Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Written by Sharon Racine - Memories of the Fassifern District
James Allan Chauvel was born on the 28th Sept 1869 at Tabulam NSW between Casino & Tenterfield , the son of Charles Henry Edward Chauvel & Fanny Ada Mary James.
James was baptised at Casino on the 18th Nov 1869.
In 1874 James father Charles selected 320 acres of land at Tabulam NSW and 40 acres in the name of his son James Allan Chauvel , both selections were forfeited in 1876 as the Chauvel family were possibly living in the Warwick region in Queensland by 1874 but seemed to still have some interests in Tabulam.
By 1888 James was enrolled with the Upper Clarence Light Horse.
In May 1888 James & his brother Harry were overland passengers travelling to a NSW station.
James started out early as a keen horseman , two of his race horses "Erin" & Syren were to run at the Warwick Turf club in August 1888.
In Dec 1888 James who listed his address as Tabulam was given the livestock brand of a backwards J and V , previous to this he used AHL.
James purchases 40 acres of land in the parish of Cullendore in 1890 , this property was about 2km south of the Qld border near Acacia Creek.
In Feb 1890 James boards the express train from Wallangarra (South of Stanthorpe) to travel to Warwick.
At the 1891 Darling Downs amateur races , James enters his horse "Rainbow".
James was one of the judges at the 1891 Tenterfield Military tournament.
The Feb 1892 Qld Gov Gazette states that James Allan Chauvel has been appointed an acting Lieutenant in the Queensland Defence Force (Land).
The 1892 NSW Gov Gazette shows that James was leasing 240 acres from the Government in the Tenterfield district , paying £14 annual rent.
James wins several awards for his cattle , poultry & dogs at the 1893 Tenterfield show , James also owned sheep but did not enter them into the show.
On the 18th Oct 1893 James Chauvel married Susan Isabella Barnes near Casino.
Susan Isabella Barnes was born near Casino in 1868 , the daughter of Henry Barnes & Grace Isabella Bawden.
In 1894 Mrs Susan Chauvel had the A5K livestock brand registered for her to use at Canning Downs near Warwick.
James was selling prime heifers and steers at the Warwick sale yards in 1894.
At the 1894 Warwick amateur races James entered is horse "Folly" , the following year Folly won the December handicap at Stanthorpe and his other horse "Rover" won the Carnarvon Plate.
James Ayrshire cattle "Lord Kinross", "Pride of Killaloe" & "Mona" all won awards at the Eastern Downs show of 1895.
On the 29th April 1895 James & Susan welcomed their first child , a son named John Henry Allan Chauvel who was born at Killaloe , Canning Downs near Warwick.
The 1895 NSW Gov Gazette shows James was still leasing 832 acres of land near Tenterfield.
In Oct 1895 James Chauvel resigned from his appointment as an Acting Lieutenant in the Qld Defence force.
31 Dairy cattle owned by James were sent from the Canning downs to Cullendore near Stanthorpe in July 1897.
In 1898 James Chauvel was nominated for subdivision 1 of the Glengallan Divisional Board , he was voted in after receiving 107 votes.
James was appointed to be the acting inspector of stock in May 1899 , due to this appointment he resigned from the Glengallan divisional board.
The 1901 Post office directory lists James as living at Elbow Valley between Warwick & Stanthorpe.
In early 1901 James was the land valuator for the Glengallon divisional board and he also became a Commission of the Peace.
Mr Chauvel resigns from his position as acting inspector of stock in May 1901.
James racehorse "Fadaise" was entered into the spring 1901 Qld turf club classical races.
By August 1901 James Chauvel had leased the 534 acre Summerlands farm near Harrisville from the estate of Edwin Sealy , located where the Summerlands Camel farm is today , he was one of the three judges at the Harrisville police court in August and would continue to be one of the judges at the Harrisville police court for many years after.
James intended on going in for farming and dairying on a very large and up-to-date scale.
In Sept 1901 James was erecting a commodious dwelling consisting of eight rooms , with a kitchen and bathroom attached , the whole being surrounded with a verandah 8ft wide.
James Chauvel brought down with him from the Canning Downs a very choice stud herd of pure Ayrshire cattle consisting of 20 cows and heifers and one fine bull , the whole of the cattle originally came from the Richmond River NSW , since coming here in addition to the above , he has purchased wo pure-bred Ayrshire bulls recently imported from New Zealand.
Mr Chauvel has at present about 40 acres under lucerne and intends planting a very much larger area next season.
The 1902 rates book valued Summerlands at £829.
James Chauvel was a member of the Normanby divisional board by Feb 1902 and was president of the board by Sept 1902.
Mrs Chauvel being a talented singer , she sung "Adieu Marie" , "Doris" & "Mellons" at the Harrisville school of arts concert of Aug 1902 , she also played the piano.
In 1903 James was one of the vice presidents of the newly formed Peak Mountain racing club , he also became a vice president of the Harrisville football club the following year.
At the 1903 Brisbane exhibition , James Ayrshire bull "Lord Kitchener" came third place.
James read a very valuable and instructive paper on the breeding of Ayrshire cattle at the May 1904 meeting of the farmers progress association meeting.
James had a busy year at the local shows , he entered his hay & cheese at the Ipswich show , his pony "Soda" at the Boonah show and his pair of phaeton or buggy ponies , Brandy & Soda at the Brisbane Exhibition , winning awards at each show , at the Brisbane exhibition he listed for sale his handsome black ponies Brandy & Soda , and his pedigree Ayrshire bulls "Perrot" "Bonnie lass" & "Josiah".
Mrs Chauvel performed her singing at the concert and social held at the Churchbank Presbyterian church in Sept 1904 , that same month she also sang at the St Johns anglican church concert & dance held at the Harrisville school of arts.
In 1905 James was one of the men elected to be a synodmen of the Harrisville district Anglican church.
Mr Chauvel entertained the crowd with his gramophone selection at the concert held at the school of arts in Harrisville in May 1905.
James Blood horse filly "Tarara" took out 1st place in her class at the Brisbane exhibtion of 1905 , Tarara had failed at the juvenile races at Ascot and was returned to Summerlands in Jan 1906 , two-year old Tarara is the half-brother to the Derby winner "Musket".
James advertised his heavy draught stallion "Jack's the laird" imported from NSW during the 1906 breeding season , terms £2 2s per mare.
The 1907 rates vales the now 959 acre Summerlands at £1722.
James was selling 50 to 60 very choice dairy heifers , all forward springers , mostly Ayrshire and Shorthorn cross at Summerlands in Jan 1907.
For sale at the 1907 Brisbane exhibition was James Ayrshire cattle , Babette's Prince , Kidston & Blair , he was also selling two of his pure-bred Berkshire boars.
In Sept 1907 James applied for permission to erect a telephone line along the side of the road from his residence to the bridge crossing the Warrill Creek on Alexander Lane Harrisville , the phone number for Summerlands was 9.
In March 1908 James imported the Ayrshire bull "Nethercraig Spicy King" from Scotland , Spicy King was certainly Spicy with a temper to match his name.
On the 19th Feb 1910 Mrs Chauvel gave birth to a daughter near Sydney.
Mrs Chauvel advertised for a young girl of about 15 as a nurse for Summerlands in July 1910.
James had erected a silo at Summerlands in 1910.
Between 1909 to 1913 James Chauvel purchased Summerlands from the estate of Mr Sealy.
The promoter of the 1911 Pigeon shoot held at Harrisville was James Chauvel , he competed in several events that day and had also been an active member of the Brisbane gun club.
A reporter visited Summerlands in March 1911 , it was described as being well equipped and has a beautiful homestead and a nice garden , all making for comfort and contentment , on Summerlands there is stacked several hundred tons of lucerne and oaten hay , Mr Chauvel is also milking about 100 cows in two dairies , 70 on one and 30 on another , he currently had 220 cattle upon his farm.
The morning's milk goes to the condensed milk factory at Harrisville and the evenings milk is separated , Mr XChauvel grows lucerne , oats , maize and imphee for storage and feeding.
Spicy King took out Champion Bull at the 1911 Rosewood show.
In 1912 James Chauvel was the president of the Qld Farmers union.
Tenders were invited in Oct 1912 for the splitting and erection of one mile of wire fence at Summerlands.
Mrs Chauvel was a member of the Harrisville nursing league in 1912.
James Chauvel appears in a photograph in the Brisbane Courier newspaper in 1913 , featuring the Harrisville school of art committee.
In Sept 1913 James Chauvel purchased the Nestle Milk condensing company property at Wilson's plains.
James is elected for division 1 in the Normanby shire government elections with 116 votes vs 98 for John Wiley , James was duly elected for the term of three years.
In response to an advertisement issued by Mr Chauvel in Aug 1914 , a very large and enthusiastic meeting of mostly ladies was held in the School of arts building , for the purpose of forming a branch of the Red Cross Society , Mrs Chauvel as elected the secretary.
Mr Chauvel donated £5 to the Harrisville patriotic fund in Sept 1914.
In Sept 1915 James Chauvel reported to the police that his Ayrshire bull Spicy King valued at £100 was found dead in his paddock at Summerlands , Edward Rogers was charged with having wilfully and unlawfully shot the bull after he admitted the crime , Spicy King was well known to be dangerous and Rogers had been threatening to shoot him to protect his family.
In May 1916 James Chauvel was appointed to be a 2nd lieutenant in the Australian Imperial Force.
A recruiting meeting at Harrisville was held at the School of arts in late Sept 1916 , Lieut J A Chauvel in a few words said he was older than some of them and that he was going next week , he appealed to his friends to come with him , and said he would not ask any man to do what he would not do himself , he then asked for volunteers but none came forward.
James Allan Chauvel left Brisbane onboard the "Barunga" for Egypt on the 26th Oct 1916.
By 1917 James had been promoted to Major general and had been gazetted a Knight of the Order of St Michael and St George , he served with the AIF remount unit.
In July 1917 James wrote a letter to Mr J J Kidner of Harrisville , James stated one gets very tired of this desert life , sand and flies , but where our men are now in Palestine is very nice country , I was up there the other day and it was quite a treat to see green grass and wild flowers again , i felt as though i would like to take up a few thousand acres as a grazing farm , it looks ideal sheep country.
While overseas James Chauvel took 555 photographs and photonegatives of Australian troops in Egypt, Gallipoli and Palestine , he was also the chairman of the Australian and New Zealand cinema committee , at the Australian and New Zealand training centre in Eqypt there is a camp cinema where pictures are shown nightly.
James Chauvel is heading home from the war in Aug 1919 onboard the Murvada.
On the 12th Dec 1919 James Chauvel is awarded the Order of the British Empire.
A Fordson tractor demonstration was given at Summerlands in May 1920.
In Dec 1920 James Chauvel was the president of the Harrisville sub-branch of the RSL.
James Chauvel was nominated and elected the Chairman of the shire of Normanby in July 1921.
Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Chauvel , inspector general of the Australian military forces spent the weekend at Summerlands with his brother Major James Chauvel in Sept 1922 , at the request of the returned soldiers league , the General visited Harrisville and presented war medals to several returned soldiers.
In 1924 James was one of the provisional directors of the Australian film productions as was his son Charles Chauvel who became a famous film directors with hits such as Jedda , Moth of Moonbi & Rats of Tobruk.
James was again nominated and elected for Chairman of the Normanby shire in 1924.
In July 1925 Major J A Chauvel offered to hang in the School of arts hall a framed , complete record of the A.I.F in the great war , showing generals , decorations , entertainments etc.
In Nov 1925 James son Charles Chauvel's film "The Moth of Moonbi" partly filmed on Summerlands was regarded as the best Australian production yet shown in a Brisbane theatre , unfortunately , little more than 30 minutes of the original 2 hour 30 minute film survives today , with the remainder lost to history.
A very successful garden fate was held at the residence of Mr Chauvel in 1926 , the function was held for the purpose of liquidating the debt on the Normanby Shire War Memorial park.
In July 1926 James Chauvel is cutting up his well known property Summerlands into 22 farms , the land comprises of chiefly appletree flats and is permanently watered by the Warrill Creek , F. P. Blight and Co and the selling agents , however it appears the property may have been withdrawn from the sale or had no interest.
James Chauvel was elected to division 2 in the Normanby shire council in 1927.
His Excellency the Governor , Sir John Goodwin spent a day quail shooting at Summerlands with James Chauvel in July 1927.
The 1927 Topographical map shows four houses upon Summerlands.
The Summerlands estate is listed for sale in Jan 1928 in 22 subdivisions together with all improvements including the fine homestead of over 20 rooms , sharefarmers houses and all buildings , sheds , barns etc and all standing crops to go to auction on the 22nd Feb 1928 , terms one-fifth of purchase price as deposit and balance payable over 7 years with interest at 6 ½ % , a discount of 5% allowed for cash.
Another auction for the property was held on the 1st March 1928.
A well attended picnic was held in April 1928 by the local branch of the C.W.A , the site chosen was on the Warrill Creek at Summerlands where there was safe bathing for the children , a very pleasant day was spent.
James Chauvel was the secretary of the Harrisville hospital in 1928.
In 1929 James became the manager of the Harrisville branch of F. P. Blight and Co Ltd , farm salesmen.
James was selling 20 pure bred Ayrshire heifers at the Harrisville cattle sale in Feb 1930.
By Nov 1931 Summerlands was owned by F. P. Blight & Co as Summerlands Estates Ltd.
The 752 acre Summerlands estate was valued at £1887 in 1932-1937 , $224,911.90 in todays money.
After the sale of Summerlands James moved to Swan Road Taringa and then moved to 94 Greenup street Stanthorpe by 1934 where they lived in the large home known as El Arish.
On the 20th Nov 1937 Mrs Susan Isabella Chauvel nee Barnes passed away , she was cremated two days later at the Mt Thompson crematorium.
She is survived by four sons and one daughter.
Susan's deceased estate was valued at realty £1359 , personalty £12255.
After his wife's death James moved to Ardoyne Rd Corinda in Brisbane.
On the 16th Dec 1938 James Allan Chauvel passed away at a private hospital in Brisbane aged 70 , he had been ailing for some time and entered the hospital a fortnight prior to his death.
His funeral was held in the chapel of the Brisbane crematorium at Mt Thompson and his ashes were placed with those of his wife in the Mt Thompson memorial gardens.
James Chauvel had written his will on the 26th Oct 1916 , the same day he departed Australia for Egypt during WW1.