MATTHEWS, William Charles
| Service Numbers: | 438, 3875 |
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| Enlisted: | 19 April 1902 |
| Last Rank: | Driver |
| Last Unit: | 1st Divisional Ammunition Column |
| Born: | Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia, 6 December 1881 |
| Home Town: | Goulburn, Goulburn Mulwaree, New South Wales |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Railway Employee - Engine Driver |
| Died: | Narraweena, Sydney, New South Wales, 1974, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: | Golburn MU IOOF Loyal Coronation Lodge WW1 Roll of Honour, Goulburn Boer War Memorial |
Boer War Service
| 19 Apr 1902: | Enlisted Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Trooper, 438, 5th Battalion, Australian Commonwealth Horse |
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World War 1 Service
| 19 Jan 1915: | Enlisted AIF WW1, Driver, 3875, 1st Divisional Ammunition Column | |
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| 19 Feb 1915: | Involvement Driver, 3875, 1st Divisional Ammunition Column, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '22' embarkation_place: Sydney embarkation_ship: HMAT Runic embarkation_ship_number: A54 public_note: '' | |
| 19 Feb 1915: | Embarked Driver, 3875, 1st Divisional Ammunition Column, HMAT Runic, Sydney | |
| 5 Mar 1919: | Embarked AIF WW1, Driver, 3875, 1st Divisional Ammunition Column, ex Portsea to Sydney per HT Nevasa | |
| 26 Jan 1920: | Discharged AIF WW1, Driver, 3875, 1st Divisional Ammunition Column |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Chris Buckley
Driver William Charles Matthews (Service No: 3875) enlisted in the AIF on 19 January 1915 and embarked from Sydney with 1st Divisional Amuunition Column on 19 February 1915 on board HMAT A54 Runic. Driver Matthews served in Gallipoli, Belgium and France with 1st Howitzer Battery and 2nd Field Artillery Brigade and was atatched to 1st Divisional Ammunition Column at Discharge on 26 January 1920.
Born in 1881 in Goulburn NSW, William was the third of nine children of William Matthews Snr (b1851 in Gloucestershire, England) and Mary Jane Mulholland (b1853 in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland). William Snr immigrated with his parents and siblings in 1858, arriving in Sydney NSW on board the Golconda and Mary immigrated with her parents and siblings in 1862, arriving in Sydney, NSW on board the Ocean Empress. William (an Engine Stoker) and Mary married in 1877 in Picton, Sydney NSW and by 1878 had settled in Goulburn NSW where William Snr worked as an Engine Driver. William Snr died in 1913 as a result of a fall from the engine he was driving - and was identified by son William Jnr, who then testified at the Inquest.
William was a Railway Worker in Goulburn NSW and served with 5th Light Horse Regiment (NAA) before enlisting with the AIF. In 1912 in Sydney NSW, William married Mary Josephine Creighton (b1887 in Goulburn, NSW). William and Mary lived in Goulburn and Sydney NSW where they raised their family and William worked as an Engine Driver. Mary died in 1968 and William in 1973.