Robert Henry COTTAM

COTTAM, Robert Henry

Service Number: 26
Enlisted: 4 March 1915
Last Rank: Captain
Last Unit: 2nd/25th Infantry Battalion
Born: Herberton, Queensland Australia, 23 December 1882
Home Town: Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Not yet discovered
Died: Tennyson, Brisbane, Queensland Australia, 17 December 1945, aged 62 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Not yet discovered
Memorials:
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Boer War Service

1 Oct 1899: Involvement Private, 26, Queensland Imperial Bushmen
18 May 1900: Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 26, 4th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 475 notes 4th QIB embarked 18 May 1900 aboard Manchester Port arriving Beira 14 Jun 1900.
10 Aug 1901: Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 26, 4th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 477 notes 4th QIB embarked 5 Jul 1901 returning to Australia aboard Britannic arriving Brisbane 5 Aug 1901, disbanded 10 Aug 1901.

World War 1 Service

4 Mar 1915: Enlisted AIF WW1, Lieutenant, 2nd/25th Infantry Battalion
26 Jun 1915: Promoted AIF WW1, Captain, 2nd/25th Infantry Battalion
29 Jun 1915: Involvement Captain, 25th Infantry Battalion, --- :embarkation_roll: roll_number: '15' embarkation_place: Brisbane embarkation_ship: HMAT Aeneas embarkation_ship_number: A60 public_note: ''
29 Jun 1915: Embarked Captain, 25th Infantry Battalion, HMAT Aeneas, Brisbane
2 Mar 1917: Discharged AIF WW1, Captain, 2nd/25th Infantry Battalion

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Biography contributed by Claude McKelvey

Robert Henry Cottam served in both the South African (Boer) War and WW1.

He first served as a Private S.N. 26 in the 4th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Boer War. It is also noted in his records that he served as a Corporal S.N. 2238 with the Johannesburg Mounted Rifles. 

He was working as a Secretary & General Agent in Brisbane when he enlisted in WW1 serving as a Lieutenant (rising in rank to Captain) in the 25th Infantry Brigade. After the war he married Jean Abbott Ferguson on 27 Aug 1919 in Brisbane and they had two children. At the time of his passing he was working as a Sharebroker and living at Tennyson in Brisbane.

(sources AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 480; Australian National Archives WW1 service record).

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