The Great War 1914-1918

Remembering those relatives [siblings of my grandparents] who served in the Great War 1914-18.

Dr William Hart Steel 1872-1959, served with the British Navy. Eldest son of Dr TH Steel and Isabella. His wife Phoebe Hodgson was a nurse in this war. They married in 1929.
Lt-Col. Thomas Heron Steel OBE 1877-1942. A Captain in the Scottish Regiment before the war, he was a leader at Gallipoli, Steele's Post being named after him. Fifth son.
Captain John Hart Steel 1891-1968, youngest son. Recommended for a Military Cross.
Howard Erskine Davies, 1881-1817, fifth son of Sir John Mark Davies and Emily, died of wounds in the 3rd Canadian Hospital, Boulogne, France in May 1917, leaving a wife and 21 month old daughter.

Cecil Wellington 1888-1979, third son of Henry and Jessie Wellington, was a medical orderly with 1st AGH. He was gassed during the war and never fully recovered.
Cliff Wellington 1890-1954, fourth son, with 5 Bn when wounded in France in October 1917, then he was a sergeant at AIF headquarters in London, returning to Australia in 1920.
Malvern Vail, 1893-, fourth son of Luke and Catherine Vail, served in 7 Battalion AIF.
Cecil Vail, 1897-1966, youngest surviving son, went to France with 37th Battalion in 1916, returned to Australia in 1917 and was discharged permanently unfit in Feb 1918 with a pension.

Jessie Rose Bouts

Jessie Rose Bouts was born in May 1858 at her parents' home, 6 Cambridge Road, Islington. She had an older brother and two older sisters. In February 1863, her older brother died at age 9, then her father died six weeks later, aged 42. In June of that year, her mother also died, aged 43, leaving the three girls and an infant brother as orphans. It is possible that they were cared for by their grandmother who died in 1880, but the girls always said they came from Pinner and it seems that they went to the school for orphans of travellers at Hatch End, where they appear in the 1871 census. By 1881, Jessie was a draper's assistant living in a draper's establishment on Newington Causeway in Surrey, and her sister Alice was living in an establishment of Lace dealers in Mayfair.
In September 1884, Jessie and Alice arrived in Melbourne as unassisted immigrants aboard the Cathay. At Christmas time that year Jessie married Henry Samuel Wellington, who had come from London the previous year, and also worked in drapery. We do not know if they had previously known each other in London, but they both gave the same boarding house address on their marriage certificate. Alice and Jessie started a ribbon and lace shop and later had The Lace House in The Block Arcade in Melbourne. Their older sister joined them in 1895. She died in 1902. Henry and Jessie had five sons. They all lived at Pinner in Royal Crescent, Armadale, then by 1910 they were at Tivoli Road and Sutherland Road in South Yarra by 1912, the sisters working in the city until about 1920.
Jessie died in 1941 at age 83, six years before Henry.

William Beresford Wellington

Although not an ancestor, this man is the source of the surname WELLINGTON.
When he married my ancestor Esther MYERS, nee BENJAMIN, in Melbourne in 1869, his name was William Walter BERESFORD, gentleman. He said his father was Thomas James BERESFORD, gentleman, and his mother's name was Mary Ann WALDERGRAVE.
In August 1869, he sailed with his wife and her four children on Swiftsure from Melbourne to London, all listed as BERESFORD.
In the 1871 English census, he was recorded as William Beresford WELLINGTON, draper age 50 living at 44 Heygate Street, Newington, Surrey in 1871 census, born at Cheltenham in Gloucestershire. [born 1820?]. The four step-children were listed as MYERS.
In the 1881 census he was William WELLINGTON a commercial traveller aged 61, living in Camberwell, Surrey, and the step-children were also using this surname.
He died age 65 in 1884 at Edmonton in Middlesex.
It would be nice to know the origin of the Wellington surname which our family adopted.
Looking at the English census, there were five Wellingtons living in Surrey who had been born in Gloucestershire including a Mary A Wellington, tailoress, age 60, born in Cheltenham.
Living in Gloucestershire, there were very few Beresfords but a lot of Wellingtons.
Was he an illegitimate son? Perhaps he was sent to Australia on remittances and had to change his name when he returned?

Esther Benjamin

Esther BENJAMIN was born in London in about May 1832. Her parents emigrated to Van Diemen's Land on Palamban in August that year with her brother Benjamin, grandmother Esther and two unmarried aunts. She had three more brothers born in the 1830s then a sister born in Hobart in 1843. Her father died in 1852.
In 1854 she married Abraham MYERS in Hobart. A Court case that the marriage was illegal was dismissed and may have related to the fact that he had been married with one child when convicted in London in 1844. They sailed for Sydney on Emma in April 1853.
Their first child, an un-named male, must have died at birth, but was noted on their daughter Fanny's birth certificate in 1864. They had four more sons, Joshua born in Sydney 1855, Henry in West Maitland [where her brother Morris settled] 1858, Benjamin in Melbourne 1862, and Abraham in Sydney in 1866.
They had returned to Hobart when they were married again in a Jewish ceremony at the house of Abraham Myers in October 1860. She registered as a single woman living with her mother.
Before 1861, her eldest son Joshua was taken to London by relatives and brought up by his uncle and aunt Michael Gabriel and Frances nee Myers, sister of Abraham. It would be interesting to know their circumstances at this time, as there is also a gap between the births of Henry in April 1858 and Ben in October 1862.
While living in Melbourne in 1864, Abraham was sentenced to 9 months in prison for fraudulent insolvency.
Her husband died in Sydney in 1866 not long after the last baby was born and Esther was listed in the Sydney Post Office Directories for 1867 and 1868 as a pawnbroker at South Head Road, then Riley Street.
In July 1869, Esther remarried in Melbourne to William Walter BERESFORD in a Registry Office. By 1871 the family was in London, living in Newington. William's name had changed to William Beresford WELLINGTON and he was working as a draper. Esther also had a 5 month old son, born in Walworth, Surrey. Her eldest son Joshua did not appear in the census.
By 1881, her husband was a commercial traveller and they were living in Camberwell, Surrey. The children had also changed their name to Wellington.
Her mother, step-father and older brother were also living in London, although her mother died there in 1880.
At least two of her sons returned to Australia to live in Melbourne and Sydney, and her youngest brother returned to Hobart.
Joshua was living in London in 1881 and 1891 but married in 1895 and was living in Jersey in 1901. He and his family went to Canada in 1906, then to the USA.
Her daughter Fanny married Emil Deutgen in London in 1895 but we have no further information on them.
Her son Abraham, later known as Alfred, married in London in 1891.
Esther died in London in 1913 and was buried in the family grave at Edmonton cemetery.

Henry Samuel Wellington

My mother's grandfather, Henry Samuel WELLINGTON, was a bit of a mystery for many years. His marriage certificate and eldest son's birth certificate said he was born in 1858 at West Maitland in New South Wales but his grand-daughters thought he was English. We could not find a birth registration for him in Australia. Then we were contacted with the fascinating news that he had indeed been born at West Maitland, had moved to London, changed his surname and religion, then returned to Melbourne as a young adult.
His parents were Abraham MYERS and Esther BENJAMIN and he was their second surviving son. He had a sister, three brothers and a step-brother. His father in Sydney died when he was 8 years old and his mother remarried in Melbourne in 1869, shortly before they left for England on Swiftsure.In the 1871 census, Henry was a Solicitor's Clerk, living with his family in Newington. His step-father was a draper. His older brother was not present. Henry was not found in the 1881 census. His younger brother Ben appears as Beresford WELLINGTON age 20 working as a draper's assistant in Sheffield.
There is a Henry Wellington listed among the passengers arriving in Melbourne aboard Lusitania in 1883. His death certificate in April 1947 states that he was born in England and had been in Victoria for 63 years.
Henry married Jessie Rose Bouts on Christmas Day 1884 at the Registry Office in South Yarra. She had arrived in Melbourne in three months earlier with her sister. We do not know whether they had known each other in London, but they all worked in the drapery business. They were both living at the same boarding house in Toorak when they married.
Henry was a warehouseman at Paterson, Laing and Bruce in Flinders Lane.
They had five sons who all attended Caulfield Grammar School and they attended the Anglican Church.

Henry maintained contact with his brother Ben who lived in Sydney.
He retired around 1933 and Jessie died in 1941 age 83. Henry was living at 31 Kooyong Road, Armadale, when he died at 90 years of age in 1947.

Elizabeth Alice Knight Vail

Elizabeth Alice Knight Vail was the eldest child of Luke Knight Vail, a tailor, and Catherine Jane Sergeant. She was born in 1882 at 127 Chapel Street, South Yarra. The family later lived above their tailor shop in Glenferrie road, Malvern. In 1899, her mother died and her father disappeared, leaving Elizabeth and her grandmother to care for the family.



Elizabeth trained to be a teacher and was engaged for 5 years before she married Frank Wellington at St Georges in Glenferrie Road in June 1912. By this time her younger sister, Amy was 21.
Elizabeth and Frank lived in Armadale, raising four children. They were closely associated with the Holy Advent Church in Armadale, the girls going to Lauriston school in Malvern and the boys to Caulfield Grammar.
Elizabeth was on the Lauriston School council and also supported Invergowrie where her younger daughter later studied. In 1940 they moved to Camberwell and became active in St John's church on Burke road. For the next 15 years, Elizabeth was the Commonwealth Literature Secretary of the Mothers Union, an Anglican church group.
 They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1962 and had a trip to New Zealand to visit their son, Keith and his family. Frank died in 1963.

Elizabeth moved into a small semidetached unit in Malvern and died in 1968.

Frank Wellington

Frank Wellington was born in Melbourne in 1885. He was the eldest of five sons of Henry and Jessie Wellington, who married at South Yarra ten months earlier. Frank and his brothers attended Caulfield Grammar School where they did very well. He joined the AMP Insurance Company where he worked for 46 years. In 1912, after an engagement lasting 5 years and having saved £50, he married Elizabeth Alice Knight Vail at St Georges Church Malvern. They lived at 3 Alleyne Avenue in Armadale where their first daughter was born in 1913. Two sons and another daughter followed by 1919. Frank was very involved with the Holy Advent Church of England in Armadale where he was on the vestry for 20 years and secretary and treasurer of the church. He also helped form the first Parent's Association at Caulfield Grammar, supported Invergowrie, the Retired Officer's Association of the AMP and the Caulfield Grammarians Lodge.
In 1940 they moved to 10 Marlborough Avenue in Camberwell where they continued to be active in St John's Church in Burke Road, Frank being their auditor.
Like his father, Frank was a good handyman, making furniture with some wood carving.
Frank and Elizabeth celebrated their golden wedding anniversary in 1962 and also had a trip to New Zealand to visit their son Keith and his family in Auckland. Frank died suddenly at home in March 1963 and was cremated at Springvale. "A life of service cheerfully given." 

Dorothy Nancy Wellington

Dorothy Nancy WELLINGTON was born in Melbourne in 1913. She was the eldest child of Frank WELLINGTON and Elizabeth VAIL. Married Thomas Heron Steel. They had one son and two daughters. 
Dorothy Steel (Wellington) 1913-2003

Dorothy Steel passed away two days before Christmas after a long and fruitful life, at the age of 90 years. She attended Lauriston for all of her schooling, matriculating and going on to complete a Science degree at Melbourne University. As well as being an academic achiever at school, she was a keen hockey player, continuing this sport through her University days. A proud Lauristonian, Dorothy was the first captain of Mitchell House in 1930.

Although Physics was not taught at Lauriston at the time, Dorothy, ever determined, took up this subject at University and graduated in 1935 with a Physics major. She went on to work at Royal Melbourne Hospital with Dr. Kaye Scott in the new field of radiotherapy. Her job involved designing the dose rates and placement of radiation treatment in what were then pioneering days of X-ray technology. By all accounts she was the first full-time physicist employed in a hospital in Australia.

In 1942 Dorothy married Tom Steel, a medico and first cousin of Gladys Davies. She continued with her radiotherapy work while Tom was away at the war; then after a year living in London where Tom was studying on a Nuffield Scholarship, they settled back in Melbourne and family life became the focus. Their two daughters Elizabeth Taverner (1965) and Margaret Coventry (1967) both attended Lauriston as did their niece Margaret Henderson (1969).

Throughout the years of raising a family Dorothy was very involved in various community and charity works. She spent many years committed to the management and development of the Berry Street Babies’ Home, being president of the Building Committee during a time of major change. She served on the Lauriston School Council and was always active in the Old Lauristonians’ Association, hosting many ‘Old Girls’ meetings at her home. She loved this school and maintained contact with her old school friends throughout her life. Alongside these activities she expressed her creativity in her fine pottery and her beautiful garden.

Farewell Dorothy, you were a loyal ‘Old Girl’ through and through and “high in our hearts we hold thee.”

Lauriston Life 2004

Thomas Heron Steel 1912

Thomas Heron Steel
Doctor
7-3-1912- 13-12-2000

Tom Steel was a dedicated physician whose life was built around service to his patients and the medical profession. To Tom, the patient was sacrosanct and nothing was too much trouble. His was the generation of home visits, a practice he maintained well into his 80s. A subsequent glass of whisky was often appreciated on such occasions.

Tom was proud of his family heritage and ancestors who had been prominent early Melbourne citizens. He grew up in Malvern, a twin and the eldest of six children to David and Marion Steel. Educated at Scotch College and Melbourne University, he graduated in medicine in 1935 and took up a residency at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. He then completed his Doctor of Medicine in 1938.

A year as a resident medical officer at the Royal Children's Hospital was followed by a period as medical officer at the Austin Hospital. During the war Tom served in the 4th AGH in Australia and the Middle East. He specialised in the treatment of chemical warfare injuries, and survived a shipwreck in the Mediterranean en route to Tobruk. He was discharged in 1946 after serving in New Guinea However, his twin brother did not survive the war; he had died in a PoW camp in Thailand.

Tom married his university colleague Dorothy Wellington while on leave in 1942. Shortly after the war he was awarded a Nuffield Fellowship to study in London towards membership of the Royal College of Physicians. On his return from England, Tom specialised in diseases of the chest. As consultant to both Heidelberg Repatriation and Heatherton Sanatorium, he made a major contribution to the virtual eradication of TB in Victoria in the 1950s.

Tom Steel joined the Alfred Hospital as an honorary physician in 1946 and provided dedicated service for more than 36 years. Here he made an outstanding contribution to both the teaching and practice of medicine. In 1962 he was appointed to the board of management and in 1975 was made vice-president of the board of directors. He retired from the Alfred in 1983, but practiced into the mid-1990s.

A committed family man, he followed in the footsteps of his father, serving as an elder in the Armadale Presbyterian Church and later the Uniting Church. Here he could combine his love of music (and opportunity to sing) with the duty of worship. He loved to visit relatives and friends at Portarlington, Portsea and various rural areas around Victoria. He placed great importance on education and took great pride in the accomplishments of his immediate and extended family.

He is survived by his wife Dorothy, his three children, seven grandchildren and one great- grandchild.

This obituary was prepared by Tom Steel’s three children, Elizabeth, Richard and Margaret.

As published in "The Age", Tuesday February 27, 2001 – Today p. 7

See also:

RACP College Roll

Encyclopedia of Australian Science