Profile

BOWKETT, Humphrey James
(Service number 40767)

Aliases Jim
First Rank Private Last Rank

Birth

Date Unknown Place of Birth

Enlistment Information

Date 1 November 1916 Age
Address at Enlistment
Occupation Tailor
Previous Military Experience
Marital Status
Next of Kin T. Bowkett (father), Woodland Street, Timaru, New Zealand
Religion
Medical Information

Military Service

Served with NZ Armed Forces Served in Army
Military District

Embarkation Information

Body on Embarkation New Zealand Expeditionary Force
Unit, Squadron, or Ship 22nd Reinforcements, Canterbury Infantry Regiment, Company
Date 16 February 1917
Transport Navua
Embarked From Wellington, New Zealand Destination
Other Units Served With 1st Battalion, Canterbury Infantry Regiment
Last Unit Served With

Military Awards

Campaigns
Service Medals
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 6 February 1918 Reason

Hospitals, Wounds, Diseases and Illnesses

Post-war Occupations

Death

Date 27 June 1957 Age
Place of Death
Cause
Notices
Memorial or Cemetery Geraldine Cemetery
Memorial Reference Services Section, Row 504, Plot 13
New Zealand Memorials

Biographical Notes

Humphrey James (Jim) Bowkett was born 5 Nov. 1892 in Geraldine. He was the son of Thomas BOWKETT & Sarah CLEAVER, who arrived in NZ on the steam ship 'Columbus' in 1874, having married a few months earlier in Coventry. Thomas was born 1848, at Helston, Cornwall. He was a coach builder in Timaru until 1885 when he & his wife & family moved to Geraldine. At a later date Thomas moved back to Timaru where he set himself up in partnership in a finance company which was known as Starr-Bowkett.

During WW1 Thomas's son Jim served in the NZ Army. He spent 5 months in France & Belgium. He endured the horrors of the trenches at Passchendaele where in October 1917, he was wounded & gassed. He was then discharged & spent a few months in hospital, first at Abbeville, France, then at Bathurst in England.

He returned to NZ in early 1918 and in 1921 married Euphemia Davidson McPherson , (Phemie) at St. Paul's, Highfield, in Timaru. They later moved to Geraldine where Jim set himself up in his own tailoring business. They had three children [James b.1921, Joan b.1925, and Georgina b.1929 - see attached notes by G M Barnes for more] & Jim continued in tailoring for all of his working life. He was a foundation member of the Grande View Golf Club which was close to his home in Gresham Road. He died in June 1957.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotpah Database (17 June 2015)

External Links

Related Documents

Researched and Written by

Tony Rippin (South Canterbury Museum)

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.

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