ANDERSON, Ralph Andrew
| Service Number: | 216 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry |
| Born: | Victoria, Australia, 1874 |
| Home Town: | Charters Towers, Charters Towers, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Engine Driver |
| Died: | Blackwater Fever (Malaria), Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, 18 July 1920 |
| Cemetery: |
Badihagwa Cemetery Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea Plot: Section 2, Grave 46 |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 216, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov 1899: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 216, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 448 notes 1st QMI embarked 1 Nov 1899 aboard Cornwall arriving Cape Town 13 Dec 1899. | |
| 23 Jan 1901: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 216, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 449 notes 1st QMI embarked 13 Dec 1900 returning to Australia aboard Orient arriving Brisbane 17 Jan 1901, disbanded 23 Jan 1901. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
When Ralph Andrew Anderson enlisted in 1899 in the 1st QMI and his details were published with the rank and file in The Brisbane Courier, 18 Nov 1899, he was recorded as Private R. Anderson, single, c/- C. Anderson, engineer, Wahalla, Victoria (probably his N.O.K.).
In the Boer War Service Paybooks for the 1st QMI, Bk 1 p. 4, it was noted that he, like a number of the men, was seconded to the South African Police between 18 Jun 1900 and 14 Oct 1900. He served the full tour of the 1st QMI returning to Brisbane where he was discharged on 23 Jan 1901.
Newspaper reports during his service and following his discharge, e.g. Returned Soldiers. Reception Last Night- The Charters Towers Mining Standard, 30 Jan 1901, indicate he was at the time commonly refered to as Ralph Anderson. Subsequent newspaper reports of his wedding, The Northern Miner, 15 Jun 1905, and of his death, The Papuan Courier, 23 Jul 1920, indicate his full name was Ralph Andrew St. Clair Anderson and that he was a native of Victoria.
The newspaper report of his passing in 1920 indicates he was 44 years of age at the time and a native of Victoria. However, research of Victoria's BDM online register doesn't have an entry of birth for Ralph Anderson around 1874-1878. Based on the newspaper report it is assumed he was born in Victoria about 1876. He married Maud Carbis, a school teacher, on 14 Jun 1905 at Charters Towers. They took up residence at Richmond Hill, Charters Towers, where their only child was born in 1906.
It was reported in, The Evening Telegraph, 3 Feb 1911, that Ralph, and his wife and child, had left for Woodlark Island, PNG. He was working as an engineer and Maud as a school teacher on Woodlark Island when, in 1918 he petitioned for a divorce as reported in, The Papuan Courier, 4 oct 1918.
Following their divorce, their child returned to Queensland to live with relatives, while Maud remained teaching on Woodlark Island, and Ralph relocated to Laloki, PNG, where he worked as a sawyer at the Laloki Sawmills. The newspaper report of his death indicates he contracted Blackwater Fever, a serious complication of malaria possibly linked to the use of quinine, leading to his admission to the Port Moresby Hospital where he passed.
Report in The Evening Telegraph (Charters Towers), 14 Oct 1910, on the opening of the Lissner Park Memorial Kiosk (Boer War Memorial) notes his name is included on the marble tablet containing names of men from Charters Towers who served in the 1st QMI.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 451; National Archives Australia- Boer War Dossier; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 1st QMI, Bk 1 p. 4; various newspaper articles- see links).
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