Ancestor Details
Ancestor's Name: William L'Estrange Eames
Ancestor's date of birth: 1863
Ancestor's date of death: 26/10/1956
Cause of Death: Not stated
Service Number: Officer - no number
Colony or State of enlistment: NSW, Place of Enlistment: Newcastle
Unit: New South Wales Medical Team
Rank attained in Boer War: MAJ, Date Effective: 17/01/1900
Highest Rank attained (if served after war): COL, Date Effective: 07/1918
Murray Page: 22
Contingent: Second New South Wales
Ship: Morvian, Date of Sailing: 17/01/1900
Memorial details: War Memorial Ballarat VIC.
Awards/Decorations: Queen's South Africa Medal with five clasps. Mentioned in Despatches London Gazette 27/9/1901. Commander of the British Empire (CBE). British War Medal, Victory Medal.
Personal Characteristics: William Eames was born in India in 1863. He graduated from the University of Dublin B.A.1885 and MB BCh.1886.
Reasons to go and fight: A serving Captain in the NSW Army Medical Corps
Details of service in war: Orange Free State and Transvaal, Feb 1900 to 28/8/1900. Operations in Vet River, Zand River, Johannesberg, Pretoria, Diamond Hill and Belfast.
Service and life after the Boer War: In WW1 he Commanded the Australian Voluntary Hospital in Wimereux France resigining in 1919. He was mentioned in Banjo Patterson's "Happy Dispatches". When he returned to australia, he retired. He maintained an active retirement, with business interests in Sydney and Newcastle, and was a director of the City of Newcastle Gas and Coke Co. An ardent golfer, he was also keenly interested in horse-racing and seldom missed a meeting at Randwick or Warwick Farm. He was a driving force behind the North Australian White Settlement Association which aimed at settling over 100,000 British men and women in northern Australia. CLICK HERE for a detailed biography.
Descendant Details
Name of Descendant: David Rankine, Mt Tambourine QLD
Relationship to Ancestor: Grandson
