Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Cecil was the son of Ernest Devereaux DAVENPORT & Florence Elizabeth HARRIS and was born on the on the 6th of March 1889 in Watergate (Flaxley), near Macclesfield, SA.

His parents were married on the on the 4th of January 1882 in the Congregational Church, Macclesfield, SA.
His father was the son of Robert DAVENPORT & Dorothea FULFORD and was born on the 12th of August 1850 in Battunga (Flaxley), SA.
His mother was the daughter of Reverend Samuel Link HARRIS & Emily HOPE and was born on the 25th of July 1850 in Clare, Suffolk, England.

Cecil was the youngest child born into the family of 3 children.

Cecil was the great grandson on George Davenport of Oxford, who was an agent of the South Australian Company and a director of the South Australian Banking Company and in 1839, he with two partners he paid £4416 for a special survey of 4000 acres (1619 ha) and a town reserve and sent his son Francis to South Australia to select the site. Francis arrived at Adelaide in February 1840 and applied for the land near Port Lincoln; in June he cancelled that claim and selected the survey on the upper branches of the River Angas. There the new township was named Macclesfield,

Cecil’s grandfather Robert and Robert’s brother Sir Samuel had arrived in Adelaide in February 1843. The Davenport brothers soon moved to Macclesfield where they managed the survey after their brother Francis died on the 8th of April 1843 from Typhus. Samuel and his wife lived in a stone cottage on sixty acres at the township of Macclesfield while Robert bought nearby Watergate (Battunga Estate/ Flaxley).

At Macclesfield the Davenport’s was genuinely concerned with the welfare of their tenants and made their rental terms attractive to prospective settlers in the area. From the outset they maintained the traditional values of the liberal squire; for instance, in December 1843 they wrote of the Christmas fare which they as proprietors had provided for their tenants at Macclesfield; one of the first cricket matches in the colony was included in the festivities.

Cecil spent his early childhood of Battunga Estate in the large stone home which by this time had grown to 2300 acres. He attended the Macclesfield Congregational Church with his family.

The Davenport family sold the Battunga Estate and in mid 1914 moved to Wattle Street, Fullarton.
Within 12 months they had purchased allotments 7, 8, 11 & 12 in the “Mitcham Estate” Lower Mitcham.
These allotments are located on the corner of Wattlebury Road & Chasewater Street. Allotment 8 became number 1 Wattlebury Road, the Davenport Family’s new home.

Cecil was educated at Prince Alfred College, he became a Station bookkeeper and station hand in Renmark.

At the age of 27, Cecil enlisted into the AIF on the 30th of March 1916 in Adelaide and was allotted the service number 4487.

Cecil returned to Australia on the 10th of June 1919 on board the “Port Lyttelton” and was discharged on the 14th of September.

After spending time with his family he returned to Renmark.

On the 1st of November 1924 Cecil obtained soldier settlement block 106 in Chaffey, Ral Ral Division in Renmark, containing 24 acres and he turned this block into a fruit orchard.

Cecil enjoyed playing golf and cricket for the Renmark West Cricket Club.

Cecil married Valerie Villiers SANDERSON on the 6th of September 1927 in the Christ Church, North Adelaide.
Valerie was the daughter of Francis Villiers SANDERSON & Fannie Augusta KLINGENDER and was born on the 30th of April 1898 in Largs Bay, SA. Her father was a solicitor.
After they married they returned to Renmark.

They welcomed their first children, twins; Roslyn Devereaux & Philip Devereaux on the 14th of July 1928 in Norwood.

Dion Fulford was their last child and was born on the 20th of January 1931.

Their children attended the Renmark North Primary School.

With the outbreak of WW2, aged 53 years, Cecil enlisted into the 8th Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps on the 17th of April 1942 in Renmark and was allotted the service number S74882.
He listed his wife as his next of kin.
He was taken on strength on the 5th of May 1942
Cecil was discharged, medically unfit, on the 30th of June 1943.

In October 1945 his mother died at her residence, 1 Wattlebury Road, Lower Mitcham. Cecil inherited the family home and in 1948 Cecil sold his orchard in Renmark and the family moved into Cecil’s old family home.

Cecil was a member of the Mitcham RSL Sub Branch and remained in their home until he died.

Cecil died on the 4th of March 1974 and was buried two days later in the Centennial Park Cemetery; General AE, Path 14, Grave 968.

After Cecil’s death, section 3517, Hundred of Macclesfield, where the Davenport Cemetery is located was transferred to the District Council of Meadows.

Valerie died on the 17th of January 1989 and was buried in the Centennial Park Cemetery; General AE, Path 14, Grave 968, with Cecil.

Military

At the age of 27, Cecil enlisted into the AIF on the 30th of March 1916 in Adelaide and was allotted the service number 4487.
He listed his mother as his next of kin.
He reported for duty 4 days later in Mitcham and was posted to the 50th Battalion, A Company and completed his musketry training.
On the 16th of November he was posted to the 32nd Battalion, 12th Reinforcement.

Cecil embarked from Adelaide on board the HMAT A35 Berrima on the 16th of December 1916 and disembarked in Devenport, England on the 16th of February 1917.
They marched into the 8th Training Battalion in Hurdcott Camp, near Fovant, Wiltshire.
Cecil embarked for France on the 11th of October and joined the 32nd Battalion on the 26th of October at Chateau Segard, near Dickebusch.

In April 1918 Cecil and the 32nd Battalion were based at Corbie and on the 1st of May 1918 Cecil was gassed and suffered burns and was admitted to the 41st Stationary Hospital 5 weeks.

On the 8th of August 1918 the Battalion participated in the allied offensive at the battle of Amiens.
They were then subsequently involved in the operations that continued to press the retreating Germans through August and into September.
They fought their last major action of the war between the 29th of September and the 1st of October when the 5th and 3rd Australian Divisions and two American divisions attacked the Hindenburg Line across the top of the 6-kilometre-long St Quentin Canal tunnel; the canal was a major obstacle in the German defensive scheme.

Cecil and the Battalion were resting and retraining out of the line when the war ended on the 11th of November 1918.
Cecil was granted 2 weeks leave in England in February 1919 before rejoining his unit on the 14th of March and on the 23rd of April he embarked from France for England for the last time.

Cecil returned to Australia on the 10th of June 1919 on board the “Port Lyttelton” and was discharged on the 14th of September.

WW2

With the outbreak of WW2, aged 53 years, Cecil enlisted into the 8th Battalion Volunteer Defence Corps on the 17th of April 1942 in Renmark and was allotted the service number S74882.
He listed his wife as his next of kin.
He was taken on strength on the 5th of May 1942
Cecil was discharged, medically unfit, on the 30th of June 1943.