Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

"OBITUARY. MR. ARTHUR F. BATTYE.

Answered his Last Call Mr. Arthur Frederick Battye, son of the late Captain Battye, and a well-known figure throughout the western district of New South Wales for the past half-century or more. As indicated in a previous issue, Mr. Battye was removed from the residence of his son, Mr. Norman Battye, with whom he has resided at Forbes for some time, on the Thursday before Xmas to the Forbes District Hospital, where he passed away on Boxing night. Mr. Battye has been in a precarious state of health for the past 12 months or more, and it was only his indomitable pluck which lengthened his end, but when it was known that he had developed gangrene in the leg it only became a matter of time before the brave spirit of the man ceased to fight for life. One of his sons, Mr. Elwyn Battye, of Wattamandara, came across to Forbes on the Saturday after his father's admission to hospital to see him, and he hurried to his side again on Wednesday when it was known that he was sinking and reached here in time to be with his father at the end, at which Mr. and Mrs. Norman Battye were also present. The late Mr. Battye was a native of Bathurst, where he was born in 1842, and was thus 79 years of age. He was married at The Parsonage, near Forbes, on 6th March, 1869 to Miss Susan Goodwin, the celebrant being the Rev. J. H. L. Zillman, but his wife passed away at Forbes in July, 1914. The issue of the mariage was four sons, one of whom is dead, and in addition to Messrs Elwyn and Norman Battye there is Mr. Reginald Battye, who has for some years lived in Sydney. In his day the late Artie Battye was a dashing horseman, and the record of his deeds in the pigskin has been published in these columns from time to time. He rode with success in cross-country events and on all the racecourses, of the west in his early days, and, even had the mount on Pasha, a Bathurst horse, in one Melbourne Cup. Like his father before him, the deceased was a military man, and when the Boer war broke out in 1899 he was one of those who was largely instrumental in forming the Bushmen's Contingent which so distinguished itself in a class of fighting in which the Boer only found his master in the hardy men who had helped to pioneer our own country districts. His son Elwyn was a lieutenant in the same contingent in which the father sailed and served with distinction. A story told of the deceased by the Sydney "Mail" in its illustrations of the contingent at the time that it sailed is characteristic of the man. It seemed that Mr. Battye wished to go in a previous contingent, but was rejected on account of his age. "Too old," he indignantly exclaimed, "Why, I'll run, box or ride against any man in the crowd." But no one appeared anxious to take him on, and in course of time Mr. Battye's persistence won the day and he had his way. In the years subsequent to his return he has lived at Forbes, where he has engaged in various occupations. His friends throughout the West were legion, and all will deplore the passing of an old-time sportsman. The funeral at Forbes last Thursday afternoon was well attended, the remains being interred in the Church of England portion of the local cemetery. Rev. H. H. Prichard officiated at the graveside, while Messrs. A. H. Williams and Co. conducted the funeral in first-class style in their up-to-date motor hearse." - from the Forbes Advocate 02 Jan 1924 (nla.gov.au)