Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

William Nelson Wederell was the son of Charles and Maria (née Nelson) Wederell. Charles Wederell was an early settler in Temuka, arriving in 1859, and married Maria Nelson in 1864. In 1877, Charles Wederell’s licence for the Fairlie Creek Hotel was renewed. There he gave an annual dinner and ball. He also provided grounds for the annual athletic sports and was involved with the Fairlie Creek races on Easter Monday. His older children were first-day pupils at Fairlie Creek School in 1879, Charles serving on the school committee. Charles Wederell and family left Fairlie in June 1883 and he took over the licence of the Masonic Hotel at St Andrews in September 1885. There, too, he became involved in the community, notably erecting kennels for the convenience of owners of coursing dogs, serving on the committee of the St Andrews Caledonian Society, providing a sumptuous repast and lending marquees and his Union Jack on special occasions; while Mrs Wederell was known for her prize geese and for lending her powerful grand piano.

William Wederell was born on 5 May 1879 at Fairlie Creek, South Canterbury, 8th of 13 children. He was admitted to St Andrews School, South Canterbury, from Timaru Main on 1 September 1885, along with some of his older siblings. William was into sports, entering the 220 yards boys’ race (under 14) at the St Andrews Caledonian Society meet in late 1889. At same gathering on 16 December 1890, he entered the One mile walk (boys) with a handicap of 30 yards, his older brother John walking off scratch, and the 220 yards (boys under 16) with a handicap of 5 yards, his older brother John again on scratch. At the St Andrews School concert in December 1891, William, his sister Marion and brothers Arthur and Percy, had parts in the cantata, “Playmates”, Master William Wederell’s being that of Jack Goose. William Wederell, St Andrews, wrote to the long-running Dear Dot column in the Otago Witness on 14 June 1892 – “I have six sisters and five brothers. I have one little pony called Tom Thumb. I have four bantams, and my father has a black woodhen. We have four cows and six horses. My father keeps the hotel at St. Andrews. It is very dry down here. My schoolmaster broke his leg, and his son is now teaching the school for two months. I am 13 years of age, and am in the Fourth Standard — Yours truly, . . . .” In July 1895 he gave a recitation at the St Andrews Debating Society meeting. And in August 1898, he contributed to the very successful entertainment in aid of the funds of the St Andrews Cricket Club, by way of a circle man in the Christy Minstrel Troupe, a part in the amusing skit “Mesmerism”, and a part in the amusing farce “The Asylum or the Mad-house”. The following month, he assisted with the successful exhibition of the gramophone and other entertainment in the St Andrews Library Hall in aid of school funds. He again gave a recitation, in September 1899, at a social in the St Andrews Library Hall. Trooper W. Wederell (and two brothers) scored very well for the St Andrews Division and contributed to their win in a match fired with the Headquarters Division of the South Canterbury Mounted Rifles, fired in March 1901 at the new range at St Andrews. He was a reserve for the South Canterbury Mounted Rifles in their match to be fired against the Mackenzie Mounted Rifles on 30 May 1901, his brothers John and Arthur being in the team. He was in the team which fired, and won, in December. He was in the pigeon match to be fired at the club’s grounds at Saltwater Creek in October 1904, and at St Andrews on 6 July 1905, with a 23 yards handicap. At the Timaru Gun Club’s August handicap pigeon match at Saltwater Creek in 1906, W. Wederell had a handicap of 21 yards. W. Wederell was clerk of the scales at the St Andrews District Sports held at Victoria Park, St Andrews on 18 January 1906. The second annual sports gathering at Victoria Park, on 17 January 1907, was very successful, thanks in no small part to the Wederell men – William clerk of the scales, Fred in charge of quoits, and Percy secretary.

William Nelson Wederell had married Edith Grace Dunnill on 12 May 1900 at St Mary’s Church, Timaru. Their first child, John Nelson Wederell, was born on 15 January 1900 and baptised at Otaio on 22 October 1900. William George was born 21 April 1901 and died at ten days at St Andrews; Thelma Maria was born in 1903 and died in infancy; Muriel Elizabeth was born in 1904 and died in infancy; Lawrence Charles was born on 7 June 1905 at St Andrews; Frederick Fleming was born on 15 July 1907 at Waitaki; Katherine was born in 1909 and died at birth; Ellen Caroline Grace was born on 9 November 1915 at Timaru; Alice Nina was born on 13 August 1917 at Timaru; William Thomas was born on 28 July 1919; Eva Lillian was born in 1921; Gertrude was born in 1922 and died at birth; Arthur was born in 1923 and died soon after birth; and Horace Noble was born on 29 January 1925.

William and Edith lived for two or three years in Wellington where he was a waiter. Returning to South Canterbury in about 1903, they took up residence at St Andrews where he was a barman for his father. The three infants who died in the early 1900s were buried at Otaio. The three oldest (surviving) boys attended St Andrews School, moving to Timaru South in September 1914, the family having moved into Timaru after William’s father died. The younger children were to attend Timaru South in due course. In February 1910 at the Timaru Magistrate’s Court, a claim for £2.12.s.6d was brought against William Nelson Wederell, and many others, by Johnston, Sons, and Co. for books sold, a case he didn’t defend. At the Waimate Magistrate’s Court, on 10 September 1912, he was charged with keeping open a billiard saloon without having a licence. He pleaded guilty, but said he considered the authorities should have notified him that he must license his saloon, seeing that the enactment of the new County By-law governing billiard saloons was done all for his sake. The Magistrate convicted defendant and fined him 20s and 7s costs. He duly applied for a licence which was approved in May following. At the Waimate Magistrate’s Court, on 18 December 1913, he was convicted of killing a black swan, such being prohibited game, and was fined £5; he was also fined £1 for trespassing on a Makikihi property in pursuit of game.

William Nelson Wederell enlisted on 24 August 1916 at Featherston. He had served three years with the South Canterbury Mounted Rifles. He had previously been rejected as temporarily unfit for the military forces on account of varicose veins which had been operated on. He was 37 years old, a saddler for the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, residing in Timaru, and of Church of England affiliation. William Wederell was 5 feet 7 inches tall, weighed 126 pounds, and had a chest measurement of 34-37 inches. His complexion was sandy, his eyes blue, and his hair red. Sight in his right eye was good, in his left not so good. His hearing, colour vision, heart and lungs were all normal, his limbs and chest well formed. He had had no illnesses or fits, was free from diseases, was vaccinated, and was therefore in good bodily and mental health. His varicose veins had been operated on and cured. A married man with three children (the eldest then 16 years of age and Alice born eight months after he embarked), William named his wife as next-of-kin – Mrs E. G. Wederell, 34 Turnbull Street, Timaru.

Private W. N. Wederell was appointed lance-corporal at Featherston Camp in September 1916. The 20th Infantry was to proceed from Featherston to Trentham by train for musketry. Lance Corporal W. N. Wederell embarked with the Canterbury Infantry Battalion of the 20th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington for Plymouth, England, on 7 December 1916 per the “Port Lyttelton”. Disembarking at Deveonport, he marched in to Sling on 18 February 1917 and reverted to the rank of private. Having marched out to Codford six weeks later, he was taken on Strength with the 4th Brigade. He then marched out to the New Zealand depot at Stevenage, Hertfordshire, on 7 April. Still at Stevenage in October 1917, he was confined to barracks for seven days and forfeited four days’ pay for overstaying leave.

The report of mid-March 1918 listed 34761 W. N. Wederell, Timaru, as a not severe case. Mrs E. Wederell, Turnbull Street, received word that her husband had been admitted to hospital at Walton-on-Thames on 13 March, with gastric ulcer. He did not go overseas. W. N. Wederell, 34761, of Timaru, embarked at Avonmouth on 6 April 1918, to return to New Zealand, invalided, by the “Marama” (Draft 159). It was expected that he would arrive in the Dominion in May 1918. He was discharged on 20 September 1918, after two years of service, no longer physically fit for War Service on account of illness contracted on Active Service, and was awarded the British War Medal.

While William had been away, his daughter Alice had been born and his eldest son had married. William and Edith had five more children, two dying in infancy. William worked as a night watchman and a labourer. Before long Edith was widowed. William Nelson Wederell suffered an aortic aneurysm and died at Timaru Hospital on 6 May 1927, aged 50 years. His funeral left his Royal Street residence for the Timaru Cemetery on Sunday, 8 May. He was survived by five sons and three daughters. Edith Grace Wederell died on 8 September 1957 at Timaru; she too survived by five sons and three daughters. Three sons were called up in World War Two; a son-in-law died of wounds in Italy in 1944; a grandson and two nephews served in World War Two. Four brothers of Edith served in World War One. At the St Andrews School Diamond Jubilee celebrations in January 1931, several Wederell pupils of the first decade (1881-1890) were named, some of them deceased – Wm. Nelson Wederell (deceased), Jane Wederell (deceased), Eleanor Wederell (deceased), John Wederell, Marian Wederell, Minnie Wederell, Arthur Wederell (deceased). No mention of James Percy Wederell. John Dunnill, the father of Mrs W. N. Dunnill, died at Timaru in late May 1936.

William’s brother James Percy Wederell served in World War One with Australian Forces under a false name, losing his life at Gallipoli in 1915. Another older brother, Charles Fleming Wederell, a general station hand, was listed on the Reserve Rolls. The first-born daughter of Charles and Maria, Anna Maria, died a week after birth. The youngest of the family, Dora, died in 1898 at St Andrews, just six years old; while the eldest surviving daughter, Eleanor, died in 1901 at Timaru, aged 29 years. Arthur died in 1908 at St Andrews, a married man aged 23 years. A few months later their mother Maria died in Christchurch. And in 1911 their father Charles, who had been in poor health for a couple of years, died at Timaru. The eldest son, Fred Noble, died in 1913, aged 47 years. So, William Nelson Wederell was predeceased by his parents and six siblings.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [21 July 2013]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Ref. AABK 18805 W5557 0120362) [15 April 2015]; Timaru Cemetery headstone image (Timaru District Council) [05 November 2013]; School Admission Records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [2013; 26 September 2014]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [15 April 2015; July 2023]; Timaru Herald, 7 May 1927, 9 September 1957 (Timaru District Library) [11 April 2014; 24 June 2014]; North Otago Times, 16 November 1889, Timaru Herald, 10 December 1890, 29 December 1891, 13 July 1895, 15 August 1898, 23 September 1898, 14 September 1899, 29 May 1901, 27 December 1901, 15 October 1904, 26 June 1905, 19 January 1906, 4 August 1906, 18 January 1907, 1 May 1913, 16 October 1913, 19 December 1913, 25 March 1918, 6 & 7 May 1918, 23 January 1931, 1 & 23 June 1936, Otago Witness, 23 June 1892, South Canterbury Times, 20 March 1901, Otago Daily Times, 11 February 1910, Waimate Daily Advertiser, 11 September 1912, Oamaru Mail, 26 September 1912, Evening Post, 11 September 1916, 23 March 1918, 4 May 1918 (Papers Past) [21 July 2013; 14 & 15 April 2015; 30 September 2022; 30 & 31 July 2023]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [15 April 2015; 01 August 2023]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record

Related Documents

• WEDERELL William Nelson - newspaper clippings (pdf, 88.0 KB updated 18-Aug-2023)

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