MCNIVEN, Ronald James
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 29 April 1915 |
| Last Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Last Unit: | 18th Infantry Battalion |
| Born: | Singleton, New South Wales, Australia, 6 February 1889 |
| Home Town: | Not yet discovered |
| Schooling: | Fort St High School, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation: | Teacher |
| Died: | Natural Causes, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, 23 May 1977, aged 88 years |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Hornsby War Memorial, Sydney Technical High School WW1 Roll Of Honour |
World War 1 Service
| 29 Apr 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1 | |
|---|---|---|
| 25 Jun 1915: | Involvement Lieutenant, 18th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '12' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Ceramic embarkation_ship_number: A40 public_note: '' | |
| 25 Jun 1915: | Embarked Lieutenant, 18th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Ceramic, Sydney | |
| Date unknown: | Honoured Mention in Dispatches, ANZAC / Gallipoli |
Help us honour Ronald James McNiven's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Sydney Technical High School
Captain Ronald James McNiven was born on the 6th of February 1889 at Singleton, NSW to William McNiven (His Father) and Harriett Mary (His Mother)(3). His family later moved to Hornsby NSW and spent most of his childhood there. After he finished his primary school years, Ronald James McNiven attended Fort Street High School. After graduating from Fort Street High School, Ronald James McNiven was employed on 1st February 1915 as a teacher at Sydney Technical High School (4).
Ronald McNiven enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) as a lieutenant on the 5th of April 1915 and embarked on the 25th of June aboard the TSS Ceramic (A40) enroute to Gallipoli (5). He landed at Gallipoli on the 21st of August but was wounded the next day and had to be evacuated to hospital(6). He rested for a month and returned back to service on the 28th of October 1915 and remained until the evacuation.
After spending 3 months in the Sinai Desert (7), he joined the British Expeditionary Force (B.E.F) on the 17th of March,1916 (14) and crossed the Mediterranean Sea to reach France, where he was appointed as Intelligence officer of his battalion (8). On the 31st of July he was appointed Gas Officer of the 2nd Division (9) and on the 14th of August, 1916, he was promoted to captain (15). On the 4th of July 1917, he was admitted to hospital (17). He was first unwell in December 1916 with influenza but recovered to a certain point but in February 1917, he was troubled with headaches and a series of colds, and throughout May and June 1917, he was instructing in gas attacks and suffered from repeated very slight attacks of gas poisoning. When he was admitted into the hospital, he had coryza. When he was de-hospitalised on the 29th of July, 1917, his headaches had gotten better and his general conditions improved yet he still got out of breath easily and had slight palpitation on exertion(18). In January 1918, he was Corps Chemical adviser and in August 1918, he was appointed Officer in charge of gas training in the depots stationed in England(10).After serving in the AIF for 4 years and 302 days, Captain Ronald James McNiven was discharged in the United Kingdom on the 2nd of March 1920(16) with his brother Charles and returned to Australia via U.S.A working in various food companies(10).
After being discharged, the two brothers went to Chicago and worked at an ice Cream factory(11). Ronald James McNiven spent several months in a company called Bishop & Co. improving his knowledge of the manufacturing of high-class confectionery and also went to different confectionery factories and expanded his skills. When they returned to Sydney around 1921, they built their own ice cream factory in Salisbury Road, Camperdown and launched “American” ice cream in Sydney for the first time(12). Their business continued until 1956(13).Ronald James McNiven was active in a society called The Astronomical Society in the 1960s and donated $4500 to the research fund(19). He was awarded Honorary Life Membership in November 1968 for his many generous donations and contributions to society(20). In February 1970, he was voted as the Trustee of the Society and in May 1973, he was voted as the Astronomical Society of New South Wales’ Patron(21). As Patron, he had recommended to the Committee in 1973 that an annual award be presented to the Society(22). The committee decided to name it the McNiven Medal (23).
He fell ill in February 1975 and passed away at the age of 88 on the 23rd of May, 1977(24).
References
1. Anonymous, McNiven Ronald James - Summary, Doc on
2. Ibid
3. Ibid
4. Ibid
5. Ibid
6. Ibid
7. Ibid
8. Ibid
9. Ibid
10. Ibid
11. Ibid
google drive
12. Ibid
13. Ibid
14.Anonymous, National Archives of Australia, McNiven Ronald James : SERN
CAPT : POB Singleton NSW : POE N/A : NOK F McNiven William, p.g. 19 15. Ibid
16. Ibid
17.Anonymous, National Archives of Australia, McNiven Ronald James : SERN
CAPT : POB Singleton NSW : POE N/A : NOK F McNiven William, p.g. 21 18. Ibid
19. Anonymous, The ASNSW McNiven Medal, PDF on google drive. 20. Ibid
21. Ibid
22. Ibid
23. Ibid
24. Ibid
25. Ibid
26.Anonymous, National Archives of Australia, McNiven Ronald James : SERN
CAPT : POB Singleton NSW : POE N/A : NOK F McNiven William, p.g. 62
Bibliography
● Ken Stevenson, Research on Google Drive
● Anonymous, National Archives of Australia
https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=
1958294
● Virtual War Memorial, Ronald James MCNIVEN MID https://vwma.org.au/explore/people/364115
● Australian Government Department of veterans’ affairs, First World War The Western Front
● https://www.dva.gov.au/media/media-backgrounders/first-world-war-western-front