BENNETT, Sydney Grace
| Service Number: | 196 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen |
| Born: | London, England, United Kingdom, 1879 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Mine Overseer |
| Died: | Malarial Fever, Paramaribo, Suriname, 28 July 1907 |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 196, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen | |
|---|---|---|
| 6 Mar 1901: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 196, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 488 notes 5th QIB embarked at Pinkenba 6 Mar 1901 aboard Templemore arriving Port Elizabeth 1 Apr 1901. | |
| 3 Dec 1901: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 196, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB Bk 2, p. 46, notes invalided returned to Australia aboard Afric arriving Brisbane 27 Nov 1901, discharged 3 Dec 1901. |
Help us honour Sydney Grace Bennett's service by contributing information, stories, and images so that they can be preserved for future generations.
Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
When Sydney Grace Bennett enlisted in 1901 in the 5th QIB and his details were published with the rank and file in The Queenslander, 16 Mar 1901, he noted his N.O.K. as his father G. C. Bennett, Brisbane. His first name was transcribed incorectly in the article and by Murray on the Boer War Nominal roll, correct name Sidney used in the Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB held by Qld State Archives.
Sidney Grace Bennet was born in about 1879 in London, a son to George Charles Bennett and Sarah Jane Bennett. After returning from the Boer War he is recorded as being widely travelled including to South Africa, London, France and Holland. Whilst in Holland he was offered a job as a mine overseer on gold mines in Dutch Guiana (now Suriname). Whilst working on the gold mines he contracted malarial fever which reoccurred requiring hospitalisation in 1907.
It was reported in The Telegraph (Brisbane), 5 Oct 1907, that he died in hospital on 28 Jul 1907 at Paramaribo, Suriname, and was interred in the British Cemetery there. A memorial plaque was subsequently added to the headstone on the family grave at South Brisbane Cemetery, Brisbane.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 497; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB Bk 2, p. 46).
Click images to start slideshow.