L is for Never Surrender Lodge No. 187 I. O. G. T. Lamplough

The International Order of Good Templars is a temperance organisation, founded in the United States in 1851.

IOGT (International Organisation of Good Templars) Certificate of Membership from 1868. Published by Lyman T. Moore, Lawton, Michigan. Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1868, by Lyman T. Moore in the Clerks Office of the District Court for the Western District of Michigan. Image from Wikipedia. (Click to enlarge)
 Vignette (top): The parable of the Good Samaritan. Vignettes (clockwise from bottom): First drink - social. Second drink at a bar. Drinking & gambling. Goes home drunk to young wife. Pawns his clothes. Poverty & delirium. Recovery - signs the pledge. Prosperity & happy home. Certificate of Membership: This is to Certify, that — is a worthy Member in good standing of — Lodge N° — held at — State of —. In Witness Whereof, we have hereunto affixed the Seal of our Lodge this — day of — A.D. 18 —. Secretary. W.C.

In 1875 the Order established a branch, the 'Never Surrender' Lodge in the small mining settlement of Lamplough, in central Victoria. My husband's 3rd great grandfather, George Young (1826-1890), and George's son John (1856-1928), both gold miners, became officers of the Lodge. George's daughter Alice (1859 - 1935) , aged 17, was also a member, holding the office of Worthy Treasurer. George was Worthy Financial Secretary and John was Worthy Marshall.

FRIDAY EVENING. FEBRUARY 5, 1875. (1875, February 5). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 - 1900; 1915 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202697423

No title (1875, November 12). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 - 1900; 1915 - 1918), p. 2. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article202698128

LAMPLOUGH. (1876, January 14). Avoca Mail (Vic. : 1863 - 1900; 1915 - 1918), p. 3. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article204038187

In 1876 the Avoca Mail reported that at a concert put on by the Lodge, Mr Young---presumably either George or his son John---'did good [unreadable]'. From the context it appears that his performance was either a song or two or perhaps a few jokes. It is a little frustrating not to be able to read the badly scanned text.

The International Order of Good Templars still exists, but I have found no more newspaper mentions of the Lamplough Lodge after this one in 1876; I don't know when it dissolved.

Initials

IOGT = Independent Order of Good Templars
GWCT = Grand Worthy Chief Templar
WCT = Worthy Chief Templar
PWCT = Past Worthy Chief Templar
WVT = Worthy Vice Templar
WS = Worthy Secretary
WC = Worthy Chaplain
WIG = Worthy Inside Guard
WOG = Worthy Outside Guard
WAS = Worthy Assistant Secretary
WT = Worthy Treasurer
WFS = Worthy Financial Secretary
WDM = Worthy Deputy Marshall
WRHS = Worthy Right Hand Supporter
WLHS = Worthy Left Hand Supporter


Further reading

• IOGT International: historyhttp://iogt.org/about-iogt/the-iogt-way/who-we-are/the-history/
• Turnbull, William W The Good Templars : a history of the rise and progress of the Independent Order of Good Templars. 1901 retrieved from https://archive.org/details/goodtemplars00turn
• Echoes from the Bush. (1873, August 5). Evening Journal (Adelaide, SA : 1869 - 1912), , p. 3 (SECOND EDITION). Retrieved June 8, 2016, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article197668264 

George Young's land at Lamplough

In 1859 or 1860  my husband's great great grandfather, George Young, who had followed earlier Victorian gold rushes, moved to the new diggings at Lamplough, near Avoca. The Lamplough rush was one Victoria's last great scrambles for gold. It was the very last for George, who settled on a block of land, became a small farmer, and died there thirty years later.

George's wife Caroline née Clarke and their two young children, John, born in August 1856 at Dunolly, and Alice, born in January 1859 at White Hills near Maryborough, moved with him to Lamplough. (A third child, George, had been born at Beechworth in 1854 but died there while still an infant.)

In July 1861 Caroline gave birth to twin girls, Charlotte and Harriet. Although the rush was petering out and miners were leaving, George and Caroline, burdened with four young children, stayed on. George took up ten acres of land, began farming, and continued to dig for gold.

Caroline died in December 1879 at the age of forty-three, leaving eight children, the youngest two just three years and one year old. Altogether she and George had thirteen children.


On 6 September 1873, George bought ten acres at Lamplough.

Land Title from Crown Allotment 2 Section 1A Parish of Glenmona VOLUME 00687 FOLIO 357 retrieved from www.landata.vic.gov.au 5 December 2012

Extract showing George Young's two allotments from Parish Plan for Genmona County of Gladstone. Plan dated May 28 1929 and digitised by the Public Records of Victoria.

The Victorian 1869 Land Act, passed on 29 December 1869, was

designed to expand land ownership in Victoria. People could peg out a parcel of unsurveyed land and apply for a survey to be done. If the application was successful, the land could be held by licence for three years. At the end of this period, if conditions regarding improvement to the land had been met, the land could be purchased. As an alternative to immediate purchase, the balance of the cost of the land could be paid over a seven-year lease. ("Lucy: Glossary." Online Exhibitions: Lucy's Story: Lucy Bell. Public Records Office of Victoria, 26 Apr. 2006. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. <http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/online-exhibitions/lucy/glossary.htm>)

George Young had taken advantage of this legislation. He bought his block shortly only three years and nine months since the legislation had been passed.

On this plan, prepared when George Young was acquiring his second block of ten acres, it can be seen that the first block was acquired under section 42 of the 1865 Land Act.

PROV, VA 538 Department of Crown Lands and Survey, VPRS 439/P0 Land Selection Files, by Land District, Section 49 Land Act 1869, Unit 203, 49/991 Glenmona

George first leased the block, then, in 1884, he made an application to purchase it.

On 7 August 1877 George Young wrote to the Lands Office about his lease payments.

PROV, VA 538 Department of Crown Lands and Survey, VPRS 439/P0 Land Selection Files, by Land District, Section 49 Land Act 1869, Unit 203, 49/991 Glenmona: letter concerning licence fee.

The error was made by the Lands Office. George's payment had not been posted correctly.
His application to purchase the block in 1884  included the following statement:

PROV, VA 538 Department of Crown Lands and Survey, VPRS 439/P0 Land Selection Files, by Land District, Section 49 Land Act 1869, Unit 203, 49/991 Glenmona: application to purchase 18.8.84.

I have been unable to find the file associated with the purchase of the first block of land. It is a pity as I learned much more about George and his life from the land files, building on the family history that I learned from the birth and death certificates of his children.


George Young died on 31 August 1890. Seven weeks before his death George transferred the land to his daughter Maria. She sold it a year later. There is no probate file for George Young. He had probably arranged his affairs before his death and didn't need to make a will.

Land Title from Crown Allotment 2 Section 1A Parish of Glenmona VOLUME 00687 FOLIO 357 retrieved from www.landata.vic.gov.au 5 December 2012 

Denis Strangman, a descendant of one of the Lamplough miners who settled there near George Young, has written a history of the rush. (Strangman, Denis. "The Gold Rush to Lamplough, near Avoca in Victoria, Australia, during 1859-1860." Familia (Ulster Historical Foundation) 2.3 (1987): 3-21. Avoca and District Historical Society, 10 Jan. 2000. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. <http://home.vicnet.net.au/~adhs/Article.html>.)

Sepia Saturday 196 : Sick Children

This week's Sepia Saturday blog prompt is an illustration of a little boy sick in bed.

I have no pictures of sick children who are related to me, but in my family tree there are many instances of childhood deaths from illness.

During my childhood, I suffered appendicitis and was hospitalised but had no major infection, though I think I remember suffering from chicken pox. I can remember my brother having the mumps and having his tonsils out when he was small.

My parents both spoke of serious illnesses in their childhood. Among these illnesses, my father had scarlet fever and my mother diphtheria.  My father was an only child and my mother has one sister - neither suffered the death of a sibling.

The father of my husband Greg was an only child, but Greg's mother had several brothers and sisters including one, Gwendolyn Phyllis Sullivan (6 January 1933 - 30 May 1935), who died young.  Marjorie, Greg's mother, had helped to care for Gwendolyn and never forgot her little sister who died of meningitis when only two. Marjorie, who was 13 years older, had left school to help look after Gwenny when she was born. Marjorie recalled the little girl was sick with stomach cramps on Monday and died on Wednesday; 30 May was in fact Thursday but perhaps she died early that morning.  Gwendolyn is buried at Malmsbury cemetery, Methodist Comp. 2 Sect 1 Grave 164.  It seems that she has no headstone. (Judkins, Carol. "Malmsbury Cemetery." Carol's Headstone Photographs. Rootsweb, Apr. 2008. Web. 20 Sept. 2013. <http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ausvsac/Malmsbury.htm>.)

Greg's paternal grandfather Cecil Young had one brother, one sister and three half-siblings.  His sister Caroline Young (June 1895 - 10 July 1895) died 2 1/2 weeks after she was born on 10 July 1895. The cause of death was given as "debility from birth". She is buried in Timor cemetery.

Greg's paternal grandmother Elizabeth Cross was one of ten children.  They all lived to adulthood. Greg's maternal grandfather Arthur Sullivan had four brothers and sisters, a half-sister and a half-brother, William Ernest Dare Morley, who died on 2 February 1880 at East Brighton of "congestion of the brain" aged 15 days. Greg's maternal grandmother, Stella Esther Gilbart Dawson, was one of eight children, all of whom survived until adulthood.

Of my grandparents, only my maternal grandmother had a sibling who died young.  Emil Oswald Manock was born on 17 April 1914 at Steglitz, Berlin and died there on 3 December 1914. My grandmother told me her brother died from "a hole in the heart".

Our great grand parents' generation

John Young, my husband's great grandfather, had 12 siblings, five died young.  The first child of George and Caroline Young was George Young who was born and died in 1854, probably at Beechworth.  His birth and death predate civil registration in Victoria and there is no death certificate. He was remembered on each of his sibling's birth certificates. Annie Young died 16 April 1873 aged 10 months of dysentery at Lamplough. In 1876 the Young family lost three children within a month. On 31 March Laura Young died aged 2 from diphtheria after an illness of 5 days.  On 21 April her brother Edmund Young aged 6 years also died of diphtheria after an illness of 14 days. On 27 April Caroline Young aged 8 1/2 years died of scarletina maligna (acute scarlet fever) after an illness of 1 week.

Sarah Jane Way, the wife of John Young, had nine siblings of whom four died young. William John Way died aged 6 months on 18 January 1858 of "congestion of the brain" at East Collingwood, Melbourne.  Mary Jane Way died age 4 months on 19 June 1859 of "cancer of the eye" also at East Collingwood. Martha Way died aged 13 months on 10 August 1875 of rubella at Parkes, New South Wales. Harriet Elizabeth Way died two days after her ninth birthday on 18 May 1879 of typhoid fever at Parkes.

Frederick James Cross had ten siblings. One died young. Thomas Bailey Cross aged 2 died at Carngham on 28 January 1875.  In the photograph below taken about 1890, Thomas is represented by the dark cloth on the floor in the lower right hand corner of the picture.  On the back of the photo his name was with those of his brother's and sisters. 

Ellen Cross and family about 1890. Picture from Gale Robertson, great grand daughter of Frederick James Cross and great great grand daughter of Ellen.

Ann Jane Plowright, wife of Frederick James Cross, had six siblings. Two died young. John Plowright died on 20 January 1872 aged 4 days old after a premature birth at Homebush near Avoca, Victoria. Frederick Edward Plowright died aged 14 years at Homebush on 24 April 1878.  He was cutting down a tree and it fell on him, breaking his neck. He died instantly.

"TELEGRAPHIC DESPATCHES." The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957) 26 Apr 1878: 5. Web. 21 Sep 2013 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5930194>.

Anne Morley had seven siblings. Five died young. William Morley born about 1849 and Peter Morley born about 1851 had both died in England before the family emigrated in 1853. Elizabeth Morley died at Collingwood Flat on 10 March 1854 aged 5 years old of "Tabes Mesenterica":  tuberculosis or swelling of the lymph glands inside the abdomen. Children became ill drinking milk from cows infected with tuberculosis. This is now uncommon as milk is pasteurised. ("Tabes Mesenterica (Meaning Of)." Encyclo Online Encyclopaedia. Encyclo, 2012. Web. 21 Sept. 2013. <http://www.encyclo.co.uk/define/tabes mesenterica>.) Harriet Ann Morley died at East Collingwood on 5 January 1858 of atrophy aged 15 months. Mary Jane Morley died age 3 in 1858.

Henry Dawson, the son of Isaac Dawson and Eliza Skerrit was born on 30 Jul 1864 in Corby, near Grantham, Lincolnshire, England. He had a twin brother, Charles, and at least eight other siblings, of whom one, George Dawson (1862 - 1863) died aged less than two years old.

Edith Caroline Edwards, daughter of Francis Gilbart Edwards and Caroline Ralph was born on 16 Sep 1871 in Sunnyside, Ballarat, Victoria. She had nine siblings of whom two died young. Benjamin Gilbart Edwards (1887 - 1888) was born in Ballarat and died aged 10 months at Richmond in Melbourne. Ernest Francis Gilbart Edwards (1891 -1901) died aged 10 in Brighton.

The siblings of my paternal great grandparents all survived to adulthood except one.  Mary Jane Cudmore, one of 13 children, died aged 11 months on 20 November 1884 and is buried at Brighton cemetery, Adelaide.

I know only a little of the siblings of my maternal great grandparents and I have details only of those that survived to adulthood. It may be that they all did survive, but more research is needed to be sure.

I don't have enough details to look back one further generation to the siblings of my and my husband's great great grandparents. While I have details about a few of the families, information on others is missing.  Hence I shall mention only one death from that generation.My great great great grandfather wrote about the death of his son at Heathcote and sketched his grave. The headstone, although damaged, still survives.

Sketch by Philip Lamothe Snell Chauncy of the grave of his son Philip who died at Heathcote aged 3 years. From opposite page 33 of his book Memoirs of Mrs. Poole and Mrs. Chauncy

 Philip Lamothe Chauncy (23 March 1851 - 19 May 1854)  was the first son of Philip Lamothe Snell Chauncy and his wife Susan Mitchell.  He died before my great great grandmother, Annie Frances Chauncy was born. In his memoir about his wife, Philip wrote:

... our first son, named Philip Lamothe, was born on the 23rd March, 1851. I think my dear Susie's maternal instincts were unusually strong, and oh how true she was to them! How devoted she was to that child! He grew up to be a lovely boy, the admiration of all who knew him; but he had too heavenly a look for this world. He was the source of the most inexpressible delight to his mother; her eyes used to feast on his beaming little face; she looked the most un-utterable blessings on him. But alas, he was too exotic a plant to live on this earth, and was taken from us by our all-wise God, at Heathcote, Victoria, on the 19th of May, 1854. To the day of her death, his words and looks and little actions were fresh in her memory. I think she never completely recovered from the shock occasioned by the death of our little Philip; indeed, I now remember she said, shortly before she was taken from us, that she had never got over it, although she was quite resigned to the will of God, and would not have been so selfish as to have wished him back again.  (Chauncy, Philip Lamothe Snell Memoirs of Mrs Poole and Mrs Chauncy. Lowden, Kilmore, Vic, 1976.Pages 37-8)

In May 1854, our darling little Philly caught cold, and Dr Sconce, the Government Assistant Surgeon, was called in to attend him. On the 12th of that month, Dr Robinson happening to be in our parlor-tent, and hearing Philly cough, said, "That child has croup." O what agony the information caused his dear mother. A day or two after this we removed him into the large new stone building which had just been erected for officer's quarters, but he gradually sank, and expired on the 19th May 1854, after a week's illness. (Chauncy Memoirs already cited, page 47)

A recent photo of the grave of  Philip Lamothe Chauncy at Heathcote with thanks to (and permission to reproduce from) Carol Judkins of http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~ausvsac/Index.htm

Most of our forebears came from Victoria and we are fortunate in the high quality of vital records which provide a lot of information for family history.  In the summary below, where cause of death is not stated I have not obtained the death certificate.

Summary of our aunt, great aunts and uncles and great great aunts and uncles who died as children :

Aunt :

• Gwendolyn Phillis Sullivan died age 2 in 1935 of meningitis

Great aunt and great uncles :

• Caroline Young died age 2 1/2 weeks in  1895 of "debility from birth"
• William Ernest Dare Morley died age 15 days in 1880 from "congestion of the brain"
• Emil Oswald Manock died age 7 1/2 months in 1914 of a "hole in the heart"

 Great great aunts and great great uncles :

• George Young died as an infant in 1854
• Annie Young died age 10 months in 1873 from dysentery
• Laura Young died age 2 in 1876 from diphtheria
• Edmund Young died age 6 in 1876 from diphtheria
• Caroline Young died age 8 in 1876 from scarletina maligna
• William John Way died age 6 months in 1858 of "congestion of the brain"
• Mary Jane Way died age 4 months in 1859 of "cancer of the eye"
• Martha Way died age 13 months in 1875 of rubella
• Harriet Elizabeth Way died age 9 in 1879 of typhoid
• Thomas Bailey Cross died age 2 in 1875
• John Plowright died age 4 days in 1875 having been born prematurely
• Frederick John Plowright died age 14 years in 1878 from an accident
• William Morley died as an infant or small child before 1853
• Peter Morley died as an infant or small child before 1853
• Elizabeth Morley died age 5 in 1854 from  Tabes Mesenterica
• Harriet Ann Morley died age 15 months in 1858 of atrophy
• Mary Jane Morley died age 3 in 1858
• George Dawson died before he was 2 in 1863
• Benjamin Gilbart Edwards died age 10 months in 1888
• Ernest Francis Gilbart Edwards died age 10 in 1901
• Mary Jane Cudmore died age 11 months in 1884

Trove Tuesday: Obituary for John Young (1856 - 1928)

From OBITUARY. (1928, November 3). Williamstown Chronicle (Vic. : 1856 - 1954), p. 2. Retrieved August 27, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article69525217

John Young was my husband's great grandfather.

He was the oldest surviving son of George Young and Caroline née Clarke. He was born at Dunolly on 27 August 1856. His father was a gold miner and the family moved around the rushes until settling at Lamplough as can be seen from the birth places of the children:

• George born and died at Beechworth about 1854
• John born 27 August 1856 at Dunolly
• Alice born  1859 at White Hills near Maryborough
• Charlotte and Harriet, twins, born 1861 at Lamplough
• Maria born 1863 at Lamplough
• Rachel born 1865 at Lamplough
• Caroline born 1867 at Lamplough, died 1876
• Edmond born 1870 at Lamplough died 1876
• Annie born 1872 at Lamplough and died 1873
• Laura  born 1874 at Lamplough and died 1876
• William Robert born 1876 at Lamplough
• James Ernest born 1878 at Lamplough

With the birth of the twins at the Lamplough rush of 1860, the family didn't move on. George bought land and the family settled in the district.

John worked as a miner.

He travelled to New South Wales and, according to his death certificate, spent six years there.  In Parkes he met a widow, Sarah Jane Whiteman née Way. They married in Melbourne on 26 September 1894 at 430 Bourke Street according to the rites of the Church of Christ.   Their residences stated on the marriage certificate was that he was living at Bowenvale and she was at the Mechanics Hotel, Bourke Street.

Sarah Jane had two children by her first marriage, Robert born 1883 and Mary Ann Whiteman, Mary Ann was born on 19 August 1884, seven months after Sarah Jane's first husband died of pneumonia. Sarah Jane had a third child, Jack Walsh Whiteman born 13 August 1894 at Parkes, just weeks before her marriage to John Young. The child was born to an unknown father and stayed in Parkes to be brought up by Sarah Jane's parents and sister. He was renamed Leslie Leister; Sarah Jane's sister Eliza marrying Robert Leister and the two of them brought up the boy.

John and Sarah Jane had three children together:

• Caroline born and died 1895 at Timor (near Bowenvale)
• John Percy 24 August 1896 at Bowenvale
• Cecil born 5 July 1898 at Rokewood

Sarah Jane died of following the birth of Cecil on 6 July 1898 at Rokewood.

The two young boys were brought up by John's sisters. In particular by Charlotte who had married George Wilkins and lived at Homebush, near Avoca. The boys also spent time with Harriet who had married William Richards and lived at Clunes.  The era was not one where widowed fathers brought up their children.  John continued to work as a miner at Bowenvale and Betley just south of Dunolly.

Sarah Jane's oldest two children stayed very close to the Young family; for example visiting Charlotte and writing frequently to their two young half-brothers (we have a collection of post cards from the young Jack Young which he collected through his child hood).

At the end of his life, John Young lived with his step daughter Mary Ann and her second husband, Henry White Nichols, in Henry's house in Seddon, also known as Yarraville.  According to the electoral rolls, John was still living at Betley in 1924.  I do not know of any connection to Beveridge as mentioned in the obituary.

John died on 23 October 1928 after a three month illness from arterio sclerosis and cardiac failure.  He is buried at Footscray cemetery.

Cecil Young and family: Cecil's early life up to end World War I

Cecil was the grandson of one of the earlier miners of the Avoca district.  He served in World War 1.

George Young, a miner, had arrived at the Lamplough Rush near Avoca in about 1859 with a wife and two young children.  A third child had been born and died at Beechworth.  John had been born in 1856 at Dunolly and Alice in January 1859 at White Hills near Maryborough.  Twins Charlotte and Harriet were born in July 1861 at Lamplough. Although the rush was moving on, perhaps the burden of four young children including new born twins persuaded George and his wife Caroline to settle.  George took up a small portion of land and continued to mine at Lamplough.  He and his wife had thirteen children.  She died in 1879 at the age of 43 leaving 8 children, the two youngest being one and three years old.  It would appear John, who was then aged 23, took on some responsibility for helping with his siblings while probably working as a miner locally.  His sister Alice was married a year later, Harriet and Charlotte married in 1881 and 1882 respectively, and Maria was married in 1884.

It seems that between about 1887 and 1894 John Young was working in New South Wales.  At Parkes he met the widow of a miner, Sarah Jane Whiteman.  They married in Melbourne in 1894.  She already had two children Robert and Mary Anne aged about eleven and ten at the time of her second marriage.  John and Sarah Jane had one daughter who died in infancy and then a son John Percy (Jack) was born at Timor in 1896.  A second son, Cecil,  was born at Rokewood in 1898 but Sarah Jane died in childbirth.

The two young boys were brought up by their aunt Charlotte who had married a schoolteacher George Wilkins. George was headteacher at Homebush near Avoca.  John Young continued as a miner at Barringhup then Burnt Creek and later Betley.  The two boys stayed in contact with their half-brother and half-sister.  Postcards from Tasmania reveal that Robert Whiteman moved to Tasmania and married there.  Later he moved back to Melbourne.  Mary Ann lived for a time at Homebush (1909) and after marriage in 1911 lived in Melbourne.  From 1911 the two boys were living at Clunes with their Aunt Harriet (Charlotte's twin) who had been widowed in 1904 and whose youngest child was the same age as Jack and Cecil.¹

As the head teacher of Homebush George Wilkins played an active role in the community: he was on the local cricket team; he played the cornet in the local band; he was frequently called to take on the roll of MC at local gatherings.  George was Lieutenant in charge of the local cadets.² During the war George Wilkins took on a leading role organising the Soldiers' Comforts Fund of Homebush. After the war he helped to form the local branch of the Returned Soldiers' League.

Cecil enlisted in the AIF in December 1915.³ He was only seventeen and a half but he advanced his date of birth by one year.  He described his trade as a butcher but was not an apprentice.  He declared he had served with the senior cadets at Footscray for 9 months (no kit had been issued as the annotation stated it was an exempt area).  He was only a small man: 5 feet 5 1/4 inches tall weighing 123 1/2 lbs (just under 9 stone or 60 kg).  He had two tattoos: a ship and two clasped hands on his left forearm, a rose with "Myrtle" on his right forearm.  In April 1916 he was appointed to the 24th Battallion, 13th reinforcements.

He embarked from Australia in July 1917 arriving Plymouth, England in September and departing Folkestone, England in November 1916 and taken on strength in France 21 December 1916. He was with the 24th battalion reinforcing the second division. He was sick with scabies in hospital in mid-June 1917 and rejoined his unit at the end of the month.  He was wounded in action on 20 September 1917 with gunshot wounds to his right ear and his right thigh.  He was transferred to an ambulance train and three weeks later to hospital in England.  In January he was discharged to furlough and later that month he was admonished by a major following disorderly conduct and refusal to obey an order given by the Military Police. In April he was returned to Australia disembarking in early June and he was discharged from the AIF at Melbourne as medically unfit on 26 July 1918.  The last stamped annotation to his AIF file is  ``Application for war service leave gratuity passed Feb 28 1919''.

Battle of Menin Road - wounded at side of the road. The 24th battalion's battle honours include Menin Road. This battle occurred on 20 September 1917 so it is possible that the conditions Cecil experienced are similar to those in this picture taken by Frank Hurley.⁴

By August 1918 he was in Homebush staying with his aunt and uncle George and Charlotte Wilkins.  There he entertained a large number of guests together with Pte Allen, a friend of his from his war service, at the Public Hall, Homebush.  Guests were mainly members and supporters of Homebush Soldiers' Comforts Fund.  The object of Privates Young and Allen ``being to show their appreciation of the good work that is being done by the above body''.

Cecil's brother Jack also served in World War I.  He enlisted in Melbourne on 3 October 1916. He was twenty years old. He trained as a signaller, and went to France in January 1918. He was wounded in action, gassed, in August 1918. In November 1918 Jack Young died of pneumonia in England. He is buried at Brookwood War Cemetery. John Young, his father, completed a card for the Roll of Honour of Australia.

Cecil and Jack are remembered locally on the Homebush Honor Roll unveiled in 1917 and on the memorial placed at the Homebush school in 1993. They are not remembered on any of the other local Avoca memorials.

Cecil is my husband's grandfather.

The school at Lower Homebush where Cecil and Jack Young lived with their aunt Charlotte and her husband George Wilkins.  The Avenue of Honour can be seen.  Photographed September 2011.

The plaque at the Avenue of Honour at Lower Homebush School.

---

<sup>1. In the 1960s Cecil passed a collection of postcards to his son Peter. These postcards helped us to develop the family tree and understand the family history of the early twentieth century.↩
2. Postcard concerning uniforms for two cadets from the firm Alfred Bowley addressed to Lieut. G.E. Wilkins in 1907. ↩
3. National Archives of Australia: Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office; B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920; Young Cecil Ernest : SERN 5115 : POB Rokewood VIC : POE Melbourne VIC : NOK F Young John ↩
4. Picture retrieved from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Battle_of_Menin_Road_-_wounded_at_side_of_the_road.jpg 20 April 2013. This image was in turn saved from the State Library of New South Wales: Exhibition of war photographs taken by Capt. F. Hurley, August 1917- August 1918. The caption for image 35: The Battle of the Menin Road. Walking wounded returning from the battle and by the roadside a relay of seriously wounded. The battle is still raging in the background. http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/item/itemDetailPaged.aspx?itemID=423850 retrieved 20 April 2013. ↩</sup>