Eric Osbaldiston POCKLEY (1876

Eric Osbaldiston POCKLEY (1876 - 1956)

Children	Self + Spouses	Parents	Grandparents	Greatgrandparents
	Eric Osbaldiston POCKLEY (1876 - 1956) + Aileen Ann ROLFE	Robert Francis POCKLEY (1823 - 1892)	Robert POCKLEY

			Sarah Ann (POCKLEY)

		Selina Elizabeth ANTILL (1837 - 1924)	Henry Colden ANTILL (1779 - 1852)

			Eliza WILLS (1802 - 1858)	Edward Spencer WILLS (1778 - 1811)
				Sarah HARDING (1776 - 1823)

b. 1876 at St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia

m. 1945 Aileen Ann ROLFE at Manly, NSW, Australia

d. 1956 at Chatswood, NSW, Australia aged 80

Near Relatives of Eric Osbaldiston POCKLEY (1876 - 1956)
Relationship	Person	Born	Birth Place	Died	Death Place	Age
Grandfather	Robert POCKLEY
Grandmother	Sarah Ann (POCKLEY)
Grandfather	Henry Colden ANTILL	01 May 1779	New York, NY, USA	14 Aug 1852	'Jarvisfield', Picton, NSW, Australia	73
Grandmother	Eliza WILLS	10 Sep 1802	Sydney, NSW, Australia	30 Sep 1858	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	56

Father	Robert Francis POCKLEY	1823	London, Middlesex, England	1892	St. Leonards, NSW, Australia	69
Mother	Selina Elizabeth ANTILL	1837	Cobbitty, Narellan, NSW, Australia	1924	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	87

Self	Eric Osbaldiston POCKLEY	1876	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	1956	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	80

Wife	Aileen Ann ROLFE

Brother	Robert Fulcher POCKLEY	1855	NSW, Australia	03 Jan 1860	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	5
Brother	Francis Antill (Frank) POCKLEY	1857	St. Leonards, NSW, Australia	1941	Hornsby, NSW, Australia	84
Brother	Arthur Bingham POCKLEY	1859	NSW, Australia	26 Jan 1860	St. Leonards, NSW, Australia	1
Sister	Alice Isabel (Ella) POCKLEY	1861		1944	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	83
Brother	Henry (Harry) Richardson POCKLEY	1863	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	19 Aug 1926	Brisbane, Queensland, Australia	63
Sister	Florence Augusta POCKLEY	1866	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	1945	Mosman, NSW, Australia	79
Sister	Ethel Ernestine (Esther) POCKLEY	1868	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	abt 1895		27
Brother	Norman Vanderbyl POCKLEY	1870	St. Leonards, NSW, Australia	1910	Ashfield, NSW, Australia	40
Sister	Kathleen Mabel POCKLEY	1872	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	1959	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	87
Sister	Edith Muriel (Gill) (twin) POCKLEY	1873	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	1952	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	79
Brother	Eustace Mitford (twin) POCKLEY	1873	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	21 Nov 1874	St. Leonards, NSW, Australia	1
Brother	Harold Campbell POCKLEY	19 Nov 1874	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	1941	Petersham, Sydney, NSW, Australia	67
Sister	Enid Marguerite POCKLEY	1879		1970	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	91
Sister	Helen Marjorie POCKLEY	1882	Picton, NSW, Australia	1974	NSW, Australia	92

Uncle	Thomas Ford Graham POCKLEY			1918	Sydney, NSW, Australia
Aunt	Margaret Campbell ANTILL	27 Jun 1820	Sydney, NSW, Australia	22 Jul 1849	Camden, Oaks, Picton, Stonequarry, NSW	29
Uncle	John Macquarie ANTILL	30 May 1822	Liverpool, NSW, Australia	1900	Picton, NSW, Australia	78
Aunt	Jessie Hassall CAMPBELL	28 Mar 1834	Cobbitty, Narellan, NSW, Australia	07 Feb 1917	Picton, NSW, Australia	82
Uncle	Henry Colden ANTILL	07 Apr 1826	Camden, NSW, Australia	1913	Parramatta, Sydney, NSW, Australia	87
Aunt	Teresa Ellen HATCH			1882	Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia
Aunt	Alice Sophia ANTILL	1827	Liverpool, NSW, Australia	1920	London, Middlesex, England	93
Uncle	Henry MOGGRIDGE	abt 1829		22 May 1866	London, Middlesex, England	37
Uncle	William Redfern ANTILL	1828	Campbelltown, NSW, Australia	1905	Picton, NSW, Australia	77
Aunt	Mary Susan BELL			1905	Picton, NSW, Australia
Uncle	Thomas Wills ANTILL	1829	Campbelltown, NSW, Australia	18 May 1865	Nelson, New Zealand	36
Aunt	Sarah Maria MCKEE			03 Mar 1853	Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Aunt	Isabella FISHER	22 Sep 1836	Tasmania, Australia	28 Oct 1875	Victoria, Australia	39
Uncle	Edward Spencer ANTILL	20 Jul 1832	Picton, NSW, Australia	1917	Parramatta, Sydney, NSW, Australia	85
Aunt	Mary CAMPBELL
Uncle	James Alexander ANTILL	1834	Cobbitty, Narellan, NSW, Australia	1920	Rockdale, Sydney, NSW, Australia	86
Aunt	Emma C POINTON	abt 1834		1862	Victoria, Australia	28
Aunt	Susannah Caroline WILD	15 Oct 1846	Vanderville, Picton, NSW, Australia	1885	Armidale, NSW, Australia	39
Aunt	Florence Mary WAUCH	1870	Armidale, NSW, Australia	1961	Walcha, NSW, Australia	91
Uncle	Loftus Cliff ANTILL	06 Dec 1839	Stonequarry, Picton, NSW, Australia	1840	Stonequarry, Picton, NSW, Australia	1

Cousin	Margaret Campbell ANTILL	04 Jul 1852	Picton, NSW, Australia	21 Oct 1906	Picton, NSW, Australia	54
Cousin	Celia Farrington ANTILL	22 Feb 1855	Jarvisfield, Picton, NSW, Australia	1860	Picton, NSW, Australia	5
Cousin	John Macquarie ANTILL	09 Jun 1857	Picton, NSW, Australia	27 Dec 1859	Picton, NSW, Australia	2
Cousin	Robert Henry ANTILL	31 May 1859	Picton, NSW, Australia	13 Jul 1938	Picton, NSW, Australia	79
Cousin	Celia Farrington ANTILL	13 Oct 1861	Picton, NSW, Australia	10 Jan 1928	Picton, NSW, Australia	66
Cousin	Selina Johnson ANTILL	09 Oct 1863	Picton, NSW, Australia	1920	Picton, NSW, Australia	57
Cousin	John Macquarie ANTILL	26 Jan 1866	Picton, NSW, Australia	01 Mar 1937	Redfern, Sydney, NSW, Australia	71
Cousin	Edward Augustus ANTILL	04 Dec 1867	Picton, NSW, Australia	19 Mar 1905	Queenscliffe, Victoria, Australia	37
Cousin	Guy Forrest ANTILL	01 Nov 1869	Picton, NSW, Australia	16 Jun 1960	Bowral, NSW, Australia	90
Cousin	Elizabeth Ann ANTILL	30 Jun 1871	Picton, NSW, Australia	29 Mar 1927	Picton, NSW, Australia	55
Cousin	Alice Eliza ANTILL	26 Jul 1852	'Jarvisfield', Picton, NSW, Australia	1938	Ashfield, NSW, Australia	86
Cousin	Henry Colden ANTILL	14 Jun 1854	Stonequarry, Picton, NSW, Australia	1932	Gundagai, NSW, Australia	78
Cousin	Theresa Evaline ANTILL	1857	Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia	1926	Balmain, NSW, Australia	69
Cousin	Mary E ANTILL	16 Jan 1857	Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia	05 Nov 1897	Leichhardt, Sydney, NSW, Australia	40
Cousin	William Edward ANTILL	1858	Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia	1940	Granville, NSW, Australia	82
Cousin	Robert Hatch ANTILL	1861	Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia	1949	Manly, NSW, Australia	88
Cousin	Mary E MOGGRIDGE	28 Apr 1857	Berrima, NSW, Australia
Cousin	John Antill MOGGRIDGE	19 Sep 1858	Berrima, NSW, Australia
Cousin	Francis W ANTILL	1862	Picton, NSW, Australia	1862	Picton, NSW, Australia	0
Cousin	Georgiana E ANTILL	1864	Picton, NSW, Australia	02 Jan 1865		1
Cousin	Grace Isabel ANTILL	1871	Picton, NSW, Australia
Cousin	Florence Augusta ANTILL	1873	Picton, NSW, Australia	1960	Sydney, NSW, Australia	87
Cousin	Sarah Georgina ANTILL	1875	Picton, NSW, Australia	1964	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	89
Cousin	Estelle Emma Voss ANTILL	1877	Picton, NSW, Australia	1952	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	75
Cousin	William Redfern ANTILL	1879	Picton, NSW, Australia	1880	Picton, NSW, Australia	1
Cousin	Edith Helen Wills ANTILL	1881	Picton, NSW, Australia	1979		98
Cousin	Ida B ANTILL	1884	Picton, NSW, Australia
Cousin	Hilda Redfern ANTILL	1888	Picton, NSW, Australia	1943	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	55
Cousin	Marie Eliza ANTILL	20 Feb 1852	Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Cousin	Henry (Harry) William ANTILL	23 May 1855	Willoughby, Sydney, NSW, Australia	04 Jan 1914		58
Cousin	Fanny Jessie ANTILL	27 Aug 1857	Hobart, Tasmania, Australia	03 Mar 1910	Elsternwick, Victoria, Australia	52
Cousin	Charlotte Maud ANTILL	01 Jul 1860	Barr, Victoria, Australia	19 May 1865		4
Cousin	Mary Emily ANTILL	10 Jun 1863	Picton, NSW, Australia
Cousin	Jessie Macquarie ANTILL	20 Dec 1857	Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia	02 Jan 1939	Albury, NSW, Australia	81
Cousin	Edward S ANTILL	1859	Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia	1913	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	54
Cousin	Julia Campbell ANTILL	25 Sep 1861	Picton, NSW, Australia	26 Aug 1945	North Sydney, NSW, Australia	83
Cousin	Horace Sunderland ANTILL	1867	Binalong, NSW, Australia	1935	North Sydney, NSW, Australia	68
Cousin	Harley Campbell ANTILL	1869	Goulburn, NSW, Australia	1934	Manly, NSW, Australia	65
Cousin	Philip Somer (Jack) ANTILL	1871	Goulburn, NSW, Australia	1959	Nyngan, NSW, Australia	88
Cousin	Stanley Ross E ANTILL	1872	Goulburn, NSW, Australia	1949	North Sydney, NSW, Australia	77
Cousin	Margaret Wills ANTILL	1874	Goulburn, NSW, Australia
Cousin	Arthur Johnston ANTILL	1877	Dubbo, NSW, Australia	12 Sep 1934	Albury, NSW, Australia	57
Cousin	Edwin (Elwin) Davidson ANTILL	1879	Dubbo, NSW, Australia	1959	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	80
Cousin	Henry Colden ANTILL	1857	Ballarat, Victoria, Australia	1923	Perth, WA, Australia	66
Cousin	Isabella Jessie ANTILL	1861	Ballarat, Victoria, Australia	1932	Tingha, NSW, Australia	71
Cousin	Ada Isabel ANTILL	1870	Gympie, Queensland, Australia	1906	Sydney, NSW, Australia	36
Cousin	Alice Eliza ANTILL	1871	Queensland, Australia	1960	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	89
Cousin	Theodora Edith ANTILL	04 May 1873	Queensland, Australia	1901	Murrumburrah, NSW, Australia	28
Cousin	Emmeline Nelly ANTILL	12 Aug 1874	Paddington, Sydney, NSW, Australia	29 Jan 1875	Paddington, Sydney, NSW, Australia	0
Cousin	Loftus Cliff ANTILL	1876	Armidale, NSW, Australia	1877	Armidale, NSW, Australia	1
Cousin	Aleck E ANTILL	1878	Armidale, NSW, Australia
Cousin	Loftus C ANTILL	1879	Armidale, NSW, Australia	1968	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	89
Cousin	Robert A ANTILL	1881	Armidale, NSW, Australia	1882	Armidale, NSW, Australia	1
Cousin	Eileen M ANTILL	1884	Armidale, NSW, Australia
Cousin	Florence Zoe ANTILL	1890	Armidale, NSW, Australia	1961	Tamworth, NSW, Australia	71
Cousin	Robert L ANTILL	20 Feb 1891	Armidale, NSW, Australia	1896	Walcha, NSW, Australia	5
Cousin	Doris Ruth ANTILL	1893	Walcha, NSW, Australia

Niece	Phyllis Mary Antill POCKLEY	1886	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	1929	Malta	43
Nephew	Francis Guy Antill POCKLEY	1888	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	1969	Goulburn, NSW, Australia	81
Nephew	Brian Golden Antill POCKLEY	1890	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	1914	New Guinea	24
Nephew	John Graham Antill POCKLEY	1891	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	1918	France	27
Niece	Helen Dorothy Antill POCKLEY	1895	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	1963	Moss Vale, Bowral, NSW, Australia	68
Nephew	Robert Okeden POCKLEY	1903		1913	Woollahara, Sydney, NSW, Australia	10
Niece	Dorothy Okeden POCKLEY	1904
Nephew	David Okeden POCKLEY	1906
Niece	Elizabeth Rosalie Oakden POCKLEY	1909		1997		88
Niece	Ruth Okeden POCKLEY	1912
Niece	Kathleen Fulcher REEVE	1902	Annandale, NSW, Australia
Niece	Ethel Antill REEVE	1904	Annandale, NSW, Australia	1972		68
Nephew	Frederick Aidan REEVE	1907	Annandale, NSW, Australia
Niece	Marjorie Critchley Vincent HINDER	1893	Ashfield, NSW, Australia	1978	Killara, New South Wales, Australia	85
Niece	Ethel C HINDER	1895	Ashfield, NSW, Australia	1895	Ashfield, NSW, Australia	0
Nephew	Richard Vanderbyl POCKLEY	1906	Ashfield, NSW, Australia	1992		86
Nephew	Edward Vanderbyl Waddy POCKLEY	1909	Ashfield, NSW, Australia
Niece	Enid Kathleen Somerset CLIVE	1910	Ashfield, NSW, Australia
Niece	Theo POCKLEY
Nephew	Robert Campbell POCKLEY	1902	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	1974		72
Niece	Marcia Jean Campbell POCKLEY	1903	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia
Nephew	Harold Graham POCKLEY	1913		1945		32
Nephew	Henry C HINDER	1899	Ashfield, NSW, Australia
Niece	Lorna Kathleen Critchley HINDER	1899		1975	NSW, Australia	76
Nephew	Maxwell Critchley HINDER	1902	Ashfield, NSW, Australia	1976		74
Nephew	Eric H C HINDER	1905	Ashfield, NSW, Australia	1905	Ashfield, NSW, Australia	0
Nephew	Francis Henry Critchley HINDER	1906	Ashfield, NSW, Australia	1992		86
Nephew	David Clive Critchley HINDER	1910	Ashfield, NSW, Australia	1989		79
Niece	Living or Recently Deceased

Sister in Law	Helen Clara HOOKE	1860	Balmain, NSW, Australia	1932	Wamberal, NSW, Australia	72
Sister in Law	Rosalie Gertrude PARRY-OKEDEN	1875	Queensland, Australia	1950	Brisbane, Queensland, Australia	75
Brother in Law	Frederick William REEVE
Brother in Law	Henry Vincent Critchley HINDER	1865	Windsor, NSW, Australia	1913	Summer Hill, Sydney, NSW, Australia	48
Sister in Law	Florence May WADDY	1877	Carcoar, NSW, Australia	1935	Bridgewater, England	58
Brother in Law	Edward Archer CLIVE	1867	Devon, England	1952	Ceylon	85
Sister in Law	Jeannie Rose TURNER			1950	Mosman, NSW, Australia
Brother in Law	Frederick Robert HOLLOWAY	1872	Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia	1951	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	79
Brother in Law	George Johnstone (Jimmy) KNOWLES	1887		1954	Pymble, Sydney, NSW, Australia	67

Events in Eric Osbaldiston POCKLEY (1876 - 1956)'s life
Date	Age	Event	Place	Notes	Src
1876		Eric Osbaldiston POCKLEY was born	St Leonards, North Sydney, NSW, Australia	Note 1	52
1892	16	Death of father Robert Francis POCKLEY (aged 69)	St. Leonards, NSW, Australia	Note 2	52, 60
1924	48	Death of mother Selina Elizabeth ANTILL (aged 87)	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	Note 3	52, 60
1945	69	Married Aileen Ann ROLFE	Manly, NSW, Australia	Note 4	52
1956	80	Eric Osbaldiston POCKLEY died	Chatswood, NSW, Australia	Note 5	52, 60

Note 1: died 1956 - age 81 = c 1875

Australia Birth Index, 1788-1922 about Pockley
Name: Pockley
Birth Date: 1876
Father's Name: Robert Francis Pockley
Mother's Name: Selina
Birth Place: New South Wales
Registration Year: 1876
Registration Place: St Leonards, New South Wales
Registration number: 6267

Note 2: Reg No 12269/1892 - Robert and Sarah A

Singleton Argus 5 Oct 1892
POCKLEY.—September 20th, at his residence, Lorne, Gordon, after a few hours' illness, Robert Francis Pockley, aged 69 years.

*****
Sydney Morning Herald 3 Oct 1892
Pockley, Robert Francis (?–1892)
Regret in the city was expressed at the announcement of the sudden demise of Captain R F. [Robert Francis] Pockley. Captain Pockley for more than half a century has been identified with the shipping history of Australia. An old Australian geography (1846) was shown in the Merchants' Exchange, in which his opinion is quoted as to the respective merits of Boydtown and the opposite side of Twofold Bay for the site of the harbour proper. In the very early days as a boy he sailed in these seas with his father, who commanded a whaling vessel, and having qualified himself for the position of shipmaster, he came out to Sydney finally in 1841 to settle here. Captain Pockley hold the position of superintendent of pilots and lights for the colony at the time of the Donaldson Ministry, and at the date of the wreck of the Dunbar he was harbourmaster here, and went down to the scene of that memorable disaster in a whaleboat the night it occurred. In 1854 Captain Pockley married the youngest daughter of the late Major Antill, who came out to the colony with Governor Macquarie, to whom he was ADC. Dr Pockley, of St Leonard's, is a son, and one of 12 of a family, who, with the widow, are called upon to mourn their loss. Captain Pockley was Lloyd's surveyor and representative in New South Wales up to the time of his death, and held that position for 20 years.

Note 3: Reg No 17550/1924 - Henry C & Eliza

Sydney Morning Herald 2 Dec 1924
POCKLEY.-December 1, 1924, at Lorne, Killara, Selina, widow of the late Robert F. Pockley, in her 88th year.

Note 4: Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950 about Eric Osbaldiston Pockley
Name: Eric Osbaldiston Pockley
Spouse Name: Aileen Ann Rolfe
Marriage Date: 1945
Marriage Place: New South Wales
Registration Place: Manly, New South Wales
Registration Year: 1945
Registration number: 3494

Note 5: 29595/1956 POCKLEY ERIC OSBALDISTON ROBERT FRANCIS SELINA CHATSWOOD

Camberra Times 12 Nov 1956
Doctor's Wound Fatal
SYDNEY, Sunday. - A leading Sydney eye specialist was found shot outside his home at Avalon to-day.
He was 81-year-old Dr. Eric Pockley, who was well known in Sydney for many years.
Dr. Pockley was found shot through the mouth. He died on his way to hospital.
Detectives investigating his death said he had been in ill health for some time. ,

Personal Notes:

Western Herald (Bourke) 12 Nov 1913
DR. ERIC POCKLEY.
Dr. Eric Pockley, Ophthalmic Surgeon,has taken over the Practice of the late Dr. G. B D. Macdonald, and will see patients at "Balgownie" Kite and Sale Streets, Orange, every Thusrday.
*********************

Sydney Morning Herald 19 July 1923
SCIENTIST'S TRAVELS IN NEW GUINEA
FOUR MONTHS ON REMOTE ISLAND.
ADVENTURES OF DR. ERIC POCKLEY.
It is nearly two years since Dr.Eric Pockley, F.R.G.S., quitted his consulting rooms in Macquarie-street in search of adventure in Papua and the mandated territory of New Guinea and the northern Solomon Islands, and since then he has had, for any average lover of excitement, a surfeit of "moving accidents by flood and field, of hair-breadth 'scapes." He has been far off the beaten track and to some of the most remote parts of New Guinea. In several of the areas he penetrated it is not probable that any white man had preceded him in at least two places he was among actual cannibals; and among his minor adventures have been encounters with crocodiles and man-eating sharks. He returned to Sydney by the Mataram this week.

AMONG THE HEAD-HUNTERS.
Dr. Pockley was in one of those parts of wild Malaita, in the Solomons, where head- hunting is still a pastime and cannibalism survives. He was advised not to go inland, but did so.
"I penetrated into the fastnesses of one of the hill tribes, and my reception was any- thing but a cordial one," he said yesterday. "They plainly resented my presence, and, deeming discretion the better part of valour, I did not pursue my original intention of proceeding still farther into the interior; and, having made my call on this savage people, I bade them adieu, and with the best grace possible retreated. The old men and unmar- ried women were quite nude, but the married women wore a small apron. Many of the men wore curious ornaments in their ears and noses, the most extraordinary one being a bone stud, sometimes about an inch in length, inserted in the cartilaginous portion of the nasal septum.

HOSTILE RECEPTION.
There are many parts of Bougainville, as well as of Malaita, untrodden so far by whites, and it was to some of these areas Dr. Pockley went.
"In one of those inland villages," he said, "I found myself surrounded by a group of armed natives, the women and children having been sent into the bush. They did not attempt any violence, but did not disguise the fact that they regarded me as an intruder. Their faces were hardly human, and they did nothing but silently glower at me all the time. The sensation was far from pleasant for me, I can assure you."

AN UNFORTUNATE RUMOUR.
Rightly or wrongly, these people have a bad reputation, and Dr. Pockley expresses great regret on account of an unfortunate incident that followed his visit. A rumour having reached the coast that he had been attacked, a native officer, with a body of native police, hurried to the village. On their ap- pearance the tribesmen, who had been taken by surprise, assumed a threatening attitude, and the police fired first over their heads and then at their legs, and some casualties resulted. The native police then charged the village and the disabled warriors, but were themselves harassed by the women, who, armed with stone tomahawks, furiously attacked them.

THRILLING ADVENTURES.
The month or so that Dr. Pockley spent on Bougainville was a succession of thrills. After dressing the wound of a native whose arm had been badly torn by a crocodile, and had to be amputated, he himself had some unpleasant adventures with these creatures.

Several times during heavy seas, in shark- infested waters, the frail canoes in which he travelled were capsized. But the narrowest escape of all was of being blown up by dynamite. This was on the west coast of Bougainville. He was coming down stream in a canoe, and just as it rounded a corner the warning was shouted that a native, not observing the canoe's approach, had thrown a dynamite plug into the river to kill fish. The natives swerved the canoe round in an instant, and all dived overboard just as the explosion, which upset the canoe, occurred at the very point where the canoe would have been but for the warning.

GBEAT SEA TRAGEDY.
Dr. Pockley spent four months on the little known Matty Island, which lies close to the Admiralty Islands. The natives of Matty Island and of the neighbouring island of Aua were, he said, of light brown colour of a type distinct from the Papuan, Melanesian, or Polynesian people, and in their legends there was no clue as to whence they came. Physically they resembled Javanese or Malays. The crowning glory of the women was their long hair. Their houses were different from those of the other native people in the territory, being built of wood, with doors so high up as to make steps necessary. At one time hav- ing a large population, there were now only 300 natives left in the two villages on Matty Island. The neighbouring island of Aua had once had a population of perhaps a couple of thousand, now reduced to a few hundred.

The shrinkage in the latter case was largely attributable to a great sea tragedy of only 20 years ago, and it was surprising that, but for a passing reference recently by Captain Pitt Rivers, it had apparently never been chronicled. The natives of Aua, who were a mixture of savagery and timidity, had in 1904 killed a German trader named Reimers. News reached the island that the German authorities were sending a punitive expedi- tion, and a thousand people fled in canoes, and, a storm arising, over 800 of them perished.

Dr. Pockley said that the population of most of what were known as the western islands of the mandated territory—the Hermit, Anchorite, and Ninigo groups—had dwindled tremendously in recent years. Where there were thousands of people there were now only hundreds, and where there were hundreds there were now only scores. The population of Matty Island was on the down grade through inbreeding, but influenza and other scourges had made sad havoc.

THE MATTY ISLANDERS.
Regarding Matty Island, where he lived and moved and had his being among the natives for four months, Dr. Pockley said they had no religion, but a great belief that spirits con- trolled the weather and the harvests of the sea and land, and they constantly invoked their aid. The water supply was very scanty. There were only two or three soakages, which drained into deep wells, the water being ladled up in cocoanut shells affixed to long poles. Their canoes were beautifully made, with sharp-pointed projections at each end.

SPEAR-THROWING AND SINGING
Spear-throwing was the great sport of the Matty Islanders, and they had become wonderfully adept. They could with either hand— being trained from infancy to be ambidextrous—throw a spear with the greatest precision for over 100 yards. He said he had himself measured throws of 110 yards, and even farther, that had hit the marks at which they had been aimed with deadly accuracy.

The young men of the island were extraordinarily fond of singing—if their monotonous loud chants could so be called—starting in the middle of the night and continuing till the small hours of the morning. Especially on balmy moonlight nights they would lie on the broad of their backs on a platform in the middle of the village, and no sleep was possible during their prolonged vocal performances.

PHOSPHORESCENCE
Of the curious phenomena of various kinds, the most extraordinary, he thought, was the phosphorescence in the sea and on land. Often at night the whole of an encircling reef would be outlined by a brilliant luminous band, and, seen from a height, this glowing ring round an island was an impressive spec- tacle worth going far to view. The phosphorescence occurred in the bush also. On his first day's trek into the interior of Bougainville, through country thickly clad with palms, he had encamped, and, tired out, had slept heavily till disturbed by inquisitive cassowaries. On awakening he saw in the distance what at first appeared to be a bush fire.

"But I knew that I must be mistaken," he said. "It could not have been a fire on account of the dampness and greenness of the vegetation. I got up to investigate, and found several acres of land quivering and flaming with phosphorescence, due to small fungus covering the ground, stumps, logs, creepers, and butts of trees. It was as luminous as day, and this was, I think, the greatest of all the marvels I have ever beheld."

Dr. Eric Pockley, who is an uncle of the heroic Dr. Brian Pockley, the first Australian to fall in the war at the time New Guinea was captured, intends to revisit the territory and carry out further explorations.

Source References:

52. Type: Australia Birth Marriage Death Index 1787 - 1985 Record

- Reference = (Death)

- Notes: 29595/1956 POCKLEY ERIC OSBALDISTON ROBERT FRANCIS SELINA CHATSWOOD

- Reference = (Birth)

- Notes: Australia Birth Index, 1788-1922 about Pockley
Name: Pockley
Birth Date: 1876
Father's Name: Robert Francis Pockley
Mother's Name: Selina
Birth Place: New South Wales
Registration Year: 1876
Registration Place: St Leonards, New South Wales
Registration number: 6267

- Reference = (Marriage)

- Notes: Australia Marriage Index, 1788-1950 about Eric Osbaldiston Pockley
Name: Eric Osbaldiston Pockley
Spouse Name: Aileen Ann Rolfe
Marriage Date: 1945
Marriage Place: New South Wales
Registration Place: Manly, New South Wales
Registration Year: 1945
Registration number: 3494

- Reference = (Name, Notes)

60. Type: Newspaper, Title: Trove, http://trove.nla.gov.au

- Reference = (Death)

- Notes: Camberra Times 12 Nov 1956
Doctor's Wound Fatal
SYDNEY, Sunday. - A leading Sydney eye specilist was found shot outside his home at Avalon to-day.
He was 81-year-old Dr. Eric Pockley, who was well known in Sydney for many years.
Dr. Pockley was found shot through the mouth. He died on his way to hospital.
Detectives investigating his death said he had been in ill health for some time. ,

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