My Paternal Grandparents

My Grandfather on the Collin side was born Charles Allgomera McGuigan, on the 6^thOctober 1896 in Balmain Sydney, the illegitimate son of Robertha McGuigan. He was immediately adopted by Ralph and Dora Collin who were living in Coogee at the time and then subsequently moved north to live in Wood Street Adamstown, a suburb of Newcastle. Ralph Collin and Dora Emerson were married 23 July 1892 in Newcastle NSW. Ralph was employed as a Coalminer. 

Charles kept in close contact with his birth-mother, who married Henri Tebbitt in 1903. He used to have holidays with his mother and ‘Uncle’ Henri in Coogee. 

Earliest photograph that I could find of my grandfather, Charles Allgomera Collin in 1907 when he was 11 years old.

 This was from a ‘dress up concert’ for ‘end of year’ at school. The card was postmarked Randwick, 17^thDecember 1907, and was addressed to his friend Tom Mowbray of Wood Street Adamstown.

He never elaborated on his relationship with his birth-mother in any discussions I had with him about the past. However there is no doubt he is a McGuigan, for his resemblance to his mother is quite remarkable as the following photographs will show. I suspect that there was a close association between Robertha and the Collin family, and I find it intriguing that Robertha and the Collin family both lived in Coogee when Charles was born. I have no evidence to say that they were related, so perhaps they may have been neighbours. Pure speculation of course!

What I know about Charles’ Foster Parents;

Ralph (Ralf?) and Dora Collin (nee Emerson) went on to have a daughter and three sons of their own after adopting Charles. They were Sarah (b 1897) Ralph jnr (b 10/8/1902) Cecil (b 17/6/1906) and Henri (b 23/10/1907). Sadly Sarah died in Adamstown in the same year of her birth. As a side issue I note that Henri is an interesting choice of name for the last son! I know very little about the Collin family history. I do however have in my possession the ‘Emerson’ Family Bible. One of those big cumbersome editions which were favoured in the eighteen and nineteenth Centuries for being a Family Registry as well as a ‘hand-me-down’ from eldest to eldest. This edition weighs in at a little over 5 kilograms and as best that I can judge would have been printed around 1845. There is identification in the front of the Bible stating that the first proud owner was Dora’s father Joshua Emerson of Frosterly Durham, who was born 5 October 1854 in Stanhope Durham. Searching the Internet has revealed that he was christened in December 1854 in Weardale, County Durham. 

Joshua married Sarah Jane Byers in the fourth quarter of 1874 in Auckland, County Durham. Sarah Jane was born in High Hesket in Cumberland, either in 1846 or 47 to William and Jane Byers. There is a reference on the Internet to her christening on 11 January 1847 at St.Giles Church, Great Orton, Cumberland.

 Their daughter, Dora Emerson (my grandfather’s foster mother) was born 16 January 1874 in Shildon England. Dora was born well before the recorded marriage of her parents which was late in 1874, showing that illegitimacy was alive and well in the north of England. This illegitimacy may well explain why she was prepared to be a foster parent to my grandfather in 1896, as no doubt she had some empathy for him. In the 1881 English Census, Dora then lived with her parents at 5 Alma Road Shildon Durham (now part of the site for the current Shildon Courthouse) and was listed as a 6 year old. Her father Joshua was listed as a 26 year old coal-miner. Also in the same Census were Joshua’s parents, they being Joshua snr (employed as a Blacksmith) and Elizabeth Emerson of 10 Hartlepool St. Thornley (this is now open space). Joshua snr was born in 1814 in Durham City, whilst Elizabeth was born in 1821 in Brandon Durham.

EXCERPT FROM THE 1881 BRITISH CENSUS

Household at 5 Alma Road – Shildon - Durham:                

 A little bit of detective work showed that Dora was in England in 1881, but married Ralph in Newcastle NSW in 1892. In those eleven years she sailed to Australia with her parents and settled in Adamstown but I could find no reference in the records of the family doing so. The mystery man in all of this is Ralph (Ralf?) Collin snr. According to the family Bible, Ralph was born in Willington England in 1866. The English ‘Births, Deaths and Marriages’ fail to substantiate this. The only record of a Ralph Collin being born about that time was one in 1874 at Cambridge. Perhaps that is him. There is no reference to Ralph in the 1881 English Census which would indicate to me that he was either already in Australia at that time, or failed to be registered on that Census. The records on the internet at this time has been particularly stubborn in giving up information on the Collin family. I cannot find any reference to Ralph leaving England or arriving in Australia. 

It is interesting to note that Charles had the Emerson Family Bible mentioned earlier, in his possession although he was only the adopted son. My money would have been on Ralph Jnr. to get the ‘hand-me-down’. This shows to me what high esteem Charles was held in by the Collin family. See ‘Miscellaneous Chapter’ for details relating to Collin Family.

When Charles left school he gained an Apprenticeship with Goninan’s Engineering in Newcastle around 1912. A close friend was Ralph Goninan, the son of the Company’s Founder, Alf Goninan. 

Charles’ foster-mother Dora died in 1914 and I know that that had a great impact on him. With an unknown father, a mother who had given him up and now Ralph snr on his own to look after his three boys of 7, 8 and 12 years old somehow made him feel just a little isolated. Well the ‘Great War’ came, and Charles wanted to enlist at the age of eighteen. Whilst he did not say this, I somehow feel that he saw this as an opportunity to go out in this world on his own and perhaps ease the burden on Ralph. Not that he failed to contribute to the costs associated with running the household, with half of his wage going to the Collin family for his board. 

However, to enlist, he firstly needed written approval from his guardian Ralph as he was under 21. He also needed to produce his Birth Certificate, and the spectre of his illegitimacy was about to haunt him as that status was clearly proclaimed on the original. So his foster-father Ralph and he went to the Birth Deaths and Marriages offices and applied for a ‘copy of the Birth Certificate’. No mention is made on a ‘copy’ in relation to ‘illegitimacy’, so the secret is still intact. This was the Certificate he would always use officially for the rest of his life. He applied for and received a ‘true’ copy in 1929 for a reason that was unclear to me, but that true copy was kept under lock and key in a little black box safely at home. He actually showed it to me in 1981. It was a rather solemn occasion and the removal of the document from the box seemed to take for ages. It was neatly folded and I suspected that it had not seen the light of day for a long time. After he showed it to me he casually stated that that was the first time anyone had viewed it since 1929. He said it was now mine on the condition that I showed no one until after his death. Even after 84 years it still was a troublesome thing for him. 

It would be so simple to state here that my grandfather went to Europe in 1915 to serve in WWI, managed to survive, and came back to us in 1919. It could be said that this is a book about family and its history and that it should not expand into areas that have no direct impact on us. However, my research shows that there were many issues during that war that had influences on indirectly as a family and for all Australians alike, and I would ask you to bear with me as I meander and deviate a little through those five years.

Charles enlisted for active service on the 21 July 1915 as ‘Service No.15 – Private C.Collin’ and at the completion of his basic training was moved on 20 November 1915 to the 30^th Battalion, part of the 8^th Brigade, which in itself was part of the 5^th Division. The 8^th Brigade, consisting of the 29^th, 30^th, 31^st and 32^nd Battalions, according to historians was supposedly made up of men from W.A., Victoria and Queensland. However it has been recorded elsewhere that the 30^th Battalion was largely Novocastrians so there seems to be an issue here. Irrespective of that, they prepared to go overseas and they left for Egypt on the 9 November 1915 on board the troopship ‘HMAT Beltana’. It was interesting to note that when he filled in his enlistment form he stated that he was part of the 39^th Engineers and the 16^th Battalion Senior Cadets prior to enlisting. Whilst the ‘Engineers’ are a mystery to me, I suggest that the Cadets were something he was involved in perhaps at school.

 After an uneventful journey, the HMAT Beltana arrived in Suez on 11 December 1915. The contingent was split into 2 sections with his particular group receiving additional general training in warfare at a place called Tel-el-kebir. Charles was originally placed in the Machine Gun Section of the 30^th Battalion, but was soon assigned specifically to the 8^th Machine Gun Co. of that Battalion and received training on Vickers machine guns until the 9 March 1916.

The 5^th Division was under the command of Major-General Sir James McCay. History shows that he was considered an inept soldier who led by fear and bluster, rather than by inspiration. When he died in 1930, the Bulletin wrote in his obituary the following “that whilst he was a ‘bold soldier and a brave man’, he was ‘about the most detested officer in the AIF at an early stage of the war and remained so until the end”.

Prior to moving to France as was the original intention, it was decided by the powers to be that the 5^th Division take over the defence of the Suez Canal. With Turkey being victorious at Gallipoli, there were concerns that they would now have their eye on the Canal. The Division was required to be moved the 65 kilometres from their camp to the Canal, however transporting such a large number of men quickly was beyond the road transport and existing rail infrastructure at the time. No problem for McCay who decided to make this journey through the desert a training exercise for the 5^th and ordered his men to march the 65 kilometres in full battle kit and ammunition, which weighed 40 kilograms per man. An appalling lack of planning and supply, combined with the terrible 40+ degree heat almost turned this march into a disaster.

I have no specific detail on how the 8^th Brigade fared during this disaster, but the following by Roy Harrison of the 14^th Brigade, who were marched through the worst heat of the day, gives you some sort of idea on how it was for all of them.

“28.3.16 Tuesday:- Reveille 5am, on the march at 0700 hours. Lunch 1120 hours. Resumed march 1240 hours. Struck soft sand at 1250 hours. Heat awful in the hollows between the sand ridges, old soldiers say they have not had such a terrible march in all their experiences in India and elsewhere. 1500 hours: heat immense. Men collapsing in dozens. Medical officers busy. Water all done. Men becoming exhausted from their loads and the heat. Reach Moascar 1600 hours but a remnant of a brigade only. 

28.4.1916 Wednesday:- Today’s march 19 miles (30kms) through the sand under the blazing sun. Hell on earth – an Egyptian desert during the midday heat with an empty water bottle. 1820hours: ambulance wagons, camels with water, and the New Zealand infantry have gone out to succour the men left in the desert. 1900 Hours: men are still coming in. Worst cases are going straight to hospital. Thirteen men still unaccounted for in the battalion”.

 Private C. Collin – Service No. 15

  8^th Machine Gun Section  (16 Vickers Machine Guns)

  30^th Battalion

  8^th Brigade   (consisted of the 29^th, 30^th, 31^st & 32^nd Battalions)

  5^th Division  (consisted of the 8^th, 14^th & 15^th Brigades)

 Charles’ Battalion together with others were then shipped out from Alexandria on the 16 June 1916 on the troopship ‘SS Tunisian’ bound for Marseille France. They marched for several days from Marseille to the trenches to join up with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the 23 June.

The major campaign that the Australian 5^th Division was to be involved in was called the Somme Offensive which began on the 24 June and did not let up until November. The preliminary bombardment on the 24th. was so intense that it rattled windows in London, 260 kilometres away. The British alone fired almost two million shells before the initial assault which commenced at 7.30am on the 1 July.

 The Australian 5^th Division arrived at the Front in the first week in July, and went into action for the first time near the town of Fromelles on Wednesday 19 July 1916. Facing them was the 6^th Bavarian Reserve Division, consisting of the 16BRIR, 17BRIR, 20BRIR and the 21BRIR. In the 16BRIR was a 27 year old lance-corporal by the name of Adolf Hitler. The 8^th Brigade (my granddad’s) was to go ‘over the top’ at 5.43pm on a cloudless afternoon, crossing 350 metres of flat open ‘no man’s land’ covered in barb-wire and patrolled by many concrete blockhouses manned by machine guns. The preparations for the attack had been observed by the Germans who started pounding their positions at 5.30pm causing many casualties before it even begun.

The Australian 5^th Division attacked as was required and were immediately mown down by withering machine gun fire from an opponent who had brought up reserves to deal with the attack. The responsibility for the whole disaster rested squarely with the inept hierarchy of the British Army who saw the soldiers from the Antipodes as convenient cannon fodder. A large slice of criticism also was placed on the 5^th Division’s Major General McCay, who, despite being counselled by his brigade commanders in regards to the folly of the attack, refused to voice any criticism against the high command. Needless to say, this action at Fromelles was seen as one of the worst disasters in Australian military history.  

In the late afternoon of the 20 July 1916, the day after the commencement of the attack, Charles suffered bullet or shrapnel wounds in the back of his shoulder and in the calf of a leg. As best I can make out he was wounded about 500 metres north of the intersection of Dieve Mouquet and Rue du Vert Touquet which is about 5 kilometres north of Fromelles. In the map below that location would be very close to Marlaque Farm. He told me that he was the only survivor of his group (seven I believe) from this shrapnel burst. He was taken to the main dressing station in a factory in Bac St.Maur. After this battle, the 8^th M.G.Company that started out with 10 officers, 142 other ranks and 16 Vickers machine guns, had 13 killed, 33 wounded and 8 missing which is a 38% casualty rate. It is difficult for us to fully understand just how desperate the fighting was. 

The following excerpt from the 1,000 page official history of “The A.I.F. in France” (page 428) specifically for the 20^th July 1916 at 6.30pm, the time my grandad was wounded, states the following (https://www.awm.gov.au/histories/chapter.asp?volume=4):-

My Grandfather told me that he was manning a Vickers gun near headquarters on the 20 July when the schrapnel shell exploded killing everyone at the gun position except for him. I believe that the abovementioned gun at Toll's headquarters would be his.

Private William David Jeater (Service No.1234) mentioned at the bottom of the above page was a friend of my grandfather and also from Newcastle. Following is an excerpt from my grandfather's autograph book from the war with a passage and signature by that same man. I checked William's war decorations and he received no apparent recognition for the above brave act, yet manages to get mentioned in the above official history book of WWI.

William Jeater went on to become a Lieutenant-Colonel during WWII.

An additional insight to the plight of the 5^th Division perhaps can be better explained in the following which I extracted off the Internet :-

1st AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE  -  1914-1915

Fromelles

Although the First, Second and Fourth Divisions, comprising 1 ANZAC Corps, were ordered south to the Somme in early July, Australians first major enterprise on the western front, a ‘feint' designed to divert German reserves from the Somme, was entrusted to the 5th Division before the small town of Fromelles. As twilight faded on its tenth day in France, 19^th July 1916, the Australian 5^th Division, together with the British 61st Division, moved forward to destroy the hated and despised Hun.

Fromelles was the first major battle Australian forces encountered on the Western Front. Men who had served on Gallipoli from the landing to the evacuation freely admitted that this was the most severe test that they had yet encountered. 

“The German artillery caught them before they reached their own front line. Shell after shell burst among the packed columns, cluttering the trench floors with dead and wounded. ‘They lay in heaps behind the parapet', a stretcher bearer related, crouched close under cover chaos and weird noises like thousands of iron foundries, deafening and dreadful, coupled with the roar of high explosives ripped the earth out of the parapet, we crept along seeking first of all the serious cases of wounded. Backwards & forwards we travelled between the firing line and the R.A.P. with knuckles torn and bleeding due to the narrow passageways. 'cold sweat', not perspiration, dripped from our faces and our breath came only in gasps .By the time we had completed 2 trips, each of three miles we were completely exhausted.” -  'Pte W. J. A. Allsop, 8 Field Ambulance 

A machine gunner, Sergeant Martin, recalled,

“We had to get up as close to the parapet as possible anybody who did not do this was simply courting death for shells were falling all round, there were dead and wounded everywhere. I had to sit on top of a dead man as there was no picking and choosing. I saw a shell drop about twelve yards away and it lifted two men clean up in the air for about 6 feet and they simply dropped back dead, one or two of the chaps got shell shock and others got really frightened it was piteous to see them. One great big chap got away as soon as he reached the firing line and could not be found, I saw him in the morning in a dug out he was white with fear and shaking like a leaf. One of our Lieutenants, got shell shock and he literally cried like a child, some that I saw carried down out of the firing line were struggling and calling out for their mother, while others were blabbering sentences one could not make out, a badly wounded chap had his body partly in a small hole that had a good deal of wood work about it, this some how caught alight and all I could see was the lower parts of his legs and a piece of his face, all the rest was burned.” -  Lt L J Martin 1 MG Bn

The men had not yet passed beyond the front trench, and as the awful toll mounted they began to realize the terrible ordeal before them. "'The shells are flying round like ants its awful,'' one wrote, '' God knows how many of us will come out of it alive.'' -  Cpl H. H. Harris, 55 Bn

Shortly before six p.m. the leading Australians advanced into No Man's Land. Sergeant Martin continued,

“We lost some men going over to the enemy's lines and you could hear the moans of the wounded and dying wherever you went. I got over the parapet and made for a big hole and rested there while we got our breath after that we made a dash but had to drop into any sort of hole we could find for machine guns were turned on to us and the bullets were just skimming over our heads. We got to Fritz's front line trenches eventually and then to the portion of trench which was behind their front line and stayed there till 5.30 a.m. when we were forced to retire. The Germans got somehow or other into their own front line while we were between their first and second lines and there was grave danger of our being cut off, so we had to make a bolt for it and a good few were hit coming back but the bullets happened to miss me somehow or other.” - Lt L J Martin 1 MG Bn

This account well outlines Fromelles. Two of the six Australian battalions attacking and almost all the Englishmen were halted in No Man's Land, and an eager and confident enemy picked out and shot down almost every attacking officer. The survivors were without support, but they charged into the German line, and some advanced beyond. During the night they resisted several counter attacks, but at last, depleted in strength and numbers, they gave way, and as dawn broke those not captured sprinted desperately through a merciless fire back to their own lines.

Australians had never experienced a more calamitous or tragic night. 178 officers and 5355 other ranks had fallen and about 400 were taken prisoner. Some Battalions had almost disappeared. The 5th Division was so devastated that it would not again be ready for combat for almost a year.

Because of his wounds, Charles was initially taken to the 9^th Red Cross Hospital but was immediately sent to Calais where he boarded the Hospital Ship ‘Dieppe’ on 22 July 1916 and was transferred to the 3^rd London General Hospital. He was then subsequently relocated to the 1^st.Australian Auxiliary Hospital in Harefield on 17 October to continue his convalescence. Private Charles Collin was discharged from hospital in December and went to Perham Downs for a period before transferring to a machine gun training school at Grantham on 11 March 1917. Meanwhile, the 5^th Division had been so decimated during the battle at Fromelles that it was something like 12 months before it was reformed and considered battle ready again. 

Whilst in hospital in Harefield, he met Kate Reader who was working as a nurse at the time, and they married on the 7 February 1917 in the Registry Office in Kingston, Surrey. 

At Grantham his records show that he was made an Acting Sergeant on 6 October, but for only a period of 22 days before reverting back to the rank of private. However on the 7 December 1917 the records show that he entered the No.5 Officer Cadet Battery at Cambridge again as an Acting Sergeant so I do not understand what happened in regards to rank during those 2 months. He qualified for a commission on the 3 May 1918 and was subsequently transferred back to the Machine Gun Training School, still as an Acting Sergeant, on the 19 May. After a brief stint in this school he transferred to Australian London Headquarters on the 17 June and was promoted to Second Lieutenant.  

On 27 July 1918 Charles was shipped back over to France and subsequently joined up with his new unit (5^th Machine Gun Battalion) in Camiers France on the 1 August. He was again wounded (this time gassed) on the 2 September at Peronne in the Somme which about 50 kilometres east of Amiens. He embarked for England on the ‘SS Essequibo’, bound again for the 3^rd London General Hospital, where he arrived on the 5 September. Charles was transferred from the hospital to a town called Sutton, which is north of Cambridge, for his convalescence. He was promoted to Lieutenant on Christmas Eve 1918. 

He did not know it at the time, but for him the war was over. The tragedy of all of this was the senseless loss of life and the injuries inflicted on men who would have to bear such scars, both physical and mental, for the rest of their lives. Whilst I do not have the total casualties specific to Australia at this time, I do have them for the British Empire. The Empire mobilised 8,904,467 personnel, of which 908,371 were killed, 2,090,212 were wounded, with 191,652 listed as prisoners or missing. This gave us a total number of casualties of 3,190,235 which is a casualty rate of 35.8%. Grandad’s Australian 5^th Division alone had a total of 8,275 killed, 23,331 wounded, 674 captured, for a total 32,180 casualties.

Meanwhile, my father Charles Douglas Collin had been born on 2 June 1918. Charles snr, Kate and Charles jnr. were eventually shipped back to Australia in 1919 on the ship ‘SS Wahehe’ that docked in Sydney harbour on the 1 July 1919. This ship was previously, according to Charles, the Kaiser’s private vessel and was a prize of the war.

When I was a young boy of about eight years old I can clearly recall first observing one of my Grandfather’s war wounds whilst he was shaving. It was a rare occasion when he did not have a shirt on. I can best describe it as a great cone shaped depression in his left shoulder, probably about 7 centimetres diameter on the outer surface of the skin with the depression being about 2 centimetres deep. This was accompanied by a smaller exit hole just below the armpit. I was taken aback by this vision, by its size, by the very fact that it was real and not like what was portrayed in the comic books where the goodies always won without a scratch. “What’s that big hole in your back Grandad?” - “That’s where I was wounded in the war” - “How come you were wounded in the back Grandad?” - “Because, at the time I was running like hell!”

I only saw the scarring the once, but as you can see it left a lasting impression on me. History now tells me that the circumstances of his wounding were more relating to a shell exploding near where he was operating his gun rather than he running. As mentioned earlier he was supposedly the only survivor of a group of seven manning a machine gun. No matter, as an eight year old it was a fascinating story that has left a lasting vision in my mind. I try to imagine grandad wounded amongst six dead bodies but I do not like that, so I am happy with the picture that I first saw in my mind all those years ago. 

About the same time I asked him about the actual role of being a machine gunner. He readily told me that using the Vickers Maxim machine gun involved a total of 4 men and its use and the results of that use soon became an impersonal thing. Its arc of travel was from 45 degrees to the left of centre, to 45 degrees to the right. As the gunner your job was to sit behind the gun and start from one side and slowly swing to the other until you hit the stop and then swing back again, ensuring that the spray of bullets was always at body level. There was an assistant who fed the feed belt and ensured that it did not jamb. Two other men were involved as ammunition carriers. Another critical job was to keep the water up to the gun as it was water-cooled.

He saw men fall under his gun but told me that after the first hour of the conflict you forced the victims of the gun to just become images and were not seen by him as being human. He did tell me that if you saw it in a personal manner you would surely go mad! And that was it! He told me no more about this side of the conflict despite my pleading for detail. I only observed the shoulder wound once and never saw the leg wound even though I know I asked to see it. There were many things that had to be left unsaid and undescribed, the wounding whilst manning the machine gun is a case in point. As I go through life now and when I read about that terrible 1914-18 conflict I understand why this perhaps had to be.

When Charles arrived back in Sydney, he was sent to Concord Camp Military Hospital, which in those days was an assortment of tents and wooden huts. Kate was also housed there until Charles was fit enough to be discharged. He believed that Concord delivered mixed messages on occasions. You were revered as a hero one day and a damned nuisance the next. No one who had not been in the battles could possibly fully understand what the wounded had been through, and of course those men who were ‘shell-shocked’ or relived it all again in nightmares and had no ‘visible’ wounds were treated with some distain. In those days mental anguish was not understood, with those breaking under the huge bombardments in the field, in some instances being seen as perhaps cowards, or not made of the ‘right stuff’. 

His confinement at Concord was not as pleasant as it could have been, and he got away from there as soon as he could. He was formally discharged from the army on 21 November 1919 and the family moved to Adamstown where they lived in an old house for a while near the corner of Brunker and Glebe Roads (there is presently [i.e. in 2007] a Hairdresser’s shop on the site, immediately behind the Newcastle Permanent Building Society). They later moved to a house on the corner of Gosford and Melville Roads Adamstown. 

The period from 1919 through to 1924 was a hard time for Charles as he suffered difficulties with his shoulder together with issues relating to the gas poisoning, and he could not do heavy work. He had several light jobs during this period, one of these being a lift-operator at Scott’s Store (now currently David Jones) in Hunter Street, and another as an Insurance Agent. In 1924 he became an Honorary Ambulance Bearer with Newcastle Ambulance Service, a position which led to a permanent role in the Service. The station was located in Hunter Street West adjacent to the corner of Hunter and Union Streets. The new station in Denison Street Hamilton was still in the process of being built. He was associated with the new station until 1927, when he transferred to Wellington as the Station Superintendent. During this period in Newcastle, Charles received a War Service Loan for a house. He had a house built at 16 King Street Adamstown for £955 by a builder by the name of W.Rouse. However, soon after it was completed, he made the transfer to Wellington. 

After a year and nine months in Wellington, he was invited to open a new district at Bowral. He was at Bowral from 1929 through to 1935. 

Charles and Kate had five sons:-

  Charles Douglas                    born Wimbledon England                   1918   -   2000

  William Reader                     born Adamstown                                 1920   -   1920

  Ronald Munro                       born Gosford Rd. Adamstown             1921   -   2002

  Louis George                         born King St. Adamstown                   1925

  Brian Reader                         born Bowral                                        1930

Sadly, William Reader was born without a rectum, and whilst this condition could well be treated today, there was little that could be done in 1920. I understand that William lived for four days.

Charles left the Ambulance service while in Bowral, about Christmas 1935, and the family moved back to King Street Adamstown. He worked for a short period as a Car Salesman and then in 1936, went to the BHP Newcastle where he was initially employed as a Maintenance Fitter in the Plate & Bar Mill. After several years at the Mill, he became a Safety Officer with the Company. In addition to this role, he also acted as the Works Photographer, taking promotional shots for magazines etc, as well as the less glamorous issue of accident scenes for evidence in coronial enquiries etc. 

With the outbreak of World War II, Charles again made himself available in 1940 for war duty. He received a reply to say that the Government appreciated his offer and would get back to him, but he was not ever required. I suppose being 44 and already having served his country once, together with war wounds that had slowed him down a little, he never had a chance of being enlisted. It did show to me however that he was someone who believed in loyalty and ‘all for King and country’. I admire him for that. 

Photography was his hobby, perhaps best described as his passion. He took a Box-Brownie camera with him to the Great War, and that was the beginning of a very successful venture into the photographic world. Very few of the photos that he took or had taken by others during the War have survived, with the paper and film used in those days being an unknown quality. Some surviving examples from the War are in this Chapter. He went on to become recognised as one of the best photographers in the Newcastle area, and was held in high regard by his peers. He won many major prizes throughout the country and overseas, and was known by the members of the Newcastle Photographic Society as the ‘Master’. His work was shown to new members of the Society, and they were encouraged to copy the technique. 

Another interest that he had was the Masonic Order which he was in for many years, retiring from their ranks having held all posts except that of Grand Master. His membership of the Masonic Order made me smile a little. I discovered that upon entering the Armed Forces in 1915 he stated that his religion was Methodist, a group I would consider being to the left of the Church of England, the religion that was the nucleus of the Masons. I can only suggest that Kate was the staunch C of E in the family and Charles felt an obligation to align with her upon marrying. 

He had an interest in motorcycles, riding one to work each day until be was about sixty. He only gave it away then because he came off the bike and broke a leg. Whilst the bike he rode to work was something simple like a BSA Bantam, he also had a big American Indian motorcycle in the back yard (a monstrous big bike with a hand gear change) that he had big plans for but I sense that it went when the leg was broken.

In the meantime, Kate was not always enjoying good health and passed away in 1968 at the age of 70. She was cremated at Beresfield in Newcastle and her ashes are in the Memorial Gardens of that establishment. 

Charles suffered a stroke in the late 1970s when he was on a photographic outing on Carey’s Peak. He never fully recovered from this stroke, and lived his remaining years quietly at 16 King Street Adamstown until his death on the 14 July 1982. He too was cremated at Beresfield, and is in the East Garden Wall 13/3 25H. 

Somehow I sense that Charles Snr. always wanted to be part of something, to belong. Based on our interviews I got the feeling that he was a lonely little boy even though I really believe that he was truly loved by his foster-parents. The close relationship with his birth-mother and ‘Uncle’ Henri was considered a grand bonus. He told me that he knew that he was in foster care for as long as he can remember. The Collin family had made him aware of it very early so it never came as a surprise to him. But despite the love and tender care, there was always that stigma that really must have hurt, those uncomfortable times when friends referred to their dads, something he really could not do. I know that for him going to the war was simply a ‘loyalty’ thing, ‘for King and country’ and all of that, something that was prompted with the passing of his foster-mother – and certainly not seen as an opportunity to travel and see the world as some poor souls saw it. He was proud of his service to his country – did not talk about it much, but proud all the same for you see for those 5 years he belonged to something and he was happy with that. Again he felt the feeling of belonging in later years when he worked for the BHP. He helped me get my job there, reinforcing in me values like ‘you look after them and they will look after you’. To him it was a family company where men could get jobs for sons and grandsons. I think I can best describe my Grandfather as a person I greatly respected and admired. He was quite an interesting man. He showed me the art of photography and how the photographic development process worked. He was a person of many facets, and seemed to have an interest in most things. He was a compassionate man, leastwise that is how I saw him, and as a young boy I always felt safe in his presence.

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The information I have on my paternal Grandmother, Kate Collin (nee Reader) is somewhat sparse. She passed away in 1968, well before I generated an interest in history, and I found out in later years that my Grandfather was somewhat reticent about filling in her past for me. Then again, maybe he just did not know.

The 1901 British Census

Because of her age, my grandmother is only mentioned in the 1901 British Census. She was born Kate Reader in 1898, daughter of William & Kate Reader (nee Smith) who were married in the first quarter of 1891 at Holborn which is in London. The 1901 British Census states that William (my great grandfather) was a Dairyman Shopkeeper. 

EXCERPT FROM THE 1901 BRITISH CENSUS  for ‘READER’

6 Dudley Road Southall, Middlesex

The above William and Kate Reader (in blue) are my great grandparents

Kate Reader (in red) is my great grandmother

Many years ago my grandmother told a story, that was also reinforced by my father, that a grant of land was given to the Purkis family (a family name connection that is explained in a following chapter) as a reward for finding the body of King William II in the New Forest and taking the body back to Winchester. In the 18^th Century, this land was given back to the people, and Christ Hospital was built on it. One proviso on the relinquishing of ownership of the land, was that the first born of the family were eligible for a doctorate at the hospital, provided they had the scholastic ability. (On reflection though, this sounds like a bit of nonsense. Maybe one incident has been blurred into another)

As you can see, I know relatively little about my Grandmother. My memories of her were of a quiet frail soul, prone to sickness, and with a short tolerance span for children. She died in 1968. 

WILLIAM II Rufus (c.1056-1100),  King of England, was the third son of William I the Conqueror (q.v) and Matilda of Flanders. The early death of their second son, Richard, coupled with the fact that William was his father’s favourite, made it likely that he would inherit the throne. On his deathbed, the Conqueror was persuaded by the Norman Magnates to let his eldest son, Robert Curthose, succeed as Duke of Normandy, but he sent the crown and sceptre of England to William. Seventeen days after his father’s death, William Rufus was crowned at Westminster (Sept.26,1087) by Archbishop Lanfranc. His accession was rapid and peaceful and was not marked by the issue of any charter of liberties or written undertaking to observe ancient rights and customs. 

William was unprepossessing in appearance and rough and brutal in character. He was popularly known as Rufus from his red face. He was short, corpulent and thick-necked, and wore his hair long without a beard, in a fashion considered shockingly effeminate. It can be assumed with reasonable certainty that he was a homosexual. In speech he stammered badly, and like all Norman kings, he was liable to fits of rage in which he became incoherent. Although Rufus had no intellectual bent he was intelligent, enjoyed a reputation for witty conversation, and took particular pleasure in blasphemies and anticlerical jibes. There is nothing to prove that he was, as is sometimes claimed, consciously a devotee of witchcraft, but there is little doubt of his hostility to Christianity. Nevertheless, he won fame as a knight and even greater fame as a generous patron of the knights. 

As king of England, Rufus displayed a ruthless vigour which enabled him to continue the policies of the Conqueror although he lacked the integrity which made men tolerate his father’s harshness. Early in 1088, a large body of Norman nobles in England, stirred up by the Conqueror’s half brother Odo of Bayeux (q.v.), earl of Kent, rose in support of Duke Robert and led rebellions in East Anglia, Leicestershire, the Welsh marches, and above all in Kent. Rufus used mercenary troops and the native English militia or fyrd, and after they had defeated the rebels he promised his subjects that he would reduce taxes and ameliorate the harshness of the forest laws. But once his position in England was secure, Rufus levied heavier taxes than before and the forest laws continued as harsh as ever. In 1095 a second baronial revolt broke out, led by Robert de Mowbray, earl of Northumberland: several of the rebels leniently treated after the 1088 revolt joined him, but Rufus punished the ringleaders so severely that this proved to be the last baronial rebellion of the reign. 

Rufus’ campaign against Robert de Mowbray had been interrupted by a rapid expedition to North Wales to deal with Cadwgn ap Bleddyn of Powys and Gruffydd ap Cynan of Snowdonia, who had driven the Normans east of the Conway. The Welsh advance was checked, and in 1097 the King again invaded Wales and had castles built to hold down the country. In 1091 Rufus compelled King Malcolm III of Scotland to do homage and in 1092 he built a castle at Carlisle and settled Cumberland, hitherto under Scottish rule, with southern English peasantry. Finally, 1093, he induced Malcolm to visit his court at Gloucester and then refused to see him. The infuriated King of Scots ravaged Northumberland but was killed near Almwick (November). Thereupon Rufus nominated first one then another of Malcolm’s sons to the Scottish throne and maintained them as vassal kings. 

King William’s chief interest lay in the recovery of Normandy from Robert Curthose. To this end he made war in the duchy from 1089 to 1096, gaining much of Upper (eastern) Normandy by 1091 and reducing his brother to the role of subordinate ally. In 1096 Robert, wishing to be a leader of the First Crusade, pledged his duchy to Rufus for about £6,600, which the king raised by levying a geld throughout England. For four years Rufus proved that he was a much more competent ruler of Normandy than Robert. He recovered Maine and revived his father’s plans to recover the French Vexin. With mounting ambition, he began negotiations to take over Aquitaine from Duke William IX in pawn and was said to be aiming at the French throne. In 1100 Robert Curthose returned from the Crusade. It is most unlikely that Rufus would have restored Normandy to him without a struggle.

But before any plans to defend the duchy could materialise, Rufus was killed (Aug 2) while hunting in the New Forest, near Lyndhurst, by Walter Tirel, lord of Poix in Ponthieu. The balance of probability points to murder, plotted by the family of Clare (q.v.) in the interests of the king’s brother Henry, who was a member of the hunting party and promptly seized the throne. Rufus’ body was left lying where it had fallen; some peasants took it on a farm cart to Winchester, where it was buried under the cathedral tower. 

The Rufus Stone

A stone known as the Rufus Stone marks the spot where some believe King William II fell.

The inscription on the Rufus Stone reads:

“Here stood the oak tree, on which an arrow shot by Sir Walter Tyrell at a stag, glanced and struck King William the Second, surnamed Rufus, on the breast, of which he instantly died, on the second day of August, anno 1100. King William the Second, surnamed Rufus, being slain, as before related, was laid in a cart, belonging to one Purkis, and drawn from hence, to Winchester, and buried in the Cathedral Church, of that city.”

The current monument is made of cast iron and was erected in 1865.

The Reader side of the Family are all in England and I subsequently know little of them. It was only in 2010 that I found out that her mother (my great grandmother) was married twice, firstly to Arthur Samels who died in 1895 (aged 28) and then to William Reader. I got this information from some relatives in England. This information was never forthcoming on our side of things and I wonder why. I must admit that when I study the photograph of Dorothy it is apparent that she has different facial features to the Reader side.

Of course all the Purkis clan believe they are directly descended from the William Purkis who found the body of his King in 1100. That was over 900 years ago, which is in the order of 40 generations back. To seek a direct link through 40 generations is indeed an arduous task. I have managed to go back only 5 generations to become stuck at a point where I come to William & Mary Ann Purkis (nee West) as opposed to the more popular William & Mary Purkis (nee Tribe) put forward by other true believers. It also appears that each generation of Purkis’ must have a William, the reason I suspect being to reinforce their supposed lineage. The past is littered with William Purkis’. I am having doubts and still have 35 generations to go! Whether or not we have a direct line to the 1100AD William is purely academic. There is no pot of gold at the end of the rainbow for any of us, so in my mind it only becomes an unproven curiosity. 

https://freespace.virgin.net/j.purkis/index.htm  will give a limited history of the Purkis family, based on Mary Tribe being my great great great grandmother rather than Mary Ann West.