Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

William Spence Turfus was born on 18 October 1886 at Beist, Netherbrough, Orkney, Scotland, the eldest of the three sons of William and Margaret Jane (Jane, née Spence) Turfus. William and Margaret who married in 1882, had ten children all born in the Orkney Islands, three sets of twins among them, though one died before her third birthday. Mrs Jane Turfus died in May 1897 when the youngest twins were not four months old. William was at home - Workwell, Orphir, Orkney - with his parents and siblings in 1891, and again in 1901 at Holland, Firth, Orkney, when he was probably working on his father’s farm. All three sons and three of the daughters emigrated to New Zealand. William was the first of the family to leave his native Scotland, and by 1908 he was a ploughman at Sherwood Downs, Fairlie. There he remained until 1911 when he took up a position as farm hand at Crookston in West Otago. His brother youngest Peter and sisters Mary and Helen emigrated in August 1913 per the “Athenic”, while his brother James left for New Zealand per the “Tainui” on 3 April 1914.

Both William Spence Turfus and Peter Turfus, farmers, Dunedin, were passed fit for active service on 20 July 1916. It may be that brother James was examined at the same time but rejected as unfit. After a hearty farewell, William and Peter left Dunedin for camp with the Nineteenth Reinforcements on 27 July, and enlisted on 28 July at Trentham. Farming on his own account, single and Presbyterian, William named his brother as next-of-kin – James Turfus, care of M. A. Turfus, Waitaki Boys’ High School, Oamaru. When James went on Active Service (47098), he named his sister - Miss M. A. Turfus, Waitaki Boys’ High School, Oamaru, and his father - W. Turfus, C/o Mrs Sinclair, Firth, Orkney, Scotland. Peter, too, named his brother as next-of-kin – James Turfus, care of M. A. Turfus, Waitaki Boys’ High School, Oamaru; then, when J. Turfus, Middlemarch, Central Otago (47098) went on Active Service (47098), he named his father - W. Turfus, C/o Mrs Sinclair, Firth, Orkney, Scotland, and his sister - Miss M. A. Turfus, Waitaki Boys’ High School, Oamaru.

Private W. S. Turfus embarked with the Otago Infantry Battalion of the 19th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington on 15 November 1916 and disembarking at Devonport, England on 29 January 1917. There, too, was Private P. Turfus. William proceeded overseas to France on 1 March 1917. The next word of him was five months later. He was killed in action at Ypres, Belgium on 2 August 1917, aged 30 years. He was buried in Mud Corner Cemetery, Hainaut, Belgium. His medals (British War Medal and Victory Medal), along with the scroll were sent to his father. A white cross inscribed with his name, rank and service number now stands on the grave of his sister, Helen Spence Sim, in the Crookston Cemetery at Heriot. Peter Turfus died at Invercargill on 27 May 1979, aged 85 years, and his ashes in his twin sister’s plot, a services plaque marking the grave. W. S. Turfus is honoured on the Heriot and District Memorial and on the Lawrence War Memorial (under Beaumont). William was resident at Beaumont when he signed his Will at Dunedin on 26 July 1916. He bequeathed all his estate to his two brothers James and Peter Turfus, making provision for his estate to go to his father and after his death to all his sisters, if both James and Peter should be killed in action or died before return and discharge. James Turfus was a farmer of Oamaru when he made oath at Waimate on 4 February 1918 with regard to his brother’s Will. He verified William’s regimental number by stating that he had sent letters addressed to that number and received replies. James Turfus, the second of the three sons, had also served with the New Zealand Forces in World War One.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [16 December 2024]; Scotland 1891 & 1901 Census returns (ancestry.com.au) [16 December 2024]; Crookston Cemetery (Heriot) headstone images & records [16 December 2024]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [16 December 2024]; Otago Daily Times, 21 & 28 July 1916, Otago Witness, 29 August 1917 (Papers Past) [16 December 2024]

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.