Profile

STEVENSON, Charles Edward
(Service number 6/554)

Private C E Stevenson — From" "South Canterbury Roll of Honour", published 1916 by the South Canterbury Caledonian Society. (South Canterbury Museum 17/15)

Some heroes who fell in this great war,1915 — A pictorial postcard consisting of five oval portraits of South Canterbury men who died in World War One, presumably produced in 1915.

The postcard bears the slogan and title: "Honour the brave and forget them not" and "Some heroes who fell in this great war, 1915". The men pictured are Sergeant S E Bassett (Rosewill), Sergeant J H Wallace (Timaru), Major David Grant (Timaru), Sergeant W Rutherford (Timaru), and Private C Stevenson (Timaru) [Note it should be C not G Stevenson as it appears to read on the original] (South Canterbury Museum 4033)

Charles Edward Stevenson — (Courtesy of P Stevenson )

Mount Cook Car Company tourist party, circa 1910 — Charles Edward Stevenson (pictured in the driving seat) worked for the Mount Cook Car Company for several seasons in the formative years of the local motoring industry. (Courtesy of P Stevenson )

Charles Stevenson (driver) and Emile Bockaert, 1911 — Stevenson established a world record for small cars driven by one man, by completing a phenomenal non-stop run of 1064 miles from Invercargill to Christchurch and back to Timaru in 40 hours, driving a 14-16 horse-power Darracq on 7 March 1911. (South Canterbury Museum 2000/090.01)

Chalmers Church memorial plaque, photographed in 2010 — South Canterbury Museum 2013/155.28 (South Canterbury Museum )

Aliases	Charlie
First Rank	Private	Last Rank	Private

Birth

Date	20/01/1888	Place of Birth	Timaru

Enlistment Information

Date	13 August 1914	Age	26 yrs 7 mths
Address at Enlistment	P. O. Box 23, Fairlie
Occupation	Motor driver
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status	Single
Next of Kin	Miss Elizabeth STEVENSON (sister), York Street, Timaru
Religion	Presbyterian
Medical Information	Height 5 feet 6 inches. Weight 10 stone 1 pound. Chest measurement 35-37 inches. Complexion fair. Eyes grey. Hair brown. Sight normal. Hearing good. Colour vision good. Limbs well formed. Full movement of joints. Chest well formed. heart normal. Lungs normals. Teeth good. Free from hernia, varicocele, varicose veins, haemorrhoids, inveterate or contagious skin disease. Vaccinated. Good bodily and mental health. No slight defects.

Military Service

Served with	NZ Armed Forces	Served in	Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation	Main Body
Unit, Squadron, or Ship	Canterbury Infantry Battalion
Date	16 October 1914
Transport	Tahiti or Athenic
Embarked From	Lyttelton, Canterbury	Destination	Suez, Egypt

Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With	Canterbury Infantry Battalion

Military Awards

Campaigns	Gallipoli
Service Medals	1914-15 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal
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		Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date	8 May 1915	Age	28 yrs
Place of Death	Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Turkey
Cause	Killed in action
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery	Twelve Tree Copse (New Zealand) Memorial, Twelve Tree Copse Cemetery, Helles, Turkey
Memorial Reference
New Zealand Memorials	On Memorial wall, Timaru; Chalmers Church Honour Roll; Fairlie War Mamorial

Biographical Notes

Charles Edward STEVENSON was the son of James Orr and Elizabeth (nee KAE) STEVENSON, of York Street, Timaru. He was educated at Timaru Main School.

Stevenson established a world record for small cars by completing a non-stop run of 740 miles from Invercargill to Christchurch and back to Timaru in March 1911.

At the time of enlistment he was working in Fairlie as a motor driver for H. A. Le Cren. He enlisted on 13 August 1914, one of the first to answer the call, and joined the Canterbury Infantry Battalion. He was one of the additional men passed and sworn in on the night of 13 August. The next morning, 14 August, they were to fall in at the Drill Shed at 9.30 and leave Timaru at 1.30 for the camp at Addington. They were to be photographed prior to leaving. The Stipendiary Magistrate very kindly sent a big bundle of literature and some packs of playing cards for the use of the troops and another gentleman gave magazines, all of which were appreciated. Mr T. G. Towley, dentist, was also thanked for attending to the teeth of the men, free of charge, and doing all that was possible for all those whose teeth required attention. They actually left by the first express on 17 August after parading at the Drill Shed and being addressed by Archdeacon Jacob, who trusted God would guide and protect them, and the Deputy-Mayor (Mr W. A. Pearson), who said that all must "feel very proud to see that so many of the young men had volunteered to serve their country in this the greatest crisis they had ever known." and he wished them God speed and a safe and speedy return.

Charles's father, James Orr STEVENSON (d.1907), had previously taken a prominent part in volunteering and was one of the original members of the Garrison Band. His brother Walter STEVENSON was killed in action in 1902 in the South African War. Pte B. S. Graham, of York Street, in a letter to his brother, noted that he was with Charlie Stevenson and Bill Wall when they were hit - "I can tell you that you have no idea what it is like here." Charlie's medals were sent to his sister, Miss Elizabeth M, STEVENSON, while his plaque and scroll were sent to his brother James (living in Timaru). Charlie executed a Will prior to leaving Christchurch in August 1914; he appointed his sister Elizabeth Merion STEVENSON the sole executor and the sole beneficiary.

Sources

Cenotaph Database [16 March 2014]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK18805 W5553 0109207) [23 April 2014]; CWGC [16 March 2014]; Timaru Herald, 23 October 1907; 14 & 18 August 1914, 17 August 1915 (Papers Past) [16 March 2014; 12 September 2014]; Will (Archives NZ & FamilySearch) [13 June 2014]; SCRoll web submission from I Barnett, 20 April 2015 (Quoting Poverty Bay Herald,Grey River Argus,Evening Post, 7 march 1911); Timaru Herald 13 March 1911

External Links

Researched and Written by

Currently Assigned to

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!