The above man is one of the subjects of a WW100 project I've undertaken to create profiles of the WWI casualties listed on my local War Memorial at Ngatimoti in the district of Tasman, at the top of the South Island, New Zealand.
Cyril was an English immigrant, and I'd love to hear from any descendants who might have some information about him, in particular why he chose to come to such an obscure rural settlement - was there a family connection with someone here, perhaps? I'd also love to have a photo of Cyril.
I've included a brief precis of information I've gathered to date. Any help would be much appreciated!
Born Hampstead, London, England, 1874.
Father: Thomas Henry Bartlett (1835-1896), a London solicitor. Thomas was originally from Teignmouth, Devon, England, where he was born – his family had lived there for generations. Teignmouth is a historic maritime town and English Channel port.
Mother: Elizabeth née Matthew (1849-1916). She was from Cambridge, England and was Thomas’ cousin through his mother (Cyril’s grandmother), Susanna Matthew.
Cyril was one of 12 children. He was the eighth child and third son, and had 7 sisters and 2 brothers.
Cyril was a restless wanderer by nature and led an adventurous life before emigrating to New Zealand from London as a saloon passenger on the “SS Ruapehu” in 1906.
In 1910 he bought a farm in the small rural settlement of Ngatimoti, and soon became part of the community.
In 1916 he married a local widow, Hester Ham, whose oldest son, William Ham, had been the first NZ serviceman to be killed in combat in WWI. They had not been married long when Cyril, inspired by his (posthumous) step-son’s sacrifice, enlisted with the 12th (Nelson) Company of the Canterbury Infantry Battalion, of the NZ Expeditionary Force in August, 1916. Unfortunately Cyril was killed in action in Belgium just before Christmas the following year, leaving Hester a widow for the second time.
A younger brother, Frank Dyson Bartlett (1881-1951) served as a lieutenant with the Worcestershire Infantry Regiment.
