Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Cecil William Scott, known as Bill, was the older son of William and Jane (Jean Gibson, Jeannie, née Fenton) Scott. William Scott came from Scotland to New Zealand in 1874 with his parents (Lewis and Ann) and perhaps eight younger siblings. Lewis and Ann settled at Waitohi, and it was at Waitohi Flat that William and Jean married in 1887. William was employed by the Railways Department and so he and Jean moved frequently. Olive and Cecil were born at Greymouth, Annie at Christchurch and then Leslie at Timaru. Born on 31 December 1889 at Greymouth, Cecil started his education at Timaru South School at the beginning of the 1895 school year. He and two younger siblings were recorded as leaving Timaru South for Timaru Main School on 12 December 1900. It appears, however, that the family moved to the North Island instead. They were stationed at Napier in 1903 and at Wellington by 1905, moving in about 1910 to Auckland. There they lived firstly at Prospect Rise and then at Bracken Avenue until their deaths.

Cecil W. Scott, station overseer, Mount Eden, registered in the city (Auckland) on 31 July 1916 and was accepted. He was one of twelve recruits who were despatched to Wellington by the Main Trunk evening express on 1st August to fill the Auckland military district’s shortage in the nineteenth reinforcement quota, Cecil opting for the Mounted Rifles. He enlisted on 1 August 1916 at Featherston. While he gave his address as Prospect Rise, Mount Eden, Auckland, he recorded his occupation as station manager for George Scott, Wallah Station, Narrabri, N.S.W. George Scott was presumably his uncle who went away to New South Wales, marrying there in 1915 and dying there in 1923. Single and Presbyterian, he named his father as next-of kin – William Scott, Prospect Rise, Mount Eden, Auckland, and later Loco Foreman, NZ Railways, Auckland. The medical examination was conducted on 31 August. He was 5 feet 5¾ inches tall, weighed 10 stone, and had a chest measurement of 32-36 ins. His complexion was dark, his eyes blue, and his hair dark. His sight, hearing, colour vision, heart and lungs were all normal, his limbs and chest well formed. It is possible that his teeth needed some attention. He had had no illnesses or fits and was free of diseases. A man in good bodily and mental health.

Trooper C. W. Scott embarked with the New Zealand Mounted Rifles of the 20th Reinforcements, departing from Wellington for Suez, Egypt, by the “Moeraki” on 14 December 1916. He transferred to the “Mooltan” at Sydney. On disembarking at Suez on 24 January 1917, he was posted to Strength at Moascar. He was posted to the Auckland Mounted Rifles before being detached to the School of Instruction for two weeks. Qualifying as a Gunner at Zeitoun, he was transferred to the NZ Mounted Rifles Brigade.

Cecil was admitted to the 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital at Alexandria on 16 July 1917, and a few days later to the 24 Stationary Hospital. He was admitted to the 27th General Hospital at Heliopolis on 7 August 1917 for treatment for the whitlow in his left hand. On leaving hospital he was transferred to the NZ Mounted Rifles Brigade. Over a year later he again required medical treatment, probably due to the conditions of front-line service. He was sent to hospital at Cairo, sick, on 30 September 1918. A short time later he was back again. This time from the Casualty Clearing Station, he was admitted to the 27th General Hospital at Cairo on 8 October 1918 with malaria. On 23 October he was transferred to the Aotea Convalescent Home and a few weeks later he was transferred to the NZ Rifle Brigade and posted back to the unit's strength. Trooper Scott was appointed Lance-Corporal on 1 January 1919 and Temporary Corporal on 16 April.

Return to New Zealand came soon after. Having departed from Suez on 30 June 1919, the ”Ulimaroa” arrived at Auckland on 8 August 1919, bringing a draft of 1095 home from Egypt, among them 18413 T.-C. C. W. Scott of Auckland. He was discharged on 5 September 1919. He received the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

After his return home, Cecil farmed for some time at Kaipara Flats before moving to Whakatane where he was a steel worker. He worked through untill his seventies, finishing as a foreman.

Cecil William Scott next appears in the newspapers after being fined £2 and costs 12 shillings in the Whakatane Magistrate’s Court. He was found guilty of driving along Commerce Street on 2 July 1944 at a speed exceeding the limit of 30 m.p.h. A few years later Cecil married Mary Ella Margaret Kilby (known as Madge) on 19 June 1948 at Whakatane.

Cecil William Scott died on 25 May 1972 at Whakatane, aged 82 years. He was buried in the RSA section of Hillcrest Cemetery, his grave marked with a services stone. Madge died in 1988, also 82 years old, and was buried with him. In a very brief Will, signed in January 1958, Cecil Scott appointed the Public Trustee as Executor and Trustee and bequeathed all his estate to his wife, Mary Ella Margaret Scott. Their daughter, Margaret Ann Scott died in 1953, just three years old, and was buried at Hillcrest. They also had a son Alexander William (Alex). Cecil's brother, Leslie Gordon Scott, who also served in World War One, died in 1971 at Auckland. Their mother, Jean Gibson Scott, died in August 1932 and their father, William Scott, in September 1940. Both are buried at Purewa Cemetery, as are several of William’s siblings, while Alexander, who died in 1919 as a consequence of influenza, and James are buried at Timaru.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [24 August 2022]; NZ Defence Force Personnel Records (Archives NZ Code - R20810219 Record number – 0102472 Online – IE9392880) [25 August 2022]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [24 August 2022]; Auckland Star, 1 August 1916, 26 August 1932, 23 September 1940 [x 2], NZ Herald, 2 August 1916, 26 & 27 August 1932, 23 September 1940, NZ Times, 31 July 1919, Bay of Plenty Beacon, 11 August 1944 (Papers Past) [24 & 25 August 2022]; School Admission records (South Canterbury Branch NZSG) [24 October 2022]; Hillcrest Cemetery headstone transcription & burial record (South Canterbury Branch NZSG cemetery records) [24 August 2022]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [25 August 2022]; Probate record (Archives NZ) [25 August 2022]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

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