Left: The Witcombe home at Charles Street, Marrickville; Right: Sarah with her sons Ron and Alf

The Witcombe Family of Somerset

The family of Arthur Witcombe came from Somerset in England via London in 1855. The patriarch of the family was James Witcombe who was born at Downhead, Somerset in 1804. He married Mary Ann Pratten at Bath in about 1829.  Mary was born at Gloucester in 1805, the daughter of  Samuel and Mary Pratten. James and Mary Witcombe had at least four children – William (1830), Edwin (1832), John (1834) and Matilda (1842).

Witcombe family photo taken in 1918 to be sent to their youngest son who was then serving with the Australian Medical Corps as a stretcher bearer on the Western Front)

The 1841 census records that James was a carpenter and he and his wife and their three osns were living at Barton Place, Lyncombe and Widcombe in Somerset. The family moved to London in the late 1840’s or early 1850’s. James Witcombe and his three sons were all employed as carpenters. The extended family moved to Australia in two groups. William and Julia Witcombe and their children arrived at Sydney aboard the “Constitution” in early 1855. William obviously wrote back to his parents who with the remaining children and their families arrived at Sydney aboard the “Chowringhee” on 16th November 1855.

John Witcombe (1834-1921) at far right with two of his sons and a grandson in 1911

John Witcombe married Mary Ann Flowerdew at St Lukes’ church, London on 19th June 1855. They were married by the Rev’d John Saunders and the witnesses were William Flowerdew and Lucy Flowerdew. Mary Ann was the daughter of William Flowerdew and Mary Ann Giles. Mary Ann Flowerdew was baptised at St Giles’ church, Camberwell on 25th December 1831. Prior to emigrating she was employed as a domestic servant in Whitechapel in the East End of London.

One mystery relating to this couple is that on the passenger manifest of the “Chowringhee” they are listed as single emigrants. However their immigration papers are endorsed “was originally embarked as a single man afterwards discovered to be married to Mary Ann Flowerdew …… who was also embarked as a single woman.” Had John Witcombe married against his parent’s wishes and not told them of his marriage?

Mary Ann was pregnant when she boarded the “Chowringhee” and her status may only have been revealed when it was obvious she was expecting a child.

John Witcombe and Mary Ann Flowerdew had nine children – Mark (1856), Lucy (1858), Charlotte (1860), Frederick (1863), Mary Ann (1866), Arthur (1867), Fanny (1870), James (1873) and Alice (1875). John moved his family from Sydney to Muswellbrook in northern NSW for several years and it was during this time that Arthur Witcombe was born on 24th December 1867.

Mary Ann Witcombe died of tuberculosis at St Peters in Sydney aged 72 years on 25th November 1904. John Witcombe died at his home at St Peters of senile decay aged 87 years on 10th September 1921. John and Mary Ann were both buried in the Church of England cemetery, Sutherland.

Left: Arthur Witcombe with his grandson John Marshall;
Right: Sarah and her daughter Grace at the beach in the late 1920’s

Left: Florence as a young woman; Middle: On her wedding day with Jack Marshall;
Right: Flo with her son John

Left: Flo Marshall with her Turner nieces; Right: Ross and Reg Witcombe with their Turner cousins

Marshalls of Laurieton – A Family Who Gave More Than Most for King and Country

Henry Marshall married Mary (Marie) Alice Maud Hogg in 1889. Marie was the daughter of Robert Cadell Hogg and Elizabeth A. Finn and she was born in 1869. Henry was an engineer and after marrying, he and Marie went to live on the north coast of New South Wales at Laurieton, Camden Haven near Port Macquarie. They had seven children many of whom died young. Their children were William Henry (1890), Alice (1892), John (1894), Merwin (1895), twins Isabel and Robert (1899) and Bertha (1900).

All three of Henry and Marie’s surviving sons enlisted in the First A.I.F. Their eldest son William Henry was killed at Lone Pine, their next son John was badly wounded at Passchendaele and died only a few years after the war and Merwin was wounded, probably at Messines, and disappeared from sight.

Although the Marshall brothers are only related to the family through marriage they have been included here firstly because of the sacrifice they made in the Great War and secondly it was John Marshall’s son, also called John, who inadvertently set this whole project off.

William Henry Marshall

William was born at Laurieton in about June 1890 and he was the eldest child of Henry and Marie Marshall. After leaving school he joined the NSW Railways as a dogman.

William enlisted in the First A.I.F. at Liverpool on 1st May 1915 probably as a result of the excitement and patriotism generated by the landing at Anzac Cove the week before. He was assigned to the 4th Battalion as a Private with regimental number 2192. His Attestation sheet gives his physical description: height 5 foot 6 & ¾ inches; weight 124 lbs; dark hair, blue eyes and dark hair.

William departed Australia with the 6th reinforcements to the 4th Battalion after what must have been only very rudimentary training. On the 4th August he was taken onto the strength of the 4th Battalion at Gallipoli. Two days later on the 6th August the Battle of Lone Pine commenced. Sometime between the 6th and the 9th of August William was killed in action – probably during the first charge. He had been there for so little time that no-one knew him well enough to have noticed his loss during the fighting.

John Marshall

John (Jack) Marshall enlisted in the 1st A.I.F. on 4th August 1915, ironically the same day that his elder brother William arrived on Gallipoli. Jack was initially assigned to the 18th Battalion and allocated regimental number 2720. He was a 21 year old labourer with no previous military experience. His attestation sheet gives his physical description: height 5ft 10 inches; weight 140 lbs; ruddy complexion, hazel eyes and brown hair. The 18th Battalion had been almost destroyed at Hill 60 on its very first day in action when the battalion’s soldiers were barely trained. As a result large numbers of reinforcements were required.

Jack embarked at Sydney with the 6th reinforcements to the 18th Battalion on 2nd November 1915 and underwent further training in Egypt. He was transferred to Number 11 Platoon, “C” Company of the 3rd Battalion on 14th February 1916 and embarked for the Western Front with the rest of his unit aboard HMT “Grampian”. The battalion disembarked at Marseilles on 28th March 1916 and proceeded immediately to Flanders where it went into the line on April 21st.

 Jack was in the thick of the fighting at Pozieres and Bullecourt in 1916 and early 1917 and somehow managed to survive unscathed. He spent two months from March to May 1917 attached to 1st Brigade Headquarters, probably as a runner (this was a very dangerous job). Jack was promoted to Lance-Corporal on 18th July 1917.

On 19th September the battalion entered the line at Passchendaele and at 5.40 a.m. next morning began its attack. The Germans subjected the Australian troops to a terrific artillery bombardment. The 3rd Battalion suffered 70 casualties on the first morning alone. It was at this time that Jack was badly wounded in the vicinity of Polygon Wood. He suffered a shrapnel wound to the right thigh resulting in a compound fracture of the femur. Jack spent several months in hospital at Wimmereux and it was not until the end of April 1918 that he was evacuated to England and admitted to the Pavilion General Hospital at Brighton. It was about this time that his kidney problems began and he had kidney stones removed.

In the meantime Jack’s mother was obviously desperate with worry. She wrote a plaintive letter to the Dept of Defence on 12th October 1917:

“As we feel anxious about our son Pte J Marshall would you let us know if you have had any further particulars of his case, where and how he was wounded and whether seriously or only slightly wounded.You will excuse our anxiety as we have already lost one son and now the other two have been wounded. Would you advise us as soon as possible and in what hospital he is at present stationed.”

Jack was not discharged from hospital until 1st November 1918 after which he went on leave to Edinburgh. While there he contracted influenza, this at the height of the Spanish flu epidemic, and he was admitted to hospital. In his weakened condition it is amazing he survived. On 18th January 1919 he embarked on HMT “Ulysses” to return to Australia and disembarked at Sydney on 4th March after a six week voyage. Due to his injuries Jack was not immediately discharged from the A.I.F. even though he was totally and permanently incapacitated. He went before a medical review board on 28th February 1921 where it was noted that he had had nine operations on his leg  but had no further problems with his kidneys.

Jack Marshall married Florence Witcombe, who was a nurse’s aide, in 1920. Unfortunately Jack never recovered from his war injuries and he died on 27th May 1924 one year after the birth of his only child, John.

Merwin Marshall

Little is known of Merwin other than he was born at Laurieton in 1895 and he probably enlisted in the 1st A.I.F. in early 1916, probably against the wishes of his mother. He may have enlisted under a false name as there is no record of his name in the nominal rolls held by the War Memorial. Nevertheless by October 1917 he had been wounded (see the excerpt from his mother’s letter to the Dept of Defence reproduced above). There is no record of his marrying after the war, at least not in NSW.