Birth

Enlistment Information

Military Service

Embarkation Information

Military Awards

Death

Biographical Notes

Peter Francis Scollard was born at Timaru on 27 July 1895, the fourth son of Barry (Barney) Scollard and Catherine (Kate) née Scollard. B. Scollard competed in the Irish Jig at the South Canterbury Caledonian Society’s sports in 1879. He was at Temuka in November 1879 when he had a subscription to the NZ Tablet. He competed in the Irish Jig again in 1885, gaining a second placing. Barney Scollard was fined in the Timaru Court in August 1886 for allowing eight head of cattle each to wander on a road near Kerrytown. Barry’s father Michael had also come to New Zealand. Barry and Catherine who both hailed from County Kerry, Ireland, married in 1889 in New Zealand. Five sons were born in the Kerrytown/Pleasant Point district, followed by several daughters. Mr B. Scollard of the Levels Plains, was a young married man with two children, when he met with a serious accident while chaff-cutting at Hilton on 14 June 1893. The glove on his left hand was caught in the cogs of the feeder and his hand drawn in, with the result that the whole of the hand was torn away, and, as was subsequently shown the arm broken above the wrist. Although suffering intense pain Mr Scollard was able to walk to Hilton where a conveyance was procured and the unfortunate man driven to the Star Hotel, Temuka and attended by doctors. The stump of the hand and a portion of the arm were amputated. Fortunately, he was progressing favourably. The Scollard Relief Fund was established in the district. Barry and Catherine lived in the area until October 1903, it seems, moving to Hurunui. The boys transferred to Ethelton School.

Peter was an engine-driver in Wellington when he enrolled in mid-March 1916 as fit for active service. His name was amongst those of the men who had been called up and went into camp with the Sixteenth Reinforcements at the beginning of May. In late August, P. F. Scollard, a fitter, Wellington, registered for the Infantry, having been passed medically fit. There, parading in Wellington City on 19 September 1916 to go into camp was P. F. Scollard. So, he enlisted on 19 September 1916 at Trentham, a fitter for the Wellington Gas Company. He had, in fact, enlisted previously, on 2 May 1916, when he was an engine driver with the Petone Borough Council, but he had been discharged at Trentham Camp on 9 May, medically unfit. He did belong to the NZ Cadets. Single and Roman Catholic, he named his father as next-of-kin – B. Scollard, Public Works Department, Whareanui, Blenheim, and later of Christchurch.

Rifleman P. F. Scollard embarked with the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, departing on 19 January 1917 per the “Waitemata” and disembarking at Devonport, England on 28 March. He was in hospital in May 1917, his not a severe case. The casualty list issued on 10 October 1917 reported him wounded and admitted to hospital. In May 1918 from “Somewhere in France”, Peter Scollard (Pleasant Point) was one of the boys to acknowledge the gifts sent to the Front out of the Timaru Mayoress’s Fund. Peter F. Scollard was wounded again in August 1918 and admitted to hospital. L.-Cpl. P. F. Scollard returned to New Zealand per the “Carpentaria” which was scheduled to arrive at Lyttelton on 17 May 1919. He was discharged on 16 June 1919, on the termination of his period of engagement, and was awarded the British War Medal and the Victory Medal.

After the war Peter worked variously as a labourer, fireman, signal erector and metal worker. Initially at home in Christchurch, by 1922 he had gone to Auckland where he was a fireman. He married Lillian Thompson in 1924. They later divorced. Peter Francis Scollard was a boilermaker assistant at the Naval Base, Auckland, and single, when he enlisted for Worls War Two. He remained in Auckland, retiring in the 1960s. Peter Francis Scollard died at Auckland on 25 October 1969, aged 74 years, and was buried in Waikumete Cemetery, Auckland, a services plaque marking his grave. Two brothers also served in World War One – Gerald and Thomas; another brother, Barry Joseph, was a ploughman at Kawarau Falls when he was listed on the Reserve Rolls and then called up in the ninth ballot; the eldest brother, Michael, was a married man with a child, a butcher in Christchurch when he was called up from the Reservists in the eighteenth ballot. Michael Scollard, butcher, 49 Durham Street, passed fit and classified C1, appealed on the ground of undue hardship, as he was the only son remaining at home. Three brothers were on service, and one had been wounded (Peter). Another had been drowned while returning from medical examination (Barry Joseph known as Joseph). A sine die adjournment was allowed. Joseph drowned in the Kawarau River in February 1916. Barry and Catherine Scollard returned to Christchurch during the war after a few years in the North Island and time at Blenheim in 1916. Mrs Catherine Scollard died at her Christchurch residence on 20 August 1939 and Barry Scollard at his Christchurch residence on 27 December 1941. They were buried at Bromley Cemetery.

Sources

Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph Database [26 February 2026]; NZ BDM Indexes (Department of Internal Affairs) [01 March 2026]; School Admission record [01 March 2026]; Waikumete Cemetery record [01 March 2026]; Waikumete Cemetery headstone image (Find a Grave) [01 March 2026]; Dominion, 15 March 1916, 29 April 1916, Evening Post, 2 May 1916, 26 August 1916, 19 September 1916, Timaru Herald, 22 May 1918, 10 September 1918, Sun, 3 May 1919 (Papers Past) [01 March 2026]; NZ Electoral Rolls (ancestry.com.au) [01 March 2026]

External Links

• Auckland War Memorial Museum Cenotaph record
• Military personnel file

Related Documents

No documents available. 

Researched and Written by

Teresa Scott, SC Genealogy Society

Currently Assigned to

Not assigned.