Jennifer Kay Lloyd (1944-2022)
by Laurie McLean March 2022
Jenny Lloyd.
A Lloyd family image.
Jennifer Kay Rosie was born on 29 January 1944 in the Hutchinson Hospital at Gawler East in South Australia; Doctors Rice and Dawson attended. Some information on Hutchinson Hospital is provided at Appendix A. Jenny was the first of the 2 children born to William John (Jack) Rosie (1917‑2005) and his wife Jessie Pearce (Mic) Rosie née Carr (1915-2000). Jenny’s younger sibling was her brother John who was born circa 1950. Jenny’s father was a South Australian Police officer and her mother was a primary school teacher. Jenny’s parents, Jack Rosie and Jessie Carr married on 10 January 1942 at the Holy Trinity Church of England, North Terrace Adelaide; Reverend Reginald Fulford (1892-1945) officiated.
The town of Jenny’s birth, Gawler, is about 40 kilometres north-east of central Adelaide and is the oldest inland town in South Australia. At Gawler, the Rosie family lived at 20 Cowan Street, opposite the Gawler Police Station, near the north-western edge of the Gawler shopping strip.
On a 1939 electoral roll, Jenny’s mother Jessie Carr was listed as a teacher residing at Elliston on the Eyre Peninsula about 370 kilometres north-west of Adelaide. On a 1941 electoral roll, Jessie Carr was listed as a teacher residing at the Murray River town of Mannum about 70 kilometres east of Adelaide.
On electoral rolls for 1939 and 1941, Jenny’s father Jack Rosie was listed as a Police Constable residing at Mannum. On a 1943 electoral roll Jessie and Jack Rosie were listed as residing at 20 Cowan Street Gawler as home duties and Police Constable, respectively. (During research for this article, the Rosie family was not discovered on electoral roll listings after 1943.)
Prior to commencing primary school, Jenny and her parents moved to Robe on South Australia’s Limestone Coast about 300 kilometres south-east of Adelaide. Here Jack Rosie was a Police Sergeant. The 4-years old Jenny was living at Robe in October 1948 when she had her tonsils removed at the Millicent Hospital, about 70 kilometres south-east of Robe. (Reported in a Robe district news item in The South Eastern Times (Millicent) on 15 October 1948, page 3.)
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Jenny’s parents Jack Rosie and Jessie Carr on their wedding day 10 January 1942.
Image from family tree on Ancestry web site.
About Jenny Rosie’s parents and grandparents
Jenny’s mother Jessie Pearce Carr was born at North Adelaide on 3 April 1915. Jessie was the fourth of the 4 children born to William James Pearce Carr (1891-1918) and his wife Emma Mary Ann Carr née Blackmore (1892-1965). Jessie’s 3 older siblings were Florence Maud (1910-1977), Lillian Jean Irene (1911-1992), and William Frederick (1913-1988).
Jessie Rosie died on 17 November 2000 at the Masonic Village, 91 Diagonal Road, Somerton Park; about 10 kilometres south-west of central Adelaide; she was 85 years of age. Jessie Rosie’s funeral service was held at the Florey Chapel, Centennial Park Cemetery, Pasadena on 22 November 2000; commencing at 2:00 pm. Afterwards her cremated remains were interred in Plot 40 in the Charles Newman Rose Bed at Centennial Park Cemetery.
Jenny’s maternal great grandparents
Jenny Rosie’s maternal great grandmother was Eliza Teale (1864-1944) who was born on 2 May 1864 at Leeds in Yorkshire. In 1876, Eliza and her older sister Jane were listed as arriving in Adelaide as 12 and 13 year old servants. Eliza gave birth to a son, George Teale, at Thebarton (an inner north-east Adelaide suburb) in December 1887 but he died in January 1888; no father was listed. On 28 February 1889 at the Anglican Church at Kiata (about 14 kilometres east of Nhill in western Victoria), Eliza Teale married James Pearce Carr (circa 1860-1942), then a farmer at Kiata. Eliza was then a 25-year old housemaid at Kiata.
Jenny Lloyd’s maternal great grandmother Eliza Teale.
Enhanced image from family tree on Ancestry web site.
Eliza and James’ marriage certificate recorded that James Carr was 29 years of age and was born at Wicklow in Ireland. Eliza and James Carr’s marriage did not endure. The South Australian Police Gazette of 28 June 1893 (on page 3) promulgated the arrest of James Pearce Carr for deserting his wife and children. However, given sons Norman (August 1894) and Reighman (October 1895) were born subsequently, Eliza and James must have had some reconciliation although not enduring in the longer term.
In 1902, James Carr married Beatrice Jane Sims (1874–1931) at Northampton in Western Australia; there were 3 children from their marriage. Beatrice already had 4 children from her earlier marriage to Edward Thomas Ridley (1870–1902). (Beatrice was born in Perth in 1874 to Godfrey Charles Knight and his wife Sarah Jane née Beattie; how Beatrice took the surname Sims was not discovered during research for this article.) For his marriage to Beatrice Sims, James Pearce Carr appended the surname Coonan. In Western Australia, James Pearce Carr Coonan had worked as a gardener and as a miner. He died at Northampton on 27 April 1942.
On 20 November 1907, at her residence in the inner northern Adelaide suburb of Prospect, Eliza Carr married William O'Neill (1861–1926); the Reverend William Hawke officiated. It seems that Eliza’s first husband had been legally declared dead even though he did not die until 1942; possibly after again deserting his family. Eliza and William O’Neill’s marriage certificate indicated Eliza was then a widow. (Also on the 1917 London marriage certificate of Eliza’s second son Fred Carr, his father, James Pearce Carr, was listed as a deceased miner.) There were no children from Eliza and William O’Neill’s marriage. Further information on Eliza Teale and her first husband is provided at Appendix B.
Eliza O’ Neill died on 4 August 1944 at Adelaide, she was 80 years of age. Eliza was survived by her only surviving child, son, Reighman Carr who then resided at Gilberton, an inner northern suburb of Adelaide. Prior to her death, Eliza O’ Neill resided in Union Street in the inner eastern Adelaide suburb of Stepney. Eliza O’Neill’s funeral service was held on 5 August 1944 in the chapel of funeral director Claude Trevelion at 58 Magill Road Norwood; it commenced at 3:20 pm and the Venerable Archdeacon Weston officiated. Afterwards Eliza’s remains were conveyed to Adelaide’s West Terrace Cemetery.
More on Jenny’s maternal grandparents and great grandparents
Jenny’s maternal grandparents William Carr and Emma Blackmore married on 11 February 1910 at the Holy Trinity Church of England, North Terrace Adelaide. Sadly, William Carr was killed in action during World War I at Villiers-Bretonneux in France on 8 August 1918. At the time of his death William Carr was a Company Sergeant Major with the 27th Infantry Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force; for more information see Appendix C.
Jenny Rosie’s maternal grandmother, Emma Mary Ann Blackmore, was born at Lyndoch on 22 January 1892, she was the fourth of the 6 children born to William Rodgers Blackmore (1863-1941) and his wife Paulina Emma Martha Blackmore née Kalms (1861–1911). William Blackmore and Paulina Kalms married on 14 April 1884 at Carey Gully in the Adelaide Hills about 16 kilometres south-east of the city. The Blackmore’s other 5 children were John William (1885-1948), Charles Henry (1887-1952), Carl Friederich (1889‑1964), James Albert (1893-1947), and Elsie May (1896-1960).
William Rodgers Blackmore was born on 26 June 1863 at St Germans, Cornwall. He died on 10 March 1941 at North Adelaide, at 77 years of age. Paulina Emma Martha Kalms was born on 19 August 1861 at Lyndoch in South Australia’s Barossa Valley about 60 kilometres north-east of Adelaide. Paulina died on 30 September 1911 at North Adelaide, she was 50 years of age.
In Adelaide on 5 October 1920, at 28 years of age, William Carr’s widow Emma married Victorian-born Alfred Henry Jewell (1889-1962) who was later working as a cabinet maker (1939 and 1941) and a motor body builder (1943) in suburban Adelaide. There was 1 child from their marriage, daughter Mary Yvonne, who was born on 30 January 1922 at the inner eastern Adelaide suburb of Rose Park. Emma Mary Ann Jewell died on 7 October 1965 at Adelaide, she was 73 years of age.
More on Jenny’s father
Jenny Rosie’s father William John (Jack) Rosie was born on 25 February1917 at Petersburg (now called Peterborough) in South Australia’s mid-north about 220 kilometres from Adelaide. Jack was the second of the 5 children born to John Robert Power Rosie (1884–1959) and his wife Kate Garrett Rosie née Cole (1887–1955).
Jack Rosie’s siblings were: Donald Leith Rosie (1913-1914), Robert D'arcy Rosie (1919-1956), Sinclair Garrett Rosie (1921-2014), and Bruce Alfred Rosie (1925–1991). Following a period on probation, Jack Rosie was appointed to the South Australian Police Force on 5 January 1939.
Jack Rosie died on 20 December 2005 at the Masonic Village, Somerton Park; he was 88 years of age. Jack Rosie’s funeral service was held at the Centennial Park Cemetery, 760 Goodwood Road Pasadena on 28 December 2005. Afterwards Jack’s cremated remains were interred with those of his late wife Jessie in Plot 40 in the Charles Newman Rose Bed at Centennial Park Cemetery.
About Jenny’s paternal grandparents and great grandparents
Jenny’s paternal grandfather John Robert Power Rosie was born at Jamestown South Australia on 12 February 1884 to Donald Rosie (1849-1925) and his wife Mary Rosie née McCallum (1854-1932). Jamestown is in South Australia’s mid‑north region about 200 kilometres north of Adelaide. Donald Rosie was born at Wick, Caithness on the North Sea coast in Scotland’s north-east on 23 February 1849 and died at Jamestown on 7 July 1925 at 76 years of age.
Jenny’s paternal great grandmother Mary McCallum was born at Glasgow on 26 November 1854 and died at Jamestown on 21 January 1932 at 77 years of age. Donald Rosie and Mary McCallum married in Glasgow on Mary’s 21st birthday, 26 November 1875.
John Robert Power Rosie was the fourth of his parents 10 children; all were born in South Australia; indicating that the Rosies had immigrated to Australia no later than 1878. John Rosie’s siblings were: Catherine Ann (1878–1970), Donald (1880–1881), Elizabeth Jessie (Bessie) (1882–1943), Sinclair Archibald (1885–1916), David William (1887–1889), Robert Richard (1889–1914), Olive Lilly (1891–1984), William James Gordon (1893‑1959), and Charles Alexander (1897–1974). Jenny’s paternal grandparents John Rosie and Kate Cole married on 3 December 1912 at St James Church of England in Jamestown.
John Robert Power Rosie served briefly and at short notice as a Lieutenant with the Australian Imperial Force during World War I. John had earlier spent 14 years in the Volunteer Forces including 8 years as an officer in the Citizen Forces. Circa 12 October 1916, at age 32 years, he was commissioned at Adelaide in the AIF’s Sea Transport unit. Lieutenant Rosie served as the Quartermaster, Adjutant and officer-in-charge of troops on HMAT A30 Borda for a troop transport journey to England. The Borda departed Sydney on 17 October 1916 and arrived at Plymouth on 1 January 1917. Lieutenant Rosie returned to Australia on HMAT A72 Beltana that departed Plymouth on 17 March 1917 and arrived at Adelaide on 12 May 1917. Lieutenant Rosie’s appointment was terminated on 13 May 1917. For his war service, Lieutenant Rosie was awarded the British War Medal.
John Rosie managed the undertaking business that had been established by his father Donald who was a carpenter by trade. D Rosie & Son undertakers operated at Jamestown and Terowie (about 30 kilometres east of Jamestown). In 1948, John Rosie was elected as a councillor for Leamington Ward on Jamestown Council. In 1950, John Rosie was an undertaker trading as J & G Rosie (late AIF), Jamestown. John Robert Power Rosie died at Jamestown on 18 October 1959; he was 75 years of age. His remains were buried at Jamestown Cemetery with those of his late wife (Section B, Row F, Plot 6).
Jenny’s paternal grandmother Kate Garrett Rosie née Cole was born at Port Lincoln, South Australia on 27 April 1887. Kate Rosie died at Jamestown on 12 February 1955 at 67 years of age. Her remains were buried at Jamestown Cemetery (Section B, Row F, Plot 6).
Jenny’s school days
Jenny Rosie attended the Black Forest Primary School in South Road Black Forest, about 4 kilometres south-west of the Adelaide city centre. Later Jenny attended the Unley High School in Kitchener Road Netherby, about 5 kilometres south-east of the Adelaide city centre. Jenny usually rode her bicycle to school accompanied by her friend Dianne.
Early employment
Some of Jenny Rosie’s early employment was in the advertising industry in Adelaide from the 1960s. Jenny’s known advertising work included service with the following organisations:
· Retailer David Jones.
· Adelaide commercial radio station 5AD which had commenced broadcasting in the early 1930s and was initially owned by Advertiser Newspapers who also owned Adelaide television station ADS-7 from 1959 to 1986.
· Advertiser Max Creasy who had established the Creasy and Bleaney Advertising Agency in 1953 that then operated from premises at 85 Gouger Street Adelaide.
During her time with the advertising industry in Adelaide, Jenny Rosie met and became life-time friends with Christine (Kitty Joy) Barclay (1942-2012). Kitty was born in Adelaide on 2 October 1942 and sadly died in Melbourne on 8 September 2012, at 59 years of age. Kitty was the second of the 3 children born to John Thomas Evaine Barclay (1913–1944) and his wife Joyce Raynor Barclay née Pound (1915-2008). John Barclay was an analytical chemist who was born in West Virginia but studied in Adelaide. Joyce Pound was born at Beulah Park in inner eastern Adelaide and had been an infectious diseases nurse.
By the mid-1970s Jenny Rosie had moved to Melbourne where she worked as a secretary with a record company. On a 1977 electoral roll, Jenny was listed as a secretary residing at Unit 1, 134 Inkerman Street St Kilda. Jenny’s unit was in a 3-storey cream brick complex on the western corner of Henryville Street, about 6 kilometres south-east of the Melbourne central business district.
Australian Federal Police Officer
Jenny served with the Australian Federal Police Service for some 13 years as a sworn police officer. On 23 May 1977, Jenny Rosie joined the then Commonwealth Police in Canberra where she undertook her initial training. The Australian Federal Police Service was formed on 19 October 1979 under the Australian Federal Police Act 1979 after the merging of the former Commonwealth Police and the Australian Capital Territory Police. Thus Jenny Rosie became a foundation member of the Australian Federal Police Service, number AFP752. Jenny gained the rank of Senior Constable in the AFP and at times acted in the position of Sergeant.
Senior Constable Jenny Lloyd’s AFP shoulder insignia.
Re-annotated image from AFP web site.
During her AFP career, Jenny worked in Australian Capital Territory Operations, Aviation, Intelligence Development, Legal Projects and Planning Section, and the Coordination Branch. Jenny spent many freezing nights on duty at Old Parliament House during her time in Canberra. From 24 November to 1 December 1986, she was part of the AFP detail for Pope John Paul II's visit to Australia.
On a 1977 electoral roll, Jenny was listed as a policewoman residing at 4 McMinn Close Swingers Hill, a townhouse development in the inner southern Canberra suburb of Phillip. On a 1980 electoral roll, Jenny was listed as a policewoman residing at Unit 10 in Kowen Towers at 86 Derrima Road in the Queanbeyan suburb of Crestwood.
Circa 1983, Jenny moved to Melbourne with the AFP and, while stationed at Tullamarine, purchased a home in Bella Court St Albans about 17 kilometres north-west of the Melbourne central business district. After being stationed initially at Tullamarine Airport, Jenny was later stationed at the AFP Melbourne headquarters that was first located in Jolimont Road Jolimont and later at 383 La Trobe Street in the Melbourne city centre. In her final posting with the AFP at La Trobe Street, Jenny worked in a section dealing with family law matters. Jenny Lloyd retired from the Australian Federal Police Service on 20 June 1990.
Australian Federal Police Service Medal
In 2007, long after she had retired from the AFP, Jenny Lloyd became entitled to the Australian Federal Police Service Medal that is awarded to all AFP employees from 19 October 1979 who had 10 years cumulative and diligent service. Michael Lloyd’s brother-in-law Johno Johnson who had done extensive advocacy work for ex-servicemen assisted with the application for Jenny’s medal. Unfortunately the medal was not issued until after Jenny’s death.
Australian Federal Police Service Medal awarded to Jenny Lloyd for 10 years service.
Image from Australian Federal Police web site.
Marriage to Michael Lloyd 1984
Jennifer Rosie met Michael Lloyd in 1983 and they became engaged early the next year. Jenny and Michael married at the Holy Rosary Catholic Church, 22 Gower Street Kensington on 7 July 1984. The wedding ceremony was a dual service with both Roman Catholic and Anglican priests officiating. Jenny was 40 years of age and Michael was 39 years.
After the wedding ceremony, the reception was held at the Medway Golf Club in Omar Street Maidstone. Through a Melbourne jazz club, Jenny had arranged for renowned jazz musician and trombonist Frank Traynor (1927‑1985) and his band, the Jazz Preachers, to provide live music at the reception.
Initially after their wedding, Jenny and Michael Lloyd resided in the home Jenny had purchased in Bella Court St Albans. However, with Jenny then working at Jolimont and Michael working at Dandenong, they decided to move to the eastern suburbs and in December 1984 made their home in Centre Road Bentleigh.
As mentioned above, Jenny Lloyd retired from the Australian Federal Police Service in 1990 after 13 years service as a sworn police officer. Jenny’s husband Michael retired from his position as a Technical Officer with the Australian Surveying and Land Information Group at Dandenong on 30 January 1991 after 22 years service to Australia’s national mapping effort. During their retirement, Jenny and Michael enjoyed several overseas trips, including to the British Isles, Europe, Canada, Alaska, and New Zealand.
Michael and Jenny Lloyd at Hallam in 2001.
XNatmap image.
Vale
During the last few years of her life, Jenny Lloyd was afflicted with dementia and was cared for at home by her husband Michael with some outside nursing assistance. As Jenny’s condition had deteriorated, she was admitted to the Holmesglen Private Hospital in South Road Moorabbin on 2 December 2021 and then transferred to South Eastern Rehabilitation at the corner of Heatherton Road and Princes Highway Noble Park on 20 December 2021.
Jenny Lloyd died on Monday 7 February 2022 at South Eastern Rehabilitation; she was 78 years of age. Jenny was survived by Michael her husband of 37 years and by her younger brother John.
Jenny Lloyd’s funeral service was held in Tobin Brothers’ chapel at 147 Park Road Cheltenham on Friday 18 February 2022, it commenced at 10:00 am.
Michael Lloyd’s brother-in-law John Johnson (Johno) was the master of ceremonies at Jenny’s funeral service. Michael’s sisters Anita Johnson and Aileen Martin gave eulogies and Michael’s Uncle, Dan Sexton, read the Lord’s Prayer.
As well as Michael and Jenny’s family and friends, former Nat Mappers Diana Vlahovich, Dianne Carpinteri, Joy Shiell, Brian Shaddick, Peter Salkowski and his wife Colleen, Reg Kerns and his wife Jenny, and Steve Pinwill and his wife Marg were among the mourners. Johno had served in Vietnam with Michael in the 7th Battalion The Royal Australian Regiment during 1967 and Peter Salkowski (1969-70), Reg Kerns (1969-70), and Steve Pinwill (1970) had also served in Vietnam. Other 7th Battalion Vietnam veterans in attendance included Barry Letts and Wally Harris (Lieutenant Walter Rigby Harris was Michael and Johno’s platoon commander in 5 Platoon, B Company, 7RAR.)
Two songs by Canadian singer Michael Bublé were played during Jenny Lloyd’s funeral service. Jenny and Michael had met Michael Bublé during a trip to Canada. The 2 Bublé songs were:
· Come Fly with Me, composed by Jimmy Van Heusen with lyrics by Sammy Cahn for Frank Sinatra’s 1958 album of the same name.
· The Way you Look Tonight, first sung by Fred Astaire in 1936 and written by Jerome Kern with lyrics by Dorothy Fields.
Jenny’s funeral service closed with Time to say Goodbye, sung by Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and English soprano Sarah Brightman. (The song was written as Con te partirò by Francesco Sartori with lyrics by Lucio Quarantotto and first performed by Andrea Bocelli at the 1995 San Remo Music Festival. The English lyrics were written by Frank Peterson.)
At the conclusion of Jenny’s funeral service, her husband Michael and his younger brother Vincent, Jenny’s cousin Ian Rosie, and Peter Salkowski were the pall bearers of Jenny’s coffin which was covered with the Australian flag and carried her Australian Federal Police Service cap. Afterwards, Jenny’s remains were privately cremated.
Michael Lloyd’s many National Mapping friends and work colleagues join with his family members and his 7th Battalion comrades in extending their sincere sympathies for the sad loss of his beloved wife Jenny.
At Jenny Lloyd’s funeral service on 18 February 2022, from left:
Diana Vlahovich, Michael Lloyd and Joy Shiell.
Image supplied by Dianna Vlahovich.
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the following people who kindly provided valuable information that greatly assisted with the preparation of this article:
· Michael Lloyd, Jenny’s husband of over 37 years and a former Nat Map Technical Officer.
· Brian Shaddick, former Nat Map Field Assistant.
· Diana Vlahovich, former Nat Map Technical Officer.
· Mrs Janice Hasler, Official Commemorations and Information Services, Office of Australian War Graves.
· Paul Wise OAM, former Nat Map Senior Surveyor and founder and editor‑in‑-chief of the XNatmap web site.
The Hutchinson Hospital Gawler East
As mentioned above, Jenny Rosie was born in January 1944 at the Hutchinson Hospital in Gawler East. The founding and maintenance of a hospital in Gawler was made possible from a bequest by Thomas Hutchinson (1821-1901). Thomas was born at Abbotts Ann (now in Hampshire) and died at Gawler on 30 August 1901, aged 79 years. In 1850, Thomas Hutchinson and Mary Ann Jones (1828-1911) married at Gawler, they had 1 child son John (1858-1885).
Thomas Hutchinson was a resident of Gawler for over 50 years and served as Town Inspector and later as a Councillor. The funds (of about £10 000) from Thomas’s estate became available on the death of his wife Mary Ann on 12 April 1911, at age 82 years. The Hutchinson family home in High Street was sold to provide the funds. The first Hospital Board in August 1911 decided to purchase 2 acres of land for the Hospital in Gawler East from a Mr Copley for £100, it was on an elevated site on East Terrace.
Adelaide architect Alfred Wells prepared the plans and on 15 July 1912, a tender to erect the building at a cost of about £3 350 from J T Quinn and Company of Hamley Bridge was accepted by the Hospital Board. On 27 September 1913, Sister Treuman the matron of the Pinnaroo District Hospital (formerly from Kapunda Hospital) was appointed as matron. The South Australian Government matched on a pound-for-pound basis any bequests or donations made towards the Hospital building and its management. Over the years, several other trusts were established to take advantage of the pound-for-pound offer by the Government to assist in the Hospital’s operation.
The Hutchinson Hospital opened on 19 November 1913. The capital value of the buildings was about £5 760. The Hospital then comprised 2 wards of 4 to 5 beds each, an operating room, four bedrooms and other facilities.
The Hutchinson Hospital operated until 1994. In September 1994, the name of the Hutchinson Hospital was changed to Gawler Health Service Incorporated and in October 1994 the Board relocated its operations to a new public hospital at 21 Hutchinson Street Gawler East. Proceeds from the sale of Hutchinson Hospital were paid to the South Australian Health Commission to offset the cost of building and equipping the new public hospital. The East Terrace site is now occupied by the Thomas Hutchinson Retirement Village run by Gawler Supportive Care.
The Hutchinson Hospital 6 East Terrace Gawler East circa 1920.
Enhanced image from Now and Then (Gawler) web site.
More on Eliza Teale, Jenny’s maternal great grandmother
Eliza Teale’s 1864 birth certificate.
Image from Ancestry web site.
Eliza Teale’s first marriage certificate 1889.
Image from Ancestry web site.
Eliza Teale’s second marriage certificate 1907.
Image from Ancestry web site.
Some more on Eliza Teale’s first husband
As mentioned above in the body of this article, Eliza Teale’s first husband James Pearce Carr used the name James Pearce Carr Coonan for his second marriage in 1902. On the certificate for his first marriage James Pearce Carr indicated he was born at Wicklow in Ireland circa 1860. However, some family tree entries on the Ancestry web site indicated that James Pearce Carr Coonan was born on 27 September 1863 at Cherry Gardens (now a semi-rural suburb about 16 kilometres south-east of central Adelaide).
These family trees indicated that James Pearce Carr Coonan was born to Michael Coonan (1837–1903) and his wife Ellen Coonan née Sail (1841–1921). Michael Coonan was born on 19 April 1837 in County Tipperary, Ireland and died on 14 May 1903 at Strathalbyn, about 45 kilometres south-east of Adelaide. Ellen Sail was born on 9 April 1841 at Norfolk Island and died on 15 December 1921 at Adelaide. Ellen Sail and Michael Coonan married at Albany, Western Australia in 1857. James Pearce Carr was the third of the 10 children from this marriage. His birth was registered in South Australia under the name James Peire Coonen and his father was recorded as Michael Coonen.
At County Tipperary on 22 March 1850, the then 22 years old Michael Coonan was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for highway robbery. In 1853, he was transported to the Swan River Colony on the 657 ton (794 net register tons) vessel Robert Small. This ship was employed to transport convicts to Western Australia. She departed London on 1 May 1853 carrying the tenth of the 37 shipments of male convicts destined for Western Australia. The Robert Small’s voyage took 110 days and she arrived at Fremantle on 19 August 1853.
On this voyage, the Robert Small carried some 99 passengers and some 300 convicts under captain JH Walker with Harvey Morris as ship’s surgeon. Some 309 convict numbers were assigned for the voyage (registration numbers 2005 to 2313) but there were 8 deaths at sea and a death in the harbour making the final arrival figure of 300 convicts. Michael Coonan was convict registration number 2242. Of the 99 passengers, 98 were pensioner guards and their families; namely: 29 pensioner guards, 23 wives, 20 sons and 26 daughters. The remaining passenger has not been accounted for but was possibly a cabin passenger or a regular soldier.
On 26 November 1853, some 3 months after arriving in Western Australia, Michael Coonan was granted a Ticket of Leave (a document of parole indicating he had demonstrated that he could be trusted with some freedoms). On 17 March 1855, Michael Coonan was granted a conditional pardon.
Carr family service during World War I
Jenny Lloyd’s maternal grandfather William (Will) James Pearce Carr (1891‑1918) and his 3 younger brothers, Frederick Pearce (Fred) Carr (1893‑1918), Norman Teale Pearce Carr (1894–1943), and Reighman (Raymond) Leslie Pearce Carr (1895-1962) served with the Australian Imperial Force during World War I.
Will Carr was killed in action on 8 August 1918 at Warfusée-Abancourt near Villers-Bretonneux in northern France. Just 2 days later, Fred Carr was killed in action about 10 kilometres to the east of the place where his older brother was buried. In July 1916, Norman Carr was wounded in action and taken prisoner-of-war in Germany. Reighman Carr lost his right arm and was invalided home after being wounded in a bomb throwing incident at Gallipoli in October 1915. Thus, the Carr family paid a very high price for their service for the British Empire.
Some details on each of the 4 Carr brothers are provided below.
Sergeant WJP Carr circa 1917.
Image from family tree on Ancestry web site.
William James Pearce Carr (1891–1918)
Jenny Lloyd’s maternal grandfather William James Pearce (Will) Carr was born on 11 July 1891 at Portland (Port Adelaide) South Australia and was killed in action at age 28 years during World War I on 8 August 1918 near the commune of Villiers-Bretonneux in the River Somme valley of northern France.
On 11 February 1910, Will Carr married Emma Mary Ann Blackmore (1892‑1965) at the Holy Trinity Church of England in North Terrace Adelaide. They were to have 4 children: Florence Maud (1910-1977), Lillian Jean Irene (1911-1992), William Frederick (1913-1988), and (Jenny Lloyd’s mother) Jessie Pearce (1915-2000).
Will Carr worked as a labourer prior to enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force on 21 July 1915 at Keswick, an inner south-western suburb of Adelaide.
William James Pearce Carr, Service Number 6, was Company Sergeant Major (Warrant Officer Class 2), with B Company of the 27th Infantry Battalion. He was killed in action in northern France by machine gun fire near the village of Warfusée-Abancourt on 8 August 1918; the first day of the Battle of Amiens. Now called Lamotte-Warfusée, the village is about 5 kilometres east of Villers‑Bretonneux; see satellite image below. Some accounts of Will Carr’s death given in Australian Red Cross files state he was killed by shell fire or by a sniper. However, the statement below by Corporal William Lawlor (in South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau records but not in Australian War Memorial records) is the only one that states Will Carr’s death was actually witnessed.
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Havre. 13 January 1919.
Australians 27 Carr W. J. P. No. 6.
K. 8th August 1918. Det D/B He was transferred from the Cyclists Corps to 27th Batt in June. He was of stout build, clean shaven, and ginger hair. We were at Warfusee, on the Villers-Bretonneux Sector, and we were attacking the Germans. I saw him rush a post, and killed by M. G. Fire being hit through the head. I saw blood coming from his head. He was in B. Coy., and his brother C. S. M. Carr got him taken back and buried. I know no more.
Inf:- Cpl W. Lawlor No. 853 .A. I. F. 27. B. V1. Havre Hospital.
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(William Lawlor, Service Number 853, was born at Warnertown South Australia in 1892 and joined the Australian Imperial Force at Keswick (Adelaide) on 9 March 1915. He served in Gallipoli as well as in France. His brother John Lawlor was killed in action at Villers-Bretonneux in 1917. William Lawlor returned to Adelaide on 4 September 1919 and was discharged on 3 November 1919. William Lawlor died in 1967 at Port Pirie, South Australia.)
The 27th Battalion was part of the Australian 7th Brigade in the Australian 2nd Division. The 7th Brigade also included the 25th, 26th, and 28th Infantry Battalions. From October 1917, the 27th Battalion was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Royden Chalmers, CMG, DSO (1881-1943) (who was the civilian administrator on Nauru when murdered with other prisoners by the Imperial Japanese Army in World War II while held captive on the island.)
The Battle of Amiens was also known as the Third Battle of Picardy and was the opening phase of the Allied offensive that commenced at 0420 hours on 8 August 1918 with tanks as well as artillery supporting the Infantry. The Battle of Amiens was the start of the Allies’ Hundred Days Offensive that led to the end of World War I. Allied forces advanced over 11 kilometres on that first day with British General Sir Henry Rawlinson's Fourth Army (with 9 of its 19 divisions from the Australian Corps under Lieutenant General John Monash and the Canadian Corps commanded by Lieutenant General Arthur Currie) playing the decisive role. German General Erich Ludendorff later described the first day of the Battle of Amiens as the black day of the German Army.
Somme area battlefield on 8 August 1918 depicting Australian infantry supported by horse drawn artillery and British tanks moving towards the front line as part of the allied offensive. An oil on canvas painting by official war artist Harold Septimus Power (1877–1951), Australian War Memorial accession number ART12208.
Sergeant Major WJP Carr was buried at the Adelaide Cemetery in northern France (Plot 1 Row E Grave 23), over 700 Australian soldiers were buried in this cemetery. The Adelaide Cemetery is about 110 kilometres north of Paris. As shown on the satellite image below, it is about 3.5 kilometres south of the River Somme, about 1.5 kilometres west of the commune of Villers‑Bretonneux, and about 15 kilometres east of the city of Amiens. Adelaide Cemetery is also about 2 kilometres south‑west of the Australian National Memorial (and the recently built Sir John Monash Centre) that is located about 2 kilometres north of Villers‑Bretonneux, beside the road to the commune of Corbie on the north side of the Somme.
William James Pearce Carr's name is located at panel 109 on the Roll of Honour in the Commemorative Area of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
Adelaide Cemetery area and Will Carr’s grave, River Somme valley, northern France.
Google Earth satellite images annotated by Paul Wise.
A stretcher bearer from the 27th Battalion, Private Maurice William O’Connor, Service Number 6609, reported in Red Cross Society file 1DRL/0428 that he was in a party led by Colonel Chalmers that erected the crosses on the graves of Will Carr and his brother Fred Carr; their graves were said to be about 6 miles (10 kilometres) apart. (Maurice William O’Connor was born at Kaniva on 5 January 1891 and died in Adelaide on 29 June 1961. He served overseas with the AIF from January 1917 to July 1919 and was part of the 19th Reinforcements for the 27th Battalion.)
Original cross on Sergeant Major WJP Carr’s grave circa 1918.
Australian War Memorial (enhanced) image accession number P08207.002.
Sergeant Major WJP Carr’s grave in 1919.
Enhanced February 1919 image by Glen Roy Barrington (1890-1964).
Australian War Memorial accession number J00031.
Enhanced image of Sergeant Major WJP Carr’s grave at Adelaide Cemetery, France (Plot 1 Row E Grave 23) in July 1990.
From family tree on Ancestry web site.
The Adelaide Cemetery at Villers-Bretonneux with Plot 1 Row E at right of image.
Image from Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site.
For his World War I service, Sergeant Major Will Carr was posthumously awarded the following medals: 1914-15 Star, British War medal, and Victory medal. These medals were issued to Will Carr’s widow Emma Mary Ann Carr. Later, Emma Carr received the next of kin’s memorial bronze plaque with covering letter from King George V and the King’s memorial scroll. Images of these posthumous awards are provided below.
Sergeant Major WJP Carr’s posthumously awarded World War I service medals,
from left: 1914-15 Star, British War medal, and Victory medal.
Next of kin’s memorial bronze plaque.
Re-annotated facsimile from an example on the Australian War Memorial website.
The plaque was also called the deadman’s penny or the widow’s penny.
Letter from King George V that accompanied the above memorial plaque.
Image from the Australian War Memorial web site.
Commemorative Scroll sent to next of kin with King George V’s Royal Coat of Arms.
A re-annotated facsimile from an example on the Australian War Memorial web site.
Frederick Pearce Carr (1893–1918)
Jenny Lloyd’s oldest maternal great uncle Frederick Pearce Carr was born in Adelaide on 7 February 1893. Sadly, the then Company Sergeant Major Fred Carr was killed in action on 10 August 1918 during the final months of World War I; he was 25 years of age.
On 2 February 1915, Frederick Carr enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Keswick, an inner south-western suburb of Adelaide, he was then 21 years of age and just a few days short of his 22nd birthday. On enlistment he used the name Fred Pearce Carr. Prior to enlisting in the AIF, Fred Carr had worked as a labourer. Private FP Carr, Service Number 38, was posted to the 27th Australian Infantry Battalion. He had active service at Gallipoli and in France and Belgium.
After 2 months training in Egypt, the 27th Battalion landed at Gallipoli on 12 September 1915. However, from 3 December 1915, Private Carr was treated for jaundice and later hospitalised in Egypt, initially at Heliopolis and later at Cairo. On 21 March 1916, Private Carr and other elements of the 27th Battalion landed at Marseilles on the Mediterranean coast of southern France as part of the British Expeditionary Force.
At Marbecque near the Belgium border about 90 kilometres north of Amiens in northern France on 9 March 1916, Private Carr was promoted Corporal (note date discrepancy in service record). On 4 August 1916, during the Battle of Poziéres about 35 kilometres north-east of Amiens in northern France, Corporal Carr was severely wounded by a gun shot to his right axilla (arm pit). He was eventually hospitalised in England and rejoined the 27th Battalion in France on 12 February 1917. He was promoted Sergeant on 3 March 1917. On 20 September 1917, the 27th Battalion was part of the 2nd Division's first wave at the Battle of Menin Road and on 4 October 1917 was involved in the capture of Broodseinde Ridge. However, from 4 October 1917, Sergeant Carr was on training courses in England.
Marriage to Daisy Sundborg 1917
On 8 December 1917, while in England for training courses the 25-year old Sergeant Fred Carr married 22-year old Daisy Mabel Sundborg at the Clapham Parish Christ Church of England in Union Grove, Lambeth. (On their marriage certificate, Fred’s father James Pearce Carr was listed as a deceased miner.) However, by 20 December 1917 Sergeant Carr had returned to France and a few days later rejoined the 27th Battalion in Belgium. He was granted leave in England from 26 January to 12 February 1918; this was the last time his wife was to see him.
Daisy Mabel Sundborg was born at Battersea (south London) on 19 December 1895. On a 1911 England Census, Daisy was listed as the second of the 8 children then born to Louis Francis and Mabel Sundborg. The Sundborg family then resided at 505 Wandsworth Road Clapham (south London). In 1911, the English-born Louis Sundborg was a ladies hair frame maker; he was a soldier in World War I and returned to his trade after the War.
On 22 October 1921, at the Trinity Presbyterian Church in Clapham Road London, Fred Carr’s 26-year old widow Daisy Mabel Carr married George Henry Brown, then a 29-year old colour artist. On 20 February 1923, George and Daisy Brown departed the Port of London on the SS Largs Bay bound for Sydney. The Browns were not traced in Australia during research for this article.
Final months in France
The 27th Battalion was involved in fighting to turn back the German spring offensive in April 1918, and later participated in a string of offensive battles as Germany was pushed towards defeat. The 27th Battalion attacked around Morlancourt about 25 kilometres north-east of Amiens on the night of 10 June 1918 and acted in a supporting role during the Battle of Hamel about 70 kilometres north-east of Amiens on 4 July 1918.
In France on 24 July 1918, Sergeant Carr was promoted temporary Company Sergeant Major (Warrant Officer Class 2) with A Company of the 27th Battalion.
Sergeant Major Fred Carr was one of the leaders of A Company during the opening of the Battle of Amiens that commenced at 0420 hours on 8 August 1918. On the opening day of this battle, Fred’s older brother Will Carr was killed by machine gun fire at Warfusée-Abancourt (near the commune of Villers-Bretonneux). Apparently, Fred Carr arranged for his older brother’s burial. Sadly on the third day of the battle (10 August 1918) Fred Carr was killed by shell fire near Framerville to the east of Villers-Bretonneux.
The area east of Villers-Bretonneux where CSM Fred Carr was killed on 10 August 1918. Google Earth satellite image annotated by Paul Wise.
In London on 20 January 1919, Private Vincent Gerard Egan (Service No 6686) from A Company, 27th Battalion reported (in Australian Red Cross Society’s Wounded and Missing Enquiry Bureau file, 1914-18 War, 1DRL/0428) that he knew Fred Carr well. In this file, Private Egan stated: Our own battalion went out at 4 pm and had reached our objective and had slept on the ground. At about 9 o’clock following morning Frits opened up with shell, killing Carr and wounding the Company runner. Carr was blown to pieces, killed instantly. I helped to gather up his remains and bury them near where he was killed. A cross with particulars was placed over his grave, on the right of Framerville.
Private VG Egan enlisted on 31 March 1916 (supposedly at 18 years of age) and returned to Australia on 18 May 1919 suffering tuberculosis; he was discharged on 10 September 1919. When back in Australia, he revealed his real name was Lachlan Duncan Boyd. Birth records indicated that Lachlan Duncan Boyd was born at Sheep Hills, south-east of Warracknabeal, in 1900. Thus it seems he had joined the AIF when under age.
Other reports of Sergeant Major Fred Carr’s burial place from his Army service record and from Australian Red Cross Society file entries included:
· In the open near an old trench…I saw him dead and saw grave later…he came from Australia with me.
· Near Harbonniéres about 6 miles from his brother’s grave (presumably at Adelaide Cemetery). I saw the crosses on both graves. Colonel Chalmers, 27th Battalion himself took a party out to erect them.
· 3 miles beyond Harbonniéres, on right of road…Was a fine man.
· Buried in isolated grave 1 miles SE of Framerville and 10 miles NW of Nesle. Memorial plot in Heath cemetery, Plot 8, Row K, Grave 1-10. (Heath Cemetery is on the south side of La Bois Dussart [the main road-D1029] from Amiens to St Quentin, about 3 kilometres north of the village of Harbonniéres and 11 kilometres east of Villers-Bretonneux.)
These reports allowed former Nat Map Senior Surveyor Paul Wise to plot the yellow circle on the above satellite image as the likely location of Fred Carr’s original burial place.
Nesle, France in 1917.
Image from Google Maps web site.
The Office of Australian War Graves has recently advised that Sergeant Fred Pearce Carr now has no known grave. However, he does have his name commemorated on the Villers-Bretonneux Memorial Wall. The Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux is the repository of the names of around 10 000 Australians soldiers who died in France during World War I but had no known grave.
Fred Pearce Carr's name is located at panel 109 on the Roll of Honour in the Commemorative Area of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.
For his World War I service, Sergeant Fred Pearce Carr was posthumously awarded the following medals: 1914-15 Star, British War medal, and Victory medal. These medals were issued to Fred Carr’s widow Daisy Carr through Australia House in London. Later, Daisy Carr received the next of kin’s memorial bronze plaque with covering letter from King George V and the King’s memorial scroll. (Images of these awards are provided above in the section on Fred’s brother Will Carr.)
Part of the Australian National Memorial at Villers-Bretonneux, France.
Image from the Remember the Fallen web site.
Norman Teale Pearce Carr (1894–1943)
Jenny Lloyd’s maternal great uncle Norman Teale Pearce Carr was born on 31 August 1894 at Hamley Bridge, about 60 kilometres north of Adelaide. Norman Carr had worked as a labourer prior to enlisting in the Australian Imperial Force at 20 years of age on 12 July 1915. He enlisted at Keswick, an inner south‑western suburb of Adelaide. Norman Carr became a Private, Service Number 63, in A Company of the 32nd Infantry Battalion (8th Brigade) that was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Donald Murray Robertson Coghill (1871‑1922).
Private Norman Carr took part in the Battle of Fromelles that commenced at 6:00 pm on 19 July 1916 and was a bloody initiation for Australian soldiers to warfare on the Western Front. During the Battle, as part of the Australian 5th Division, the 32nd Infantry Battalion was in the 8th Brigade's initial assault on the extreme left of the Australian front that was focused around a position known as the Sugarloaf. During the fighting the Battalion suffered 718 casualties; a third of the Battalion's total casualties for the entire War and roughly 90 per cent of its effective strength. (Fromelles is near the border with Belgium in northern France about 200 kilometres north of Paris and about 90 kilometres north-east of Amiens.)
Commanded by the later much criticised British Lieutenant General Sir Richard Cyril Byrne Haking, GBE, KCB, KCMG (1862-1945), the Battle of Fromelles was a disastrous failure. Australian and British soldiers assaulted over open ground in broad daylight under direct observation and heavy fire to attack strongly fortified German front line positions near the Aubers Ridge. Over 5 500 Australian soldiers became casualties. Almost 2 000 of these men were killed in action or died of wounds and over 400 men were captured. This is believed to have been the greatest loss by a single division in 24 hours during World War I. Some consider Fromelles the most tragic event in Australia’s history.
Captured Australian soldiers arriving at the German collecting station on the morning of 20 July 1916 during the Battle of Fromelles.
Australian War Memorial image, Accession Number A01552.
The Australian 5th Division was commanded by the later Lieutenant General Sir James Whiteside McCay, KCMG, KBE, CB, VD (1864-1930). McCay was not popular with many fellow officers nor with his subordinates. McCay’s veto of an informal local truce in the Australian sector to allow the wounded to be collected was one of his many shortcomings during the Battle of Fromelles, and resulted in over 400 men being captured by the Germans. For many of his own men McCay became known as the Butcher of Fromelles.
Recovery of the wounded at Fromelles went on over 3 days and nights. The Germans gathered many Australian wounded behind their own lines and elsewhere and sometimes shifted wounded men to where the Australians might reach them. The plea Don’t forget me cobber is said to have come from Australian wounded awaiting rescue at Fromelles.
Private Norman Carr was severely wounded in action by a grenade on 19 July 1916 during the first day of the Battle of Fromelles. He was wounded in both hips, his left leg and left side. He was taken prisoner by the Germans on 20 July 1916 and remained in captivity as a prisoner-of-war until the end of the War, over 2 years later. A German document in Norman’s Army service record recorded that he was captured at Fleurbaix on that date; Fleurbaix was the German name for Fromelles.
On 16 August 1916, Private Carr was still being treated for his wounds by the Germans at a hospital in a prisoner-of-war camp near the small town of Ohrdruf that is located about 13 kilometres south of the city of Gotha in the central German State of Thüringen (Thuringia). Apparently Ohrdruf was connected to a principal prisoner-of-war camp near Langensalza about 18 kilometres north of Gotha; see map below. (Since 1956, the name Bad Langensalza has been used for this spa town; the German bad translates to bath in English.) The Largensalza camp became Norman Carr’s address for mail from Australia.
Locations of Langensalza and Ohrdruf in the central German State of Thüringen.
Base map annotated by Paul Wise.
The prisoner-of-war camp at Ohrdruf in 1915.
Image from Western Michigan University web site.
In August 1918, Norman Carr was reported to be working with other Australian prisoners-of-war some 250 miles (about 400 kilometres) from Langensalza; a more precise location was not reported. In September 1918, after 2 of her sons had been killed in action and another wounded in action and invalided, Norman Carr’s mother Eliza O’Neill sought the assistance of the South Australian Red Cross Information Bureau to arrange for Norman Carr to be released through a prisoner exchange. Related correspondence was prepared on Eliza’a behalf by Miss Mary McEwen, Honorary Secretary of the Red Cross Circle at the Port Pirie suburb of Solomontown; Eliza O’Neill then resided at Port Pirie West.
Norman Carr was repatriated to England on 10 January 1919. Soon after arrival in England, Private Carr was granted a month’s leave until 14 February 1919. From 25 February to 3 March 1919, Private Carr was an influenza patient at the Australian Number 3 Auxiliary Hospital in Dartford, Kent about 25 kilometres south-east of London.
Afterwards, Private Carr was posted to the Australian Imperial Forces Command Depot Number 2 at Weymouth which had accommodated men not expected to be fit for duty within 6 months. (Weymouth is on the English Channel coast about 200 kilometres south-west of London.)
On 5 April 1919, Private Carr departed London for return to Australia on board the New Zealand Hospital ship Armagh. He arrived in Adelaide circa 5 May 1919 and was discharged from the Australian Imperial Force on 16 May 1919.
For his World War I service, Norman Teale Pearce Carr was awarded the following medals: 1914-15 Star, British War medal, and Victory medal. (Images of these medals are provided above in the section on Norman’s brother Will Carr.)
On 8 February 1921, Norman Carr married Alma Ethel Flynn (born 1900) at St Laurence's Catholic Church, 134 Buxton Street North Adelaide. They were to have 1 child, daughter Mavis Gwendoline (Gwen) (1921-1975).
(On 5 December 1940, the engagement was announced in the Adelaide press of Gwen Carr to William Colin Paterson (Colin) Baker (1914-1959). Gwen and Colin were to have 2 children. However, a record of Gwen and Colin’s marriage was not discovered during research for this article. On a 1943 electoral roll, Gwen was listed as residing at 119 Burke Street Broken Hill and being occupied with home duties; her husband Colin was not listed on that roll. At Bendigo in April 1943, under the name Colin William Paterson Baker, Gwen’s husband enlisted in the 2nd Australian Imperial Force, and served as a Private, Service Number SX30215 (S111730). Colin was discharged in November 1945 and was then stationed at 2/4 Base Workshop, Australian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. In September 1945, Gwen was apparently residing with her husband Collin at 5 Esmond Street, Hyde Park in Adelaide’s inner south.
Family tree entries on the Ancestry web site indicated that Gwen Baker later married Alfred Percival James Turner (1906–1988) who was born at Moonta, South Australia and died in Victoria. Gwen and Alfred were to have 1 child. Alfred Turner had served in the 2nd Australian Imperial Force as a Sapper, Service Number SX2465, in the 1st Forestry Company, Royal Australian Engineers between 1940 and 1944. On a 1967 electoral roll, Alfred and Gwen Turner were listed as residing at Mill Flats, Bright in north-eastern Victoria as a timber worker and home duties, respectively. Mavis Gwendoline Turner died at Tallangatta in 1975, circa 54 years of age.)
Norman Teale Pearce Carr died on 25 February 1943 at Adelaide Hospital, he was 48 years of age. From newspaper death notices, Norman was survived by his mother Eliza O’Neill who then resided at Union Street Stepney an inner north‑eastern suburb of Adelaide and by his daughter Gwen and grandson Colin who resided at Hyde Park in inner southern Adelaide. Norman (Slip) Carr was a member of the Payneham Lodge of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes under the Grand Lodge of England whose secretary notified fellow Lodge brothers of Norman’s funeral (in a newspaper notice).
Norman Carr’s funeral service was held on the afternoon of 26 February 1943 in the chapel of funeral director Claude Trevelion at 58 Magill Road Norwood; it commenced at 3:50 pm. Afterwards, Norman’s remains were buried at Light Oval in Adelaide’s West Terrace Cemetery, Australian Imperial Force Path 6 South Lot No 7C. (In September 1954, Norman’s widow Alma Carr was residing at 36 Grant Street in the Melbourne suburb of Clifton Hill.)
Norman Carr’s grave at Adelaide’s West Terrace Cemetery.
Image from family tree on Ancestry web site.
In February 2022, the Office of Australian War Graves indicated it was arranging for a plaque in the South Australian Garden of Remembrance for Norman Teale Pearce Carr as a former prisoner-of-war. To ensure proper commemoration of those who died as a result of service in World War I, and subsequent campaigns, the Office of Australian War Graves has laid out Gardens of Remembrance in each of the 6 Australian States. The South Australian Garden of Remembrance is located in Adelaide’s Centennial Park Cemetery at Pasadena.
Reighman (Raymond) Leslie Pearce Carr (1895-1962)
Jenny Lloyd’s youngest maternal great uncle Raymond Leslie Pearce Carr was born on 21 October 1895 at Hamley Bridge about 60 kilometres north of Adelaide. He worked as a labourer prior to joining the Australian Imperial Force at Liverpool, New South Wales on 20 February 1915, at which time he used Reighman as his first given name.
Private RLP Carr, Service Number 425, was an experienced bomb thrower with A Company of the 17th Battalion (5th Brigade), Australian Imperial Force when severely wounded in a bomb throwing incident at Post 5 at Gallipoli on 27 October 1915.
A Court of Enquiry into the incident was ordered by Lieutenant Colonel Henry Arthur Goddard, CMG, DSO (1869-1955), Officer Commanding the 17th Battalion. The Court comprised Captain B Holmes (President) and Lieutenants HW Johnston and B Mendolsohn. On 30 November 1915, the Court found, that Private Carr was not to blame when a bomb he was about to throw discharged prematurely, blowing of his right hand at the wrist and resulting in the later amputation of his right arm. The Court also found that Private Carr showed great courage and fortitude after his injury.
Private Carr received hospital treatment at Malta and in England until 31 August 1916 when he embarked at Southampton on the hospital ship HMHS Marama (New Zealand Hospital Ship No 2) for return to Australia. Private Carr was discharged from the Australian Imperial Force at Adelaide on 6 February 1917.
For his World War I service, Reighman Leslie Pearce Carr was awarded the following medals: 1914-15 Star, British War medal, and Victory medal. (Images of these medals are provided above in the section on Reighman’s brother Will Carr.)
At the Congregational Manse, Kirkcaldy, in the Adelaide suburb of Henley Beach on 9 June 1917, Reighman Carr married Ellen Wilhelmina Horsell (1894–1969); Reverend William Hawke officiated. Reighman and Ellen were to have 2 children, sons Howard James (1918-1992) and Reginald John (1920‑1974).
Reighman Leslie Pearce Carr died on 9 May 1962 at Repatriation General Hospital Springbank (now called Daw Park) about 7 kilometres south of central Adelaide, he was 66 years of age and had previously resided at TPI House in South Terrace Adelaide. Reighman Carr’s funeral was held in the chapel of the Repatriation General Hospital on 11 May 1962; commencing at 2:45 pm. Afterwards Reighman’s remains were cremated at the nearby Centennial Park Crematorium, 760 Goodwood Road Pasadena.
Reighman Carr’s plaque at Adelaide’s Centennial Park Cemetery.
Image from family tree on Ancestry web site.