William Henry DINNAR

DINNAR, William Henry

Service Number: 151
Enlisted: Not yet discovered
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen
Born: Queensland, Australia, 19 June 1871
Home Town: Not yet discovered
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Not yet discovered
Died: Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, 16 March 1945, aged 73 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Mount Thompson Memorial Gardens & Crematorium, Queensland
Memorials:
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Boer War Service

1 Oct 1899: Involvement Private, 151, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen
6 Mar 1901: Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 151, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 488 notes 5th QIB embarked at Pinkenba 6 Mar 1901 aboard Templemore arriving Port Elizabeth 1 Apr 1901.
5 May 1902: Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 151, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB notes embarked for return to Australia aboard Australasian arriving Brisbane 20 Jun 1902 but was treated the same as the remainder of the 5th QIB who embarked 27 Mar 1902 aboard St Andrew returning to Australia arriving Brisbane 30 Apr 1902, disbanded 5 May 1902.

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Biography contributed by Claude McKelvey

John Dinnar S.N. 151, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Boer War, as recorded on the AWM Boer War Nominl Roll appears to be an incorrect recording of his name. Qld State Archives holds the original Boer War Service paybook for the 5th QIB and notes on p. 178 that Private S.N. 151 was William Dinnar. That paybook entry also notes that part of his pay was to be directed to his sister Mrs. J. Gregg (his sister Louisa Dinnar had married John Gregg in 1885). 

Further, his photo was published in The Queenslander, 16 Mar 1901, after he embarked for South Africa and it was recorded that his N.O.K. was his brother J. T. Dinnar of Gympie. That brother was John Thomas Dinnar, noting it would be improbable that two siblings of the same parents would be given the same first name of John.

When the 5th QIB embarked on St Andrew to return to Australia newspaper reports noted that S.N. 151 Private W. Dunbar remained in South Africa for unspecified reasons. The Boer War service paybook indicates William Dinnar returned a short time later on a different ship, the Australasian. Various records indicate that he, and a number of his siblings, at times also used the assumed surname of Dunham.

Qld Births, Deaths and Marriages has his birth registered as William Henry Dinnar on 19 Jun 1871, a son to Thomas Dinnar and Sarah Dinnar (nee Evans) being one of their eleven children. He married (using the assumed surname of Dunham) Elizabeth Glanville on 1 Oct 1902 in Queensland, and they had 7 children all registered with the surname of Dunham.

(sources- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 496; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB, p. 178; Qld BDM registers; newspaper reports see links).

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