Profile

BISHOP, Leonard Robert
(Service number 24328)

Aliases
First Rank Sergeant Last Rank Sergeant

Birth

Date 19 July 1892 Place of Birth Pleasant Point

Enlistment Information

Date 6 April 1916 Age 23 years
Address at Enlistment Pleasant Point
Occupation Farmer
Previous Military Experience 8th SC Mounted Rifles - serving; Oamaru Rifles
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin Mr James BISHOP (father), Pleasant Point, Timaru
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 17th Reinforcements, Canterbury Infantry Battalion, C Company
Date 23 September 1916
Transport Pakeha
Embarked From Destination Devonport, Devon, England
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns Western European
Service Medals 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 26 September 1919 Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Farmer

Death

Date 26 December 1952 Age 60 years
Place of Death On main highway near Temuka; of Lyalldale, St Andrews
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Timaru Cemetery
Memorial Reference General Section, Row 54, Plot 733
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Leonard Robert Bishop was born on 19 July 1892 at Pleasant Point, the youngest son of James and Ann (née Bundle) Bishop. Along with his siblings, he was educated at Pleasant Point School. His mother died 18 November 1917 at their residence, “Oaklands”, Pleasant Point, while Leonard was overseas. His father died on 21 May 1927 at “Oaklands”. James and Ann are buried at Pleasant Point.

Leonard Bishop enlisted on 6 April 1916 at Trentham. He was serving with the 8th South Canterbury Mounted Rrifles and had served with Oamaru Volunteers. Farming for his father at Pleasant Point, single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of-kin – Mr James Bishop, Pleasant Point, Timaru. Sergeant L. R. Bishop embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion of the 17th Reinforcements, leaving for Devonport, England, per the “Pakeha” on 23 September 1916. He was severely wounded about April 1918. On 21 June 1918 he was transferred from Brockenhurst to Hornchurch Convalescent Hospital. L.-Sergt. L. J. Bishop, of Pleasant Point, embarked per the "Geissen" at Plymouth on 23 June 1919 for his return to New Zealand. The “Giessen” was due at Wellington on August 16, 1919.

He married Christina Malling on 5 May 1920 at Trinity Church, Timaru. Leonard Robert Bishop died on 26 December 1952, at the wheel of his car on the main highway near Temuka, aged 60 years. When he collapsed in his seat his brother Owen seized the wheel and managed to stop the car. Leonard Bishop, of Lyalldale, St Andrews, died instantly, and was survived by his wife and two children. He was buried at Timaru Cemetery.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [24 February 2023]; NZ BDM Indexes (www.bdmhistoricalrecords.dia.govt.nz) [24 February 2023]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [01 June 2023]; Timaru Herald, 19 & 20 November 1917, 2 July 1918, 25 July 1919, 28 May 1920, 23 May 1927, Press, 27 December 1952 (Papers Past) [01 September 2014; 01 June 2023]

External Links

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, South Canterbruy Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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