Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

James Morton Smart, known as Morton or Mort, was born on 1 July 1888 at Christchurch, the eldest son of James and Elizabeth Rannie (née Fulton) Smart, and a twin to Maggie Agnew Smart. Morton and Maggie started at Phillipstown School, Christchurch at the aged of five. In February 1902 Morton was admitted to Temuka School from Winslow. In mid-1903 he went out to work. A High School boy, Master Morton Smart had been appointed to a position in Canterbury Farmers’ Association, Timaru. M. Smart, probably his twin sister, was awarded Standard VI girls’ prizes at the January 1903 Orari School fete and prizegiving. Maggie too was admitted to Temuka School, but in February 1903 from Orari School, when the family was residing at Orari. Their 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.

James Morton Smart enlisted on 10 March 1916 at Trentham. He was a clerk, single, Presbyterian, and residing with his family in Invercargill. He named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs James Smart 270 Ettrick Street, Invercargill. Lance Corporal J. M. Smart embarked with the Otago Infantry Battalion of the 14th Reinforcements, departing for Devonport, England on 26 June 1916 per the “Maunganui”. When his brother Len was wounded in September 1916, all three Smart brothers were serving at the Front. J. N. Smart embarked at Plymouth per the “Ruapehu” on 9 January 1919 to return to New Zealand. He was discharged on 22 March 1919 and awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. After returning to the family home in 1919, Morton moved to Western Southland where he was a cook at Five Rivers and a labourer at Gorge Road in the early 1920. After a few years at the Chatham Islands, he was employed as a farm labourer at Manaia.

He died on 14 December 1930 at Hawera Hospital, aged 42 years. His funeral left the Public Hospital Gates on 16 December for the Hawera Cemetery. “In tribute to the memory of a comrade in service, a party of members of the South Taranaki Returned Soldiers’ Association attended the funeral at Hawera this afternoon of the late Mr James M. Smart, whose death, following a short illness, occurred at the Hawera Hospital on Sunday. Service at the Hawera cemetery was conducted by the Rev. R. E. Evans and the pall bearers were six ex-service men of the war period, Sergeant-Major A. E. Stevens N.Z.P.S., Messrs. M. R. Jones (president of the South Taranaki R.S.A.), L. I. Marter, D. Strachan, S. N. Reece and D. Murphy. A Union Jack draped upon the coffin provided further evidence of respect to a member of the N.Z.E.F. Mr Smart enlisted at Invercargill and proceeded to the front with the 14th Reinforcements. He was posted to one of the Otago Infantry Battalions and subsequently served as a quarter-master sergeant. Following his return from the war he resided at the Chatham Islands for some years after which he came to Taranaki and for the past year had been employed by Mr. D. Murphy. of Manaia. He was not married and had no dependants though he had relatives at Winton, Southland where his mother resides and also in other parts of that province.” [Hawera Star. 16 Dec 1930.]

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 Morton’s brothers – George Leonard Morton (Len) and Albert Robert Cyril Smart (Bert) served in World War One. 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 R.[sic] Smart, A. Smart and L. 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, 21 September 1901, 15 August 1903, 31 July 1906, Timaru Herald, 26 July 1906, 26 September 1906, 7 June 1916, Lyttelton Times, 12 June 1916, Otago Witness, 6 September 1921, Hawera Star, 15 December 1930, Southland Times, 29 & 30 August 1921, 16 December 1930, 22 November 1934 (Papers Past) [12, 20 & 21 November 2023]; School Admission records (Canterbury & South Canterbury branches NZSG) [20 November 2023]; Hawera Cemetery burial record (South Taranaki District Council) [21 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.