Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Mary Elizabeth Benyup was a daughter of a “full blood” Aboriginal woman Banyap [Caroline] and a Caucasian shepherd named Charles Brazely [1].

When Mary was nineteen, she had a child - Walter Joseph Mortimer - to Joseph Mortimer, a stockman who lived in the same area [2]. Joseph was born in 1850 at Gingin, Western Australia, the son of one of the first families to reside along the Gingin Brook. Joseph and Mary did not marry. Instead, Joseph married Ellen Sims five years later and they went on to have at least twelve children.

Born on the 6th of July 1874 at Moore River, Walter was baptised on the 24th November 1874 in the Gingin Parish Church as Walter Joseph Mortimer Benyup [3], which was on the same day that his mother married John Selby Parker [4].

We can only assume Joseph remained with Mary and John who had children Martha Elizabeth in 1876, John in 1878 and Mary Ann in 1881. But when Mary’s husband died accidentally in 1881 [5], it seems she returned to Gingin from Dandaragan where the family had been living earlier.

Three years later, Mary married George Dickinson [6] and they had a son in the same year – George James [also known as James who later died from wounds incurred at Gallipoli] [7]. Tragedy struck again when Mary’s second husband also died [8]. Now faced with destitution, Mary was forced to seek relief. However, when her local priest George Sadlier wrote to the Acting Colonial Secretary requesting that Mary’s children be received into care, he only named the children born to John Parker. Walter was not named, so it is probable that he stayed in the Gingin area or thereabouts and was known there as ‘Walter Parker’.

Donations to ‘The Patriotic Fund’ were collected in March 1900 and Walter Parker gave 5 shillings for the cause [9]. He was living in Greenough and it is interesting to note that Thomas Clinch owned the Mill there. Thomas had married Sarah Mortimer in 1868 in Gingin. Sarah was the brother of Walter’s father Joseph, so it is possible this connection was the reason Walter was living in Greenough.

Early in January 1901, an advertisement was published calling for volunteers to enlist in the 5th West Australian Mounted Infantry Contingent for service in South Africa [10]. Australia had been involved in the Boer War for some time - the 1st West Australian Contingent left Albany on 7th November 1899 [11].

It seems that Walter, who was a resident of Greenough, volunteered his services for the 5th Contingent. He would have been faced with a strict criterion. Applicants were required to be single men of good character between the ages of 20 and 34, to be not less than 5ft. 6in. in height, with a chest measurement of 34 inches. They also needed to be expert riders and good shots. It is thought that his Indigenous ancestry may have precluded him from being accepted sooner [12] as it was recorded that he was anxious to enlist in the 1st West Australian Contingent. Perhaps he was rejected earlier in Greenough where he lived and so tried his luck in Coolgardie where he did volunteer [13].

In The West Australian, Thu 7 Mar 1901, Page 3, Walter was named as having been born in Gingin, aged 26 years, a labourer who enlisted in Coolgardie and with no previous service. These details were taken from the attestation papers, now non-existent. His rate of pay would have been 5s. per day - a private’s wage.

A camp at Karrakatta was established mid-January and the men began arriving from all over the state. They were then given riding tests and those that were successful, began mounted drill to prepare them for the conditions in Africa.

On Saturday the 2nd March, a review by His Excellency the Administrator, Sir Alexander Onslow of the troops of the 5th West Australian Contingent was held on the Perth Esplanade. Small crowds gathered on street corners, significantly less than when previous contingents had paraded before leaving for South Africa. However, when the Contingent descended the hill from the old Barracks, the force of almost two hundred men on horseback was a fine spectacle and after arriving at the Esplanade they were surrounded by a crowd of more than three thousand onlookers.

Parade of the 5th Contingent on the Perth Esplanade
 
After many speeches and a demonstration of the excellent horsemanship of the men, the Contingent was formed into columns and lead by the Headquarters Band, proceeded to make their way back to Karrakatta [14].

Finally, after completing their training, most of the 206 men bound for South Africa were entertained with a farewell dinner at Government House and an evening in the gardens attended by family and friends.

 
 
The men who were selected to attend - about 176 – travelled by train to the city and were greeted by an enthusiastic crowd. They were then marched to Government House where they enjoyed a farewell banquet in the ballroom. Following the speeches, the men were free to mingle in the gardens with their families and friends before returning to Karrakatta by a late train [15].

And so, on the 6th March 1901, the soldiers of the Fifth Contingent heard reveille sound at 5 a.m. and by 7.30 were on parade and ready to proceed to Fremantle. At North Fremantle, where they were “ambushed by the hospitable residents, who captured the whole corps and treated the members to refreshments, both liquid and solid”, they then continued their march to Fremantle [16].

The contingent reached the South Quay, Fremantle at 9.30 where the troopship S.S. Devon was berthed. Within three hours the men with their kits, baggage and stores were on board and the 230 horses loaded on deck in their stalls.

The West Australian described the scene of the departure “At a quarter-past 3 o'clock the Devon began to move from the wharf. Cheers were given by the soldiers on her and were answered from the wharf by the crowd, which by this time had grown to respectable dimensions. As the big vessel gathered way, the whistles of locomotives and tug-boats screamed farewells to which the Devon replied. A fluttering of handkerchiefs from the wharf, and a response fluttering from the troopers on the steamer, and the Devon was gone from the river. She anchored in Gage Roads whilst the captain fixed up his papers finally and sailed about 8 o'clock.”

From April 1901, the Western Australian 5th Contingent served in east Transvaal under Walter Kitchener, amalgamating with the 6th WA Mounted Infantry in May 1901 and until April 1902 under Major J. R. Royston [17]. Of the original strength of 221 men, six soldiers were killed or died of wounds and three died of disease – one being Walter! He died of enteric fever on the 22nd January 1902 at Standerton, South Africa [18] [19].

The 5th and 6th Contingents returned to Australia on the 29th April 1902 aboard the Colombian and were greeted in Perth by a cheering crowd of about 4,000 assembled on Victoria Quay. A sad time for the families of those who did not return [20].

It was written in the Geraldton Advertiser, Fri 14 Feb 1902, Page 3:

Mr Walter Parker, who was well known here, has died in South Africa from fever. Poor Walter was anxiously waiting for his turn to go to South Africa. He wanted to go badly with the 1st W.A. Contingent but did not seem to be able to get on, and till recently. Walter was strongly advised to stay on the Greenough. Like a good many more young fellows, however, he was anxious to see the Boers.

Walter Parker was entitled to receive the Queens South Africa Medal with clasps for Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902. A memorial – the first to be erected in King’s Park – was dedicated to the men who gave their lives in the Boer War.

When his mother Mary died in 1927, it was reported in her obituary that she had lost two sons in the
war [21], and it was assumed the reference was for WW1 when in fact only one son –-James Dickerson – had died then and the other – Walter – had died in the Boer War.

Before the discovery of Walter’s service in South Africa, The Australian War Memorial had reported that there were nine known Aboriginal soldiers who fought in the Boer War and they all returned to Australia. Consequently, Walter has become not just the only known Aboriginal soldier to die in the Boer War but the first known Aboriginal to die in a war wearing an Australian uniform.

Sue Mills
February 2021

Sources

[1]
Death Certificate of Mary Dickerson, Northam, Western Australia: The WA Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Reg. No. 37, 1927.
[2]
Birth Certificate of Joseph Mortimer, Moore River: The WA Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Reg. No. 16049, 1874.
[3]
Baptism of Walter Joseph Mortimer Benyup, Gingin, Western Australia: SLWA, Microfilm no. 2467A/19, 1874.
[4]
Marriage Certificate of John Parker and Mary Elizabeth Benyup, Gingin, WA: The WA Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Reg. No. 3826, 1874.
[5]
Death Certificate of John Parker, Dandaragan: The WA Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Reg. No. 10570, 1880.
[6]
Marriage Certificate of Mary Parker and George Dickinson, Gingin, Western Australia: The WA Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Reg. No. 5471, 1883.
[7]
National Archives of Australia, Australian War Service Record of James Dickerson.
[8]
Death Certificate of George Dickinson, Guildford: The WA Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Reg. No. 12132, 1883.
[9]
The Daily News, “Walter Parker Donation,” 6 March 1900, pg 4. [Online]. Available: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/83059011?searchTerm=walter%20parker.
[10]
The West Australian, “The Fifth Contingent,” 10 January 1901, pg 4. [Online]. Available: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/79413527.
[11]
Boer War Memorial Society of WA, “First Western Australian Contingent,” [Online]. Available: https://www.boerwarwa.org.au/links.
[12]
Mead, Fred - The West Australian, “A Loyal Offer,” 28 November 1901, pg 5. [Online]. Available: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/24730737?searchTerm=fred%20mead.
[13]
The West Australian, “The Fifth Contingent,” 7 March 1901, pg 3. [Online]. Available: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/24727055.
[14]
The Western Mail, “The Fifth Contingent. Reviewed on the Esplanade,” 9 March 1901, pg 39. [Online]. Available: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/33201470.
[15]
The Enquirer and Commercial News, “Entertained by the Government,” 8 March 1901, pg 1. [Online]. Available: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/67072614.
[16]
Western Mail, “March to Fremantle,” 9 March 1901, pg 41. [Online]. Available: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/33201463.
[17]
Boer War Memorial Society of WA, “Fifth Western Australian Contingent,” [Online]. Available: https://www.boerwarwa.org.au/links.
[18]
The West Australian, “The Boer War,” 27 January 1902, pg 5. [Online]. Available: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/24737206.
[19]
C. Roe, “Australians in the Boer War,” [Online]. Available: http://members.pcug.org.au/~croe/ozb/oz_boer_more.cgi?record=16476.
[20]
Western Mail, “Disembarkation from the Columbian,” 3 May 1902, pg 21. [Online]. Available: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/33210269.
[21]
The Northam Advertiser, “Mrs Mary Dickerson,” 16 February 1927, pg 2. [Online]. Available: https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/260180121?searchTerm=mary%20dickerson.