Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

William Reynolds was born on 7 August 1877 at Waimate, the second son of William and Mary Ann (née Surkitt) Reynolds. William and Mary Ann had come to New Zealand soon after marrying in 1874 in England and settled at Waimate where thirteen children were born. Mary Ann died in 1908 and William, a well-known Willowbridge farmer and fruitgrower, died at Waimate in August 1911. Was he the W. Reynolds who started in the Two Mile Bicycle Race at the Waimate Caledonian Society annual sports held in December 1902? He did compete in the Great Road Race from Timaru to Christchurch in July 1903. At the Greenfield settlement ballot in April 1905, Mr W. Reynolds, junior, obtained an allotment with a half-yearly rental. By the 1908 and 1911 elctoral rolls he was a farmer at Greenfield, near Waitahuna, where his brother-in-law (Frank Bishop) also farmed. He, or his father, was perhaps the Mr W. Reynolds who provided the music and sang at a very sociable evening at Willowbridge in early January 1910, at which George Reynolds was the M.C. At the Waimate Show held in November 1914, W. Reynolds was placed first in the spring cart horse category, winning a special prize. In 1915 he donated to the Wounded Soldiers’ Fund. At the 1915 show, it was his dairy cow which was the champion. Was this the same William Reynolds? William enlisted on 21 October 1916 at Balclutha, naming his sister Jane (Jean) as next-of-kin – Mrs J. Bishop, Puketi, via Waitahuna. He was a teamster at Wharetoa (South Otago), single and Presbyterian. Rifleman W. Reynolds embarked, with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, on 2 April 1917 per the “Corinthic” for Plymouth, England. A casualty list of September 1917 listed his as a severe case. William Reynolds returned to New Zealand by the “Ruahine”, arriving at Auckland in early January 1918. His intended address was initially Puketi, but amended to 604 Aberdeen Road, Gisborne. In 1925 and 1928 William was a farm hand at this address, which was also the address of his brother Samuel. He was discharged on 3 February 1918, no longer physically fit for war service on account of illness contracted on active service, and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. William Reynolds died on 5 September 1931 at his residence in Factory Road, Temuka, aged 54 years. He was found hanging in a shed on his property. A simple name stone marks his grave in the Temuka Cemetery. Robert Reynolds, a farmer of Willowbridge and the youngest brother of William, gave evidence of identification. Deceased was 54 years of age and was born at Waimate. He said that e was unaware of his brother’s financial position and had not heard him complain of illness. Another witness who had spoken to William just a few days prior, said that the deceased had never said that he was depressed and had only once mentioned that he had a mortgage on his land. A neighbour who had seen the deceased the night before, said that he seemed depressed and not well. They had talked of the suicide at Seadown the day before, deceased saying it was a wonder thousands more did not do that. He also said that he was short of money but gave no indication that he intended to take his own life. The coroner returned a verdict that deceased hanged himself while in a depressed state of mind owing to financial worry and also commented on the advisability of publishing detailed reports of suicides. “These things seem to follow in cycles,” he said. By his Will, dated 14 February 1922, when he was a famer at Enfield, Otago, William bequeathed all his estate to his sister, Jane Bishop, a married woman of Puketi, South Otago. A Temuka undertaker provided an affidavit of death. William’s brother Samuel also served in World War One. Neither William nor Samuel was a beneficiary of their father’s estate, perhaps because both had moved away from the home district.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [30 June 2022]; Timaru Herald, 27 December 1902, 18 July 1903, 7 February 1931 [x 2], Waimate Daily Advertiser, 18 April 1905, 10 January 1910, 7 August 1911, NZ Times, 21 September 1917, 7 January 1918, Ashburton Guardian, 8 September 1931, Temuka Leader, 8 September 1931 (Papers Past) [30 June 2022; 01 July 2022]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [30 June 2022; 01 July 2022]; Temuka Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council) [02 July 2022]; Probate record (Archives NZ/Family Search) [021 July 2022]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, South Canterbury Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.