Andrew Rhoda Marion Thomas Jeannie
STEWART BENNETT
ABERCROMBIE ANDERSON McPHERSON
Louisa Alexander Charles
Catherine Albert Elizabeth McPherson
Emily George Campbell ANDERSON
STEWART STEWART ANDERSON
The LUKES The ANDERSONS
cousins in the USA cousins in Western Australia
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THE STEWARTS of COTTESLOE WESTERN AUSTRALIA and their ANDERSON cousins
by Ken F STEWART
January 1996 |
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Elizabeth Rhoda Andrew Andrew
Albert Thomas
Campbell STEWART STEWART STEWART Alexander ANDERSON
STEWART (Bennett) senior junior George junior
(Anderson) STEWART
THE STEWARTS OF COTTESLOE, W.A.
and THEIR
PART 1 - The Immigrant
Stewarts
The Stewarts of Western Australia that were my
ancestors were only relatively recent arrivals into the state. They were immigrants from
Andrew STEWART was born about 1861 in
Rhoda BENNETT was born on the 21st
of December 1857 in Brimpton Mill, Berkshire,
England, the daughter of Henry Bennett, a miller's foreman and Amy Wornham.[3]
BERKSHIRE and
OXFORDSHIRE, ENGLAND
The parents of Rhoda BENNETT - Henry and Amy (Emma)
- were married around 1840 with their first child, Emily, born in Henley,
Oxfordshire in 1840, and the second Louise born in Benham,
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The origins of Rhoda’s father, Henry BENNETT, are in Tilehurst, which is a small farming village
just 5 km west of Reading in Berkshire, and where he was baptised on the 30th
of April 1815,[5]
the son of Joseph BENNETT and Charlotte (nee FLETCHER or THATCHER) who had
married at Tilehurst on the 3rd of December 1809.[6] The marriage certificate of Joseph and
Charlotte definitely uses both Fletcher and Thatcher. Henry was their fourth child after John
(1810), Edward (1811), and Mary Ann (1814).
The ancestry of this family is still a little blurred, but points to
early Tilehurst, since there are several Bennett families married with children
during the 1700’s.
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The origins of Rhoda’s mother, Amy WORNHAM, are in Mapledurham,
Oxfordshire, a small farming and River Thames village across the river 5 km
North-West of Reading. Amy was baptised
on the 29th of April 1815,[7] the seventh out of eight children of John
WORNHAM and Ann (nee LONDON) who had been married in 1796 in nearby Whitchurch,
Oxfordshire.[8] Ann may be a LONDON or LEWINGTON born about
1770 of Oxfordshire but this is uncertain, however John was baptised on the 24th
of July 1768,[9]
and his parents Richard and Elizabeth were from old farming families of Mapledurham, Oxfordshire
Richard WORNHAM (1725 - 3rd of November
1800[10]) and Elizabeth TRENDALL (15th of
February 1735/6[11] -
7th of November 180010) were married on the 28th
of October 1761 also in Mapledurham.[12] John was the fourth child in their family of
eight and was a labourer aged 47 years in 1815 when his daughter Amy was born.
The Mapledurham Registers show that the other
children of Richard and Elizabeth were labourers and all with numerous families
so would form a large part of that small community in the early 1800’s.
To go a further generation back, Elizabeth
TRENDALL’s parents were Richard TRINDALL and Elizabeth COGGS, both of the
parish of Mapledurham. They were married on the 10th
of October 1733.[13] Elizabeth TRUNDAL was buried in Mapledurham on 4th of April 1773,[14] and her husband Richard TRUNDAL, a labourer,
was buried with her on the 22nd of August 1775.[15]
BANGOR, COUNTY DOWN, IRELAND.
Rhoda Bennett was in Bangor in 1881 to be married. There
doesn’t seem to be a reason why she moved to Ireland. However, her father Henry
had died in 1865 and her mother Amy had remarried to Giles Walters in 1871.
They were aging agricultural labourers in Drayton Berkshire by the time Rhoda
reached Bangor.
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Bangor Promenade, c1920
In 558 A.D. Saint Comgall founded a monastery on the
site of the present-day Bangor Abbey, which was an important locality for centuries
until the Dissolution of the Abbeys in 1542.
The church was one of many that were burned by Sir Brian MacPhelim O’Neill of Clannaboy in
1572 during the colonization of the Ards. And on the accession of James 1 to
the throne, the area was part of South Clandeboye
granted to Sir James Hamilton. Sir James
commissioned the re-building of parts of the church and one his descendants
Canon James Hamilton was still refitting the church in 1960.[16]
As a reward for services, Sir James Hamilton, a Scot
from Lanarkshire, and who afterwards became the Viscount Clandeboye,
was granted ownership of the district by James 1 in 1609, and really founded
the town of
The surname Stewart is of Scottish origin and the
earlier ancestors of the family are most likely part of the “Ulster Plantation
of 1610-1620” where the British populated the Northern Counties of
However, a yDNA test in
2014 confirmed that we are descended from Robert the Bruce (1274-1329) King of
Scotland, through his daughter’s son Robert II STEWART. The father was James
Stewart, Fifth High Sherrif of Scotland, the King’s right-hand man. The Royal
Line of descendant from Robert II leads down in history to the current King
Charles III of England. The Nobility Line leads down through the Stewarts of
Bute through barons, earls and marquesses
to John Crichton-Stewart the current 8th Marquess of Bute. Our line
is an offshoot from the Nobility Line that appears in Ireland probably before
the Ulster Plantation in the early 1600’s.
One
possible ancestry could be from Ninnian Stewart, the
Sixth Sherriff of Bute, whose son Archibald Stewart (c1508-1600) established
himself in Ballintoy on the northern coast of County Antrim. There were many
descendants from Archibald Stewart of Ballintoy. But who or where is unknown
due to the destruction of the Irish Records in the Irish IRA Rebellion and the
Four Courts Fire of 1922. Only our yDNA confirms the
relationship to Bute.[19]
The family folklore suggests that they arrived from
Donegal and, through the large growth of the weaving trade in Bangor in the
early 1700's, were among the many workers
attracted to take up the weaving trade there. In 1740, Bangor was noted as a centre for
spinning of considerable quantities of fine linen through the home handloom
weavers. With the coming of mechanisation, the peasants and independent
craftsmen were then 'employed' to work up the raw materials in their own homes,
using their own or rented tools, receiving it from and then delivering it back
to merchants who were in the process of becoming employers. The handloom
weaving skills died a lingering death.
This is where the early Stewarts come in, for they always lived in
It seems quite likely our Stewarts were not a part
of the original Plantation of the area of County Down since our family, as the
late arrivals, were the poorer of the hundreds of unrelated Stewart families in
Bangor. John Stewart may have fled from Donegal to Bangor after some of the
actions of Irish rebels during the second half of the 1700’s. The area of
Bangor and Holywood out East of Belfast was a strong
Protestant enclave, so would be a safe haven for a rebel.
Stewart is one of the most common names in County
Down. They inhabited small cottages as weaver’s and rarely had cemetery
headstones. I once asked my father why
he was called just Thomas Stewart, as was the family tradition to have just one
Christian name, and his reply was, "We were always too poor to have more
than one name"
JOHN AND
REBECCA STEWART
The first of the family to come to notice in
Their children were all born in
·
Thomas STEWART baptised 7th of June 1810
·
Agnes STEWART baptised 23rd of February 1812
·
Jane STEWART baptised 25th of January 1813
·
Andrew STEWART baptised 29th of January 1816
·
Andrew STEWART baptised 9th of May 1817
·
Joseph STEWART baptised 13th of February 1820
·
Alexander STEWART baptised 13th of January 1822[22]
An Ordnance Survey of County
Down in 1830 describes the conditions that these children grew up in.[23] It paints a rosy picture of life in those
times.
The cottages are principally
one storied, built of stone, mostly thatched but in many cases slated. Glass
windows are in all cases employed and a tolerable degree of cleanliness and
neatness may be seen to prevail. The
average number in the family is about five.
The people have no peculiarities in their costume. Their food is as usual potatoes, meal and
bacon or salt beef when the latter can be afforded. The inhabitants are very peaceable in
character, outrages are scarcely ever heard of.
No illicit distillation is carried on, and smuggling is not known to be
practised to any remarkable extent. Of
the total population of 9355 in the parish, there are 8230 Presbyterians; 761
Protestants; 251 Catholics and 113 Methodists.
There are two large cotton mills in the town which are worked by steam,
and there is also a corn mill. The
principal part of the inhabitants are shopkeepers of different kinds and a
great many, particularly of the younger people, are employed at the cotton
manufactories.
John is possibly the
recorded burial on 2nd of March 1846 in Bangor, but there is no
record of Rebecca being buried there. I
have yet to connect any of the other children of John and Rebecca to any
descendants, however the seventh child of their family, Alexander, formed the
basis for our very expansive family tree.
ALEXANDER STEWART and ANNABELLA McROBERTS
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The youngest child of John
and Rebecca, Alexander Stewart, and Annabella McRoberts were married in the
parish church of Bangor according to the Rites and Ceremonies of the Church
of Ireland on the 5th of March 1850 by J.C. Devlin with witnesses
John and Robert HALLIDAY. Annabella’s father was Hans McROBERTS,
a blacksmith of |
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Alexander, like his father,
was a weaver when he was married in 1850.
John HALLIDAY who witnessed the marriage was also a weaver still living
in
Alexander and Annabella had
a family of eight children, and most of these had large descendent families.
·
James STEWART was baptised in 1850. He was a station master at a small
town near Maryport across the Irish Sea in Crosscanonby in Cumberland, England, when he married a local girl, Sarah Ann
HARRISON.[27] Their family totalled nine children.
·
John STEWART was baptised in 1852.
Somewhere in the
·
Agnes STEWART was baptised in 1856.
She was, like most young women, in domestic service as a very young
girl, and had a baby, Annabella, in about 1869.
The child was always referred to in the family as "Annie", and
was brought up as an additional child by Alexander and Annabella - not left on
the doorstep as were a striking number of foundlings during those
poverty-stricken years. Agnes later married. Young Annie always referred to
Thomas as "Uncle Tommy", not as a brother, and she was confirmed in
the Church of Ireland on 10th of June 1889.[29]
·
Annabella STEWART was baptised in 1856 and must have died in childhood,
so Agnes' illegitimate baby was named in her memory in the time-honoured
tradition.[30]
·
Thomas STEWART was baptised in 1858, and married Mary SWEENY. Their family is given in more details later.
·
Andrew STEWART was baptised in 1861, married Rhoda BENNETT and died on
the 11th of July 1939 in Fremantle Hospital, Western Australia.[31] These are my ancestors so more about them is
in written later.
·
Louisa STEWART was baptised on the 29th of April 1864.[32] She married William COOK of
·
Jane STEWART was baptised on the 18th of March 1867.[34] She married a William WALKER of Scotland and
had one son Alexander Stewart WALKER who served WW1, was a POW, returned to the
carpentry trade, then became a woodwork teacher in Bangor, married Madge and
had two sons who both went to QUB - Colin WALKER, was lecturing, and Alistair
WALKER of the Education Department. Both
have children.[35]
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Alexander STEWART died in Church
Street Bangor on the 18th of December 1885 aged 63 years. There is
a simple little headstone on the family plot in Bangor Abbey titled just
"A. STEWART" where both Alexander and his wife Annabella (nee
McRoberts) are buried. There are others of their
family buried beside them. In the
grave of Thomas STEWART and Mary (SWEENY) includes their son John, daughter
Annabella RAINEY and her husband Robert Martin RAINEY.[36] Alexander STEWART was a
religious man and was the first Superintendent of the Bangor Sunday School in
the early 1800’s.[37] |
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Bangor
Abbey and Graveyard
THOMAS STEWART and MARY SWEENY
Thomas STEWART was born in
1858, the 5th child of Alexander and Annabella, and he died on the 21st of July
1935, aged 75 years. He married in St
Patrick's, Coleraine, Londonderry on the 17th of August 1885 to Mary SWEENY.[38]
Mary was full aged and the
daughter of John SWEENY, a house agent of
Thomas STEWART built two
houses on the opposite side of
This artists impression of
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There is a story told by
aging Mary SWEENY to her young grand-daughter Belle RAINEY on how she met the
Stewart family, and is recounted by Belle.
“My gran, Mary, was a
parlourmaid in Lady Clanmorris’ household, one of the
local bigwigs of the day, and grandad Thomas was a trainee gardener on the
estate. Well, she said he was very sweet
on my grandad and decided that, with another little parlourmaid on their Sunday
off, they would take a stroll up
Thomas STEWART and Mary
(SWEENY) had six children, [42]
all born in
·
Thomas STEWART was born about 1886 and died as an infant.
·
John STEWART was born about 1888.
He was a postman of Bangor, ill for most of his life and died in a motor
accident on 27th of January 1931, aged 41 years. He was buried in the family plot in Bangor
Abbey.
·
Annabella STEWART was born on the 19th of May 1889, and died
on the 11th of June 1962, aged 73 years. She married Robert Martin RAINEY who was born
in 1897 and was badly injured, twice, during the First World War, and succumbed
to a flu epidemic on 31st of of January
1933, aged just 36 years. Both Anna and
Robert are buried in the family plot in Bangor Abbey Churchyard. Their four children were
·
Molly - died a few years ago
·
Thomas - lives in
·
Annabella (Belle) was born about 1928, married John GORDON and both
worked for the Post Office, with Belle in
·
Catherine (Renee) - lived next door to Belle in Croft Cottages, Bangor.
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James STEWART was born about 1895 and died in 1984. He was a postman. He married Eva SEAL (1898-1979), an English
girl who came to Bangor as a domestic servant aged about 17 years old. Their children were |
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Marion married Bob FENTON and lives in London. Their one daughter is Pat who is married to
Bryan NEVILLE in
·
Alexander lives in
·
Clifford lives in Zimbabwe and is married to Lorna and their daughters
are Shelagh and Alison.
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William STEWART was born about
1896, a postman married to Catherine (Cassie) McCLURE
and they have one child :- *
Kathleen |
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*
Minnie STEWART was born about 1898 but died as an infant.
JOHN STEWART - The Missing Branch
Another son of Alexander and
Annabelle named John ran away from home and only wrote once. Later his brothers Andrew and Thomas tried to
trace him but they ran out of luck when the trail ended up in
After their marriage, Andrew
and Rhoda Stewart migrated to the industrial shipbuilding area of Clydebank in
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*
Andrew W. Stewart born in 1884 and died 22nd of April 1954
at “Glendalough Hospital, Leederville, in Perth, WA.[46] *
Henry James Stewart born in 1886 in Glasgow, Scotland and was killed
in action 12th of October 1917 at Passchendale.[47] *
Louisa Catherine Emily Stewart born in 1888 and died 24th
of October 1967 in the USA.[48] *
William John Stewart born 1892 in Clydebank, Scotland and was killed
in action 6th of August 1915 at Gallipoli.[49] *
Alexander (Albert George) Stewart was born on the 25th
November 1893 at 1 Alexander Street, Clydebank,[50]
and died on the 26th of July 1965 in WA.[51] *
and two other sons, both who probably died in infancy. |
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Stewart Stewart
Stewart Andrew Rhoda
Stewart Snr Stewart William or Alexander
Stewart |
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The sons all found jobs on
the Clydebank shipyards. Andrew
Junior, the eldest child, was working on the Battle-cruiser
"AUSTRALIA" prior to his emigration to Australia. This was the first warship to be built for
the young nation's new navy, and as the flagship for the Royal Australian
Navy, arrived completed in Young Alexander - who was named just Alexander
Stewart in his official birth entry, generally used the name Albert, and
usually used George as another middle name - was apprenticed as Albert
Stewart in 1911 at the age of 17 years to the firm of shipbuilders 'Messrs
John Brown & Co Ltd'. He also
carried the necessary union card for the "United Society of Boiler
Makers & Ironside Miners" for the Yoker Branch, which he joined on
19th April 1912.[52] |
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Albert’s apprenticeship was
cut short when the family migrated in 1913.
The first half of the
family, comprising Andrew Stewart Snr and his two eldest sons, Andrew Jnr and
Henry James, migrated to Australia early in 1911, possibly landing at Albany,
(Did Henry James travel first?), and sought lands at Wadderin,
near Bruce Rock.[53]
THE LUKE FAMILY
The other part of the
Stewart family stayed in Clydebank, Scotland until the eldest daughter Louisa
Catherine Emily Stewart was married to Hugh McKee Luke on the 14th
of June 1912,[54]
and then they left for Australia.
Hugh McKee LUKE was born in
Clydebank, Scotland on the 28th of March 1884. Hugh and Louisa Luke stayed some years in
William Cameron LUKE married
Julia Virginia KNIPE on the 24th of November 1938 in
*
Robert Cameron Luke born on the 11th of August 1940
*
William Hugh Luke born on the 29th of April 1946.
There are six grandchildren of William and Julia
growing up in
Rhoda LUKE married Walter
Thomas COOPER on the 31st of August 1941 in Hempstead, New
York. Walter was also an aircraft
mechanic with Grumman Aircraft and Rhoda was an office manager at Capri
Beachwear. Rhoda and Walter had two children.
*
Barbara Louise COOPER was born on the 17th of October 1943
at Mineola, New York.
*
Thomas Hugh COOPER was born on the 6th of April 1953 in New
York.
There are three grandchildren of Rhoda and Walter
growing up in
After the LUKE marriage in
Clydebank in 1912, the rest of the Stewarts sailed to
They arrived at Fremantle on
3rd of July 1913. Rhoda was
accompanied by the two youngest sons William, then aged 20 and Alexander, aged
18. So the parents were now reunited, and with three remaining sons began to
carve a farm out of the Wadderin bushland.
PART 2 - The Immigrant
Also to arrive on the "BELGIC" that trip were the
family of Thomas and Jeannie Anderson with their daughter Elizabeth, and three
sons - William, Thomas Jnr and Charles.
The
KILSYTH ORIGINS - THE
Kilsyth is only a small town
in the foothills of the highlands, but it has grown up on one of the crossroads
in Scotland, just 19 kilometres North West of Glasgow, on the rail and the
canal links between Glasgow and Edinburgh.
It was a native settlement in the Bronze Age (2000 -800 BC) and in the
Iron Age (800 BC - 100 AD). The most
Northern frontier of Imperial Rome - the "Antonine Wall" completed in
142 A.D. - passed along what is now the Southern boundary of Kilsyth. This ancient line also formed part of the
"Highland Line" which divided Celt from Briton -
In more modern times Kilsyth
has been visited by outside armies moving through. In 1296, William WALLACE, the Braveheart, son
of a Renfrew knight, led a rebellion of small landowners of central
The next year another
English army under Edward I advanced into Scotland and was met at Falkirk, just
19 kilometres to the East of Kilsyth, in the Battle of Falkirk on the 22nd July
1298. Here the Scots, unsupported by the
nobility, had little cavalry and were totally defeated. Wallace escaped to seek aid from France, but
after his example the English could only occupy the South-East, as all of
Scotland continued the resistance.
The surge continued, now led
by Robert the Bruce, who met the English Army of 100,000 men face to face at
Bannockburn, about 16 kilometres North-East of Kilsyth, on the 24th June
1314. Though the Scots were heavily outnumbered,
they were completely victorious, and this signalled the beginning of the end of
English control over
By the very nature of the
struggle for freedom, many of the small landowners of the little hamlets around
Kilsyth would have been involved, and these were my forbears.
Kilsyth Barony, was formerly the estates of Monaebrock and Kelvesith owned by the Livingstone Family since around
1371, when the original House of de Callendar lost their estates supporting
English Kings. The settlement of Kilsyth
was formally founded around the hamlet containing the Parish Church on the 4th
October 1620 as a Burgh of Barony by Sir William Livingston, and granted feus
(town lots of land) to settle loyal tenants all paying feu-duty. Later, in 1679, the 2nd Viscount Kilsyth, Sir
James Livingstone expanded the town by establishing 45 new feus
During these formative times
Kilsyth was the site of confrontation.
In 1645, in the Battle of Kilsyth, Montrose and his wild highlanders
supporting Charles I, smashed the Covenanting Army of Scotland who sought to establish
stringent church controls through
Five years later in 1650,
Cromwell, having gained the upper hand in
Kilsyth in
Elizabeth CAMPBELL’s
family tree (4 generations only) (COTTON WEAVER)
8 WilIiam ANDERSON
B: 22 May 1811
P: Kilsyth,
(IRONSIDE
MINER) M:
4 William
B: 7 Mar1839
P: Kilsyth,
M:
P:
P:
(IRONSIDE
MINER)
2
Thomas ANDERSON
(COTTON WEAVER)
B:
P: Kirkwynd,
Kilsyth,
M:
P:
D: 17 Mar 1944 B:
P:
P: Head of Town, Kilsyth
11
Janet GILLIES
B:
P: Gateside, Kilsyth,
1
Elizabeth Campbell
B:
P:
D:
P:
B:
P: Kilsyth,
(COAL MINER) M: 28 May 1844
6 WilIiam ABERCROMBIE P:
B: 28 Oct 1844 D: 1869
P: Parkfoot,
Kilsyth,
M:
P: United Presb, Kilsyth,
(HOUSEKEEPER) P: Kilsyth,
3
Marion ABERCROMBIE
D: 1876/1881
B: 17
Mar 1868
P: Kilsyth,
P: U P
Close, Kilsyth,
D: abt.
1899 (COLLIER)
P:
Kilsyth,
(COTTON
WEAVER)
B: abt. 1825
7
Elizabeth CAMPBELL P: Kilsyth, Scotland
P: Kilsyth,
C:2 Feb1845
P:
B:
P: Kilsyth,
Thomas ANDERSON was born on the 10th of August 1869 in Kirkwynd,
Kilsyth to William ANDERSON, collier of Kirkintilloch and Margaret MORRISON of
Oldtown, Kilsyth.[63] His first marriage was on the 31st
of December 1891 in
Marion ABERCROMBIE was born on the 17th of March 1868 in Kilsyth to William
ABERCROMBIE, a collier of Kilsyth and Elizabeth CAMPBELL of Kilsyth.[65]
They had three children all born in Kilsyth:
*
Elizabeth Campbell Anderson was born on the 2nd of June 1892[66]
and died on the 22nd of October 1964 in 12 Ditcham St, Cottesloe,
WA.[67]
*
William Anderson born on the 21st of February 1895.[68] (died 1978 in WA)
*
Thomas Anderson born on the 30th of May 1898.[69]
Jeannie McPHERSON was born in Kilsyth on the
12th of August 1868 to Charles McPHERSON,
a forester of Kilsyth and Margaret PATERSON.
Thomas Anderson recorded the
births of Jeannie and their three children who were all born in Kilsyth in a
little “Motto Book” which he kept.[71]
*
Charles McPherson Anderson was born on the 20th of April
1901 in Kilsyth and died on the 7th of March 1981 in Western
Australia.
*
John McPherson Anderson born on the 9th of August 1903, and
died on the 14th of February 1904 in Kilsyth, Scotland.
*
Hugh McPherson Anderson was born on the 5th of April 1905,
and died on the 11th of November 1905 in Kilsyth, Scotland.
Unfortunately, only Charlie
survived infancy to accompany his parents, two half-brothers and his
half-sister to Australia.
The McPHERSON
family were
Elizabeth's in-laws, her step-mother's family, and links were kept between the
Kilsyth and Australian step-cousins. The sire of the family was John
ABERCROMBIE a farmer of 10 acres in High Banton, born 1800 in Oban, Argyle and
his wife Jean born 1801 in Muthill, Perthshire. They
raised a family of six children[72]
Part 3 IN NEW LANDS
The earliest migration
members of the Stewart family were granted leases at Wadderin,
near Bruce Rock on 8th of September 1911.[73] These were all in the Avon District around
250 kilometres East of Perth.
Location 18159 jointly to Andrew Snr, Andrew Jnr and
Henry James Stewart.
Location 21048 to Andrew Stewart Snr.
Location 18151 and 21047 to Andrew Stewart Jnr.
Location 20509 to Henry James Stewart.
Henry James Stewart (Harry)
didn't stay on the farm long. After all
he was born and grew up among the hustle and bustle of people and ships at
Clydebank, and Wadderin was a far cry from this
lifestyle. He was around 26 years old
and with itchy feet. According to
Charlie Anderson, about his brother-in-law: -
"Harry went off to ships and went down in the
coastal ship which turned turtle off the North-West."[74]
His drowning on the “SS Koombana” in 1912 doesn't fully ring true as later
details showed he survived any shipping mishaps and enlisted in the A.I.F,
although he probably did leave to go to sea as he was more comfortable on ships
than on the land.
The two families - the
Stewarts of Clydebank and the Andersons of Kilsyth - had become quite friendly en-route to Australia on board the "BELGIC" and
now began to form a close-knit group on the land at Wadderin,
with a lot of potential for expansion into neighbouring developments.
THEN WORLD WAR I ERUPTED
The three Stewarts enlisted,
and William Anderson (who was the only one of age in his family) also
joined. Both the younger Andersons were
too young for this war but later were to enlist for the Second World War.
William Stewart was killed
in Gallipoli and Harry Stewart was killed in Passchendale.
William John STEWART was single, just under 24 years old and was a
storekeeper who had completed a five-year apprenticeship in the Clydebank
Cooperative Society before emmigrating. He enlisted on the 9th of June
1915 at Blackboy Hill, WA. and being 5 foot 6 inches tall, 136 lbs, dark
complexion, dark brown hair and grey eyes he was passed fit (subject to his
teeth being put right) and taken on strength of the 7th Reinforcements for the
11th Battalion. His religion was Church
of England, and his only distinctive mark was a vaccination scar on his left
arm. After 6 weeks training at home, en-route and in Alexandria he was embarked in the “H.M.T. Merrima”
for the Dardanelles on the 1st of August 1915. He was taken onto
strength into the 11th Battalion on the 4th of August
1915 and killed in action just two days later, on the 6th of August
1915.[75]
The action that the 11th
Battalion was involved in on that day was the defence of “Leane’s Trench”,
which was a Turkish prepared fortification previously captured on the 1st
August by the 11th Battalion by using underground sapping - tunnelling forward
from Tasmania Post to attack. This
trench overlooked the area planned for the massive attack on Lone Pine in a few
days time so was a necessary Anzac strongpoint, and
the Turks also needed it to secure against a flank attack. Throughout the week between August 2nd and
6th, 3,900 more Anzac troops were landed, including many reinforcements for
frontline Battalions.[76]
“At
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Leane’s Trench The assault
came about dawn. Heavy fighting
followed another intense shelling and bombing of the trench, and the
Australian position was over-run. Hand
to hand fighting ensured and the Anzacs were being forced back, until
reinforced from Tasmania Post by two desperate charges led by Lieutenants
Procter and Franklyn, both at heavy cost to the troops who were mainly new
reinforcements. However, the position
was retaken. That day had cost the
Australians 55 killed and 100 wounded,[77]
and one of those killed was William John Stewart. |
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|
SHELL
GREEN CEMETERY
GALLIPOLI
|
|
STEWART, Pte. William John, # 2451. 11th Bn. Killed in
action 6th August
1915. Age 23. |
|
Son of Andrew
and Rhoda Stewart, of Wadderin, Bruce Rock, Western
Australia. Native of Clydebank, Scotland.[78] |
|
For his ultimate sacrifice
to his old and new country William was posthumously awarded the following
service medals,
|
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|
and his parents were sent a
memorial scroll, a memorial plaque, a photo of the grave in Shell Green
Cemetery and a pension of Ł 26 per annum granted as from the 7th of
October 1915.[79]
Henry James STEWART delayed joining up until after his younger brother William was killed,
and the other, Albert, had just embarked for Europe. He was single, a farmer and much older than
William at 29 years of age when he enlisted on the 14th of March
1916 at Blackboy Hill in WA. On the
same day he was passed fit at his medical in Merredin and was described as 5
foot 6 inches, 116 lbs, with dark complexion, dark hair and light blue eyes. He claimed the Church of England as his
religious denomination and his distinctive marks were tattoos on both arms.
Henry spent the first seven
months in Australia in the 7/15 Reinforcement and other Depot Battalions before
being attached to the 6/39th Battalion.
On 29th of December 1916 he embarked from Fremantle on the Persic and arrived in Devonport on the 3rd
of March 1917. After seven weeks spent
in the 10th Training Battalion, he was transferred to the 67th Battalion and
spent 4 months at Windmill Hill, Middlesex.
On the 25th of August 1917 he proceeded to Rouelles, France via Southampton and joined his unit, the
39th Battalion, in the field on 1st September 1917.
On the 12th of
October 1917 he was reported missing in action and his parents were duly
notified. However, his brother Albert,
recuperating from wounds in Portland, Dorset, was sent a card on 1st
of November 1917 from Base Records Office in London, to say Harry was well and
with his unit in France. Inquiries were
begun, which eventually found through a Court of Enquiry that Pte. Henry James Stewart, previously reported missing, had
been killed in action on the 12th of October 1917 at Passchendaele.[80]
Passchendaele, or the Third Battle of Ypres, was described by General Monash in a
letter to his wife on October 15th, about the fifth and final blow in the
Battle on the 12th October.[81]
“I was asked to make a total
advance of 1 and a half miles. The
weather grew steadily worse on October 10th and 11th. There was no flying and
no photographing, no definite information on the German redispositions,
no effective bombardment, no opportunity of replenishing our ammunition dumps:
and the whole of the country forward was literally a sea of mud, in most places
waist deep.”
They went in at dawn, and
after bitter fighting in the driving rain and deep mud, the Australian and New
Zealand 3rd Division reached the outskirts of Passchendaele village.
At the end of the day’s
operations, we had accomplished only about three-quarters of a mile of our advance,
being pulled up by the exhaustion of our men within 1,000 yards of the
village. My casualties have been rather
heavy, and will, I fear, exceed 2,000, but the display of gallantry and self devotion of the troops was altogether beyond praise.”
With in excess of 2000
casualties and many bodies mangled or missing in deep mud and it is not
surprising that little was known of the fate of Harry until months after the
engagement.
|
TYNE
COT CEMETERY PASSCHENDALE
|
|
STEWART, Pte. Henry James, #2894. 39th Bn A.I.F. Killed in action 12th of Oct
1917. Age 31. |
|
Son of Andrew and Rhoda
Stewart of Wadderin, Bruce Rock, Western Australia.
Born at Clydebank,
Glasgow, Scotland.[82] |
|
|
Like his younger brother William,
Harry was posthumously awarded the following service medals, and his parents
were sent the scroll, plaque and photograph of the grave in Tyne Cot Cemetery.
|
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Albert Alexander George
Stewart joined up on the 10th
August 1915, just four days after his brother William had been killed at
Gallipoli. His enlistment may have
been triggered by the family receiving the black edged telegram to advise
them of the death of his brother. He
was a farm hand, single and aged just under 22 years, when he enlisted at
Blackboy Hill, WA. In his medical he
was passed fit, and described as 5 ft 6 inches, 129 lbs, dark complexion,
dark brown hair and green eyes. He was
an Anglican and had no distinguishing marks. After training in the 7th
Reinforcements, he disembarked from Australia on the 16th of
February 1916, and going via Alexandria and Marseilles, joined the 28th Batallion of the 7th Brigade, at the front on 16th
of June 1916. He was wounded in action
on the 29th of July 1916.[83] At that time the
Australian Divisions were in the thick of the struggle for the Pozieres
village in the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front. At nightfall on July 28th the three
Australian Brigades of the 2nd Division took over the positions in the
forward area from the survivors of the 1st Division and prepared for the
assault. However, the Germans had
detected the preparations. After a very brief artillery
bombardment, the 5th Brigade, attacking South from the Bapaume Road, was
heavily engaged by enemy machine gunners when the advance began shortly after
midnight, the 7th Brigade, struggling through uncut wire entanglements,
wrenched at the iron stakes and tried to evade the obstructions but they too
were slashed by machine gun fire. They
still managed to capture part of the objectives, but most gains were lost
when the Germans counter attacked. The paltry gains cost the 2nd Division
3,500 men: killed, wounded or missing during the two days of building up to
the attack and the fury of the night itself.[84] opposite Pte A.A.G. STEWART No. 3272. 28th Battalion |
|
|
Albert Stewart was in the thick of that battle on the 29th
of July 1916 when he was riddled with shrapnel and picked out of a pool of his
own blood. He was admitted to the St
John Field Ambulance Hospital with wounds to his arm and right thigh. With his thigh wound classed as serious he
was embarked on the hospital ship H.S.
Dieppe for England and admitted to the Fifth Northern General Hospital in
Leicester on the 3rd of August 1916.
After eleven weeks he was discharged from hospital, given a
fourteen-day furlough in England, and then on the 13th of November
1916 joined the 7th Training Battalion at Rollestone
in the Salisbury Plains of Wiltshire. He
then spent over nine months at Rollestone, where one
highlight (or lowlight) was the forfeit of a day’s pay (5 shillings) for
neglecting to obey orders - being out of bounds at nearby Tilshead
on the 23rd of June 1917. He
was then marched out to No 2 Command Depot at the port of Weymouth on the 1st
of September 1917, and eight weeks later he found himself on the hospital ship H.S. A32 bound for home.
Albert was discharged medically unfit with Sinovitis
of his left knee on the 22nd of January 1918, and was on a permanent
part pension for the rest of his life.
He returned to the Wadderin farm, discharged
from the 28th Battalion, 7th Brigade, after almost two years abroad, and was
awarded the following service medals.[85]
|
|
|
The “NI” on the 1914/1915 Star stands for Not Issued as he arrived at
the Front Line just after 1915
William ANDERSON was a 20-year-old, single, horse driver in Harvey in Western Australia,
when he enlisted at Blackboy Hill into the AIF. His parents were living at
Harvey at that time, and since he was under 21 years of age his father had to
sign written consent for him to join the Expeditionary Force.[86]
|
|
|
On enlistment on 17th
of June 1915, he stated that he had served in the Light Horse Militia of
Western Australia for the previous two years.
He was taken on strength as Private #1663 into the 2nd
Reinforcements of the 28th Battalion. Then, probably because of his
riding experience, he was immediately transferred to the 2nd
Australian Driver Train with new number as Driver #8806 and left Australia on
HMAT Demosthenes on 22nd of July 1915 for training in Alexandria,
just five weeks after enlisting.
Following 8 months training
in Alexandria, he disembarked on “Marseilles” on 23rd of March 1916
into 20th Coy ASC from the Driver Train. He landed in France on 18th
of April 1916, and was tried in the Cycle Corps for a month but returned to his
20th Coy ASC unit, until being moved into Belgium from 5th
of January 1918. He did a few temporary attachments, and a few weeks leave in
both Paris and England, before being marched out to England on 13th
of February 1919 for return to Australia.
William Anderson returned to
Australia leaving Devonport on 24th of May 1919 on the “H.J.Castalia” and was discharged on 23rd
of July 1919 at Subiaco from the 20th Australian Army Service Corps.[87] His service medals were.
|
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WADDERIN - via EMU HILL.
Albert Alexander STEWART and
Elizabeth ANDERSON were married on the 31st of May 1919 in the Emu
Hill schoolhouse,[88] Family folk lore said this was the first
white marriage in the Wadderin District, but in
"The History of The Narembeen District" by Iris Bristow, there is a
photograph of the Randolph HILTON - Mary HITCHCOCK marriage in February 1914,
the first in Narembeen. The photo
includes Mr and Mrs STEWART (seniors) Andy STEWART and Albert STEWART and quite
a few unknowns.[89]
Emu Hill was the business centre for the early settlers of the area. Sir James Mitchell, Minister for Agriculture
declared the Eastern Wheatbelt open for settlement in 1909-1911. The localities of Emu Hill, East Kumminin and South Kumminin were
under the Greenhills Road Board until 1913.
They then fell under the East Avon Road Board (Bruce Rock) from the 17th
of January 1913 until June 1924. When
the licence for a hotel went to the nearby Narembeen Siding situated five
kilometres North of the town of Emu Hill in 1923, Emu Hill as a township site
died, and the Narembeen Road Board was gazetted in June 1924
In a book commemorating the
golden jubilee of Narembeen 1924-1974 by Mrs Iris BRISTOW, there is a
photograph of the first building in Narembeen taken in 1920 - the Kumminin District Farmer's Co-op, and standing as a group
in front are Mrs E. YEOMANS with baby (in arms) Bernie CUSACK, Mrs Albert STEWART and her daughter Jean (a
baby in arms), Mrs F. NOBLES and Hazel
HILTON (a standing child), Mrs and Mrs
Andy STEWART and Mr F. NOBLES.[90]
Andrew Stewart Jnr returned
to the farm after the war to join his brother Albert, but without brothers
Henry and William they lacked the manpower to clear the land and develop it
properly.
As it was not a success and
with poor seasons they could not afford to pay for labourers. The Anderson family moved to Maitland, NSW to
work in the mines, leaving Elizabeth with her husband Albert, who was seeking labouring
positions around the central wheatbelt during the lean post war years.
THE ANDERSONS DRIFT APART
|
The Anderson family left
from Fremantle on the 16th of December 1922 aboard the State Ship S.S. Katoomba bound for Newcastle and
the mining town of Maitland in NSW When Jeannie Anderson
died in Maitland on the 18th of April 1927 (1926?), the Anderson
family drifted apart, all eventually returning to Western Australia to seek
work around the state. |
|
|
Thomas Anderson junior returned
first and moved to Collie to work in the coal mines there. He remained a bachelor and died in Western
Australia.
Charles Anderson returned to
the Stewarts farm and stayed there while he worked nearby for Stan Bouren. (He
had to cross over Currell's property to get there.) He then worked on the construction of the Wadderin Dam which was begun about 1925 - 1928, to become
the Narembeen Water Supply. It was about
3 miles from Stewart's farm and water was often drayed from it later.[91]
He then moved back to Perth around 1929.
Charles ANDERSON was married
on the 4th August 1930 in Perth to Bertha BURNS[92],
who was born on 12th June 1911 at Dumfries, Scotland, and they had four
daughters -
*
Jean Anderson was born on the 29th of January 1931 at
Subiaco, WA. (#315/1931 Perth WA)
*
Barbara Anderson was born on the 7th of August 1932
(#2094/1932 Perth WA)
*
Heather Anderson was born on the 19th of December 1933 at
*
Margaret Anderson was born on the 5th of July 1935 at
Charles and Bertha were
living in the house next door to the Stewarts at 17 Athelstone Street, which
was near the Cottesloe flour mill, in 1931 and 1932.[93] They moved to a weatherboard house at about
number 24 in Hawkstone Street, North Cottesloe near the top of the hill around
1932. It was soon after this time when they moved to Pemberton.
Charlie also worked with
asbestos in Wittenoom but didn't talk much about it later due to the effect it
had on his health. He later worked on the
Kalgoorlie Pipeline and was part of the construction gang that laid it through
Narembeen. (Was this the later upgrade
of the pipe in ?) He was working at the
state sawmill at Pemberton on the outbreak of World War II.
Charlie Anderson enlisted in
Pemberton (Service Number W85872) He tried to get into the Airforce, was passed
fit, but while he was putting his pants back on, the doctor spotted a vein in
his right leg. He had to travel back to
Pemberton to get it removed but was then refused entry into the services when
he returned. He then got a job (arranged
by Alexander Stewart) for Pemberton Mills on a construction gang in the bush on
laying and repairing track. The family lived in Pemberton for some years. He
died in Sunset Hospital, Nedlands WA on 9th of March 1981.
Thomas Anderson Senior
returned to the state from NSW and at one time was a powder monkey on the
construction of the Harvey Weir. He died on 17th of March 1944, a
resident of Cottesloe.[94]
William Anderson returned to
WA, and married late in life to Annie Hendry, having no children other than
step-children.
Part 4
COTTESLOE - THE STEWARTS
Meanwhile with the Stewarts,
the farm at Wadderin was not a success. The lean years had not helped, even when
wheat was drayed from Narembeen to Kellerberrin to earn enough to help the
family get by. By the time the depression hit after the Wall Street Stock-market
Crash of 1939 they had deserted the farm.
Albert and Elizabeth Stewart
lived in one of the two houses on the farm while Andrew senior and Rhoda lived
in the other with Andrew junior. Young
Albert sought employment where he could get it, and their children were born in
different towns, mostly around the Wadderin area.
*
Jeannie Stewart was born on the 19th of February 1920 in
Merredin
*
Andrew Stewart III was born on the 17th of September 1922 at
Wadderin farm
*
Thomas Stewart (my father) was born on the 24th of February
1924 in Bruce Rock
*
Alexander Stewart was born on the 20th of November 1926
(#236/1926 Beverley WA)
*
William Stewart was born on the 5th of July 1928 in Dean St,
Cottesloe.
Andrew was born on the farm at Wadderin
where his grandmother Rhoda Stewart assisted with the birth.[95]
Andrew Jnr, who remained a bachelor for life, had
enough of farming by 1926, and moved to the metropolitan area to a dairy house
at 117 Broome Street in Cottesloe. The farm at Avon Location 18159 was
transferred to the administration of Rhoda Stewart and Albert Stewart on 1st
of February 1929.[96] Andrew Jnr worked as a labourer around
Cottesloe and districts, and when he died at "Glendalough" in
Leederville on 22nd of April 1954, aged 70, his residential address
was still in Cottesloe, at 185 Stirling Highway.[97]
The elder Stewarts, Andrew Snr and Rhoda moved around
1928 to the house at 114 Broome Street, Cottesloe that became their permanent
residence. They were living in this house in 1932 while he was working as a
labourer at St Louis College in Claremont. It was renumbered to become 164 in
about 1936.[98]
Albert and Elizabeth left the farm around 1928 and
also took up residence around Cottesloe at Dean Street. The farm was sold some
time later. From 1929 to 1930 their
address was 2 Ditcham Street, and Albert worked as a labourer. The family was in 2 Ditcham Street on 2nd
June 1929 when Jean and Andy bought home their Western Australian Centenary
medallions from school. Tom remembered that because he was five at the time and
just too young to be at school.[99] This house was the last on the street next to
the rolling sand dunes that became the Cottesloe Tennis Courts and beach
parking areas, and was apparently in disrepair, since after the Stewarts moved
out it remained vacant for some years.[100]
Around 1930, the family stayed in the 117 Broom
Street house of Andrew Stewart junior, almost directly opposite where Andrew
senior and Rhoda lived in 114. The house
at 117 Broom was a disused dairy house that still had the attached cool rooms
and sheds, so the dairy had not been closed for long. Just to the north of them the Irvine family
had a small farmlet on the corner of Broom and
Hawkstone Streets, where they kept geese for commercial use producing eggs and
meat for the dinner table of the well-to-do.[101]
Some years later around 1948 when he was a young
child of about 4 years, Colin Benporath, grandson of Albert and Elizabeth, was
living with his parents Jean and ‘Ben’, who then occupied the deceased great
grandparents old house, now numbered 164 Broom Street. Colin was told not to go over the road to
play on the sand next to the old dairy.
He was found in the sand by his mum Jean a short time later, and smacked
home. He always insisted he didn’t go
over the road, but went under it through the storm water drain.[102]
Following the time at residence in 117 they lived
further South in Broom Street, next to the area where the Cottesloe Tennis
Courts are situated now. Their house
fronted Broom Street but had no other houses to the rear and the block to the
South of them was just lots of sand hills.
Tom remembers the next move was to 8 Ditcham Street because it was close
enough for all the furniture to be carried by hand down the access path beside
the sand hills between Broom and Ditcham Street that is still in use today.[103]
Following this 8 Ditcham Street time they lived in
for a while in Margaret Street.
By 1931 the family were living at 19 Athelstan
Street, Cottesloe, with the house next door at 17 Athelstan Street being
occupied by Charles and Elizabeth Anderson and Thomas Anderson, labourer
(senior or junior?).[104] These houses were the last in the street next
to the office of the Flour Mill, so the mill would have featured in the playing
arena of the children. From this house
in 19 Athelstan Street, Tom was sent off
for his first school day at the North Cottesloe State School (in Eric Street)
to join his elder sister and brother.[105]
Andy remembers that he went to North Cottesloe Primary for years 1 to 4, but
went to Cottesloe Primary School for years 5 to 7, before going to North
Fremantle High School on a scholarship.[106]
Later Bill and Alex would follow to North Cottesloe State School, and in the
next generation also the children of both Jean and Tom (including me) attended
North Cottesloe. Bill’s children went to
nearby Swanbourne Primary School.
|
By 1936 they had moved
into their permanent residence of 12 Ditcham Street, directly behind the
Ocean Beach Hotel. The house was
originally named "BATHURST" with the front and side verandahs being enclosed with white-washed crossed wooden
lattice. Many early photos of the
family were taken on that front verandah so have
this white crossed lattice backing. Thomas Anderson senior at
the front door of 12 Ditcham Street |
|
As the family grew, and the five children needed
more space, the lattice front was more solidly enclosed with a covering of
weatherboard and louvres converting the verandahs to
bedrooms.
The elder Stewarts remained in 164 Broome Street,
with Andrew Stewart junior. In 1938
Albert and Elizabeth and their young family of five children were joined at 12
Ditcham Street by Elizabeth’s brother Thomas Anderson.[107]
The following photograph was taken about this time,
circa 1938 at the back of 164 Broom Street
Elizabeth Rhoda Andrew Andrew Albert Thomas
Campbell STEWART STEWART STEWART Alexander ANDERSON
STEWART (Bennett) senior junior George junior
(Anderson)
STEWART
Andrew Stewart Snr was a retired farmer when he died
in Fremantle Hospital on the 11th July 1939, aged 80 years,[108]
and his wife Rhoda Stewart also died in Fremantle Hospital on the 28th December
1945, aged 89 years,[109]
and they are buried together in the Anglican Cemetery at Karrakatta, WA.
Andrew Snr was probably still in contact with the
ties of his youth in Northern Ireland for it is known that Andrew Jnr was later
in receipt of mail in Cottesloe, as an "Orangeman" either as a
continuation of his father’s mail, or as an active member himself.
Albert and Andrew junior worked as labourers around
the metropolitan area. Some jobs involved cycling from Cottesloe to Pinjarra to
work by hand shovelling the drainage ditches, then return - a distance of over
50 km daily. Those massive 1930’s
labouring jobs put manpower to work clearing the marshland out the back of
Canning Vale through to Pinjarra.[110]
BILL WAS
BURIED ALIVE.[111]
Growing boys need a lot of space, and it was
inevitable that there would be some problems.
It was late in the afternoon on a Saturday probably in 1934. Some Italian men had been excavating the
rolling sand dunes between Eileen Street and the magnificent mansion of Claud
De Benales (which is now the Cottesloe Civic Centre),
in order to level the ground to build Napier Street and the Cottesloe Tennis
Club. The main part of the work was being done by a horse and scoop.
Quite a lot of sand had been shifted, leaving an
almost vertical bank - ideal for boys to slide down. The Stewart boys, Andy,
Tom, Alex and young Bill, joined by the brothers Jim and Peter Morgan, were
doing just that when the bank caved in. Probably it was Bill, being the
youngest at six years old, who was bringing up the rear in this escapade when
it collapsed.
As the sand buried him the other boys tried to dig
him out, but were unsuccessful, so one had the presence of mind to shove in a
stick where they though he was buried and they ran to fetch the Italian men
from the work party. Another ran to nearby Broome Street and hailed the first
car, and as luck would have it, it was the director of the Perth Children's
Hospital. Bill doesn’t remember how long he was buried, but he thinks he was
under for a few minutes, and he regained full consciousness in the car on the
way to Fremantle Hospital.
The other boys all trooped home very shaky, white
and subdued, having been told by the policeman not to say anything to their
mother until he arrived. Meanwhile the
Morgan boys rushed home to tell their Granny and she said "Good gracious!
Does his mother know what's happened?
Jim said, "No. Our teacher says you shouldn't
give anyone a shock on an empty stomach, so we're waiting 'till she's had some
tea."
The policeman duly turned up and told his
story. Bill's mum went to visit him in
Hospital the next day and found him happily reading comics and enjoying all the
attention. He stayed there for two or
three days. However, it was Tom who got
the publicity when he ended up with his photograph on the front page of the
Sunday Times.
With the coming of the
Second World War, Albert Stewart and Bill Anderson aged 46 and 44 respectively
and both quite actively involved in labouring jobs, joined up in the Australian
Army Labour Corps.
Albert Alexander George
Stewart enlisted at Perth on the 25th September 1940 in the 20th Employment
Platoon, being examined and passed "Fit for Class I" Service, a
46-year-old labourer formerly of the 28th Battalion. He was stationed at Karrakatta. Twelve months later on the 5th September 1941
he was appointed as Lance Corporal in the W/C Labour Company also stationed at
Karrakatta. And then another eight
months later was promoted to acting Corporal on the 28th May 1942 in the 5th
Labour Corps.
On the 20th September 1942
he arrived in Townsville, Queensland, and on the 17th October 1942,
he disembarked from H.M. Transport #1850
in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
Albert Stewart and Bill Anderson were there together to build railways
and roads in Port Moresby. However,
after three months (101 days) in the tropics, an arthritis - Synovitis of the
left knee - had Albert reclassified by the medical board as Class B. This was the same medical problem that
discharged him from the 28th Battalion over 25 years previously. He returned to Cairns in Queensland on 24th
January 1943. The families were told by
Albert and Bill that it was when their true ages were discovered that they were
posted back from New Guinea. (Did Bill
get transferred back to the Swanbourne Rifle Range Labour Corps).
On his return posting to Australia,
Albert managed to stay in the Labour Corps in Queensland for nearly two years
and was seen in Townsville as he was passing in his troopship by his son Tom
from his destroyer HMAS Warramunga. Another of Albert’s sons, Andy, was also in
Brisbane on Naval Tug HMAS Heros at
about the same time, and this photo bears testimony to the reunion to the three
members of the family on the other side of Australia as each passed on in a
different direction.[112]
For the next twenty months
Albert moved between Townsville, Brisbane and Warwick, and in October 1943,
after 24 days leave in Claremont, WA. returned to Queensland and immediately
applied in January 1944, to revert to a private at his own request. He then returned to Western Command, WA. in
September 1945 to be discharged on 13th October 1945. Albert had completed 1845 days full time war
service. (over 5 years). His service
medals were The 1939/45 Star, The Pacific Star, The War Medal and The
Australian Service Medal.[113] These were to add to his
service medals of the First World War.
His eldest son Andy was also
in the Navy, on the Naval Tug HMAS Heros out of Brisbane for the first part of
the war. He was later on the Corvette
HMAS Lismore in South Africa where he was hospitalised with TB, and returned to
Australia.
TOM'S
ENLISTMENT IN THE NAVY
At the outbreak of World War II in September
1939, Tom was fifteen so was too young to join up. So as he approached the legal age to enlist,
he applied to get into the Navy like his elder brother Andy. Australia had conscription for young fit men,
and since his application for the Navy had not been accepted in time, he was
called up into the Army. His call‑up
papers arrived and instructed him to report to the army recruitment centre on
such and such a day.
A few days after beginning his army career at
Bushmead his acceptance papers into the Navy arrived at home and were passed on
to him. He immediately asked for a
transfer but was refused with,
"You're
too late. You're in the Army
now."
There has always been some friction between the
Army and the Senior Service.
There he would have stayed had he not telephoned
the Naval Recruitment Officer to advise them that he was unable to get
there. He was immediately told. “You
tell that Army Commander that if you are not down here by the enlistment time
that an armed escort would be despatched to fetch you
here”. The army didn’t argue so Tom
marched off to his Naval posting where he spent the war years on destroyers and
corvettes in the South-West Pacific. He had served for 17 days in the Army,
according to his official Discharge Papers.
He was an ‘Asdic Operator’ on the “HMAS Warramunga”
operating out of Queensland ports - Brisbane, Cairns and Townsville ‑ the
"Cock of the North". She was a
Tribal Class destroyer patrolling to the North of Australia and attached to the
American Seventh Fleet for the conflict in New Guinea and the Carolinas. He remembers some of the actions included the
bombing of the Gasmata airport on Christmas Eve 1943,
and the landings in Itape and the Admiralty
Islands. After each successful run, the
ship would enter harbour with a bagpiper on the ship’s bows playing “Cock of
the North”.
After some additional training early in 1945,
Tom was posted to the Flotilla Leader Corvette “HMAS Mildura”, and spent twelve months on minesweeping and convoy
escorting around Australia and the Seventh Fleet. By the end of the war the Mildura had clocked up more sea miles
than any other Australian Warship.[114]
Towards the end of hostilities the HMAS Mildura was transferred to the
British Pacific Fleet, and joined battleship HMS Anson, carrier HMS
Indomitable, a cruiser and destroyers to enter Hong Kong Harbour and accept
the official Japanese surrender. As
flotilla leader, Mildura led the
corvettes to clear any mines from the channel to allow the British Fleet to
enter, but they were ordered by the Japanese behind their big guns not to try
entering Hong Kong. Rear Admiral
Harcourt had orders to keep going in. Signals
from the Japanese were “You are approaching dangerous waters” - ignored, “Stop
immediately” - ignored, and then finally to the Fleet “Send a rescue ship for
your leading crew. It has gone too far.”
HMAS Mildura was ordered to
keep advancing. and all aboard were very uneasy while approaching, looking
straight into the barrels of those big Japanese naval guns, for what seemed an
eternity. But
it seemed they had called the bluff of the Japanese authorities, for they
entered Hong Kong Harbour without a shot being fired, and the rest of the fleet
moved over the horizon and followed in.
There were some lighter times in their occupation
duties when they steamed 20 miles down the coast to capture a brewery. The Japanese there handed over their rifles
and Mildura returned to Hong Kong
with crates and crates of what proved to be very inferior beer.[115]
A major disaster almost occurred that day. A trolley that was loaded with kegs
of beer was being pushed towards the jetty when it got away. There were beer
barrels and bodies flying everywhere, a potential for carnage greater than
enemy action, but luckily no one was seriously hurt.
NANNA and POP
Elizabeth and Albert are dearly remembered by their
families of children and grandchildren as Nanna and Pop, living in the house in
12 Ditcham Street.
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Nanna was a jovially happy, smiling lady, short
and dumpy, an excellent cook and a very devoted mother. She enjoyed a flutter at the trots, a good
joke and was always knitting or crocheting something for a child or a new
baby. She used to make 'Tottie Scones' (potato pancakes)
whenever it was found out that a new baby was on the way. These were cooked
in flat cakes on the griddle (which she called the 'girdle') over the fire in
the old wood stove. They were stacked
one on top of the other until there were enough to go all around, then
buttered and eaten with gusto. She was
a fantastic pastrycook and used a slab of marble for rolling out the 'paste'. |
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She spoke with a broad Scots brogue that had never
seemed to diminish, and some of her well remembered remarks were,
"Ill cloot y' tween the un"
and "Damn and blast y' wee booger o hell".
Her boys were forever teasing Nanna and she took it
all in good part and gave as good as she got.
Pop was always quiet. he enjoyed his smokes and his crosswords and
was a prolific reader. He was very proud
of the four boys in their capacity of Surf Life Savers and also enjoyed a drink
or two with the boys at the Ocean Beach Hotel across the road.[116] He was slight in build and gaunt in
features. He worked for the Cottesloe
Town Council as a gardener and labourer until he retired, and never seemed to
be very strong, a legacy of his First War injuries. When Nanna died at home on the 22nd October
1964,[117] Pops heart broke, and he lasted just a few
months, dying in Fremantle Hospital in July 1965. They were buried together in the
Congregational section of Karrakatta Cemetery.
THE NORTH COTTESLOESURF LIFESAVING CLUB
Being raised so close to the
beach during the many moves in Cottesloe and then in their permanent residence
at 12 Ditcham Street (now called Gadsdon Street) ,
the teenage daughter and four growing young sons of the Stewart family grew up
in the waves to become stalwarts of the nearby North Cottesloe Surf Life Saving
Club.
The four Stewart boys at North Cottesloe
Surf Club
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Andy Tom Alec Bill
Jean's husband Horace Benporath (Russ) had the
State's first hard surfaced surfing board.
All models before this were canvass covered. He gave this board to his brother-in-law Tom
who proudly rode the board in surf patrols, storing it at the clubhouse, but it
was eventually stolen from the club.
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W.A.'s
First hard surfboard Tom Stewart aboard
The Stewarts contributed no small part to the
growing surf club and the club formed a great part of the family for many
years. All members of the family spent
many, many hours at the beach, and then later relaxing upstairs in the
clubrooms for a Sunday Afternoon keg or at a ‘session’ of the nearby Ocean
Beach Hotel (O.B.H.) I remember as a
kid with various cousins at different times, exploring and running through the
cool corridors of the magnificent old O.B.H. building - old even then in the
middle fifties. Or we were left
partially unattended on the beach to collect bottles for pocket money, or to
continue swimming, for all the children were very competent wave swimmers. And there were always club members around
keeping an eye out on the kids of the club.[118]
Tom Stewart had been in the club for over fifty years and held the position of
Treasurer for ten years until he died in January 2000. He was keenly involved
in the club’s aggressive expansion in the early 90s, with all its commensurate
issues. During
these fifty years he was Captain of the club for five seasons from 1946/1947
through until 1950/1951, and was part of the
State
Champion Senior Beach Relay Team in 1951
Max
CARTER Alan RICH Tom STEWART Laurie RUSSELL
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The combination of Laurie Russell, Alan Rich and Max
Carter formed the core of the senior beach relay team for nine consecutive
State Champions from 1948/1949 to 1957. Tom Stewart joined them for four consecutive titles from 1948/1949
until 1952. In 2010 the North Cottesloe beach relay team (1949 to 1957) was
inducted into the SLSWA sporting hall of fame.[119] In 1996 the North Cottesloe
Surf Club elected Tom to the position of Life Member of the club.
Off to a surf carnival 1940’s – Jo and Tom above the
wheel
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While Tom was the beach runner, Bill was the oarsman
in the family and rowed in State's Champion Senior Surf Boat crew in the years
1948/1949 and 1949/1950, and again in 1954/1955.119
Winning Boat Crew State Surf Titles c1948/1949 standing A.W. (Bill) KIDNER, R.B. McKENZIE Ken CAPORN sitting Kevin LANGLANDS
Bill STEWART |
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The story behind the boat crew's success were two young
professional fishermen at Cottesloe, who worked in the waves for years. They
both tried to join the Cottesloe surf club, but were knocked back, so joined
North Cottesloe. They both knew how to ride their dingy in through the surf to
shore, so North Cottesloe was able to use this experience to become the top
boat crew for years.
Andy
Stewart was a swimmer and would get his day of glory earlier than most. In the
1939/1940 State championship carnival, the all-important senior R&R team
was short a member when Lou Oberman pulled out on the day of the competition.
Oberman was a prodigious swimmer, who had won the surf belt race title three
years running, on one occasion when the sea was so rough, he was the only
competitor to make it out to the buoy. Andy, still a junior, was promoted into
the senior team at the last minute. He had a huge pair of shoes to fill, made
even more daunting when he drew the patient swim in the morning and belt swim
in the afternoon. North Cottesloe won both the senior and junior State Titles
that year and Andy was in both teams.119
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1940 - In front of the club
rooms Andy STEWART Gyp GRENVILLE Len CAVANAGH |
The
following year, 1940/1941, Andy was in the State Champion Senior R&R team,
with younger brother Tom in the State Champion Junior R&R team. They were
then together in the Champion Junior Surf Teams Race for that same carnival.119
Andy
Stewart contracted tuberculosis during his war service and spent 10 months in
hospital in Columbo before being discharged as medically unfit. He returned to
his old club but was unable to compete anymore so he moved on to the committee,
where he served several years as handicapper for swimming events, two years as
Secretary of the club from 1946 until 1948, and Patrol Officer in 1947/1948
before moving away from the Cottesloe area. Before leaving, however, Andy and a
number of his mates helped found an institution that would keep many former
North Cottesloe members in contact with one another for another four decades.119
The modern descendants of the Stewarts and Andersons
families are now spread throughout the length and breadth of the state, with a
few of the Anderson descendants who have moved interstate. Louisa Luke's family is now spreading
throughout the United States.