WATRIAMA, William Jacob
| Service Number: | 5148 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 15 December 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 18th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Loyalty Island, New Calidonia, August 1879 |
| Home Town: | Sydney, City of Sydney, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Gardener |
| Died: | Cancer, Mater Misericordiae Hospital, North Sydney, New South Wales, Australia , 1 January 1925 |
| Cemetery: |
Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens and Crematorium, NSW |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 15 Dec 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 5148, 18th Infantry Battalion | |
|---|---|---|
| 5 Jun 1916: | Involvement Private, 5148, 18th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Kyarra embarkation_ship_number: A55 public_note: '' | |
| 5 Jun 1916: | Embarked Private, 5148, 18th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Kyarra, Sydney | |
| 1 May 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 5148, 18th Infantry Battalion, GSW to Neck - MD to Australia | |
| 1 May 1917: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 5148, 18th Infantry Battalion, GSW to Neck - MD to Australia | |
| 5 Dec 1917: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 5148, 18th Infantry Battalion, MD due to wounding May 1917 |
William Jacob Watriama
From Hungerford and Associated Family Society Australia, Lesley Abrahams
William Jacob Watriama was born in 1880, in the Loyalty Islands, New Caledonia and eventually arrived in Australia in about 1891. Throughout his life he fought to end French rule over New Caledonia and proclaimed himself to be the exiled “King of the Loyalty Islands”. William tried to visit his homeland twice, but each time was deported.
He married Ethel Tipping, daughter of Alfred Tipping and his wife Amelia (nee Garrett). They married in Melbourne, Victoria, on the 21 March 1916.
At the time William was a member of the Australian Imperial Force. In 1901-02 he served in the Boer War as a trooper with the 2nd New South Wales Mounted Rifles. Then, in 1914 he joined the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force which occupied German New Guinea and, en route to Rabaul, helped to train troops aboard the Berrima. Enlisting as a private in the Australian Imperial Force in December 1915, he served with the 5th Australian Training Battalion in England and with the 18th Battalion, AIF, in France, being discharged on 5 December 1917.
Ethel and William lived at Northbridge, Sydney. Survived by his wife, daughter Edna and son, Merlyn; William died of cancer on 5 January 1925 at Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Sydney, and was buried in the Methodist section of Northern Suburbs Cemetery. Prime Minister Billy Hughes delivered a speech at the graveside:
“In the course of a short address, Mr.Hughes referred to the late Mr Watriama’s charming nature, and to the fact that the blood of aristocracy flowed in his veins. Mr Watriama had fought in two wars — South Africa and the Great War — and was respected by all who knew him. Mr Hughes added that he was present to do honour and pay respect to a fine man and an old friend, whose life’s ambition was to see the Union Jack fly over his native islands.”1
More details about William’s life will appear in the May 2019 HAFS Journal.
Sydney Morning Herald, Thursday 8 January 1925, p7.
Submitted 28 February 2019 by Evan Evans
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
From AWM. Quite an interesting character was Jack it would seem.
SN 5418 Acting Sergeant William Jacob Watriama, 18th Battalion. A gardener of Paddington NSW, he enlisted in the AIF on 15 December 1915 and embarked for overseas service six months later as a private with the 13th Reinforcements on HMAT Kyarra. He was wounded in the neck and suffered a broken fibula and was returned to Australia medically unfit on 27 May 1917. A Kanak born on Mare, one of the Loyalty Islands of New Caledonia, he lived in Sydney, NSW, from about 1890. He was a member of the St George Rifles militia unit for 12 years, during which time he served as a Trooper with the 2nd NSW Mounted Rifles in the Boer War and also enlisted in the Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF), serving from 12 August 1914 until 4 March 1915. Hostile to French rule in New Caledonia, he urged British expansion of their territories in the Pacific. He has been described as a patriot and an idiosyncratic member of Australian society. He was a member of the National Association of New South Wales, an organisation "favouring conservative Australianism". He died in 1925 and his funeral was attended by Billy Hughes.
Biography contributed by Evan Evans
From Bill Durrant
A PACIFIC ISLANDER IN THE AIF.
William Jacob WATRIAMA was a native of the 'Loyalty Islands', near New Caledonia. He styled himself as the 'KING of the Loyalty Islands', and wanted the Islands brought under Australian Control...which made the French Colonial Government consider him an undesireable.
He was a Boer-War Veteran (No.2955 - 2nd Battalion of the NSW Mounted Rifles) that enlisted and served in the Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF) as No.671 William Jack Matriana, and then enlisted in the AIF as No.5148 William Jacob Matriana.
On his Enlistment in the AIF his complexion was described as being “Dark” (Copper Coloured), having Brown eyes and Black hair. His Statement of Service page contains an entry, subsequently scratched out, “Discharged, 1/5/16, not sufficiently of European origin”.
Obviously somebody pointed out his previous service in the Boer-War and with ANMEF, and he went on to embark and serve with the 18th Battalion AIF.
He was returned to Australia as 'Medically Unfit' in July 1917 and died in January of 1925.
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