Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

George Simon McKenzie who was born on 6 June 1887 at Hakataramea, was the fourth son of Donald and Margaret (Maggie, née McDonald) McKenzie. Donald and Margaret who had married in 1880, had six sons and one daughter They farmed at Hakataramea, where Donald died in January 1907 and was buried in the local cemetery. In 1908 George was a student in Christchurch and in 1914 a teacher at Lincoln College. When the Waimate Defence Rifle Club commenced its 1915 shooting season on 11 November, A Mackenzie and G. S. Mackenzie were the prize-winners in A class. Both represented the Waimate Club in the 1916 New Year’s Day match with Glenavy.

George Simon Mackenzie, auctioneer, Waimate, was drawn in the South Canterbury ballot in November 1916. At the sitting of the Military Service Appeal Board in Timaru on 27 December 1916, George Simon McKenzie, Waimate, applied for an extension of time. He said that he was trying to sell his business, so that he could get away to the front, when the ballot was taken, and he was drawn. He was allowed two months in which to fix up his affairs. When he enlisted, possibly in February 1917, he was an auctioneer, and his address was Waimate. He named his mother as next-of-kin – Mrs Margaret McKenzie, “Table Top”, Hakataramea, South Canterbury.

G. S. McKenzie was listed with the men belonging to the South Canterbury Military District who left for camp on 11 April 1917. Sergt. G. S. Mackenzie was in Waimate on final leave in mid-September 1917 when he contributed to a specific fund. Sergeant G. S. McKenzie embarked with the Wellington Infantry Regiment of the 31st Reinforcements, departing for Liverpool, England on 16 November 1917 per the “Tahiti”. His time abroad was cut short when he was admitted to the New Zealand General Hospital at Codford on 22 January 1918, having suffered a dislocated cartilage in his left knee. Subsequently, he embarked at Liverpool on 1 May 1918, returning to New Zealand per the “Ulimaroa”. George Mackenzie returned with an early draft of invalided soldiers, his case described as “on crutches”. He was discharged on 17 July 1918, no longer physically fit for war service (internal derangement of left knee joint), and was awarded the British War Medal.

In 1919, George was resident at Beverley House, Timaru. That year, he married Ivy Evelyn Smith. George and Evelyn settled in Christchurch, where he continued as an auctioneer. Mr George Simon McKenzie, Liberal candidate for Waitaki, opened his campaign at Waimate on 16 November 1931. “He expressed himself as a supporter of the Coalition Government, but was more in favour of a National Government. He urged the need for public and private economy, the modification of the Arbitration Court, reproductive relief works, and the drastic overhaul of railways. A vote of thanks was accorded.”

George Simon McKenzie died at his Christchurch residence on 8 September 1971, aged 84 years. After a service at St Andrew’s College Chapel, he was interred privately at Ruru Lawn Cemetery. He was survived by his wife and four daughters, one daughter having died at 3 weeks. Evelyn died on 3 August 1974 and her ashes were interred with George. Donald Roderick McKenzie, the second son of Donald and Margaret, died of measles and pneumonia on 21 September 1916, at Trentham Hospital, after just a month in camp. He was buried at Hakataramea alongside his father. Mrs Margaret McKenzie died in September 1934; she, too, was buried there. Allister McKenzie, the fifth son, also served with the New Zealand Forces in World War One. John Kenneth McKenzie, sheep farmer, Hakataramea, was drawn in the tenth ballot in July 1917. He was the eldest of the Mckenzie family. The only daughter, Grace Elizabeth McKenzie, who was the youngest of the family, outlived all her brothers, dying at Timaru in 1983.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [24 February 2025]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [04 March 2025]; Waimate Daily Advertiser, 12 November 1915, 29 December 1916, 27 December 1916, 4 July 1917, 14 September 1917, 10 June 1918, Timaru Herald, 25 November 1916, 28 December 1916, 10 April 1917, 25 September 1934, evening Post, 3 June 1918, Dominion, 4 June 1918, Sun, 5 June 1918, Press, 9 & 10 September 1971, 6 August 1974 (Papers Past) [07 January 2015; 04 & 05 March 2025]; Ruru Lawn Cemetery record (Christchurch City Council) [03 March 2025]

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.