William Carson GILCHRIST

GILCHRIST, William Carson

Service Number: 6462
Enlisted: 1 June 1816
Last Rank: Private
Last Unit: 10th Infantry Battalion
Born: Renfrew, Scotland, 18 February 1877
Home Town: Clare, Clare and Gilbert Valleys, South Australia
Schooling: Clare Public & Advanced Schools
Occupation: Tailors Traveller
Died: Bronchitis, United Kingdom, 6 February 1917, aged 39 years
Cemetery: Durrington Cemetery, Wiltshire
Durrington Cemetery Grave 178 , Durrington Cemetery, Durrington, Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom
Memorials: Adelaide National War Memorial, Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour, Clare Original Clare School WW1 Memorial, Clare Schools Old Scholars who Fell WW1 Memorial, Clare WW1 Memorial Arch, Moora St James Church WW1 Honour Roll, Moora WWI Honour Wall, Moora War Memorial
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World War 1 Service

1 Jun 1816: Enlisted
23 Oct 1916: Involvement Private, 6462, 10th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '10' embarkation_place: Adelaide embarkation_ship: HMAT Port Melbourne embarkation_ship_number: A16 public_note: ''
23 Oct 1916: Embarked Private, 6462, 10th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Port Melbourne, Adelaide

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Biography contributed by Elizabeth Allen

William Carson GILCHRIST was born in Renfrew, Scotland on 18th February, 1877

His parents were Robert Sharp GILCHRIST & Letitia DRENNAN

He arrived in Australia with his family on 17th September, 1887 on the ship Locksley

William married Lucy CARTER on 15th July, 1916 in South Australia

He died from Illness (Bronchitis) on 6th February, 1917 in England and was buried in the Durrington Cemetery, Grave 178

Biography contributed by St Ignatius' College

William Carson Gilchrist was born in, Renfrew, Scotland on the 18th of February 1877. His parents were Robert Sharp Gilchrist and Letitia Drennan. He had a brother named James D. Gilchrist and a wife named Lucy Gilchrist. He was only ten years old when he left Scotland to go to Australia with his family on 17th of September 1887 on the ship Locksley because of a famine in Scotland and the fact that his family were farmers so they were struggling the most. As an Australian child he attended Clare Public School. Before the war he was a tailor’s traveller, moving around to meet clients. His next of kin was his wife Lucy who lived in Moora, Western Australia.

William gave his religion as Presbyterian. Before he enlisted he had been in the Clare rifle club for one year, but otherwise had no previous military service. He was placed into the 10th battalion. He trained for five months before he embarked from Melbourne on the 21st of October 1916. He then disembarked at Devonport, England on 28 December 1916. After that he went to the 3rd Training Bn, Durrington Camp England with his unit, the 21st reinforcement, to do some more training and preparation. He was 39 when he embarked from Melbourne.

William never made it into any major battles of World War One because he passed away before he could. He was admitted to hospital with bronchitis on 5 February 1917 and died the following day. He was buried on 9 February 1917 in Durrington cemetery at grave number 178, three days after his death on the 9th of February 1917. He was 40 when he died and his gravestone bore the inscription “Dearly loved sadly missed by his loving wife sisters and brothers”.

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