Private Gilbert Daveney
Title
Private Gilbert Daveney
Identifier
P.007
Bibliographic Citation
Gilbert Daveney'. (1860). Birth Record (1861/C/865). Queensland Births Deaths and Marriages, QLD, Australia.
'Gilbert Daveney'. (1919). Marriage Record (1919/B/23947). Queensland Births Deaths and Marriages, QLD, Australia.
'Gilbert Daveney'. (1935). Death Record (1935/B/26879). Queensland Births Deaths and Marriages, QLD, Australia.
Private Gilbert Daveney. (n.d.). The Australian Boer War Memorial, Canberra. Retrieved: https://www.bwm.org.au/soldiers/Gilbert_Daveney.php
Bean, C. E. W. (2014). Anzac to Amiens. Penguin: London.
National Archives of Australia: Australian Imperial Force, Base Records Office; B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers, 1914-1920; DAVENEY G, Daveney Gilbert : SERN 2020, 1914 – 1920.
Australian War Memorial: Australian Imperial Force Unit embarkation nominal rolls, 1914-18; AWM8 23/3 2nd Australian Remount Unit.
Alderman C. B. Daveney, Warwick Municipal Council. (2004). State Library of Queensland, Brisbane. Retrieved: http://onesearch.slq.qld.gov.au/permalink/f/1oppkg1/slq_alma21220551700002061
Peters-Little, F., Curthoys, A. & Docker, J. (2010). Passionate histories: myth, memory and Indigenous Australia. Canberra: ANU Press. Pp. 26-7.
Queensland Museum Donor Schedule #22/155 (1922).
Queensland Museum Miscellaneous Register, A722.
OLD WARWICKITE (1935, February 27). Warwick Daily News (Qld. : 1919 -1954), p. 2. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article177318811
Family Notices (1935, April 13). Warwick Daily News (Qld. : 1919 -1954), p. 2. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article177322420
WARWICK SOLDIER'S LETTER (1916, May 17). Warwick Examiner and Times (Qld. : 1867 - 1919), p. 4. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83670849
SOCIAL GOSSIP (1915, February 13). Warwick Examiner and Times (Qld. : 1867 - 1919), p. 1. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82823141
OBITUARY (1911, February 6). Warwick Examiner and Times (Qld. : 1867 - 1919), p. 5. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82200844
SHIPPING. (1914, January 12). Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1907 - 1954), p. 4. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article59082761
LIST OF RETURNED MEN. (1901, June 1). Western Mail (Perth, WA : 1885 - 1954), p. 28. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article33206077
CHINCHILLA. (1890, April 12). The Queenslander (Brisbane, Qld. : 1866 - 1939), p. 705. Retrieved November 4, 2021, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article20282014
Relation
C.007.001
C.007.002
C.007.003
C.007.004
C.007.005
C.007.006
C.007.007
Contributor
Mr James Donaldson
Biographical Text
Private Gilbert Daveney was born on 28 September 1860 in Warwick, Queensland, to Ellen Triquet and Charles Beevor Daveney. Gilbert was the second youngest of five children: Charles Edward Vernon, born 1854, Rosaline Inez, born 1856, Frank Darling, born 1858, and Miles Beevor, born 1865.
Charles Beevor Daveney was the manager of Canning Downs Station outside Warwick from 1855 to 1866 and later became an Alderman in the Warwick Municipal Council. Charles died in 1904 and is buried in Warwick General Cemetery. Ellen died at her home in Warwick on 5 February 1911 following a long illness.
Details of Gilbert's early life are scant. It seems that he grew up on the land in Western Queensland and worked in various jobs before the turn of the century. In 1883 he was part of a survey party that set out from Warwick for Dalgonally Station at Julia Creek in the Gulf, and in 1890 a G Daveney is mentioned at Chinchilla station in relation to the rescue of a family during a flood.
In 1900 Gilbert enlisted in Perth to serve as a Private in the Boer War with the 4th Troop of the 2nd Western Australian Bushmen. His service number was 18. His service record lists that he was a Drover and Surveyor, but before he enlisted he was working on the Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie mines, where gold was discovered in the 1890s.
Gilbert embarked for South Africa on the SS Maplemore in March 1900 and saw service in Rhodesia, western and northern Transvall, Koster River, Rhenoster Kop, the De Wet Hunt, Wolwekuil and Pietersburg between April 1900 and April 1901. He received the Queen's South Africa Medal with Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Rhodesia and South Africa 1901 clasps.
On his return to Australia, it seems that Gilbert came back to Queensland, but only scattered references can be found. In 1914 a G Daveney arrived into Townsville and in February 1915 he is mentioned as visiting his hometown of Warwick. By the end of 1915 he was apparently living in Warwick again and working as a labourer when he travelled to Brisbane to enlist for service in the First World War. He had just marked his 55th birthday at the time of his enlistment, making him quite old for a light horseman. Gilbert was appointed to the 7th Squadron of the 2nd Australian Remount Unit. His service number was 2020. After travelling to Sydney to join other members of the unit from New South Wales, Gilbert and the 2nd Remount Unit, left Australia on 10 November 1915 aboard the RMS Orontes.
We know very little about Gilbert's subsequent war service as the 2nd Australian Remount Unit does not have a surviving unit diary or history. From a letter published in Warwick Examiner dated 17 May 1916, we know that he was in the Remount Lines at Ma'adi. But his service record has no entries until October 1916 when he was transferred out of the Remount Unit at Moascar for early return to Australia.
Because Australian Light Horse Regiments served dismounted at Gallipoli, remount units were created in late 1915 to train and care for the horses left behind, and to make the regular Light Horse troops caring for them available for service at Gallipoli. Two Remount Units were formed with four squadrons in each. The maximum age for a soldier in the remount unit was quite high at 50 years old and remount soldiers were generally very experienced with horses and often had served in the Boer War. By the time Gilbert arrived in Egypt in late 1915, the Gallipoli campaign was all but over and the remount units were downsized, first to one unit consisting of four squadrons, and then to two squadrons forming a new unit: the Australian Remount Depot.
Gilbert was kept on during this first downsizing which occurred in April 1916, but when in October 1916 the second reorganisation of remount units occurred, he was discharged back to Australia. Over half the soldiers originally part of the remount units were discharged and returned to Australia in this way. On 18 October Gilbert embarked on the HMAT Vestalia at Suez, bound for Brisbane via Melbourne. He was officially discharged on 12 December 1916. He received the 1914/15 Star (87971), British War Medal (9072), and Victory Medal (8992).
While in Egypt, Gilbert collected six ancient coins and a faience necklace, apparently from “admidst Egyptian tombs near Heliopolis”. In July 1922 Gilbert donated these artefacts to the Queensland Museum where the coins are described as “mainly Roman”. Coins were commonly purchased as souvenirs by soldiers while on service in Egypt, but could also be discovered in the field while visiting ancient sites, as appears to be the case here. The necklace is more unusual and is said to have been made up of tube and ring beads. It has not been possible to positively identify either the necklace, or the coins, in the Queensland Museum collection.
After his return from Egypt, Gilbert married Margaret Ellen Cockram on 10 November 1919. It is unknown whether they had any children. They were living at Wynnum near Brisbane when Gilbert died following an operation at the Brisbane General Hospital on 16 Feb 1935 aged 74 years. He is buried in the Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Plot 10-70-10.
Charles Beevor Daveney was the manager of Canning Downs Station outside Warwick from 1855 to 1866 and later became an Alderman in the Warwick Municipal Council. Charles died in 1904 and is buried in Warwick General Cemetery. Ellen died at her home in Warwick on 5 February 1911 following a long illness.
Details of Gilbert's early life are scant. It seems that he grew up on the land in Western Queensland and worked in various jobs before the turn of the century. In 1883 he was part of a survey party that set out from Warwick for Dalgonally Station at Julia Creek in the Gulf, and in 1890 a G Daveney is mentioned at Chinchilla station in relation to the rescue of a family during a flood.
In 1900 Gilbert enlisted in Perth to serve as a Private in the Boer War with the 4th Troop of the 2nd Western Australian Bushmen. His service number was 18. His service record lists that he was a Drover and Surveyor, but before he enlisted he was working on the Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie mines, where gold was discovered in the 1890s.
Gilbert embarked for South Africa on the SS Maplemore in March 1900 and saw service in Rhodesia, western and northern Transvall, Koster River, Rhenoster Kop, the De Wet Hunt, Wolwekuil and Pietersburg between April 1900 and April 1901. He received the Queen's South Africa Medal with Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Rhodesia and South Africa 1901 clasps.
On his return to Australia, it seems that Gilbert came back to Queensland, but only scattered references can be found. In 1914 a G Daveney arrived into Townsville and in February 1915 he is mentioned as visiting his hometown of Warwick. By the end of 1915 he was apparently living in Warwick again and working as a labourer when he travelled to Brisbane to enlist for service in the First World War. He had just marked his 55th birthday at the time of his enlistment, making him quite old for a light horseman. Gilbert was appointed to the 7th Squadron of the 2nd Australian Remount Unit. His service number was 2020. After travelling to Sydney to join other members of the unit from New South Wales, Gilbert and the 2nd Remount Unit, left Australia on 10 November 1915 aboard the RMS Orontes.
We know very little about Gilbert's subsequent war service as the 2nd Australian Remount Unit does not have a surviving unit diary or history. From a letter published in Warwick Examiner dated 17 May 1916, we know that he was in the Remount Lines at Ma'adi. But his service record has no entries until October 1916 when he was transferred out of the Remount Unit at Moascar for early return to Australia.
Because Australian Light Horse Regiments served dismounted at Gallipoli, remount units were created in late 1915 to train and care for the horses left behind, and to make the regular Light Horse troops caring for them available for service at Gallipoli. Two Remount Units were formed with four squadrons in each. The maximum age for a soldier in the remount unit was quite high at 50 years old and remount soldiers were generally very experienced with horses and often had served in the Boer War. By the time Gilbert arrived in Egypt in late 1915, the Gallipoli campaign was all but over and the remount units were downsized, first to one unit consisting of four squadrons, and then to two squadrons forming a new unit: the Australian Remount Depot.
Gilbert was kept on during this first downsizing which occurred in April 1916, but when in October 1916 the second reorganisation of remount units occurred, he was discharged back to Australia. Over half the soldiers originally part of the remount units were discharged and returned to Australia in this way. On 18 October Gilbert embarked on the HMAT Vestalia at Suez, bound for Brisbane via Melbourne. He was officially discharged on 12 December 1916. He received the 1914/15 Star (87971), British War Medal (9072), and Victory Medal (8992).
While in Egypt, Gilbert collected six ancient coins and a faience necklace, apparently from “admidst Egyptian tombs near Heliopolis”. In July 1922 Gilbert donated these artefacts to the Queensland Museum where the coins are described as “mainly Roman”. Coins were commonly purchased as souvenirs by soldiers while on service in Egypt, but could also be discovered in the field while visiting ancient sites, as appears to be the case here. The necklace is more unusual and is said to have been made up of tube and ring beads. It has not been possible to positively identify either the necklace, or the coins, in the Queensland Museum collection.
After his return from Egypt, Gilbert married Margaret Ellen Cockram on 10 November 1919. It is unknown whether they had any children. They were living at Wynnum near Brisbane when Gilbert died following an operation at the Brisbane General Hospital on 16 Feb 1935 aged 74 years. He is buried in the Toowong Cemetery, Brisbane, Plot 10-70-10.
Rank
Private
Occupation
2nd Australian Remount Unit
Birth Date
28/09/1860
Birthplace
Death Date
16/02/1935
Death Place
Collection
Citation
“Private Gilbert Daveney,” First World War Antiquities, accessed May 3, 2024, https://ww1antiquities.omeka.net/items/show/212.
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