Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

George William Trowell was born on 7 December 1895 at Timaru, the only son of William Trowell (Trull), from Kent, England, and his wife, Mary Elizabeth née Taylor), of Timaru. William Trull left England in 1883 and was believed to be going to Wellington, New Zealand, in about 1892. In 1900 his brother Herbert was seeking him. He married Mary in 1895 in New Zealand. They also had a little girl, Ada, who was born in 1908 at Dunedin and died in 1909, aged 20 months, at Geraldine, where she was buried, the funeral leaving from Mrs Mary Taylor’s father’s residence at Orari. William, a labourer, and Mary were at Gleniti in 1896. George started his schooling at Gapes Valley, his mother named as his parent. In 1905 Mary was a housekeeper at Gapes Valley. In March 1907 George transferred to High Street School in Dunedin, leaving there after six months. There his father was the named parent. In 1911 William was in Dunedin, an umbrella maker. In February 1910 in Dunedin William Trowell was charged with deserting his wife at Geraldine on 11 October 1909. He had left her in 1907, when there was one child, and had failed to pay maintenance. Mary Trowell had, in fact, stated that she had had two children, but only one (aged 14) was living as of 1910. Her husband had persuaded her to go back to him in 1907, after he had been away for over nine years, and had then left her again in 1908. Mary died in 1914 at the Timaru Hospital and was buried in Timaru. William died in 1917 at Dunedin and was buried at the Northern Cemetery there. George was a labourer at Orari when he enlisted. He nominated his aunt, Mrs Patrick (Annie, née Taylor) as his next-of-kin. Casualty List No. 601, published in June 1917, listed George William Trowell among the wounded. He had been wounded on 20 June 1917, and his case was a severe one. He was still seriously ill in July 1917. George was welcomed home at the Orari Hall on 31 August 1917. George Trowell married Agnes Violet Graydon on 28 August 1931 at Christchurch. He died on 11 September 1975 at Christchurch, survived by his wife and three children, and was buried in the Ellesmere Public Cemetery. Two cousins of George – John and Isaac Fonseca – served in the war, John being killed in action in 1918 in France.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [15 August 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [15 August 2020]; School Admission records [18 August 2020]; Ellesmere Public Cemetery headstone transcription [18 August 2020]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [17 August 2020]; Timaru Herald, 28 September 1909,2 March 1910, 29 August 1917, , 22 & 23 June 1917, 10 July 1917, Otago Daily Times, 25 February 1910, Temuka Leader, 5 March 1910, 26 June 1917 (Papers Past) [03 & 19 August 2020]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.