| [Index] |
| James Baker ELWORTHY (1894 - 1965) |
| Children | Self + Spouses | Parents | Grandparents | Greatgrandparents |
| James Baker ELWORTHY (1894 - 1965) | Arthur Ernest ELWORTHY (1866 - 1935) | James Baker ELWORTHY (1833 - 1889) | George ELWORTHY (1813 - 1878) | |
| Emma BOWCHER (1810 - 1854) | ||||
| Henrietta Sophia Jane LARGE (1846 - 1915) | William James LARGE (1806 - 1881) | |||
| Mary Ann (Marianne) Caroline WRIXON (1819 - 1888) | ||||
| Leah Christian ISAAC (1865 - 1930) | John ISAAC (1827 - 1895) | John (William) ISAAC | ||
| Letitia WEBB | ||||
| Elizabeth (Lizzie) KING (1821 - 1905) | William KING (1785 - ) | |||
| Jane QUILLIAM (1792 - ) |
|
|
| b. 07 Jul 1894 at Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia |
| d. 01 May 1965 at Balmain, New South Wales, Australia aged 70 |
| Parents: |
| Arthur Ernest ELWORTHY (1866 - 1935) |
| Leah Christian ISAAC (1865 - 1930) |
| Siblings (4): |
| Frederick Arthur ELWORTHY (1891 - 1967) |
| Eileen Christian ELWORTHY (1892 - 1956) |
| Doris Henrietta (Dobbie) ELWORTHY (1896 - 1975) |
| John Douglas ELWORTHY (1898 - 1942) |
| Events in James Baker ELWORTHY (1894 - 1965)'s life | |||||
| Date | Age | Event | Place | Notes | Src |
| 07 Jul 1894 | James Baker ELWORTHY was born | Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia | 15407/1894 | ||
| 03 Jan 1916 | 21 | Enlist Light House | Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia | Note 1 | |
| 05 Feb 1916 | 21 | Enlist AIF | Menangle Park, New South Wales, Australia | ||
| 23 Nov 1916 | 22 | Embarked | |||
| 20 Nov 1919 | 25 | Returned to Australia | |||
| 03 Feb 1930 | 35 | Death of mother Leah Christian ISAAC (aged 64) | Gundagai, New South Wales, Australia | 1140/1930 | |
| 19 May 1935 | 40 | Death of father Arthur Ernest ELWORTHY (aged 69) | Cooma, New South Wales, Australia | 6133/1935 | |
| 01 May 1965 | 70 | James Baker ELWORTHY died | Balmain, New South Wales, Australia | 16107/1965 | |
| Note 1: Carmichael Rifle Reserve Thousand |
| Personal Notes: |
|
As a tribute to his paternal grandfather, Arthur and Leah named their third child, born 07 Jul1894 James Baker Elworthy.
It was a busy year. Still-popular books published then are Kipling's Jungle Book, George Bernard Shaw's Arms and the Man and Anthony Hope's Prisoner of Zenda; ill-fated Nicholas II succeeded as Czar of Russia; Aldous Huxley, later well-known for his futuristic novel Brave New World and J.B Priestley were born; Robert L. Stevenson died. Lumiere invented the cinematograph; the modern Olympic Games organising committee was formed and horizontal discs for gramophones made their appearance. Jim was educated at Gundagai Public and at Sydney Grammar School then spent some time farming. He was an enthusiastic footballer and a good shot like his father and brother Fred. A member of the Gundagai Rifle Club, on several occasions he won prizes, including the Elworthy Cup donated by his father in November 1914. On 03 Jan 1916, with Gundagai boys Tom Hunt, Jim Slater and Nott, he left to join Carmichael's Rifle Reserve Thousand in Sydney. Many of the Light Horse were sent to camps at Liverpool and at Casula where the conditions were less than satisfactory and the men were not happy. Extra troops to assist the Allied struggles in Europe were desperately needed and the men were ordered to train for an additional hour and a half per day. It was the straw that broke the camel's back! On 15 February 1916, their discontent boiled over into a full scale riot with 5,000 Lighthorsemen from Casula refusing to accept the regulation and declaring a strike! Marching to Liverpool they persuaded infantry recruits to join them. More rumours than facts are known because of censorship, although the usually reliable Sydney Morning Herald said 15,000 armed and angry men were involved. The men went on an orgy of destruction in the Liverpool township, wrecking two hotels before commandeering a train to Sydney where they continued pillaging and wrecking. One Lighthorseman was killed and eight soldiers wounded by police. Following an emergency Cabinet meeting all Sydney hotels were closed. The Defence Department warned that any man not reporting for roll call at 11 am next day would be immediately discharged. Despite this dire threat, only 1000 were charged with misconduct, drunkenness or being absent without leave. The need for troops was indeed desperate! Jim and the other Gundagai boys had joined up to fight for their King and country. Their main objective was to get into the thick of things as soon as possible. The additional hours of training didn't seem unreasonable to country boys - and they were not impressed by the attitude of some troops. On 22 February 1916, the Gundagai Times printed in full a letter from Bill Oliver, one of Jim's mates in Carmichael's Thousand under the heading "The Sydney Riot - Gundagai Boys Had To Fight". It sounded quite frightening. " .. .1 tell you, things were very willing for a few hours and rather serious for us as our Riflemens Thousand was the only battalion that stuck to their guns and took no part in the riot. Naturally we were howled down as scabs and blacklegs and were given an hour to make up our minds - or be killed!! But we stood fast and the officers stuck with us. Armed with pick handles we defended our lives and our huts and came off winners, although we had to deal with seven times our number. "But our strength lay in our position. We got inside our huts and knocked them as they came in. I accounted for a few myself. The part that hurt us most was that we had to send their casualties to our garrison hospital and they don't belong to Liverpool at all but to Casula....... "It makes a man feel very ashamed I can tell you, to walk down the street in uniform and the people turn their heads the other way now when they see a soldier. They have made a name that will take a lot of wiping out by the rest of us. We are getting a great bit of 'boiled dog' from the military and the press and Mr Carmichael for the stand we took, but we are regarded as a den of thieves, beer hums and scum by the public generally. The affair is very degrading to the whole camp." Shortly afterwards the troop learned of their transfer to finish training in Newcastle - and that they would be the first battalion of the new army to leave Australia. Jim didn't sail with them though. He had been suffering from bronchitis with several spells at home to recuperate, going back to Sydney in July. Even after final leave at home in August, he was not considered fit and it wasn't until 23 Nov 1916 that he finally sailed on the HMAT A.13 Kiltuna. An interesting snippet in the "Times" noted that of the 15 Gundagai footballers of two years ago (including Jim), nine were now in the forces. The Gundagai Times of 10 July 1917 briefly reported that Jim and his mates were in splendid health; slowly but surely fighting their way through the Holy Land, expecting to be well established in Palestine within a month. Things didn't sound so good when on 07 July aim's 23rd birthday) he wrote to a Gundagai friend that he was having 'a very rough time camped amongst all the dust'. The camp had been one great field of green wheat with tons of grass but 10,000 horses soon put an end to that. After stealing fruit from the Bedouin orchards and melon patches, Australian troops were not too popUlar with the Arabs. Water was in very short supply and after a dusty 40 mile ride, ripe juicy watermelons went down rather well!. A few weeks later they had more compelling things than dust to think about. Jim wrote ... "We have been kept going, very little sleep and heavy riding which has knocked both horses and men about. One day we had about 500 shells and shrapnel put around us but luck stood with us and only a few of our men were hit. It gives one a funny feeling when the first few shells come across. You can hear them coming but you can't tell where they are going to hit but now I am used to them and treat them like the bullets and take no notice of them - I don't think!" He said the days 'are very hot but nights very cold, with a heavy dew and dust is about a foot deep with tracks a couple of feet where the Turks have pulled their heavy guns along. It will turn to bog when the usual rain of 30 inches in two months begins'. Jim asks his parents not to send any more socks as he can only carry a couple of pairs and has to give them away. He congratulates them on raising money for the YMCA - "which is a great institution and wherever the boys are, you will find the YMCA with their cocoa and eatables and writing rnaterial..." On 22 Jul 1917 Jim's parents received a rather terse cable: 'In hospital, nothing serious, Jack well'. As the Times commented, 'If the cable sums up the injuries accurately, the rest from the trenches can almost be taken as a blessing.' Jim's next letter was written in Aug 1917 from 14th AGH Hospital in Cairo where he had been isolated with suspected diptheria - which turned out to be tonsillitis! "I've had a good run about in different hospitals. First I left camp in a sand cart to the NZ Field Hospital, from there on a camel to the railway thence to Rafa where I spent a day - then to EI Arish where I put in the night then to Kantara where I was isolated a few days before I was sent on here. It is a great change being in a hospital after being out with the regiment for so long. Everything you want here and no hardship. Just fancy me between a pair of nice white sheets." A week or so later he was discharged to a convalescent hospital situated in beautiful grounds right on the sea at Montazah near Alexandria. Prior to the Army taking it over, it had been one of the Sultan's resorts. Jim said he was swimming daily and getting in good nick to return to the regiment. "1 am alright and intend to do my bit as long as I am spared". About this same time the Times published a letter Jim had written earlier: "In addition to the roasting heat, dust and flies, we have another pet pest here - the snake. We have lost several men through getting bit with them - but only one from this regiment. They only last about 15 minutes after they are bitten. Up to date they have not got a cure for them, so they are 'some' snakes". This prompted the Times to support a proposal by the Member for Burrangong that the authorities look into Eichorn's cure with a view to acquiring his blood-poisoning antidote which had effected so many cures in the district. It is a 'guinea to a gooseberry' that if approached, Eichorn would volunteer his assistance in this matter free of cost to the military authorities. (I wonder if they did?) A cable to his parents in late October stated he was in hospital but it was nothing serious and two weeks later the Armistice was signed. No further letters from Jim appeared in the local paper until one dated 08 April and published 23 May 1919. He was still in Egypt and wrote: "We have started out in a new war as the Niggers have started to rise and are playing 'Old Harry', so we are unlucky as we have to take on the job again to keep them down. They have done a lot of damage to railways, etc, also have killed and wounded a lot of our men and we have heard that some of our sisters have been murdered, but let us hope this is not true. We were all ready to go home but now we are all out in full fighting equipment again. It is funny to see our mounts. We did not get any of our old Aussie horses but got mules and draught horses and they are a ragtime lot. We are at present at Sulhuo about 15 miles from Moascar and believe me, it is getting rotten here now as it is very hot and sand flies at night nearly eat us, and it is nothing to come back to camp with bunged lips and eyes." He goes on to say they think they will be there for some time, mentions the pneumonic flu raging in Australia, wondering which is the best place to be. A number of the "Gundy" boys were going back but Jim felt his lot would be the last home. He also said: "You mentioned in your letter that I would would have 12 months rest when I got back before starting work again. Well, I think my day for hard work is over. One might improve in Aussie but at present I am settled for hard work as my inside is done." He was lucky enough to get six months rest and recreation leave in England and cabled his mother on 05 July 1919 to tell her the news, adding that young Jack, as well as Jim's friend Stan Matthews, were returning to Australia. Army records show he returned 25 Sep 1919 but the Times of 14 Nov says: "Mr Jim Elworthy, after shaking off the effects of over three years of duty amongst the sand, fleas and flies of Egypt with a furlough trip through parts of England, Ireland and Scotland, is expected to arrive on the transport Port Denison this week, where he will be met by his parents. Jim says he is not surprised at some of the boys bringing home a bride from Edinburgh; they were the best he struck in his travels and had time permitted, he may have seriously considered 'hitching up' himself." Just three days short of three years since sailing on the Katuna, he arrived back in Gundagai. There was much jubilation in the Elworthy household when the last of the three soldier brothers finally came home. The family gathered in the old home to celebrate and on 16 Jan 1920, Gundagai Council tendered a public welcome home to the last of the local boys to return - including Jack and Jim Elworthy. The Government had acquired Tarrabandra estate, dividing it into farms for Soldier Settlement with applications closing on 27 Feb 1920. Whether Jim applied is not known (although his obituary says he drew a block). His name does not appear among the list of successful applicants, portion numbers, acreages and prices published in the Gundagai Times on 30 March 1920. Under Group Settlement Purchase 1922/16 Robert Rees was confirmed as owner of 558 acres with frontage to the Murrumbidgee River. The value of the block was 3627 pounds or six pounds ten per acre. In 1929, Arthur bought this land on behalf of Jim and Jack, charging them an annual rental of 150 pounds. After Arthur's death in 1935, Jim and Jack inherited the land equally - as well as the 2985 pound debt still owed to the Department of Lands. For some time Jim lived with his brother Jack and sister-in-law Heather at Braemar. Since his Light Horse days in Egypt he had suffered stomach problems and in 1930 had an operation for ulcers at St Vincents Hospital in Sydney. He convalesced at Manly with his Army friend Stan George, then on his return went out to Burrenderry so Vi could care for him. His chronic digestive problems no doubt resulted from the dust he complained of so bitterly in Egypt. Although he was a popular man, Jim never married and was always referred to by his many nieces and nephews as "Unk". In partnership with brother Jack, he took out the championship prize for wheat and for many years was on the committee of the Pastoral and Agricultural Society. An avid fan of the 'sport of kings', he served on the Gundagai Racing Club committee and also bred and trained trotters with some success. Jim was a successful pastoralist and over the years added several other properties to his original holding. After Jack's death he leased Braemar from Jack's widow and continued farming and grazing it. When his young nephew James (in those days called Coog by his siblings and Cookie by his football friends) left Newington College in 1951, Unk took him under his wing and trained him in pastoral matters. In June 1957 Unk formed Burrenderry Pastoral Company, including as shareholders sister-in-law Vi, nephews Robert and James and nieces Nancy Mackenzie and Betty Logan. After some time in the Concord Repatriation Hospital, Jim died from an aneurism on 01 May 1965 at The Poplars Private Hospital in Epping. The Gundagai Independent said of him: "He took a very great interest in affairs of the town and district. The R.S.L had no more ardent supporter, the P & A Society found him to be their hardest working committeeman, the Race Club gained much benefit from his services on committee and sporting organisations reaped the value of his capabilities as a trotting driver, horseman and organiser". Following a funeral service at Sydney'S Northern Suburbs Crematorium on 03 May 1965 a plaque was placed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission on Wall 7, Row B, Position 12 at the Garden of Remembrance adjacent to Rookwood Cemetery. From a crop dusting plane his ashes were scattered over the paddocks of Burrenderry. never married. Ran "Burrenderry" until his death in 1965 Gundagai First World War Embarkation Roll James Baker Elworthy Number 3000 Rank Private Unit 7 LHR [Light Horse Regiment] - 21 to 35 Reinforcements (September 1916 - March 1918) Ship Name HMAT Katuna Ship number A13 Date of embarkation 23 November 1916 Place of embarkation Sydney record http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=3542032&I=1&SE=1 |
| Source References: |
| 2. Type: Book, Abbr: Devon to Downunder, Title: Devon to Downunder, Auth: Bettie Elworthy, Publ: Bookbound, Date: 1997 |
| - Reference = 247ff (Name, Notes) |