Charles Lydiard Aubrey Abbott (1886 - 1975)

Born 4 May 1886 in St Leonards, New South Wales (Australia)

Ancestors

Husband of Hilda Gertrude (Harnett) Abbott — married 24 Oct 1916 in Westminster, London, England, United Kingdom

Died 30 Apr 1975 at age 88 in Darlinghurst, New South Wales, Australia

Biography

Aubrey Abbott is Notable.

Aubrey Abbott is an Anzac who served in World War One.

Charles Lydiard Aubrey Abbott was born on 4th May 1886 in St Leonards, New South Wales (Australia). He was the son of Thomas Kingsmill Abbott, a stipendiary magistrate, and his wife Marion Lydiard. ^[1] He was educated at The King's School, North Parramatta, New South Wales.

He left school at fourteen and obtained work as a jackaroo and stockman on cattle stations at Gunnedah, New South Wales and Mitchell and Roma, Queensland. It was about this time New South Wales joined the other five British Colonies to federate as the Commonwealth of Australia. In 1908, aged 22 years, he joined the New South Wales Police Force.

On 18th August 1914, upon hearing the declaration of (the First World) War, Aubrey enlisted in the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force, which soon after captured German New Guinea, before transferring to the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 20th March 1915 and allocated to the 12th Light Horse Regiment. He fought at Gallipoli, being commissioned as a Lieutenant on 28th October 1915. ^[2] While serving at Sinai in July 1916, he fell ill and was invalided to hospital in England.

On 24th October 1916 in Westminster Cathedral, London, Aubrey married Hilda Harnett (1890-1984), daughter of John Joseph Harnett, an Australian grazier. ^[3]

Rejoining the 12th Light Horse in June 1917, Aubrey took part in the famous cavalry charge at Beersheba on 31st October. He was wounded in action in May 1918 and soon after promoted to Captain. He returned to Australia with his bride 20th July 1919 and his AIF appointment terminated on 13th February 1920. ^[4] Following the war he was awarded the 1914-1915 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal.

Aubrey was a pastoralist

Aubrey was a Member of the House of Representatives and Administrator of the Northern Territory

Aubrey's Uncle William assisted him financially to purchase Echo Hills, a sheep and cattle station at Kootingal, near Tamworth, New South Wales. Soon joining the Graziers Association and taking an interest in politics – understandable, as his Uncles (Sir) Joseph and William had been members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly and cousins Joseph and Macartney were members of the Commonwealth Parliament – Aubrey was elected to the Federal House of Representatives representing the electorate of Gwydir. He was appointed Minister for Home Affairs in 1928, beginning a long interest in the Northern Territory. He lost his seat in 1929, however, won it back in 1931. He resigned his seat in parliament when he was appointed Administrator of the Nothern Territory on 29th March 1937, three weeks after a deadly cyclone struck and destroyed Darwin. In this role, Aubrey controlled the police and public service, however, the army, navy and air force each answered to their own hierarchies and the docks were controlled militantly by the North Australian Workers' Union (NAWU). The NAWU owned Darwin's only newspaper, the Northern Standard. He also 'locked horns' with the judiciary. The pastoralists supported Aubrey. Darwin was then a frontier outpost; Alice Springs, in the Territory's south was linked to South Australia by rail, as was Tennant Creek in the centre to Queensland. Air travel was then in its infancy and not yet geared for freight. Although the telegraph line to Britain entered Australia at Darwin, shipping was crucial to supply and transport.

On 19th February 1942, four days after the Fall of Singapore to the Japanese Empire, 188 Japanese fighters and bombers attacked Darwin. Comedies of error, similar to those that had prevented Pearl Harbor's readiness two months prior, again occurred. Although a Roman Catholic coastwatcher on Bathurst Island gave almost 45 minutes notice of the approaching enemy, the message wasn't passed on to those who needed to hear it. Aubrey was unfairly, grossly unfairly, blamed for the calamnity, however, he was not counselled and had no juisdiction over the three separate military forces. Whilst some of his detractors speedily evacuated Darwin, Aubrey and Hilda remained until 2nd March before also evacuating the civil administration to Alice Springs. The resultant Royal Commission was highly critical of his lack of leadership and control following the air raids. He re-occupied Government House, Darwin, in July 1945, supervising the return of the public service. On 26th May 1946 Aubrey left the Territory on sick leave and was superseded the next day, aged sixty years.

Aubrey wrote Australia's Frontier Province

In 1947 Aubrey presented a paper on the Northern Territory to the Royal Geographical Society in London and his well-received book, Australia's Frontier Province (Sydney, 1950), offered a perceptive survey of the Territory's development. A member of the Imperial Service Club, Sydney, Aubrey retired to Bowral, in New South Wales' Southern Highlands, where he continued writing.

Aged five days short of 89 years, Aubrey passed away on 30th April 1975 in St Luke's Hospital, Darlinghurst, New South Wales. Following a State Funeral in St Mark's Anglican Church, Darling Point, his remains were buried in South Head Cemetery. ^[5] He was survived by his wife and their two daughters.

Sources

1. ↑ New South Wales Birth Index #12835/1886
2. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Captain Aubrey Abbott; accessed 8 Sep 2022
3. ↑ UK FreeBMD Marriage Index Dec qtr 1916, vol 1a, page 1120; registered at St George Hanover Square as Aubrey C L Abbott
4. ↑ Australian War Memorial nominal roll: Lieutenant Aubrey Abbott; accessed 8 Sep 2022
5. ↑ New South Wales Death Index #10634/1975

See also

• Carment, David. 'Abbott, Charles Lydiard Aubrey (1886–1975)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, published first in hardcopy 1993; accessed online 8 Sep 2022.
• Grose, Peter. 1942: The Year the War Came to Australia. Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest NSW, 2021. ISBN 9-781-76106-664-1.