Profile

GUTHRIE, William
(Service number 7/1623)

Aliases Name at registration - William Robert GUTHRIE; known as Willie
First Rank Trooper Last Rank Lance Corporal

Birth

Date 3 March 1887 Place of Birth Burke's Pass

Enlistment Information

Date 26 August 1915 Age 28 years
Address at Enlistment C/o H. H. Fisher, Albury
Occupation Shepherd
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status Single
Next of Kin R. GUTHRIE (father), Mount Nessing, Albury; later of North Street, Timaru
Religion Presbyterian
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation 7th Reinforcements
Unit, Squadron, or Ship Canterbury Mounted Rifles
Date 9 October 1915
Transport Aparima or Navua or Warrimoo
Embarked From Destination Suez, Egypt
Other Units Served With
Last Unit Served With NZ Mounted Rifles

Military Awards

Campaigns Egyptian; Egyptian Expeditionary Force
Service Medals 1914-1915 Star; British War Medal; Victory Medal
Military Awards

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

Discharge

Date 18 May 1919 Reason In consequence of being no longer physically fit for war service on account of ilness contracted (Malaria).

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Farmer; labourer

Death

Date 12 June 1969 Age 82 years
Place of Death Christchurch Hospital of Hawarden
Cause
Notices Press, 13 & 14 June 1969
Memorial or Cemetery
Memorial Reference Horlsey Downs Cemetery
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

William Guthrie, known as Willie, was born on 3 March 1887 at Burke’s Pass, the second son of Robert and Catherine Rebecca (née McCassey or Rolleston) Guthrie. (His birth was register as William Robert Guthrie, but throughout his life William Guthrie was used.) His father Robert, from Scotland, was one of the pioneers of the Mackenzie Country. He died unexpectedly in early 1920 at Timaru, where he and Catherine lived in retirement. Along with the older of his siblings, Willie was educated at Burke’s Pass School. Like his brothers, he followed shepherding.

William was the first of four brothers to enlist for war service, doing so on 26 August 1915 at Trentham. A shepherd for his father at Albury, single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of-kin – R. Guthrie, Mount Nessing, Albury. Trooper W. Guthrie embarked with the Canterbury Mounted Rifles of the 7th Reinforcements, leaving for Suez, Egypt on 9 October 1915. He was reported wounded in March/April 1918. Suffering with malaria, William Guthrie was invalided home. He embarked at Suez per the “Kaikoura” on 6 March 1919. All his overseas service was in Egypt. He was discharged on 18 May 1919, in consequence of being no longer physical fit for war service on account of illness contracted (Malaria), and was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

William Guthrie married Ellen Clara Wright on 27 April 1922 at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament, Christchurch. They were to have four sons and four daughters. William died at Christchurch Hospital on 12 June 1969, aged 82 years. From Hawarden, he was buried at Horsley Downs Cemetery after Requiem Mass at St Raphael’s Catholic Church, Hawarden. When Ellen died in 1988, she was buried with him. Three brothers of William served in World War One – James, Robert and John Archibald.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [30 June 2024]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [21 May 2019]; School Admission record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [30 June 2024]; Colonist, 10 April 1918, Timaru Herald, 23 January 1920, Press, 13 & 14 June 1969 (Papers Past) [08 December 2015; 23 May 2019; 30 June 2024]; Horsley Downs Cemetery headstone transcription [30 June 2024]; Horsley Downs Cemetery headstone image (Find A Grave) [30 June 2024]

External Links

Related Documents

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Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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