Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Frederick Charles Hunt Leney was my late husband’s maternal great-great-grandfather and it is my honour to give a brief history of his life and war service.

Frederick Charles Hunt Leney was born on the 9th June 1879 at “Headington Hill” Station at Clifton, Queensland, to his parents, George and Ellen Leney.  Fred had 6 sisters and 5 brothers. 

The same year he was born the family moved 1879 from Headington Hill Station, where Fred’s father had been the overseer, to a farm on the Goomburra Exchange Lands, south of Allora.  Two years later the family moved to a farm at Allora called “Lipscomb” where they grew wheat, maize, linseed, barley and lucerne.  They family attended the Allora Methodist Church and upon completion of his schooling at Allora State School, Fred worked on the family farm. 

In 1902, aged 24, Fred enlisted for the Boer War.  His service number was 1867, his rank a Private and his unit the 3rd Battalion Australian Commonwealth Horse QLD.  This was a mounted force of the Australian Army formed for service during the Second Boer War in South Africa in 1902 and was the first expeditionary military unit established by the Commonwealth of Australia following Federation in 1901.  Over 4,400 men enlisted in the ACH in three contingents, with troops and squadrons raised in each state and combined to form 8 battalions. 

Fred was part of the 2nd contingent which consisted of 5 Officers, 117 men and 121 horses.  He embarked from Brisbane on the 25th March 1902 on the transport ship “Englishman” and disembarked almost 7 weeks later at Durban, South Africa.  The 1st and 2nd battalions saw limited active service and the war ended on 31st May 1902 before the remaining battalions arrived to see action.  The ACH suffered no fatal casualties in action although 28 men died from illness.  On the 11th July Fred embarked from Durban aboard the transport ship “Drayton Grange” and disembarked in Brisbane, Australia, a month later with 2 Officers and 81 men.  When the Drayton Grange arrived in Australia with 2,043 troops aboard, five men were already dead from measles and influenza, while another 12 died within weeks.  Neglect and unsanitary living conditions aboard the vessel were found to be to blame for the deaths following a Royal Commission into the matter.

Members of the ACH were the first Australian troops to wear the Rising Sun badge, a design chosen for the force by Major General Edward Hutton, General Commanding Officer of Australian Military Forces at the time.

Following the war, Fred returned to Allora and on the 12th June 1907 married Catherine (Kit) Wightman at the Allora Methodist Church.  They went on to have 3 daughters…May, Alice and Jean.  Fred became a storekeeper and the family remained in Allora until 1913 when they moved to Wooloongabba, a suburb of Brisbane.  Fred and Kit moved in 1917 to Nundah, another suburb of Brisbane.  They lived there till around 1970 when they moved to Chermside north of Brisbane.  Catherine died in August 1972 aged 90 and Fred passed away on the 10th May 1975 aged 95.  They rest together at the Albany Creek Memorial Park and Crematorium, Qld.  Fred’s name appears on the Allora Boer War Memorial.

Fred is known to my late husband’s family as “the last Leney” because he had no sons to carry on that name.  However, the “Leney” name does live on with my husband’s father being named William Leney Smith.  He was known as “Len”.  His second son, Graham…my husband, also had Leney as his middle name and to continue the tradition, we called our only son Christopher Leney and now in turn, he has called his only son, Caden Leney. 

Frederick Charles Hunt Leney was awarded for service in the Boer War the Queen’s South Africa Medal.

Respectfully submitted by Sue Smith October 2020.

https://www.wikitree.com/wiki/Category:Australian_Commonwealth_Horse

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Commonwealth_Horse