Eric Arthur HAWKEN
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Eric Arthur Ellemere HAWKEN (1894-1946) was born near Tomerong to John Andrew HAWKEN II and Isabella SINCLAIR. They had married in Cambewarra in 1888 after John’s first wife had died the previous year at Coolangatta on the Shoalhaven River. John had eight children from his first wife and most of these would move to the north coast of NSW. Eric’s grandfather was John HAWKEN I who was a shipwright for Alexander Berry at Coolangatta. John senior constructed two 24 foot cedar flood boats whilst John junior was employed as a boatman and trained as a shipwright.
From about 1889, John (II) and Isabella conditionally purchased adjoining portions of land north west of the Tomerong village (Portions 24, 26, 30, 48, 103, and 109) totaling up to 546 acres. They named the farm ‘Merry Gully’ and here they cleared and farmed the land experimenting with dairying, sheep and cattle raising, ensilage making (preserving fodder) and fruit growing, establishing an orchard of 1200 trees and winning prizes at the Nowra and Milton Shows. They also became involved in community affairs including managing and donating to the Tomerong Church and holding a Church picnic on their farm. Their children attended Tomerong Public School and Eric appeared in the School Punishment Book. When Eric was about 18 his parents built a guest house at Huskisson and called it Federal Villa.
In March 1916 Eric enlisted describing himself as a 21 year old Dairy Farmer from Tomerong. After time training at Cootamundra he eventually joined the 17th Battalion. Ten days before he was due to leave the country he was given an enthusiastic send-off in Tomerong. In December he left Folkestone for Etaples, France and joined his Battalion on 18 December, on the Somme, nine months after enlisting. He would take place in the first major battle of 1917 east of Bullecourt. Eric Hawken received a severe gun shot wound to the right shoulder and arm on the first day of this battle. Later that day, Abraham Henry SUFFOLK (26th Battalion) would be killed supporting the 17th and 18th Battalion’s attack. Eric was evacuated to Birmingham. After recuperation he returned to France but was again evacuated in July 1918 with an inflamed knee. He rejoined his unit in France on 27 November 1918, two weeks after the armistice, and then returned to England leaving England for Australia in September 1919. Eric returned to Tomerong and resumed farming, probably with his brother William.
Five months after Eric’s discharge the area received a visit from the Prince of Wales when HMS ‘Renown’ came to Jervis Bay. The Prince visited Tomerong and Eric described the qualities of the horses available and then led the party on a canter to Pelican Point, McGuire and Sons Sawmill, the Clyde Shire Council and the Axe Handle Factory.
Eric spent time on the Gold Coast and worked in the banana industry. Eric married Catherine Norton Sainsbury in Queensland in 1924 and they were farming at Cooran just west of Noosa on the Sunshine Coast. By 1930 Eric and Catherine had moved to Kundibakh, 20km south west of Taree, where Eric was labouring and by 1935 they had moved another 10km west to Belbora, on the Buckets Way, half way between Gloucester and Nabiac, where they continued farming. Brice George BRADNEY, from the Axe Handle Factory on Yerunda Road, also settled and worked in this area from about 1924 until his death in 1947 and it is likely that the two were friends and possibly worked in the same mills before both took up farming.
Eric Hawken died at Taree in 1946, aged 52. He is buried in the Gloucester General Cemetery. Eric’s service is commemorated at the Shoalhaven Showground Memorial Gates. Catherine outlived Eric for another 40 years and was buried at Taree in 1986 aged 86. [1]
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Notes and References
- ↑ Tomerong Anzacs "I've had my fling" : the story of the men who enlisted for World War I associated with the NSW South Coast village of Tomerong (v4.5) TP4828. R Blair, Tomerong, N.S.W. Tomerong Genealogy Database R1254
Images
- School Punishment Book TP1294.
- School Certificate TP5075.
- AIF Transport TP5075.
- 17th Battalion Map TP5075.
- Headstone R1254.
- Origin Map TP6266.
Links
- Tomerong Local History Web Page- tomeronghistory.com
- Tomerong Past Facebook Album- Tomerong Past Facebook This site may provide more information relative to this family. Check the 'Families' and 'Monuments' albums and those institutions that the family contributed to e.g. 'School', 'Sawmills', 'Clyde Shire' etcetera.
- Tomerong Anzacs TP4828- Tomerong Anzacs
- Eric Arthur Hawken Wikitree- Eric Arthur Hawken Wikitree
