CONQUIT, Clarence
| Service Numbers: | 2221, 3404 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 8 September 1914 |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 59th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Albury, New South Wales, Australia, 1883 |
| Home Town: | Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria |
| Schooling: | St Augustus School, Wodonga, Victoria, Australia |
| Occupation: | Brass Finisher |
| Died: | Camperdown, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia , 1975, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
World War 1 Service
| 8 Sep 1914: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Driver, 2221, 1st Australian Reserve Park | |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 1914: | Involvement Driver, 2221, 1st Australian Reserve Park, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '21' embarkation_place: Melbourne embarkation_ship: HMAT Armadale embarkation_ship_number: A26 public_note: '' | |
| 20 Oct 1914: | Embarked Driver, 2221, 1st Australian Reserve Park, HMAT Armadale, Melbourne | |
| 3 Mar 1916: | Embarked AIF WW1, Driver, 2221, 1st Australian Reserve Park, embarked Suez for Melbourne on board Argyllshire (disciplinary) | |
| 31 Mar 1916: | Discharged AIF WW1, Driver, 2221, 1st Australian Reserve Park | |
| 19 Jun 1916: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Private, 3404, Machine Gun Training Depots, re enlisted under name of Clarence Conquit Haines - later made Statutory Declaration that actual name was Clarence William Conquit | |
| 16 Jul 1917: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3404, 59th Infantry Battalion, Sydney, NSW for Liverpool on board HMAT A16 Port Melbourne | |
| 29 Sep 1918: | Wounded AIF WW1, Private, 3404, 59th Infantry Battalion, France – gassed; resumed real surname of Conquit (Statutory Declaration; NAA) | |
| 12 Jun 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Private, 3404, 59th Infantry Battalion, embarked England for Melbourne on board HT Port Darwin | |
| 22 Oct 1919: | Discharged AIF WW1, Private, 3404, 59th Infantry Battalion |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Private Clarence Conquit (Service Nos:2221/3404) initially enlisted in the AIF on 8 September 1914 as a Driver attached to Australian Reserve Park Coy, and embarked with his Unit on 20 October 1914 from Melbourne for Egypt on board HMAT A26 Armadale for service in Gallipoli with the AMC. On 3 March 1916, Driver Conquit embarked from Suez for Melbourne on board the Argyllshire, and was Discharged for disciplinary reasons on 31 March 1916.
On 19 June 1916, he re-enlisted under the alias of Clarence Conquit Haynes (in 1918 in France making a Statutory Declaration that he was Clarence Conquit) and embarked with 59th Infantry Battalion from Sydney for Liverpool on 14 March 1917 on board HMAT A16 Port Melbourne. WiA in France in Spetember 1918, Private Conquit was evacuated to England, where he embarked for Melbourne on board HT Port Darwin (disciplinary reasons) on 12 June 1919. Private Conquit was attached to 59th Infantry Battalion at Discharge on 22 October 1919 (to complete sentence of two years hard labour). As a result of his offences, Private Conquit was not eligible for War Medals (NAA).
Clarence was born in Albury, NSW in 1893, eldest of seven children of Thomas (Tom) Conquit (b1856 in Adelong, NSW) and Johanna Shirley Ryan (b1871 in Yass, NSW). Tom (a Farmer) and Johanna married in 1893 in Albury, NSW and moved to Wodonga, Victoria where they raised their family and Tom worked as a Labourer and Bookmaker. Tom and Johanna both died in 1906, leaving their five surviving children to be raised in Melbourne by their paternal Aunt Kate and her husband.
Clarence worked as a Brass Finisher in Melbourne before enlisting in the AIF in 1914, and had numerous and regular 'brushes' with the Law, resulting in imprisonment in Victoria and NSW throughout his life. He used diverse aliases, including Clarence Haines and Thomas Haynes (Victoria Police Gazette). Clarence was working as a Labourer in 1920 in Melbourne when he married Annie Mary Hart (b1897 in Violet Town Victoria). Annie and Clarence met in 1916 when she was working as a Hotel Cook in Melbourne. They lived in Beechworth (Clarence was a Labourer and Annie a Cook), Murrangower in Orbost (Clarence was a Share Farmer), in a tent at Glen Maggie Weir where Clarence was a Labourer; and in Glen Ferrie where Clarence was a Labourer. In 1924 when Annie applied for a Divorce in Maffra, Clarence was in Pentridge Prison and Annie was working as a Cook and Boardinghouse Keeper in Maffra. Following their Divorce, Annie remarried and Clarence was in and out of prison in Victoria and NSW. Clarence died in Sydney in 1975 and Annie in Melbourne in 1969.
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