I met my paternal grandfather, 'Grandpa Lee' in late 1951/2 when I was four five years old. Memories of meeting him, his capacity for comforting hugs and the delightful way he called me 'happy face' remain, captured in a bubble surrounded by an aura of light and happiness in my brain. A widower for seven years when we visited, James Joseph Lee lived in a flat in an historic building in Manly, not far from the harbourside beach where the ferries berth and depart. He died in 1957. I remember my father preparing to go to Sydney for his funeral, returning saddened with memorabilia, including a watch inscribed JL, and his war medals, of which I now have the miniatures which my grandmother probably wore at Anzac Time. I knew that he had been a printer, had run printing businesses in Sydney and Lismore, NSW; that he had lost these businesses during the Great Depression after holding on to his staff for as long as he could. I also knew that he had grown up and married In Leith, the port city adjoining Edinburgh, In Scotland where my father was born. I believed that my ancestors on the Lee side were Scottish. That was about it! I didn't know his parent's names, whether he had any brothers and sisters. His early live and 'family of origin' were a mystery to me. Where to begin? BMD (Birth, Marriages and Deaths) documents retrieved online from Scotland's People proved invaluable, The Birth Certificate for my father, confirmed his birth to James Lee and Rose McCann in Leith in 1904. A breakthrough came with the Marriage Certificate of James and Rose, as it listed their parents. Suddenly I had the names of Grandpa Lee's parents - Anthony Lee and Barbara Sullivan. I knew about 'Lee', fancy being a 'Sullivan'! I was thrilled to find that my father was named after his grandfather, also an Anthony Lee, and then on finding my great grandparent's wedding certificate, found that I had Irish great, great grandparents Michael Lee and Margaret Reilly! A UK Census Record for Scotland from 1871 revealed my Great Grandfather Anthony Lee, was, along with brothers and sisters, born in Ireland of an Irish father and mother. What a wonderful resource! Later discovered Catholic Church Baptismal Records from Kilronanan County Roscommon, confirmed his grandparents, but also his aunts and uncles, with all names this time recorded in Latin. 'Michaelem Lee married Marguerita Reilly, and had children Eleonaram (Ellen), Mariam (Maria), James, Antonium (Anthony), John (Joannem) and Michael (Michaelem), before leaving Ireland, having a daughter Margaret, in Scotland. Margaret died as a child, however her birth and death records, falling after the Scottish documentation was more formally registered in 1855, resulting in even greater clarity in some of the details, including the knowledge that my great, great grandparents had married in ....... . Unless, as is possible, the Lees left Scotland for Ireland, perhaps during the troubles or an earlier migration, Grandpa Lee's ancestors were Irish, and he grew up in Leith with Lee side Irish grandparents, aunts and uncles, surrounded as a child by Irish accents. Tracking the family later through Scotlands BMD records, I was relieved and delighted to find that Grandpa Lee, an eldest child had lots of cousins to play with when he was little. Playmates also included uncles, as his mother's younger brothers Francis and Edward Sulivan, were his age. Francis Sullivan, also a 'compositor', was the best man at Grandpa Lee's wedding. I discovered that Grandpa Lee had 10 younger brothers and sisters. The family lived for many years in what was probably a tenement in street called Cables Wynd, near the whisky distilleries located near Leith Docks. During the 1880's a brother, Patrick; and sister Ann were born, however Anne died at 4 yrs. In 1890's Anthony, Mary Cecilia, Barbara, Winnifred, Elizabeth and Phillip were born, however like their sister Anne, Mary Cecilia and Barbara died in early childhood;. Another Barbara, who also died in early childhood, was born in 1901, while in1904, his youngest sister Mary. and born, as was (her nephew), my father Anthony Lee. In 1908 his brother Anthony died of tuberculosis. Like Grandpa Lee, my father had Aunts and Uncles who were close to him in age. Born in 1883, James younger sisters Elizabeth was born in 1898, with another sister, Mary born in 1904, and brother Phillip were born in 1899. An only child at that time, there is a strong likelihood that he would have spent time with them as a child before leaving for Australia in 1912. Grandpa Lee's Birth Certificate revealed that at the time of his birth his father Anthony was a dock labourer Leith was a busy port at that time, and his father remained working on the docks until his death in 1917. Old Postcards and images of Leith found through Facebook groups provided some idea of what Leith must have been like in the 1880's as Grandpa Lee grew up. It's possible that his father Anthony was involved in the Leith Dock Strikes of 1889 pictured in one of these images. Grandpa Lee's Australian war records made reference to his being in the Leith based Royal Scots Divisions of the British Army for at least eight years before coming to Australia in 1912. I have had problems locating his documents in the UK military records, largely because a cousin, also named James Lee and born in Leith in the same year, had a long military record in the Royal Scots. This James Lee, a prize winning boxer affectionately known as Tancy Lee, was and possibly still is, considered a national living treasure in Scotland. His army records keep 'getting in the way', testing my patience, but I'm persisting. I'd love to visit the archives of the Royal Scots in Edinburgh to access the documents. Shipping records revealed that James, Rose and Tony had immigrated to Australia in 1912 when my father was eight years old. Business Directory entries show him as running printing businesses in Sydney, Electoral Records reflect the years in Sydney ; while Trove records flesh out some stories about a fire in the George Streetbuilding in which he had just started his printing business in 1913 and the family's social life in Manly and North Sydney. Facebook groups such as 'I Love Leith', have helped me to picture the life which Grandpa Lee had in Leith. There's a wonderful postcard series which was published in 1904, the year when James, aged only 21, and at the time I think in the Royal Scots, became a father - the year my father was born. Ancestry.com, and to a lesser extent My Heritage, have enabled me to further Grandpa Lee's extended family and led to treasured connections with Grandpa Lee's nieces, nephews. I knew nothing of them when I began my quest. HIs sister Elizabeth's son Bill Tully, who emigrated to Vancouver was a wonderful link to the family's life in Leith; his niece Barbara Lee, remains on my international phone list to call up from time to time in Toronto, Candada. I have Elizabeth's grandson on my list to visit if ever I go to Leith; Bill's daughters to visit in Vancouver; and have visited.... daughter in law in Brisbane. It has been such an adventure, with many treasured discoveries along the way.
So now, when I look at the photo I have of Grandpa Lee in uniform during World War I, I picture a young man with a large extended family who grew up in the Irish Catholic community of South Leith. Many of his male Lee relatives worked on the docks, however his mother's sister appears to have married a well to do printer. Grandpa Lee trained as a printer /compositor, then went into the army where his printing experience seems to have led to him specialising in communications and signalling. He established his own printing business briefly before immigrating to Australia in 1912. He established a printing business in Sydney, however returned to England in late 1915 with the Australian military forces. He was recommended for an award for bravery in relation to signalling and mentioned in despatches during the First World War. He was a much loved father to my father, loved by his daughter in laws, and highly respected by family and friends. Bill Tully, the son of his sister Elizabeth, explained to me once that the Lee family in Leith were "very proud of James, who became a Lieutenant in the Australian Army". I am too. Although I only met him once, I've always loved the fact that he nicknamed me 'Happy Face' and suspect that he was indeed a 'kindred spirit'. During 'Over There' at U3A late last week we watched a documentary on the Great War titled 'Hell', What a truly pointless war, with the loss of so many young lives. I began thinking of my grandfather James Lee and of a young 'second cousin 1x removed' killed in action in France. My great grandmother Emma Jane Taylor's nephew Charles Taylor's son, Lieutenant Albert Laurence Deane Taylor, a young Flying Officer/Observer in No 3 Squadron was killed in action in France over the Somme. I had discovered Albert during my earlier work on family history. Triggered by a hint via an ancestry email about him which referenced a new 'Find A Grave' record, I followed this up and added it to my records, finding as I did so that the 100th year anniversary of his death falls on the 20th May 2018 - 100 years ago today as I write this post. "Lieutenant Albert Lawrence Deane Taylor BIRTH unknown DEATH 20 May 1918 BURIALVignacourt British Cemetery Vignacourt, Departement de la Somme, Picardie, France PLOTII. B. 16. MEMORIAL ID56434374 · Gravesite Details Lieutenant, 3rd Squadron, Australian Flying Corps. Killed in action. Son of Charles and Elizabeth Taylor, of 4 Ferguson St., Williamstown, Victoria, Australia. Native of Williamstown, Victoria. Age 21". On the base of the photo of Albert's headstone is written 'Per Ardua ad Astra', the motto of the RAF and other Commonwealth Air Forces such as the RAAf. It can be translated as 'through adversity to the stars' or 'through difficulties to the stars'. Albert's War Service record is digitized and in the Australian War Memorial's records: http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1927412 (hopefully this will open directly). Lieutenant A. L. D. Taylor is mentioned in Chapter XIX 'No. 3 Squadron's Operations over the Somme' of First World War Official Histories - Volume VIII – The Australian Flying Corps in the Western and Eastern Theatres of War, 1914–1918 (11th edition, 1941) on page 261 (https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com/awm-media/collection/RCDIG1069820/document/5519299.PDF) More from Find a Grave... "Vignacourt is a village in the Department of the Somme on the west of the D933 road from Amiens to Doullens. From the D933 take the D113 from Flesselles and 5 kilometres along this road the Cemetery will be found at the entrance of the village. When the German advance began in March 1918, Vignacourt was occupied by the 20th and 61st Casualty Clearing Stations. It also became a headquarters of Royal Air Force squadrons. The cemetery was begun in April and closed in August, and the burials reflect the desperate fighting of the Australian forces on the Amiens front. Six burials made in the communal cemetery between October 1915 and March 1918 were brought into the cemetery after the Armistice. Vignacourt British Cemetery contains 584 First World War burials. There are also two burials from the Second World War. The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield. The cemetery also contains a monument erected by the village in honour of the Commonwealth dead, unveiled in August 1921. It is a statue of a French soldier, on the base of which are engraved the words: "Freres D'armes de L'Armee Britannique, tombes au Champ D'Honneur, dormez en paix. Nous veillons sur vous." ("Brothers in arms of the British Army, fallen on the field of honour, sleep in peace; we are watching over you.")" Williamstown Chronicle, Saturday 24th May, 1919 (via Trove).
The bravery of my grandfather, James Joseph Lee, was officially recognised through a Mention in Despatches for 'valuable services rendered in connection with the war' in France in March 1918 and in northern France near the border with Belgium in August and September 1918. An officer working in Signals training in England from early 1916 to late 1917, James was transferred to active duty in France in November 1917. This year I'm planning to follow James's service record as a centenary of the First World War - I'd better get moving though as it will soon be March. I need to determine whether the Mention in Despatches relates to the same battles as the Belgian Croix de Guerre, or earlier incidents in France, or perhaps recognition for his work in the 'depots'. My brother John thinks that it is almost certainly the former, but I'm uncertain. I need to check out his service record carefully to see where he was in March 1918; to locate Proyart and Hesbecourt; and more!
Later (25/2): It seems that both Proyart and Hesbecourt are in the North of France near the border with Belgium; so the battles referred to fall within the Western Front/ 'France and Flanders' category. I've started to try to track the timeline for James Lee moving into active duty with the 2nd Battalion, and things are starting to make sense. On November 1, 1917, facing a manpower crisis, it was decided to combine five divisions to form one, the Australian Corps. James was recommissioned (word) from his roles at Perham Downs to the 2nd Battalion within this umbrella in mid November 2017. The 2nd Battalion was involved in significant battles in March and again in the 'Hundred Days Offensive' period under the command of Sir John Monash in August/September 1918. It is possible that James' 'Mention in Despatches' on March 13 2018 relates to either his service at Perham Downs or to battles in France March 1918, and is separate from his later recommendation for operations on 28 August and 16 September for the Belgian Croix de Guerre. (Need to tighten this up!) |
The Journey ...An 'occasional blog' recording elements of my renewed family history journey. This is the second wave in my 'family history' journey. The first lasted from 2010 to 2014. with intermittent bursts since then. It's time to revisit, to share more stories, to edit, to tackle uncertainties... Categories
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