Stanley Roy BAXTER

"DIVORCE COURT." The Sydney Morning Herald
(NSW : 1842 - 1954) 28 Apr 1915: 7. Web. 29 May 2015
<http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15588289>.

Stanley Roy BAXTER seems to have lived a quiet life after he returned to Australia from the war. But his early life was more problematic. His parents split when he was young. However, the nature of that split is proving difficult to determine. The article to the left would indicate that his mother left his father. In an article detailing his arrest for theft in Lithgow, the situation was described as "his father had been absent from home for eight years." (SMH 19 Nov 1914) So who left who?

Read More

Robert Owen JONES - Identified

8074 Robert Owen JONES

I'm working on a couple of a parallel WW1 projects at the moment. The other one is to identify 18 men in a photoframe. I've just managed to identify another person - Robert Owen JONES. He is the brother of the first person we were able to give a name to - Llewelyn JONES. Further details over at the Stockton Historical Society Inc blog.

Read More

DALGLEISH, R. H - Unidentified

As a starting point for my research, I am using the list of names on the Stockton Soldiers' Memorial. This lists those from Stockton who served in World War One,  not just those who died.

From a list of approx. 150 names, I currently have 27 names who I can't find any service records for. The likely reason for this is that they served in a force other than the A.I.F, such as the B.E.F or Merchant Marines.

I searched for one R. H. DALGLEISH in the NAA RecordsSearch and there is no exact match.There were two worth further investigation:

• 212 - Hugh Ross DALGLEISH
• 926 - Robert Emmanuel DALGLEISH

While Hugh Ross could be explained with a simple transposition error, records seem to indicate connections to Victoria and Western Australia, but not NSW. So while a possible, I've discarded this option for the moment.

Robert Emmanuel is a better candidate, since he is associated with Gosford, NSW. Checking his service records finds no obvious link to Stockton.

My starting point for tracking these names down (after not being able to find them in the NAA Service Records) is a search in Trove. There is often an announcement in the local paper letting the community know when someone is leaving for or returning from the War.

I followed this methodology for Robert Emmanuel DALGLEISH. Again, the few mentions I have of his name don't reference Stockton.

Checking Ancestry and NSW BDM gets his birth details of Milparinka, NSW. A further hint from Ancestry gives us a marriage in Newcastle, NSW to Amy H. WILLIAMS (nee CHAPMAN). So we now have a solid Newcastle link. But again, no references in the newspapers.


A check of Lives of the First World War for other Commonwealth forces, again finds no direct match, and a few possibles. But the lack of details at both ends makes it extremely difficult to narrow it down.

So for the moment, I will be putting this name aside for further investigation at a later date.

Read More

Dr Robert DICK - Major, Royal Army Medical Corps

This is the first of my biographical posts for the blog. These posts won't go into huge amounts of detail, but are more about my research process and any tips and tricks I might come across.

Dr Dick proved a little more difficult than the average soldier listed on the Stockton Soldiers' Memorial. Firstly, he is only called Dr Dick, not first name or initial. A quick search of Trove popped out the District Medical Officer for Newcastle and the Hunter Valley, again referred to as Dr Dick. Further investigation allowed me to a get a first name, Robert. He was associated with the area over a period of decades and had many dealings with the Stockton Council in his professional capacity. He also lived here for many years.

Searching all the usual sites for Australian military records proved fruitless. No Dr or other sort of Robert Dick was listed anywhere. It was when looking through some tickets for the Stockton Send-off and Welcome Home Committee that I got the hint I needed, he was referred to as "Major R. Dick, A.M.C". Here was the hint I needed, as the Army Medical Corps referred to the British Army rather than the Australian. Bad news for me, as that meant many fewer records.

With this hint, I was able to find his British Army Medal Card and further details in Trove about his experiences overseas with the Australian Voluntary Hospital. There is also quite a bit about his life after returning to Australia as he was appointed a senior government position.

"New Health Officers." Evening News
(Sydney, NSW : 1869 - 1931)
28 Nov 1921: 1. Web. 4 May 2015
<http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article118877935>.

Read More