By Cheryl Griffin. Percy Brearley was born at Geelong, but enlisted in the 23rd Battalion at Rutherglen in February 1915 aged 25 years 6 months. He qualified for a commission and was appointed 2nd Lieutenant in December 1916 and then served with the 46th Battalion. He was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant in July […]
Tag: WWI
Coburg Drill Hall opens in Reynard Street
By Cheryl Griffin. Until the opening of the Drill Hall in Reynard Street, Coburg, the area’s cadets (Area 59) had no permanent building in which to meet. Although they had tried to secure Coburg Public Hall, the Council refused permission, because the Hall was a valuable revenue raiser and its use as a drill hall […]
The Fisher brothers of Campbellfield and Coburg
By Cheryl Griffin. James, John and Daniel Fisher were sons of Daniel and Edith (nee Pickett) Fisher who lived at Campbellfield where they raised eight children. (Two children died in infancy and are buried at Will Will Rook Cemetery). Merri Creek at Campbellfield, circa 1925. Image courtesy Coburg Historical Society. The children had a tough […]
Conscientious objectors in Coburg
Three conscientious objectors appeared before the Coburg Court the same day as Rollo Heskett and Claude Cash. They were Harold Frederick Swanson, George Alfred Summers and Edward Hamilton Paul. This is their story. Harold F. Swanson The records of the National Archives of Australia show that Harold Swanson did not serve in World War One, […]
Exemption courts in Coburg
By Cheryl Griffin. On Wednesday 18 October 1916, just ten days before the first Conscription Referendum was held, 74 applications for exemption from military service were made before Police Magistrate Dr Frank Hobill Cole at Coburg Court. Thirty-four applications were granted, 31 were refused, five temporary or conditional exemptions were granted and four were adjourned. […]
Digger Smith and the conscription debate
By Cheryl Griffin. “E’s been once wounded, somewhere in the leg…” 6906 Private Lawrence Joseph Smith enlisted on 18 July 1918 and served with the 22nd Infantry Battalion. His parents were William Smith, an overseer, and Letitia Josephine McLoughlin. He’d been born in Coburg, lived with his parents and siblings in Coke Street (later Cope […]
Adela Pankhurst, the anti-conscription movement and Pentridge Prison
By Cheryl Griffin. Not long ago, my attention was drawn to several articles relating to a crowd of ‘no conscriptionists’ who had gathered outside the Women’s Prison at Pentridge to protest the imprisonment of Adela Pankhurst, daughter of English suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst and sister of Christabel and Sylvia. Estranged from her family, she had arrived […]