Dear Royboys
Thank you so much for all your information, I find it fascinating learning about our families past.
My Great Grandfather, Walter Herbert Beckensall died in the second wave at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915, his 32nd birthday.
George Beckensall married Jane Evans on 17 October 1868 in Steventon, Berkshire. Walter’s mother . It was believed Jane was born in 1843 but she must have been born in 1840 because she died in 1992 in Warburton Victoria aged 82. It is believed she had twins, Milton and Maryanne Evans who died on 20 March 1859 and May 1859 in Berkshire.
I know they must have moved to NZ between 1871 and 1881 but can’t find any information about that.
Walter’s older brother Francis Julius Beckensall was born in Oamaru, south of Timaru NZ in 1881, enlisted in the Army on 26 November 1915 and later died at Caulfield Victoria in 1936. You will find his Army record as well as Walter’s in Australia War Archives.
Frances (Fanny Dearlove Evans) born 19 June 1865 was Walter and Francis Julius’s step-sister. As Walter and Francis’s mother did not put their father’s name on their birth certificates, our family do not know who we are. We thought we were Beckensalls but alas George had died 7 years before Walter’s birth. There was another brother Albert Edward born about 1871 in Steventon Berkshire and died in 1942 in Fitzroy Victoria aged 72.
My grandfather Francis Walter Beckensall, Walter’s eldest son, had a brother Albert and he had 4 daughters. Have managed to track down a couple of cousins from Albert’s family.
There are a couple of news items about Jane and Fanny in the NZ newspapers you might like to read.
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/Look forward to hearing from you again. Ciao
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