Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

William Ralph ROBINSON

William Ralph ROBINSON was born at Pompapiel in central Victoria, Australia on the 10th of March 1880. He was one of eight children, but the only son of William and Catherine ROBINSON nee ROSS. Young William’s second christian name originates from his father’s youngest brother, Ralph ROBINSON (1847-1909), who died in the city of Newcastle Upon Lyme in the ROBINSON’s native Staffordshire, England.

In early 1902, young William sailed to South Africa on board the Winfield, where he joined F Company of the 3rd NSW Imperial Bushman’s Regiment on the 10th of April 1902, as part of Australia’s commitment to the Boer War. Like all other Boer War soldiers, Trooper W. R. ROBINSON (No. 2099) took his horse with him. William’s older sister Kate (1876-1947) was a nurse during the Boer War (1899-1902) and she is believed to have arrived in South Africa shortly before her brother.

William’s arrival in South Africa occurred just six weeks before the war ended, however he was still awarded Queen’s Medal with two Transvaal clasps, both of which remain are unclaimed. William was discharged from the Army at Raud on the 11th of July 1902 and he did not return to Australia with his regiment.

Whilst little is known of William’s growing up years in Victoria, even less is known of his time after the Boer War. Some relatives suggest William was out of favour with his father and it was perhaps for this reason that he chose to stay in South Africa. Others have said he died in a diamond mine in the northern Transvaal?

One story about young William went as follows;-

Shortly before his father died in July 1918, Mr ROBINSON directed his second wife Hannah (1862-1938) and his daughter Nellie (1884-1929) to go to South Africa and search for his son. Mr ROBINSON’s instructions were, “tell him he is forgiven and bring him home.”

After weeks of exhaustive and fruitless searching, Hannah and Nellie returned to Cape Town to make their passage home. They even inquired with their hotelkeeper, who was also unable to provide the ladies with any indication as to young William’s whereabouts.

Then on the very morning the ladies were preparing to board their ship back to Australia, they noticed a photograph of a local football team, displayed in their hotel lobby. Amongst the team was young William. It was then the ladies realised William was living nearby and he had been avoiding them the whole time. With the ship ready to sail, the women had no alternative but to return home without him.

Whatever the accuracy of that story, William’s credibility amongst the family can’t have been too bad, as he was named as one of the benefactors of his Uncle Alexander ROSS’ (1848-1918) will. Mr Alex ROSS died a single man in December 1918. In recent years William’s niece Emily HANDLEY nee WILTON (1906-2004) and her brother Ralph (1904-2000) were the only two family members to recall their Uncle William. Their recollections of their uncle were quite contradictory.

Emily stated William married a lovely Dutch woman and they had no children. The couple visited Victoria on at least one occasion. Ralph stated William married a woman who was very indigenous to South Africa and the couple had one daughter who was also very dark skinned. The wife was a schoolteacher and reputedly quite a capable woman (whatever that means?). Apparently William’s wife and daughter visited Victoria in the early 1920’s, looking for William, after he had told them he was returning to home to visit his dying father. Prior to their visit, Ralph WILTON recalled William’s wife writing to the ROBINSON’s Malmsbury address. William’s wife wrote assuring William that his farm in South Africa was being well looked after and that he need only return home when he was ready.

Recently released shipping records put some doubt to Ralph’s story. The records confirmed that on the 19th of March 1913 the SS Suevic left the Port of Melbourne with twenty-one adults, on an anticipated fifty-six day voyage to London. The ship’s passenger list included Mr William ROBINSON snr, his second wife Hannah and his daughter Nellie, who were contracted to land at Cape Town, South Africa. The trio returned to Malmsbury, Victoria in August 1913 on the very same ship.

On the 24th of February 1914 the SS Afric left Liverpool, England and sailed to Melbourne via Cape Town. Young William and his wife Elizabeth Marie (born 1886) boarded the Afric at Cape Town, landing at Melbourne in April 1914. William was named as a farmer and there was no mention of any children on the ship’s log. The couple returned to South Africa on the Ceramic on the 11th of July in the same year.

Based on approximate voyage times of that era, the Ceramic would have arrived at Cape Town on the very day that World War One commenced. The shipping records support Emily’s version of events, that there was no real mystery and William and his wife simply lost contact with William’s Australian relatives later in their lives.

When young William’s sister Kate ROBINSON died in July 1947, a death notice was posted in the Argus Newspaper. The notice named all Kate’s surviving siblings, including William of South Africa.

Recently a scanned image of William Ralph ROBINSON’s death certificate was located. The death certificate confirmed young William spent the last four months of his life at the Martha Hofmeyr (Old Peoples) Home in Pietersburg, in northern South Africa. The city of Pietersburg is situated approximately 1500 kilometres NNW of Cape Town and has a current population of just over sixty-thousand.

William Ralph ROBINSON died on the 8th of April 1964 aged eighty-four years. His death certificate stated he was a single man without children. The (current available) list of indexed South African deaths contains several women by the name of Elizabeth Marie ROBINSON, one who died in 1935 and several who died in the 1950s. The custodians of the index acknowledge that the index is incomplete and it is apparent that those more indigenous to South Africa are the persons most likely to be missing from the index.

At this time family are yet to confirm if:-

a. William had any children?
b. William’s wife died as a young woman?
b. He abandoned his wife shortly after WW1 and she later remarried, or
c. He simply outlived his wife long enough for those around him to forget or not know that he was ever married.

Despite all the mysteries regarding William’s wife’s ethnicity, a photo exists of a middle-aged man being poured a cup of tea by a similarly described native South African woman?