People of East Melbourne
This is a list of biographies of residents of East Melbourne.
This project started to commemorate the soldiers and nurses who went to Europe to serve in World War 1. But it has grown from there to cover biographies of any and all residents of note.
Along with many of their fellow Australians people from East Melbourne flocked to enlist. Many were heroes. Many lost their lives or suffered horrific physical or mental injuries. At home family and friends worked, endured and suffered consequences that were sometimes terrible and persisted long after the war.
Major-General Michael O'Brien gave us a starting point with a list of East Melbourne people who served in WW1. He spoke to the Society in April 2013 to give us some context to the period and to help the EMHS prepare for its own commemorations of this most devastating period in our history.
Everyone can participate by gathering or documenting information:
- Photos, memorabilia and family records
- Stories in books, newspapers and on-line
- Memorial plaques in churches and public places
- War memorial, church, national and state archives
You can refine the list by applying the various filter criteria and go to a particular detailed biography by click on the title.
GOOD, Walter Ambrose
Ambrose was 6' tall, weighed 12 stone 7 lbs and was 39 years old when he signed his attestation papers on 25 September 1916 at Enoggera in Queensland, although his file says his service dated from 2 February 1916. He had been a labourer in Cloncurry, Queensland, and his enlistment form gave his occupation as "miner". He was C of E, had blue eyes, brown hair and a sallow complexion.
- 1893 reads
GOODALL, James
James Goodall enlisted on 11 January, 1915, at the Drill Hall in Powlett St., East Melbourne, following an earlier attempt in Tasmania. He claimed to be nineteen years old and described his occupation as 'gardener and baker'.
- 2496 reads
GOOLD, Richard Harry
Richard Harry Goold was born on 12 December, 1880 in Kyneton to James Crosbie Goold and Ann Martha Goold (nee Gutheridge). He completed Year 6 at State School before attending South Melboutne College to sub-matriculaton level. He then qualified as an engineer. Richard signed up twice for service in WWW1.
- 2018 reads
GORRIE, John James
John James Gorrie was one of the three children of John James Gorrie (d. 25/8/1888) and his wife, Norah (d. 15/12/1918). From these dates, we might guess that the younger John James was the youngest child, as his father died in the year following his birth. On his enlistment form, he nominates his sister, Mrs.
- 1703 reads
GOTTS, Rex Elmo
Rex Elmo Gotts was born in Geelong, Victoria in 1889, the son of Isaiah Alfred Gotts and his wife, Margaret Josephine, nee Riley. He was one of twelve children, eight boys and four girls, and the youngest of the three brothers who volunteered for World War 1: Rex Elmo, Roy Stanley and William Alfred.
- 2203 reads
GRAHAM, Sydney Hartley
Sydney Hartley Graham was a married man, an accountant and aged 36 when he enlisted at Adelaide on 7 March 1917. He had married his wife, Christina Jane, nee Macrae, on 11 January, 1911. The couple had no children and were living at 6 berkshire Street, Glenelg, South Australia.
- 1994 reads
GRAHAM, Thomas McLennan
Tom Graham was born in Inverness, Scotland, in April 1897. When he enlisted at Seymour on 24 March, 1916, he was eighteen and eleven months old and working as a crockery packer. He have his address as 36 Berry Street, East Melbourne, and appears to have had no family in Australia. His next of kin was listed as his mother, living at 21 McLean Street, Glasgow.
- 2022 reads
GRANT, John
John Grant was born in Sale, Victoria in 1895 to William and Mary Grant (nee Keating). His father was born in Scotland in 1862 and mother in Waterford, Ireland. They married in 1894 at Sacre Coeur, Kew. JOhn was the eldest born of 5 children (3 brothers and 1 sister). He enlisted at the same time as his brother William in July, 1915. His occupation was a Porter with the railways.
- 2511 reads
GRANT, William Alexander
William Alexander Grant was born on Beechworth, Victoria in 1896 to William and Mary Grant (nee Keating. His father was born in Scotland in 1862 and mother in Waterford, Ireland. They married in 1894 at Sacre Coer, Kew. William was the second born of five siblings (3 brothers and 1 sister). His eldest brother John also enlisted for WW1.
- 2208 reads
GRAY, Alastair Cameron
Alisstair Cameron Gray was born in 1898 in Dunedin, New Zealand to William Gray and Mary Gray nee Cameron, both born and raised in the Dunedin area. He was the younger brother of Clark Maxwell Gray who was killed in action at Fromelles in July 1916.
- 3361 reads
GRAY, Clark Maxwell
Clark Maxwell Gray was born on 6 December, 1896 in Dunedin, New Zealand to William Gray and Mary Gray nee Cameron, both born and raised in the Dunedin area. After completing his schooling William Gray worked his way into increasingly senior treaching roles in the Otago region until he undertook a B.A at the Otago University in 1894, followed by an M.A 2 years later.
- 3888 reads
GRAY, Reginald Albert
Reginald Gray was born in Bristol, Gloucestershire, in Octobet, 1893. He enlisted at Kerang, Victoria, on 21 November, 1917, having been once rejected for being under height - he was only 5 feett 1 inch tall. He was a dealer by occupation, but what he dealt in is not disclosed in his record.
- 2099 reads
GREAVES, George Frederick
George Greaves was 22 years old when he enlisted on 22 March 1915. He listed his occupation as "labourer"; his father, Alfred, was a jeweller and the family came from England at some time after 1901, as the UK Census of that year has the family living at Smethwick, Worcestershire. They arrived in Melbourne on 20 January, 1911 as unassisted immigrants.
- 2299 reads
GREEN, John Victor
John Victor Green was born in 1887 at Williamstown, Victoria. He was the youngest of two brothers and four sisters, of John Vanham Green and Charlotte Una West. He married in 1910, to Jessie Dunford Andrews and in 1911, they had a son, John Vanham Green.
- 1999 reads
GREHAN, Frank Albert
Frank Grehan's story is one of the oddest accounts of a volunteer soldier in the Great War. Born in Stawell on 24 August, 1889, he had joined the British Imperial Navy on 24/8/1907, on his eighteenth birthday, serving as a 'Boy First Class' on board HMS Psyche. He remained in the Imperial Navy for six years, leaving in 1913.
- 1954 reads
GREY, Denis Basil
Denis Basil Grey had almost no contact with East Melbourne, staying perhaps only very briefly at 'Rosebank', a boarding house in Clarendon St. afer being returned to Australia following a war injury. He was born in Ceylon of English parents, but the family then moved to Hong Kong, where his sister Nora Evelyn was born in 1898.
- 2150 reads
GRIFFITHS, George Norman
George Griffiths was 27 and 2 months old when he enlisted to serve in World War 1. He had previous experience, having enlisted on 16 August, 1914, to serve in New Guinea with E Company, First Expeditonary Force.
- 1728 reads
GRIFFITHS, Francis Llewllyn
Francis Lllewlyn Griffiths was the son of William Moore Griffiths and his wife Rosa August, nee Petterick. He joined up on 23 January 1915 at Victoria Barracks. At that stage he was 28 years old, 5' 8" tall, with dark brown hair, brown eyes and a fair complexion. His occupation was listed as 'clerk'.
- 1718 reads
GRIFFITHS, Norman Lance Guy
Private (Pte) Norman Lance Griffiths, aka Tasman Lance Guy Griffiths, 8th Australian Light Horse Regiment, of East Melbourne, Vic. Pte, Griffiths enlisted on 5 July 1915. His uncle, Arthur Griffith, as his legal guardian,gave his permission for the boy to join up. He had attempted to enlist once before, but his height, only 5' 2", probaby led to his rejection.
- 2219 reads
GROVES, Charles Edward
Charles Edward Groves was born at Jolimont in November 1882. He was the only son of his widowed mother, Fanny Nina Groves, when he went off to the First World War, but had a sister, Ida. Before enlisting, he was working in the Belgian Congo, employed by the Belgian government as a mining engineer.
- 1725 reads
GUTHRIE, Albert John
Albert John Guthrie enlisted in Melbourne on 26 January, 1914. He was one of four brothers, all of whom volunteered and enlisted just nine days after his brother, Henry David Guthrie, had enlisted in Perth. The brothers were the sons of David Guthrie, a tobacconist, and his wife, Eliza Ann, nee Harvey.
- 3085 reads
HAAKE, Adolf George
Adolf George Haake wa born in March 1889 in Bradford Leeds to Adolf and Clara Haake, both from Hanover, Germany. Adolf had five siblings, 1 older sister BeA Cmpany rta, two older brothers Christian and Ernest, and two younger sisters Clara and Celia. The UK 1901 census show the family living in Bradford and his father's occupation as merchant clerk.
- 2442 reads
HABEL, Louis
Carl Louis Habel was born in Murtoa in 1883, the son of Johann Carl and Emilie Clara Habel. In 1909, he married Florence Annie Shearwood, born 1889 in Collingwood, and in 1914, they were living at 1089 Hoddle Street, East Melbourne, with their two children, Melville Carl, born 1909, and Arthur Louis, born 1913. Carl Louis Habel was then working as a labourer.
- 2049 reads
HABEL, Oswald Emile
Born at Dunkeld in the Western District of Victoria, Oswald Habel was the eldest of eleven children born to Emil and Annie (nee Hempel) of Minyip,Victoria. Of these children, two other Habel boys, Otto and Walter, joined up. In the wider habel family, in all, there were nine volunteers, mostly from Murtoa,Victoria.
- 1761 reads
HALL, May Isabel
May Isabel Hall was born on 6 August 1879 in Sandhurst (Bendigo), Victoria. She was the fourth of the five children and first daughter of John Pitchers Hall (c1836–92) and his wife Isabella Jane (c1845–1918), successful drapers of that city.
- 5530 reads
HALLEY, Edward John
Edward John Halley was 28 years old when he enlisted at Geelong on 14 November, 1916. He had already had one earlier attempt to sign up, probably in Melbourne, but had been rejected because of poor vision and bad teeth. He was in employment as a liftman and gave as his address 20 Lansdowne Street, East Melbourne,the home of his mother, Annie Grace Doran.
- 2030 reads
HAMILTON, Richard Henry
Richard Henry Hamilton was the son of John Lambie Hamilton and his wife, Clara Jane nee Booth. He enlisted at age 19, with the consent of his mother. According to his enlistment form, he lived at Croft House, Warley Rd., East Melbourne. The record was not corrected until 1917, when Mrs.
- 1819 reads
HAMILTON, Robert Bell
Robert Bell Hamilton was 23 years old and practising as an architect when he enlisted on 8 December, 1917. At the time, he was a single man and living with his mother, Jane Napier Hamilton (nee Bell), at 91 Powlett St, East Melbourne. He had been educated at Scotch College. He was 5' 9" tall, with brown eyes and hair.
- 2651 reads
HAMPSON, Francis Christian
Frank Christian Hampson was born in Sydney, possibly Strathfield, in 1887. He became a wool classer by trade, moving across NSW and Victoria to the different woolsheds. On 24 March 1915, he married Eileen Mary Evans, at St Thomas Church, Essendon. They were to have a child, Murray Cecil Hamspon, born in 1916 and died in 1917.
- 1880 reads
HANKINSON, Stanley James
Stanley Hankinson was the second child of seven. Born in 1885 to James and Catherine Hankinson, nee Stratton, he had an elder sister Elizabeth (Lily) Ellen b. 1883 and then two sisters and two brothers: Ethel May b. 1888; Norman Lewis b. 1890; Albert Edward (Bert) b.1894; and Irene Victoria Catherine (Rene) b. 1901. He was born in Kyneton, Victoria, and educated at Kyneton State School.
- 2139 reads
HARRIS, Bertram
There is nothing in Bert Harris's military record that places him anywhere near East Melbourne at the time of the Great War. He grew up in New Zealand and enlisted at Casula, NSW. He gave as his next of kin his brother, Albert, living at Aratapu, and enlisted on 23/11/1915 following on from the defeat at Gallipoli.
- 1729 reads
HARRIS, Edward
Edward Harris enlisted on 20 Auguast 1914. He was then just off twenty three years old, 5'3" tall, with a fair complexion, blue eyes and brown hair. He was a butcher by trade, with no previous military experience. Nor did he have family, save for his sister, Miss K. Harris, who was at the Salvation Army Training College in Victoria Parade, East Melbourne.
- 1683 reads
HARRIS, John Ernest
John Ernest Harris joined up almost immediately war was declared by England on 4 August 1914. Harris enlisted on 19 August, 1914, and was given the number 48. On the surface, he looked like the ideal recruit. He was English-born, by occupation a marine engineer, aged 30, single, and had previous experience in the armed forces.
- 1811 reads
HARRIS, Percy James
Percy James Harris was born 1st January 1875 at Thornton, Studley-park, Kew. He was the son of Alfred Harris. Two months later Alfred sold the contents of his house as he was leaving for England imminently. Whether he did or not remains uncertain as no shipping records have been found for his departure or return. We do know that Percy was in Melbourne and livi
- 3262 reads
HARRISON, Edward William
Edward William Harrison was a young man of 23 when he enlisted on 15 December 1915. He was 5'6" tall, with a dark complexion, blue eyes and dark hair, a single man studying to be a doctor and in his fourth year of study.
- 1955 reads
HARRISON, Martin John
Martin John Harrison was given the number 6, when he enlisted to go to war in 1915. He was a postman by occupation, born in Dean, Victoria, a small town 12o kilometres west of Melbourne, near the Ballarat-Daylesford Rd.
- 1740 reads
HART, Annie Kidd
Annie (Anne) Kidd Hart was the first of eight children born to John Adolphus Hart (c1849–1930) and his first wife Ann née Kidd (1854–1908).
- 4035 reads
HARVEY, Norman Kinamond
- 2451 reads
HARVEY, Stanley
Stanley Harvey was eighteen and four months old when he enlisted to join the AIF. He was an electircla engineer by training and gave his address as Parliament Place, Melbourne. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and had one sister, Norah Harvey, to whom he would leave his possessions.
- 1747 reads
HAWKES, Richard Morrison
Richard Morrison Hawkes enlisted on 13 January, 1916. He was nearly 31 years old, a clerk, 5'7" tall, with blue eyes and brown hair. He had married on 1 July, 1910, in Melbourne and, at the time of his enlistment, his wife, Adelaide Margaret Hawkes (nee (Short), was living at 122 Wellington Parade.
- 1908 reads
HAYES, Edwin
William Edward Riley took good care to cover his true name when he enlisted at Richmond, Victoria, on 17 August, 1915. His gave his name as Edwin Hayes, and claimed to be 19 years and two months old when he enlisted at the Drill Hall, Gipps St, Richmond.
- 1813 reads
HEANEY, Gordon Henry Herbert
George Henry Heaney used a false name when he enlisted on 8 July, 1915. His true surname was Hart, and he had a father and stepmother living in Sexton St., Highgate Hill, Brisbane, Queensland. Heaney was a cook by trade and 36 and 10 months old, and had already had six years service with the A.R.G.A.
- 1813 reads
HEANEY, John
James Heaney was born in 1876 in Casterton, Victoria, the son of Patrick and Honora Heaney, nee Quinn. At the time of his enlistment, he was practising as an accountant, probably at 376 William Street, Melbourne, the address he gave on the Electoral Rolls for both 1914 and 1919. His home address at the time he enlisted on 21 August 1914, was at 130 Grey Street, East Melbourne.
- 2038 reads
HENRY, Arthur Milton
Arthur Milton Henry was born at Geelong, Victoria and was living there when he enlisted on 9 February. 1915. He was a butcher by trade, only 22 years old, and the only child of his widowed mother, Lily (nee Trinder), and her husband, Charles Henry. By 1915, she seems to have and was living at 78 Wellington Parade , East Melbourne as Mrs. Lily Veal.
- 1931 reads
HENRY, George Winfred
George Winfred Henry was born in Hamilton, Victoria, but at the time he enlisted was working as a clerk and living in East Melbourne. His father, Robert Henry, lived in Grey St., Hamilton. His mother may have been deceased and he does not seem to have had siblings. George Henry attempted to enlist on 2 September, 1915.
- 1940 reads
HENRY, Robert Edward
Robert Edward Henry was born in Northern Ireland in 1879 and was 35 and 4 months old when he joined up in 13 March, 1915. By then, he was living in Melbourne with his brother, William Liggatt Henry. They were the sons of Samuel Dugeon and Emily Ellen (nee Liggatt) Henry. The brothers were both accountants by occupation and lived at 332 Albert St., East Melbourne.
- 1753 reads
HEPBURN, Austin
This is not the story of one young man, but of six, of whom two were to die in WW1. Austin Hepburn was the second of five sons born to Thomas Robert Hepburn and his wife, Emily Marion (nee Cosgrove). The family was Roman Catholic by religion and their sons were all educated at Xavier College, Kew.
- 1865 reads
HIDDLESTONE, Cecil John
- Enlisted on the 10th October 1914 aged 24 years. Previously his occupation was a Tailor's Cutter
- Commenced training with the 14th Battalion at Broadmeadows Camp before embarkation on the 22nd December 1914
- Suffered numerous illnesses and sent to Malta and then to St George's Hospital in England to recover from 'nervous debility'
- 1952 reads
HILTON, Ernest Roderick
Ernest Roderick Hilton was the son of William Hilton, a builder, and his wife Julia Ellen, nee Hawkley. He was one of four children, a brother, Sidney, and sisters, Lily and Irene. He was just over 27 years when he enlisted on 24 October, 1916, a Master Printer by trade and newly married to Margaret Mary Duffy, known as Rita.
- 1906 reads
HILTON, John Thomas
John Thomas Hilton was the son of Robert Hilton and his wife, Abigail, nee Lambert. He was a barber by trade, and 41 and 9 months old when he enlisted. By then, his parents may have been dead, because he gave as his next of kin on the enlistment form, his sister, Mrs. Lavinia Alice Atkins, living in Jolimont.
- 1699 reads