Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Alfred was the son of Arthur Cranbrook Ashwin and Annie (McDonald) Ashwin.

Alfred was born in Croydon Queensland, hence his second forename, where his father was working as a miner and carrier.

When Alfred's parents’ marriage broke down around 1890, the family were living in Croydon and Alfred, at age 4, went to live his uncle Frank Ashwin and family in Horsham, Victoria.  This allowed Alfred's father to be free to continue his prospecting/mining ventures in Western Australia, finally settling in the Lake Darlot area north of Leonora in the northern goldfields and eventually becoming a pastoralist.

Apparently, Alfred's mother Annie remained living n Croydon, it is not known what happened to her post 1893, no records can be found.

On 27 May 1903 at age 16, Alfred left Horsham and was taken by his uncle Frank to join his father Arthur at Darlot in Western Australia.  Alfred continued working on the stations with his father, as in 1916 when he enlisted in the armed forces, he gave his occupation as station hand/stockman and his address was recorded as Darda Station, Lake Darlot via Leonora, Western Australia.  On the 1916 Australian Electoral Rolls for the Division of Kalgoorlie, Alfred is recorded as living at Wilson's Patch out from Leonora working as a Prospector.

Before Alfred was finally accepted into the army, he had three previous attempts to enlist being rejected because of "defective eyesight".  On his enlistment form, Alfred is described as being 5 feet 4 inches tall, 126 lbs in weight, chest measurement of 34 inches, fair complexion with grey eyes and brown hair.  Alfred served with the 39th Infantry Battalion on the Western Front in France firstly with the Australian Corps School and then in May 1918 Alfred transferred to the Australian Corps Working Party where he served until the war's end.

It was during Alfred's service in France during the war, in the village Dreuil-lès-Amiens, Somme, Hauts-de-France, that Alfred met French girl Marie Albertine Bouteillier, falling in love.

At the war's end Alfred was repatriated back to Australia leaving England on 18 January 1919 on the SS "Ulysses" and after arrival in Western Australia, he was discharged on 2 April 1919. On the 1919 Australian Electoral Rolls for the Division of Kalgoorlie Alfred is still recorded as living at Wilson's Patch.

In mid 1919, Alfred travelled back to France via London on board SS Orantes to marry Marie Boutellier, arriving in London on 19 September 1919.  Alfred and Marie were married on 30 September 1919 in Amiens, France where they stayed until early 1920 when they travelled out to Western Australia on the SS Orsova arriving in Fremantle in February 1920.  The Ashwin’s stayed in WA where their first daughter was born in July 1920 and then returned to France in June 1921, settling in north west of France, including living in the village of Combrée, north west of Angers, where they were involved with Marie's extended family in the bakery business. Alfred and his wife had a further two daughters whilst in France and a son.

Alfred and his family finally moved back out to Western Australia leaving London on 25 October 1927 on board the SS Esperance Bay arriving in Fremantle late in 1927. On the passenger list for this voyage Alfred's occupation is noted as stockbreeder. The Ashwin family settled in Belmont building a house on a block of land in Hardy Road that was part of a parcel of land acquired by Alfred's father.  Alfred and Marie had another son Bernard to add to their family, and they lived in Belmont for the rest of their lives.  Alfred mainly worked as a labourer and as a groundsman/gardener and at one time was employed by Penfolds Wines, as a Cellar Hand.

On the 2nd March 1940 Alfred was issued with a twelve month Miner's Right certificate by the Mining Registrar in Leonora.  This could suggest that Alfred was possibly up in the Darlot area trying to follow in his father's footsteps.