Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

George Leonard Smart, known as Leonard or Len, was born on 29 October 1892 at Christchurch, the second of the three sons of James and Elizabeth Rannie (née Fulton) Smart. His father James Smart – “a devoted husband and a kind and indulgent father” - was a railways employee and in September 1901, he received notice of transfer and promotion from Winslow Station to the Orari Station as station master. He was elected to the Orari South School committee and contributed much to the local community. In July 1906 when his transfer to Culverden was notified, the Orari settlers got up a petition to keep him at Orari. In September, however, a presentation from Orari folk was forwarded to Culverden. Late in 1908 he was transferred from Culverden to Lumsden in Southland. It was in 1913 that Mr and Mrs Smart moved to Invercargill, his position at Lumsden having been subject to dismissal, perhaps unfairly. In late May 1913, the residents of Lumsden presented him “with a well-filled purse of sovereigns on the occasion of severing his connection with the Railway Department”. Mr Smart transferred to the goods shed department in Invercargill.

Len was educated at Winslow School and at South Orari School where, in January 1901, he was awarded a Class III prize. In January 1903, he won the Class III 100 yards race and finished second in another, and surely other schools before. On leaving school, he took up farming and was well known throughout the Five Rivers and Lumsden districts. He took a keen interest in volunteering and was attached to the Wallace Mounted Rifles. George Leonard Smart enlisted on 26 October 1915 at Trentham. A farmer at Lowther, Southland, single and Presbyterian, he named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs J. Smart, 270 Ettrick Street, Invercargill. He was serving with the North Southland Mounted Rifles. Sergeant G. L. Smart embarked with the 11th Reinforcements, departing for Suez, Egypt on 1 April 1916. He was wounded on 19 September 1916 and suffered shell shock. At this time all three Smart brothers were serving at the Front. Private G. L Smart returned to New Zealand per the “Arawua”, arriving on 18 May 1919, the last of the brothers to return home. Not only had he suffered from shellshock, he was also gassed and was ultimately invalided with trench feet.

He was discharged on 12 June 1919 and awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal for his service in Egypt and Western Europe. He resumed farming. In February 1920, “one of the most numerously attended local gatherings ever held at Five Rivers took place . . . . . , the occasion being a farewell to Mr and Mrs R. N. Taylor, of the Point, and also Mrs Taylor, sen., and Mr Len Smart, brother of Mrs R. N. Taylor, who has been a resident of the district for many years, and served in the great war. . . . . . it is safe to say that there were between 200 and 300 people present.” There was good music and dancing, and card tables for non-dancers. “The popularity of the guests of the evening was no doubt largely brought about by their never tiring zeal as Red Cross and war workers from start to finish of the war. As good residents, war workers and kindly neighbours they will be greatly missed in the district.” The guests were presented with tokens of the esteem in which they were held, Mr Len Smart being presented with a camera from his many friends. Mr Smart returned thanks and the proceedings were brought to a close by “God Save the King”.

A quiet wedding was solemnised at First Church, Invercargill, on 10 November 1920, the contracting parties being George Leonard Smart, second son of Mr and Mrs J. Smart, Tweed Street, and Kate Bowman Bruce, daughter of Mr and Mrs Bruce, 91 High Street, Dunbarton, Scotland. Len and Kate lived and farmed in various parts of Southland until they settled at Winton in the 1940s and Len took on other occupations (lineman, storeman clerk). Kate died in April 1965 and was buried with Len’s parents at Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill. Len lived on at Winton in retirement, moving to Palmerston North in about 1980, probably to be closer to family. He died there on 7 October 1982, aged 89 years, and was buried at Eastern Cemetery. He was survived by two sons – James Bruce Smart and Leonard Maxwell Smart who was also buried in the family plot at Invercargill when he died in 2002. James Bruce Smart was with the RNZAF when he married in 1944. Only James Smart’s name is inscribed on the stone (1921).

James Smart senior who had died on 28 August 1921 at his Invercargill residence and Elizabeth Rannie Smart who died on 21 November 1934, were buried in the Eastern Cemetery, Invercargill. Both Len’s brothers – James Morton Smart (Morton, Mort) and Albert Robert Cyril Smart (Bert) served in World War One, Morton dying at the young age of 42. In early June 1916, a Roll of Honour was unveiled at a concert in the Orari Hall. On the list were the names of 38 Orari men who were once residents of the district and had gone to the war, including L. Smart, A. Smart and R. Smart. The Orari Patriotic Committee “thought it right to honour without distinction these men, each one of whom had faced his duty, not knowing what was before him.” At the close of the concert, supper was provided, after which the hall was cleared for dancing. The brothers (A. Smart, L. Smart and M. Smart) and more than sixty others are remembered on the Orari Roll of Honour 1914-1918 which is displayed in the Orari Hall.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [15 November 2023]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [15 November 2023]; Temuka Leader, 27 January 1901, 21 September 1901, 27 January 1903, 31 July 1906, Timaru Herald, 26 July 1906, 26 September 1906, 7 June 1916, Lyttelton Times, 12 June 1916, Mataura Ensign, 9 October 1919, Southland Times, 14 October 1916, 7 May 1919, 24 February 1920, Press, 16 October 1916, Southern Cross, 28 February 1920, 20 November 1920, Otago Witness, 6 September 1921, Southland Times, 29 & 30 August 1921, 22 November 1934, Manawatu Times, 27 February 1944 (Papers Past) [12, 20, 21 & 23 November 2023]; Eastern Cemetery burial records (Invercargill City Council) [November 2023]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au – part search) [November 2023]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.