he won the Heavy-weight Championship of the University, and was never afterwards dispossessed of the title. In 1915 he won the Irish Command Officers' Heavy-weight Championship. He was a nephew of General Sir Bryan Mahon, Commander-in-Chief of the Forces in Ireland."
Cecil Tweedy died in France on 28 February 1917, and is buried at Sailly-Saillisel, Departement de la Somme, Picardie, France.

The first four men mentioned above were all descendants of Robert Keane of Beechpark, co Clare.  Cecil Tweedy was also a Keane cousin, but the connection was through the maternal line.
The following three men were cousins on the Haughton side of my fathers family.

William Haughton SMYTH, son of John Smyth and Anna Florence Haughton, of Milltown House, Banbridge, Co. Down. The Smyth family were Ulster linen merchants.  He was born in 1879, and served as Captain in the Royal Irish Rifles. He was killed in action on 1 July 1916, at Thiepval in the Somme, France.  His death is memorialised at Thiepval Memorial.

Beresford Haughton VYVYAN, born about 1893 in Glamorgan, Wales, the 2nd son of Hugh Norris Vyvyan and Constance Ethel Haughton.  He served as Captain in the Royal Field Artillery, and died of wounds received in Flanders, on 18 August 1917.  He is buried in the Dozinghem Military Cemetery, Poperinge, West Flanders (West-Vlaanderen), Belgium.

Charles Stanley HAUGHTON,  born in Dublin, Ireland, on 20 October 1873.  He was the only son of Alfred John Haughton and Beresford Stronge.  He attended the Birkenhead School in Cheshire, England, where he had some cadet training. According to his biography in "Memories of Old Birkonians 1914-1918" published by the Birkenhead School, he was a cotton broker in Liverpool when the war broke out.  He then joined a reservist unit, the Rifle Brigade, and was sent to India.  These units were used to take over administrative duties in order to release regular soldiers for active service.  During the 3 years he spent in India, he contracted Tuberculosis, from which he died in hospital in London on 4 February 1919, shortly after returning from India.  He is buried in a Commonwealth War Grave at Flaybrick Hill Cemetery, Birkenhead, Cheshire, England.

Back in Australia, members of my mother's extended family also gave their lives for the Empire, in the Australian Imperial Forces.  These three men are all descendants of William & Louisa Humphries, whom I wrote about in my blogpost - the "Enterprize" Voyage - last month.

William Humphries GRADY, born 1895 in Romsey, Victoria, was a son of Andrew Grady and Agnes Elizabeth Humphries.  When he enlisted as a private in the 22nd Infantry Battalion, on 5 February 1916 at age 21, he gave his occupation as farmer.  He sailed from Australia on the troopship 'Shropshire' in September 1916, but unfortunately was never to return.  William was killed in action in Flanders on 4 October 1917, and is buried in the Oxford Road Cemetery (Plot II, Row H, Grave No. 15), Ypres, Belgium.

Leonard James POSTLETHWAITE, born 1897 in Healesville, Victoria.  He was the son of Arthur Postlethwaite and Ann Chandler.  At age 19, he enlisted as a private in the 23rd Infantry Battalion on 5 April 1916.  He sailed from Australia on the troopship 'Miltiades' in August 1916.  His death in action on 3 May 1917 is memorialised in the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France.

Mark SMITH, born 1896 in Healesville, Victoria, was the son of John Smith and Agnes Postlethwaite.  At the time he enlisted on 27 March 1916, the family were living in Western Australia. He joined the 51st Infantry Battalion as a private, and left Australia in August 1916 on the same ship as his 1st cousin Leonard Postlethwaite, the troopship 'Miltiades'.  He was killed in action on 25 April 1918 and is memorialised in the Australian National Memorial, Villers-Bretonneux, France.

On my husband's side, his grandfather returned from the war, but died a comparatively young man from complications associated with illness acquired during his service.

James Joshua PERRY, born Jugiong, New South Wales on Christmas Day 1889.  He was the fourth of six children born to James Perry and Catherine Gavin of Jugiong.  Prior to the war, James Jnr had been working as a sailor on the Pacific trading route.  He enlisted 6 October 1914 as a driver in Field Artillery Brigade 2, and left Australia in December that year on the ship 'Borda'.  His first service was in the Middle East, before going on to the Western Front.  James returned to Australia on 28 October 1918, but his health was never good, and he died in 1934 leaving a young family.
Brother, John Patrick PERRY and sister, Eleanor Anne PERRY also served on the Western Front.

James Joshua Perry

The Vincent family also contributed a high price in young lives to World War 1.  The large extended family from the Wangaratta area of Victoria saw many of their young men off to war, and unfortunately not all of them returned.

Arthur James VINCENT, born 1879 in Wangaratta, one of 17 children born to Reuben Brett Vincent & his wife Mary White.  Arthur had previously served in the Anglo-Boer War before re-enlisting for World War 1 in 1916.  He attained the rank of Corporal in the 37th Battalion, serving on the Western Front.  He was killed in action 8 June 1917 at Messines, Belgium.  There is no known grave for Arthur, but he is memorialised on The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 25), Belgium.  His brother, George White VINCENT, also served, returning to Australia in 1918.

William Dale VINCENT, born 1879 in Wangaratta, Victoria, was a 1st cousin of Arthur & George (above).  He was one of 12 children born to Rowland Vincent & his wife Philadelphia Dale.  William was a timber worker when he enlisted in 1916 at the age of 36.  He joined the 3rd Pioneer Battalion and left Australia in June 1916, but became ill en route to the front.  He died of disease in the Isolation Hospital, Durban, South Africa on 22 July 1916 and is buried at the Ordnance Road Military Cemetery (Row C, Grave No. 8), Durban, South Africa.

Roy Curtis KENNEDY, born 1895 in Oxley, Victoria, was a Vincent cousin.  He was the son of James Kennedy & Emily Mary Vincent.  In February 1916, at 20 years of age, he left the family farm and enlisted in the 8th Battalion, leaving Australia in April the same year.  He was killed in action on the Western Front on 4 October 1917.  There is no known grave for Roy, but he is memorialised on The Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial (Panel 7), Belgium.

George Ernest Vincent WOODBERRY, born Wangaratta 1891, son of Alice Marion Vincent and George Woodberry. Enlisted in 37th Battalion with his cousin Arthur Vincent. George developed TB and was sent back to Australia in 1917. He died in 1922.

Other Vincent cousins of the above who served overseas were half-brothers Hubert Claude & Victor Valentine VINCENT.  Their father was Jacob Arthur Vincent and their mothers' Sarah White and Edith Rose Payne respectively.
Leslie Moore VINCENT, known as 'Leddie', son of George Vincent and Elizabeth White, was born in 1881.  He saw active service in Anglo-Boer War and both World Wars.  He later became Mayor of Wangaratta.
Louis Adrian VINCENT was a nephew of William Dale Vincent (above).  He was born in Wangaratta in 1894.
Percy Victor Bristow VINCENT, born Wangaratta in 1892, son of Walter Reuben Vincent & Harriet Annie Dive.  He was a nephew of Arthur James & George White Vincent. 
Ernest Vincent WHITE, born Wangaratta 1893, son of Marion Vincent & Samuel White. He enlisted in the 8th Infantry Brigade Train.
William Henry DOBBIE, born Wangaratta 1897, son of Rowena Vincent & Harold Dobbie. He served with the 8th Battalion, 13th reinforcements in France.



LEST WE FORGET