ROBERTSON, James Ashbrooke
(Service number 26176)
| First Rank | Rifleman | Last Rank |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 12/04/1886 | Place of Birth | Timaru |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | 33 North Terrace, Kelburn | ||
| Occupation | Carpenter | ||
| Previous Military Experience | 43 Mackenzie Mounted Rifles | ||
| Marital Status | |||
| Next of Kin | Mrs Sarah ROBERTSON (mother), 33 North Terrace, Kelburn, Wellington | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Rifle Brigade | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | 11th Reinforcements, 2nd Battalion | ||
| Date | 25 September 1916 | ||
| Transport | Devon | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | ||
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | |||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
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 | 9 April 1974 | Age | 87 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | |||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | Karori Crematorium, Wellington | ||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
James Ashbrooke Robertson was the oldest son of James McGregor and Sarah Ann (née Ashbrooke) Robertson. James and his brother John and sister Margaret were educated at Silverstream and Fairlie schools. His father served on the Silverstream School committee. Tragedy struck the family when Mr James McGregor Robertson suffered a serious accident in a heavy fall while mustering in the back country of Ashwick station late in April 1900. He was sent to Timaru hospital in a serious conditionwith a crushed arm. It appears that he never fully recovered.. Late in 1904 he faced banruptcy. James had been a shepherd in the Fairlie area for 12 or 14 years. After the family came to Timaru in early 1904, Mrs Robertson had been conducting a boarding house, and James had been ill, when they got into debt. James died in September 1905 at the Timaru Hospital and was buried in the Timaru Cemetery. widow Sarah married widower James Holmes, many years older than Sarah, on 23 January 1907 at St Mary's Church, Timaru. James had come up from Southland the year before. Sarah, however, was living in Wellington when both her sons enlisted. James married Helen Taylor in 1923. His youngest brother, George Reid Robertson, was killed in action in August 1915 at Gallipoli.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotapha Database [17 January 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal affairs) [17 January 2020]; School Admission record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [17 January 2020]; Timaru Herald, 25 April 1894, 13 December 1904, 27 September 1905, South Canterbury Times, 1 May 1900 (Papers Past) [18 January 2020]; Karori Crematorium record (Wellington City Council) [17 January 2020]
External Links
Related Documents
No documents available.
Researched and Written by
Teresa Scott, SC branch NZSG
Currently Assigned to
Not assigned.
Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License unless otherwise stated.