PIRIE, Robert Hill
| Service Number: | 206 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry |
| Born: | Dundee, Scotland, United Kingdom, 26 March 1880 |
| Home Town: | Mackay, Mackay, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Yarraman, Queensland, Australia, 29 April 1957, aged 77 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Yarraman Cemetery, Qld Plot: Uniting Church, Row 2, Plot 14 |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 206, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov 1899: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 206, 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, 206, 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 Robert Hill Pirie 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. H. Pirie, single, Loges Paddock, Mackay. He served the full tour of the 1st QMI returning to Brisbane where he was discharged on 23 Jan 1901.
Robert Hill Pirie was born on 26 Mar 1880 at Dundee, Scotland, a son to Alexander Leithfoote Ross Pirie and Jane Pirie (nee Hill). His father came to Queensland in 1882 and found work on the building of the Sandgate pier and then went to Mackay with his brother to work on the erection of a retaining wall on the Pioneer River. His wife and children, including Robert, then came out to join him in Mackay in 1883.
Robert married Elizabeth Ann Gronow on 12 Jan 1912 in Queensland and they had 3 children. They would go on to be longterm residents of Yarraman. Both of their sons served in WW2 with the eldest, Robert Hill Pirie, K.I.A. in Syria in 1941.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 451; National Archives Australia- Boer War Dossier; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks, Bk 1 p. 92; Find A Grave memorial).