Profile

HUMPHRIS, William John
(Service number 36449)

Aliases Bill
First Rank Rifleman Last Rank

Birth

Date 23 December 1895 Place of Birth Waimate

Enlistment Information

Date Age
Address at Enlistment Washdyke, Timaru
Occupation Jockey for S Trilford, Washdyke, Timaru
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status
Next of Kin Miss M. Humphris (sister), care of W. Thomas, Rectory, Timaru
Religion Church of England
Medical Information Height 5ft 4", weight 105lb. Fair complexion, Brown hair

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Rifle Brigade
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Reinforcements, G Company
Date 19 January 1917
Transport Waitemata
Embarked From Wellington, New Zealand Destination
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With Auckland Infantry Regiment

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
Military Awards

Award Circumstances and Date

No information

Prisoner of War Information

Date of Capture
Where Captured and by Whom
Actions Prior to Capture
PoW Serial Number
PoW Camps
Days Interned
Liberation Date

Discharge

Date 21 July 1919 Reason Discharged on termination of period of service

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

9 Apr 1918, London - Wounded

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 25 November 1959 Age 64
Place of Death Timaru
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Timaru Cemetery
Memorial Reference Services section, Row 125, Plot 9
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

William John Humphris, born on 23 December 1897 to Valentine John Humphris and Jessie Jack Humphris (nee Rodgers). He was admitted to Tawai School on 8 January 1902. Following school he was granted a Canterbury Jockey Club Jockey's (apprentice?) licence on 5 Nov 1914. In 1916 he rode the third placed horse in the Longbeach hack handicap.

At the time of his enlistment for service in World War One William was working as a jockey for S Trilford of Washdyke Timaru. After initial training William left with G Company, Reinforcements, New Zealand Rifle Brigade (NZRB) on 19 January 1917 on board the Waitemata.

After two years and 305 days service (two years and 156 days overseas) William was discharged from service after the war ended on 27 July 1919.

Following the war William appears to have continued working with racing horses. The Sun reported (8 Dec 1920) he again gained a Canterbury Jockey Club license, and was later working as a trainer in 1930-1931. Earlier, in 1928, he was listed in the electoral rolls as having returning to Tawai, Glenavy, but late in life (1957) was listed at Seadown, Timaru.

When William died in 1959 his probate recorded him as a farmer of Opihi Reserve. He is buried in the RSA section of Timaru Cemetery.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database (19 June 2015); SCRoll web submission by W Griffin, 4 December 2015 and 9 October 2017

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available.

Researched and Written by

Tony Rippin (South Canterbury Museum)

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 Logo. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.

Tell us more

Do you have information that could be added to this story? Or related images that you are happy to share? Submit them here!

Your Details
Veteran Details
- you may attach an image or document up to 10MB