Patriotic Committee formed at Homebush

Homebush Lower was four miles north-east of Avoca. Today only the school building remains but it was still a small town during World War I. The towns of Homebush and Homebush Lower, also known as Lower Homebush, were founded on gold mining in the 1860s and in the 1880s were at their peak.

On 10 September 1914 a meeting was held at Homebush to discuss and raise funds for the Patriotic Fund.

HOMEBUSH, LOWER. (1914, September 16). Avoca Free Press and Farmers' and Miners' Journal (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved September 16, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151625374

Messrs Samers, Deeble and Wood travelled from Avoca to address the meeting.

A Patriotic Committee was formed with Mr W. Miller elected the president and Mr C. H. Squires, the secretary and treasurer. Mesdames Garner and Barry were appointed to collect the funds for Homebush Lower and Miss M. Shiell for Upper Homebush.

Lennox, Lindsay & Gray, Stanhope (1890). Scarlet and blue. W. Paxton & Co. ; Melbourne : E.W. Cole Book Arcade, London

Patriotic songs were sung during the evening including:

• "Red, White, and Blue"
• "Scarlet and Blue"
• "Australia"
• the National Anthem, "God Save the King"

The "Red, White and Blue" was written in 1852, nine years after the very similar "Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean", a United States patriotic song.

Britannia, the pride of the ocean, The home of the brave and the free, The shrine of the patriot's devotion, No land can compare unto thee: Thy mandates make heroes assemble, With garlands of glory in view, Thy banners make tyranny tremble, When borne by the Red, White and Blue. Refrain: Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue, Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue, Three cheers for the Army and Navy, Three cheers for the Red, White and Blue,

When war spread its wide desolation, And threaten'd our land to deform, The ark, then of freedom's foundation, Britannia rode safe through the storm: With the garlands of vict'ry around her, So nobly she bore her brave crew, Her flag floating proudly before her, The flag of the Red, White and Blue. Britannia, the pride of the ocean, And so of a truth shall she be. While true in her loyal devotion, To all that is noble and free: The fire that glows in her story, Still burns in the hearts of her sons, And her flag shall still lead her to glory, When duty shall march with her guns.

The "Scarlet and Blue" song was composed in 1890.

A visit to the cemetery

Yesterday was a glorious spring day. My husband, devoted dog, and I visited the cemetery at Avoca.

In July this year at the Ballarat and District Genealogical Society I heard an excellent talk about World War 1 commemoration in Ballarat cemeteries  by Barry Snowden, a trustee of the Ballarat Cemeteries Trust. To date over 940 men who served in World War 1 have been identified as buried or memorialised in Ballarat cemeteries. About 400 of their graves are maintained by the Office of the Australian War Graves Commission. Snowden's project which is expected to result in a book about the men remembered in the Ballarat cemeteries.

My visit yesterday was not systematic and did not cover all of the cemetery.

My exceedingly observant husband and I found the following men buried or memorialised at the cemetery:

• Hartigan, Clarence Victor. Killed in France aged 20 years.






The rifle is a Lee-Enfield .303, used by British troops from 1895 to 1957, in both the Boer War and the First World War.



The funeral of Clarence Hartigan's brother Michael was reported in the Argus:





FUNERAL OF A RETURNED. SOLDIER. (1901, August 13). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved September 15, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article10566278



The memorial headstone was erected in 1903.





SOUTH AFRICA. (1903, January 20). The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), p. 5. Retrieved September 15, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9815568




• Leersen, Albert Henry , 39th Battalion, died 6 September 1952. Area: Protestant Section: A 3 6 Grave: 643







• Lindsay, Frank, 9867, 22nd Battalion, died 11 August 1958. Area: Roman Catholic Section: D 3 5 Grave: 704

• Robinson, Robert Webster, 21st Battalion, died 14 April 1972.







• Wrigley, John Aloysius, 3300 58th Battalion, died 2 September 1948. Area: Roman Catholic Section: DD 2 3 Grave: 608

Some graves were erected and maintained by the Office of Australian War Graves (OAWG), others were private. One was a memorial only. Nearly all the bodies of Australians who died overseas during World War I were not repatriated.

The OAWG erects and maintains graves where the death is attributable to war service. The Avoca cemetery has 21 graves for which the OAWG has arranged official commemoration. Of these 16 are for men who served in World War I. Two or three of these 16 probably are buried in Avoca, Tasmania rather than Avoca, Victoria. There are others of the 16 who were not associated with the Avoca district during the war.

Name		Service number	Year of death	Grave location
DRIVER	William Henry		1915	Area: Protestant
HENDERSON	Charles	6819	1955	Area: Protestant
MITCHELL	Thomas Trebilcock	955	1969	Area: Protestant
NICHOLSON	William G	3845	1920	Area: Protestant
LEERSEN	Albert Henry	1861	1952	Area: Protestant Section: A 3 6 Grave: 643
GREENWOOD	Harold James	1852	1930	Area: Protestant Section: A 7 14 Grave: 428
WILSON	George Lancelot	4641	1937	Area: Protestant Section: A 8 16 Grave: 487
JARDINE	William Edward	2772	1954	Area: Protestant Section: B 11 3 Grave: 540
BARNETT	Maurice	6712	1948	Area: Protestant Section: B 13 7 Grave: 605
HENDERSON	John Hamilton		1915	Area: Protestant Section: CC 1 2 Grave: 291
LINDSAY	Frank	9867	1958	Area: Roman Catholic Section: D 3 5 Grave: 704
WRIGLEY	John Aloysius	3300	1948	Area: Roman Catholic Section: DD 2 3 Grave: 608
HUMPHREY	William J	1721	1934	Area: Unden Section: C Grave: 486
BADKIN	Sydney	1792	1963	Unknown – maybe Avoca,Tasmania
PYKE	Henry James	5163	1966	Unknown – maybe Avoca,Tasmania
VINEY	Louis Gordon	25	1953	Unknown – maybe Avoca,Tasmania

Grand Patriotic Ball at Lamplough on 11 September 1914

The Grand Patriotic Ball at Lamplough was advertised on 9 September in the Avoca Free Press and held on Friday 11 September 1914.

Advertising. (1914, September 9). Avoca Free Press and Farmers' and Miners' Journal (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved September 11, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151623123

There was a brief report of the ball in the Avoca Free Press of 16 September.

No title. (1914, September 16). Avoca Free Press and Farmers' and Miners' Journal (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved September 16, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151625353

When the Avoca and District Patriotic Fund met later in the month, J. Curtis was present representing the community of Lamplough, and Lamplough was reported as contributing £3 13s 6d towards the district grand total of more than £300 raised overall. (AVOCA AND DISTRICT PATRIOTIC FUND. (1914, September 23). Avoca Free Press and Farmers' and Miners' Journal (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved September 11, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151622483)

The Avoca and District Patriotic Fund had been formed at a meeting on 18 August. A committee was formed with the purpose of raising funds towards the Victorian Patriotic Fund organised for the relief of the troops. The Patriotic Fund was formed in Melbourne on 8 August by the Lord Mayor to enable men to do their duty without anxiety for their families. 

At the meeting on 18 August at Avoca, Councillor Paten was appointed chairman with Councillors Samers and Thomas as Vice-Chairmen; Mr J. H. Deeble was appointed secretary.

The following  ladies and gentlemen were appointed to the committee: — Mesdames A Snell, Brown, E Paten, Chandler, Samers, C Reed, J Reid, Currie, Robinson, Wood, Classen, Thomas, B Snell, Chellew, Deeble, A F Paten, Stavely, Hardy, Johnson, Misses Johns (2) and Grimmer, Messrs G T Wood,  J H Moyle, J Chandler, A G Cust, S G Mitchell, R Stavely, F Knuckey, A G Lalor, G. Downton, J C Wilson, A Wilson, J H Benjamin, J Hempseed, Jno Mackereth, A C: Henderson, C Wolfe, T Simmons, B D Snell, W F Hardy, A Ahpee, W M Chellew, F Wiltshire, Revs. Robinson, Reed and Currie, and Drs Johnson and Grimmer. (The War. (1914, August 22). Avoca Free Press and Farmers' and Miners' Journal (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved September 11, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151623260)

Subscriptions were collected the following week, raising more than £50. The Australian Womens' National League (AWNL) made a contribution and also donated thirteen dozen handkerchiefs. Progress was reported in both local newspapers and also the Ballarat Courier.

ACTION IN COUNTRY. (1914, August 26). The Ballarat Courier (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 4 Edition: DAILY.. Retrieved August 25, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article73317026

AVOCA AND DISTRICT PATRIOTIC FUND. (1914, August 26). Avoca Free Press and Farmers' and Miners' Journal (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved September 11, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151621949

The £300 raised by the Avoca and District Patriotic Fund by mid September can be put in some perspective compared to the funds raised at the 1914 football semi final between South Melbourne and Carlton. More than 20,000 attended the MCG and the gate takings were £863 of which £252 went to the Patriotic Fund. (No title. (1914, September 23). Avoca Free Press and Farmers' and Miners' Journal (Vic. : 1914 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved September 11, 2014, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article151622490)

Joseph Dillon Hanly

Joseph Dillon Hanly, a bank clerk at with the Bank of Victoria at Avoca, enlisted at Maryborough on 18 September 1914. He was twenty years old.

Hanly had been born in Liverpool England. On his attestation form he listed his next of kin as father J. J. Hanly, Howard, Queensland, and mother W. M. Hanly of Jolimont in East Melbourne. (National Archives of Australia: Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office; B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920; HANLY Joseph Dillon : Service Number - 872/Lieutenant : Place of Birth - Liverpool England : Place of Enlistment - Maryborough VIC : Next of Kin - (Mother) HANLY W M.)

He had received his father's permission to enlist. (NAA, B2455, Hanly J D, pg 52)

Hanly sailed for Egypt as a private on 2 February 1915 with the 3rd Light Horse Field Ambulance on HMAT A51 Chilka.

In 1918 Hanly joined the Australian Flying Corps and he returned to Australia in 1919.

Joseph Dillon Hanly in 1918 as a trainee pilot with B Flight, No. 8 Training Squadron of the Australian Flying Corps (AFC) at Leighterton, Gloucestershire, England. Australian War Memorial ID number D00127 retrieved from http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/D00127/

On Wednesday 23 September 1914 a farewell was held for Joseph Hanly, hosted by Mr J. H. Deeble, manager of the bank, and his wife. Afternoon tea, eatables, wine and cigars were served. Mr George Downton presided, proposing a toast. Among others, Councillor Paten and Mr G. Woods spoke at the function. The National Anthem and "Auld Lang Syne" were sung.

A full report of the farewell appeared in the Avoca Free Press on 26 September 1914.