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Our Mother's History Girvan / Martin The Late Violet Agnes Tilley, nee Agnes Violet Girvan Evonne, Douglas and Erica
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Agnes Jeannie Girvan gave birth to Agnes Violet
Girvan at the Clapham Maternity Hospital on 27th February, 1917 and
she was Registered on 6th March 1917. My Grandmother Agnes Jeannie Girvan then met an Australian Soldier , Private Leslie Herbert Martin No 2482 who was serving with 32 Infantry Battalion - Reinforcements (November 1915 - December 1916) He Embarked from Outer Harbour, Adelaide on 9th March 1916 aboard the RMS Mongolia destined for Europe and the Middle East to the front Lines, I do not know the date they met but it could have been when he was transferred to London because of wounds received , ( Information obtained from his Son Alan Edward Martin living on the NSW South Coast,) 32nd Infantry Battalion (South Australia and Western Australia) [8th Infantry Brigade] R.M.S. Mongolia became State ship Western Australia from 1912-1916
Formed Australia June 1915. Departed Adelaide Geelong 8 November 1915 and Katuna 24 November 1915. 1st Reinforcements departed Adelaide Geelong 8 November 1915, 2nd Reinforcements departed Adelaide Borda 11 January 1916, 3rd Reinforcements departed Adelaide Miltiades 7 February 1916 and Mongolia 9 March 1916, 4th Reinforcements departed Adelaide Anchises 16 March 1916, 5th Reinforcements departed Adelaide Shropshire 23 March 1916, 6th Reinforcements departed Adelaide Aeneas 11 April 1916, 7th Reinforcements departed Adelaide Malakuta 27 June 1916, 8th Reinforcements departed Adelaide Ballarat 12 August 1916, 9th Reinforcements departed Adelaide Commonwealth 21 September 1916, 10th Reinforcements departed Fremantle Port Melbourne 28 October 1916, 11th Reinforcements departed Adelaide Afric 7 November 1916, 12th Reinforcements departed Adelaide Berrima 16 December 1916, 13th Reinforcements departed Adelaide Borda 23 June 1917, 14th Reinforcements departed Melbourne Ulysses 22 December 1917.Battle Honours: Egypt 1915-16, Somme 1916-18, Bapaume 1917, Bullecourt, Ypres 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Ancre 1918, Amiens, Albert 1918, Mont St Quentin, Hindenburg Line, St Quentin Canal, France and Flanders 1916-18 Egypt, Western Front
Agnes Jeannie Girvan aged 24 and
Leslie Herbert Martin aged 21 were married in a
Registry Office in London (
Certificate ) on 21st December 1918, Leslie returned
safely home on 25th January 1919 to Australia aboard a troop ship ,
His address was Scott Street , Parkside , SA, Before the war his
trade was a Tile Layer, living with Parents , Mothers name was Mrs
Ida E.M Martin, Father was Joseph Horace Martin, Leslie's DOB
was 16th May 1897. Leslie again Enlisted during WWII on 29 Sep 1942
into the Royal Australian Air Force as Instructor and was posted to
2 Recruit Depot (Staff) at Shepparton,Vic with the rank of
Sergeant , Sometime in the late 1920s after divorcing my Grandmother
about late1921/22 He remarried Ellen Lillian Rose They had moved to
5 Strone Ave Wahroonga, NSW, Leslie passed away in 1987 ,leaving his
2 Sons Alan Edward 8/8/35 and Alwin Leslie
1/8/38 and 2 Daughters Ella Daphne
20/9/32 and Shirley Annette
17/12/34 Going back now to September 11th 1919 Agnes J Martin along with Miss V G Martin ( my Mother ) Left the UK for Australia aboard the Port Lincoln Embarking from the Port of Tilbury , The Ship Master was W.S Mason, arrival date at Port Adelaide unknown, SHIP LIST Unfortunately the marriage between Agnes and Leslie did not last, and because of that I would presume back then jobs and life in general would have been difficult for a woman and child living alone, There was no South Australian record of my Mothers birth , and because she was being neglected she became a ward of the State of SA on 21st January 1921 and was sent to the Edwardstown Industrial School at the age of 3 years and 11 months, My mother never seen her mother again ....ever, The reason put forward in the children court was Agnes J Girvan was unfit to have such guardianship MANDATE FOR NEGLECTED CHILD / SECTION 2 oddly though Leslie Martin was not the Father of my Mother, Named was a Lieutenant of the Welsh Regiment by the name of Arthur Jones, I done some research for an Arthur Jones and found this LIEUT. GWILYM ARTHUR TEGID JONES, B.Sc., I just wonder if this man could have been my Grandfather.
My Mother was fostered out to various places in SA, The 1st was to a Mrs MacLean in Port Augusta and then she went to the little town of Chain of Ponds in the Adelaide Hills to a lady Miss Ivy Curtis and that's where she spent the rest of the time until she turned 18, She met my Father Ronald George Tilley at Cudlee Creek, they married on March 27th 1937 and lived at Paradise , Marriage Certificate then moved to Athelstone where I was born in 1943,Agnes J Girvan passed away 5th October 1939 in Adelaide ( Death Certificate) just a few Miles from where her Daughter was living and Mum was not even notified, She was buried in the West Terrace Cemetery , Adelaide , there is no headstone , just a bare plot between other Graves. I guess I would have been the first person on November 11th 2004 to have visited her grave site in the last 65 years.The cost of the burial to the SA Government was just 6 Shillings of which I have paid to the SA Government. Agnes Girvan at Millbrook School 1925
Rest in Peace Grandma.
If anyone has Information about the Named Martin or Girvan Families please email me
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