TAPLIN, George William
(Service number 17834)
| First Rank | Private | Last Rank | Private |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 24/07/1886 | Place of Birth | Timaru |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | 21 April 1916 | Age | 29 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Hilderthorpe, Oamaru | ||
| Occupation | Labourer | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | Single | ||
| Next of Kin | J. TAPLIN (father), Hilderthorpe, Oamaru | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 22nd Reinforcements, Otago Infantry Regiment, D Company | ||
| Date | 16 February 1917 | ||
| Transport | Aparima | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Plymouth, Devon, England | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | Otago Infantry | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | Western European | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | British War Medal; Victory Medal | ||
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 |
Death
| Date | 1 May 1963 | Age | 76 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Hamilton | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Piako Lawn Cemetery, Morrinsville | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | Memorial in St Luke’s Anglican Church, Oamaru | ||
Biographical Notes
George William Taplin was born on 24 July 1886 at Timaru, the eldest son of John Samuel and Anna Rosetta (née Ford) Taplin. John and Anna married on 21 December 1885 at Timaru where four sons and four daughters were born. George was educated at Timaru Main School and did attend Waimataitai School at some stage. There in 1898 he received a Standard III prize for writing. John Samuel Taplin who was the much-respected foreman butcher at Smithfield Works, and his wife were made several presentations by employees in May 1902 on his retirement from the position. A few months later the younger siblings of George went from Waimataitai School to Picton. Anna Rosetta Taplin, the second daughter of John and Anna, died at Picton in 1903, just 6½ years old. J. S. continued as a butcher at Picton until he was successful in a land ballot at Totara just out of Oamaru. So, he took up farming in 1908.
George Taplin enlisted on 21 April 1916 at Trentham. A labourer at Hilderthorpe just out of Oamaru, single and of Church of England affiliation, he named his father as next-of-kin – J. Taplin, Hilderthorpe, Oamaru. Private G. Taplin embarked with the Otago Infantry Regiment of the 22nd Reinforcements, leaving for Plymouth, England per the “Aparima” on 16 February 1917. Afflicted by trench nephritis, he embarked for the return to New Zealand at Plymouth on 30 May 1918 per the “Mokoia”. He was discharged on 6 September 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.
George married Eva Hammill on 10 March 1919 at Oamaru. They were to have two daughters and a son (Joyce, Lorna and Bert). George and Eva lived various places, including Makikihi, as he was moved around after joining the railways as a surfaceman then ganger. In the 1930s they shifted to the North Island, stationed for some years at Morrinsville. G. W. Taplin, Otago Infantry, was one of more than a hundred “Diggers” who attended the seventh reunion of the Morrinsville R.S.A. in April 1937 and answered the Roll Call. In the 1940s he became a sugar worker in the Auckland area, retiring in the 1950s. George William Taplin died on 1 May 1963 at Hamilton, but of Morrinsville, aged 76 years. He was buried in the RSA section of Piako Lawn Cemetery, Morrinsville. Eva died in August 1969 and was buried in the Piako Cemetery too.
George Taplin’s name is inscribed on the Memorial in St Luke’s Anglican Church, Oamaru, as are those of his brothers. Two brothers of George William Taplin served in World War One - Robert Frederick Ford Taplin (Bert) who died of wounds on 14 October 1917 in France, and Thomas Henry Ford Taplin (Tom, Ford); as did two cousins – John Langdon Gabb (son of Jane Taplin and Alfred Frederick Gabb), and William Paul Richards who died of wounds on 7 October 1917 in France (son of Sarah Taplin and her second husband George Richards). Two nephews served in World War Two - Ronald Warwick Taplin (son of John Robert Taplin and Florence May Warwick) and John Robert McGregor (son of Elizabeth Rosetta Violet Taplin and James Reid McGregor); as did a cousin - John Leonard George Bradding (son of Elizabeth Fanny Taplin and Henry Leonard Bradding). John Samuel Taplin, his brother Thomas Henry Taplin, their parents (George and Elizabeth) and most, maybe all, of their siblings had settled at Timaru in the late 1870s. John Samuel Taplin died in 1938 at Oamaru and was buried there with his wife Anna Rosetta Taplin who died in 1928.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [05 January 2024]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [05 January 2024]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [05 January 2024]; South Canterbury Times, 21 December 1898, Matamata Record, 29 April 1937, Otago Daily Times, 28 June 1938 (Papers Past) [05 & 07 January 2024]; Piako Lawn Cemetery, Morrinsville burial records & headstone transcriptions (Matamata-Piako District Council) [06 January 2024]
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Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society
Currently Assigned to
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Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.
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