ANZAC - Archibald FERGUSON

ravenruis (58)in #anzac • 8 years ago

Archibald Ferguson

Born in Collingwood, Nelson (NZ) in 1889 to Hugh Ferguson and Mary Ann (nee) Clark.

He was a miner who had emigrated to Melbourne for work, a year before he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, and was assigned to the 6th Infantry Battalion.

According to his enlistment records, he'd spent two years in the Collingwood branch of the New Zealand Rifle Club.

For some time he was simply declared 'missing', but then after a court of inquiry held in 1916, he was officially declared dead as of the 8th of May, 1915 at Gallipoli.

It appears that he never married.

His headstone memorial is located at the Redoubt Cemetery, Helles, Turkey.

there were never any reports showing his body had been found and/or identified
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Part of the letter his father Hugh received in 1921, from the military, regarding Archibald:

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A sheet from his service records.

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An official letter stating he was to receive, posthumously, medals for his 'gallant service' - the British War Medal and the Victory Medal (there is also receipt for the Star in his records) - which were to be given to his father.

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This must have been a devastating blow for the family. Archibald's mother had passed away the year before, and it would be during this year that his father Hugh would also pass away.
The war office would continue to correspond with the family over the next few years, regarding matters such as erecting the headstone tablet for Archibald in commemoration.

You may notice that in some of the service record documents Archibald is referred to as a Private, and in some as a Lance Corporal. It appears he moved up, so must have shown some worth to the army.

Notes:
Marriage notice of parents, 1868.

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Interestingly, the name Massacre Bay was only recently changed and is now known as Golden Bay. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Bay

Hugh Ferguson (father) passed away in 1921, aged 89, and is buried in the Collingwood cemetery. He may have been a sawmill operator. The family lived in Pakawau, near the tip of the Tasman district.

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(Mother) Mary Ann (nee Clark) passed away in 1920, aged 75, and is also buried in the Collingwood cemetery.

Other children (found) of Hugh & Mary Ann were:

John William (b. 1869, d. 1943)
Duncan (b. 1871)
Sarah Ann (b. 1875)
William Peter (b. 1877)
Isabelle Catherine (b. 1880)
Eliza (b. 1882)
Mary Jessie (b. 1885)
Jessie (b. 1887, d. 1900)

In 1915, his sister Sarah Ann (who was by then married to Robert Richard Walker) had written (presumably on behalf of their parents) to the Australian war office making inquiries about Archibald.
https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/68032/38
She received this reply:
https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/68032/37

Bibliography:

https://bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz/

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers

http://www.aucklandmuseum.com/war-memorial/online-cenotaph/

https://discoveringanzacs.naa.gov.au/browse/records/68032/2 (there is a total of 45 pages of service records)

https://www.nzwargraves.org.nz/casualties/archibald-ferguson

http://www.tasman.govt.nz/services/cemeteries/cemetery-records-search/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6th_Battalion_(Australia)