PELVIN, Henry William
(Service number 7/1882)
| First Rank | Sergeant | Last Rank | Farrier |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 23/07/1888 | Place of Birth | Waimate |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Mill Road, Waimate | ||
| Occupation | Blacksmith | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | A. Pelvin (father), Mill Road, Waimate, New Zealand | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | 8th Reinforcements | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | Canterbury Mounted Rifles | ||
| Date | 13 November 1915 | ||
| Transport | Willochra or Tofua | ||
| Embarked From | Wellington, New Zealand | Destination | Suez, Egypt |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | New Zealand Field Artillery | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
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 |
Death
| Date | 11 November 1923 | Age | 35 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Rannadale Soldiers Hospital, Christchurch | ||
| Cause | Died after discharge from the NZEF from wounds inflicted or disease contracted while on active service | ||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Waimate Old Cemetery | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | On Memorial wall, Timaru | ||
Biographical Notes
HENRY WILLIAM (HARRY) PELVIN, (b. 23 Jul 1888, Waimate; d. 11 Nov 1923, Rannadale Soldiers Hospital, Christchurch). Harry Pelvin was the eldest son of Alfred Pelvin and was a blacksmith by trade. He had worked as a ploughman, harvester mill hand, and farm hand .
Henry was an excellent cyclist and competed in sports events over the years throughout the area. His athletic ability was particularly recognised and featured regulary being given the highest scratching when handicap lists given prior to racing eg: Waimate Caledonian Society: 20 Dec 1906 Handicaps for the Boxing Day Sports Cycling Events - Two Miles - H. Pelvin 175 yds; One Mile Handicap - H. Pelvin 110yds; One Mile and a-Half - H. Pelvin 145 yds; Tliree Miles - H. Pelvin 240 yds;
Local sports events were a popular entertainment, drawing large crowds from the wider community and the various diverse events held catered for all interests. A typical listing was the 1906 Waihao District Sports, awarding monetory prices and was well organised. It featured trotting and hack races, horse-jumping competitions (all on which there was a considerable amount of speculation with bookies apparently doing good business); three-legged, sack and foot races for varied ages and distances, high, hop, step and jump and long jump events; putting 161b Shot, Irish jigs and Scottich dancing; wrestling, Bagpipe competitions and some like the Oamaru Caledonian Society 1902 had tossing the cabar, throwing the hammer and at night had firoworks - rockets, bombs, and Catherine. His father Alfred Pelvin was chairman of the Glenavy School committee and would often call Henry for his assistance for entertainment at concerts for a recitation - he was a popular dance musician.
Henry enlisted in 1915 and soon recieved promotion: Evening Post, 22 Oct 1915: "TRAINING CAMPS - TAUHERENIKAU NOTES: LATEST APPOINTMENTS: The 8th Mounteds, encamped at Tauherenikau, drew their horses on the16th and 17th instant. Temporary appointments of n.c.o.'s have been approved by the Camp Commandant (Major N P, Adams) as follows : To be farrier-corporal, Pte H. Pelvin"
While on active service though, Henry fell sick, but the Timaru Herald reported on his recovery on 3 Aug 1917: "The following South Canterbury names appear in the official hospital progress report:— Removed from dangerously ill list.— Private H. Pelvin (Waimate)." Only eight months later though he was once again hospitalised with sickness, leading to his discharge as no longer physically fit for service.
Henry died on 11 November 1923 at Rannadale Soldiers Hospital, Christchurch, from the longer-term effects of mustard gas exposure during his active service. He was buried in the Old Waimate Cemetery.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [30 Dec 2013]; Military Record - Archives New Zealand, Wellington Office Item ID R20800423; see also Winsome Griffin's family history pages at http://winsomegriffin.com/Pelvin/HenryWmPelvin.html; SCRoll web submission by W Griffin, 4 December 2015; SCRoll web submission, 13 February 2020
External Links
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Researched and Written by
John Sutherland, SC branch NZSG
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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