HUNT, Albert Ernest
(Service number 2/2648)
| First Rank | Gunner | Last Rank | Corporal |
|---|
Birth
| Date | 26/01/1891 | Place of Birth | Christchurch |
|---|
Enlistment Information
| Date | Age | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Address at Enlistment | Craigmore, Timaru | ||
| Occupation | Motor driver | ||
| Previous Military Experience | |||
| Marital Status | |||
| Next of Kin | James HUNT (father), Waipara, North Canterbury | ||
Military Service
| Served with | NZ Armed Forces | Served in | Army |
|---|
Embarkation Information
| Body on Embarkation | New Zealand Expeditionary Force | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit, Squadron, or Ship | New Zealand Field Artillery, 9th Reinforcements | ||
| Date | 8 January 1916 | ||
| Transport | Maunganui | ||
| Embarked From | Destination | Suez, Ehypt | |
| Other Units Served With | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Last Unit Served With | NZ Field Artillery | ||
Military Awards
| Campaigns | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Service Medals | |||
Award Circumstances and Date
16/17 September 1918
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 | 27 April 1976 | Age | 85 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Place of Death | Christchurch | ||
| Cause | |||
| Memorial or Cemetery | |||
| New Zealand Memorials | |||
Biographical Notes
Albert Ernest Hunt, who was born on 26 January 1891 at Christchurch, was the youngest son of James John Hunt and his first wife, Elizabeth Ann née Lancaster. Elizabeth died in 1895, leaving her husband and five young children. James was remarried to Clara Novella Langford in 1896, and lived in South Canterbury at Hilton and Totara Valley for many years before moving to Waipara sometime before 1915.
Albert and his siblings were in the first decade in the Ruapuna School and he attended the Hilton School after his father James John Hunt bought a farm at Hilton. When Albert left school he worked at Craigmore and later was a motor driver for Mr H Elworthy.
When he enlisted Abert was still working as a motor driver for H Elworthy of Craigmore, Timaru. When his brother was wounded in September 1916, Albert was serving in the medium trench mortar battery. Corporal A. E. Hunt, 2/2648, New Zealand Field Artillery, was mentioned in despatches on 16/17 September 1918. After the war, Albert married Winifred Mary Ellenor Quigley in 1922. He also went into farming, taking over his father's farm at Waipara, North Canterbury, that he had purchased in the Glenmark Settlement ballot. Albert sold that farm and purchased 1100 acres on the Main North Road near the Glenmark Church at Waipara, where he farmed until retiring to Amberley. In his later life Albert had served his communty again, this time as chairman of the Waipara County Council in the early 1950s.
Albert's oldest brother, William James Eugene Hunt, a married man with two children, was also listed in the Reserve Rolls in 1917, but died in 1918; his other brother, Frederick Charles Hunt, also served in World War I. Alfred and Frederick sent wreaths when William’s widow died in 1930 in Christchurch, as did their father and step-mother.
Sources
Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [05 June 2020]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [05 June 2020]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [05 June 2020]; Lyttelton Times, 22 June 1895, Otago Witness, 4 December 1918, Press, 21 March 1919, 21 March 1930, 3 November 1942 (Papers Past) [05 June 2010]; SCRoll web submissions by G Hunt, 18 October 2021 & 22 March 2022.
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.