In Alfred Square, St Kilda, there is a Boer War Memorial designed by Arthur Peck; on the Upper Esplanade opposite is the
Clock Tower Memorial designed by
Norman Schefferle in honor of Carlo Catani. It was my research colleague, Isaac Hermann, who told me about the Boer War Monument
(1) and because we both like historical connections, I wondered if there was some connection between either Carlo Catani and Arthur Peck or Norman Schefferele and Arthur Peck. As it turns out there is a connection between Carlo's son Enrico and Arthur's son Archer. Hence the title of this post -
Fathers and sons: mateship and monuments.
The Arthur Peck Boer War monument in Alfred Square, over looking the Carlo Catani Clock Tower Memorial on the Upper Esplanade, St Kilda.
Photo: Isaac Hermann.
We will start by having a look at Arthur Peck, the architect. Arthur was born in 1855 to Hugh and Emma (nee Buswell) Peck. According to various newspaper reports he attended a boarding school in England for four years from the age of 14. When he returned to Melbourne he entered an Architect's office, Lloyd Taylor and Wyatt. He was an adventurer, went off to find gold in New Guinea in 1879 (read about this
here), learnt how to fly a plane when he was 80 years of age, was still practising architecture at 82, was a keen sailor and held various positions at the Royal Yacht Club, the Davey's Bay Yacht Club at Frankston and also founded what was to become the Sandringham Yacht Club. It was quite an interesting life, I will write a post on him some day. His father Hugh, who died in 1904, was a financial and real estate agent who lost his considerable fortune in the collapse of the land boom according to his obituary, see
here.
Arthur Peck's parents, Hugh and Emma, have a memorial plaque at
All Saints Anglican Church in East St Kilda. I wonder if this was installed when Archer and his brothers Hugh and Ronald were still serving overseas or did they wait until the boys returned home, so they could be there to see their grandparent's plaque installed.
Photo: Isaac Hermann.
Arthur Peck married Mary Frances Archer at the Christ Church Anglican Church in Longford in Tasmania on Dec 21 1887. She was Tasmanian gentry - her father was Joseph Archer of
Panshanger, Longford. Joseph inherited the property from his uncle of the same name. You can read about Joseph snr,
here and Mary Peck's father
here. Arthur and Mary had four children - Hugh born September 1888, Ronald born December 1889, Olive born January 1891 and Archer born June 1892. Mary died in 1923, aged 65 and Arthur died in 1945 aged 90.
The boys attended Melbourne Grammar School for various lengths of time, which is the same school Carlo's sons Enrico and Ettorre attended and this is the first connection that can be found between the families. I am not saying that any of the boys were best friends but we can place them there together. I own the book
Liber Melburniensis, 1858 - 1914 which contains
a list of Melbourne Grammar students and it tells me that Enrico (born January 1891) was at the school 1905 to 1909; Ettore (born April 1893) 1905 to 1912; Hugh 1903 only; Ronald 1904 to 1905 and Archer 1908 only. After leaving school Enrico and Archer then attended Dookie Agricultural College, where they obtained a Diploma.
The boys did battle on the sports field whilst they were at Dookie College - Enrico competed in the 100 yards handicap, sack race, 100 yards hurdles, where he came third and the obstacle race, whereas Archer was more of a distance runner and competed in the one mile handicap. Enrico was also on the football team at Dookie.
Enrico graduated in 1912 and took up a farm
Glenvale at Pastoria East, near Kyneton and Archer, who graduated in 1911, became an overseer at Urana Station, in Urana in New South Wales according to
Liber Melburniensis, 1858 - 1914 but when he enlisted he was an orange grower at Lake Boga. Sadly for the men their farming life was put on hold with commencement of the War and the halcyon days of battles on the sports field was swapped for the horrors of the battle field. They were not of course, the only 'old boys' from Dookie who served, as the Principal said
The college has sent more than its quota to the front, and it is still sending. The lads from the college have the right Qualifications - pluck, healthy blood, good and trained brains, and hard muscle. (Dookie and Katamatite Recorder January 6, 1916)
This photo, taken by Isaac Hermann, shows St Kilda's classic palm trees, a feature of Carlo Catani's garden designs - the rugged trunk of a palm tree is on the right edge of the photo; the Carlo Catani Clock Tower Memorial; Alfred Peck's Boer War Memorial and the white marble statue to the right is the St Kilda Victoria Cross sculpture (2).
Enrico and Archer enlisted and served in the 21st Batallion, 6th Infantary Brigade and they embarked on the HMAT Ulysses on May 10, 1915. They arrived in Egypt and then left Alexandria in the
Southland for the Gallipoli Peninsula. On the morning of September 2, 1915 the
Southland was torpedoed. There were over 1,800 men on board, with around 40 that died in the attack. The
Southland managed to make it back to a port under its own steam. You can read more the
Southland here and
here.
We know what Enrico and Archer were doing the moment the
Southland was hit as two other Dookie boys were also on board, William Carroll and Harold Nathan
(3) and William wrote a letter to the Principal of the College, a report of which was published in the
Dookie and Katamatite Recorder. W. E. Carroll and Harold Nathan, who used to amuse us in the art of legerdermain, have written from the front. The former writes to say he was delighted and grateful for the principal's newsy letter - just what is wanted by the boys. Archer Peck and "Puss" Catani were listening to the news about the old college when the torpedo smashed into transport. Needless to add, it interrupted me some, but I displayed sufficient presence of mind to stow the letter away for a more favorable opportunity. Archer took ill a few days after we landed, and has been in the hospital since. We had been in the trenches for seven weeks. The main thing is to be able to shoot, and to use a pick and shovel. (Dookie and Katamatite Recorder January 6, 1916, see
here)
William Carroll was not the only soldier on board the
Southland who displayed a calm demeanor after the torpedoing. This report is representative of the many reports in the Australian newspapers about the incident and starts with a quote from Lieutenant Sir Michael Bruce -
"I should like to write to every paper and say that never could men have faced death with greater courage, more nobility, or with a braver front than the Australians and New Zealanders aboard the Southland. At the last they sang, 'Australia will be There !' By God, she was! We knew them brave in a charge. Now we know they are heroes. Long live, in honor and glory, the men of the 21st and 23rd Australian Infantry!"
The report goes on to say
In the burning words above, the officer named [Bruce]
who was with the Australasian troops being conveyed to Lemnos aboard the Southland when she was torpedoed on September 2, expressed his intense admiration for the manner in which the Australasians aboard the doomed troopship awaited the outcome. There was no screaming of panic-stricken men when the deadly missile tore into the bowels of the vessel. No sign of fear was writ upon the faces, or shadowed forth in the demeanor o the untried troops from the Lands of the Southern Cross. (
The Globe November 27, 1915, see
here)
The men on the Southland, just after it was torpedoed. The photograph was taken at the time by Lieutenant-Colonel J. F. Hutchinson and published in the Herald on December 12, 1916. "It was a remarkable sight to see the steadiness of the men," he said when, speaking of his experiences. "It was a grand sight, and I never felt prouder, of the boys."
Enrico had also sent a letter to the Dookie College Principal, which was reported on in the same article as William Carroll's letter -
The principal had a long and interesting letter from E. Catani, giving an account of his adventurous experiences of being torpedoed whilst on the transport in the Mediterranean. The letter was read to the students, who were glad to hear from their old jovial fellow-student. "Puss" Catani has not lost any of his sense of humor or modesty. He does not tell us he had been made a lieutenant, but letters from his old mates supply the information. (Dookie and Katamatite Recorder January 6, 1916)
The Southland with list to port and down at bow.
The caption reads: Hospital ship, Neuralia, and French destroyers rushing to rescue.
Drawn by an eye-witness and referred to in the letter from Captain F. Johnston.
Image courtesy of Janice Caine.
After the
Southland incident, Enrico served at Gallipoli and was then Killed in Action at Pozieres on July 29, 1916. You can read about his war service
here, which I had taken from the book
War Services of Old Melburnians (4) published by Melbourne Grammar School in 1923. As we are on the subject of monuments, Enrico was buried at the Cemetery Post Station, near Pozieres. However in 1932 Enrico's sister, Enid, received a letter from Army Base Records which noted that
during the course of recent exhumation work in the vicinity of Pozieres, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission was successful in recovering the remains of this Officer which have since been re-interred with every measure of care and reverence in the Serre Road Cemetery, with a new headstone. Enrico had been identified through a disc and other effects. Enrico's former headstone at the Cemetery Post Station was replaced with one inscribed with "Unknown Australian Lieutenant."
(5)This is Archer's entry from War Services of Old Melburnians -
A. PECK enlisted on 25th March and embarked as Private in 21st Battalion on 8th May 1915. He duly arrived in Egypt and on journey from there to Anzac was on board the transport 'Southland" when torpedoed on 2nd September 1915. He arrived in Anzac on 17th September 1915 and remained there till Evacuation on 19th December, being one of ten Privates of his Battalion selected to remain in Steele's Post trenches till 3.30 in the morning of Evacuation. On return to Egypt he took part in operations in Sinai Desert during January and February 1916 and on 21st March arrived in France. He took part in the Battles of Pozieres and Mouquet Farm in 1916 being wounded in left knee and in hospital for two months and in September was promoted to Corporal. In 1917 he took part in the Battle of Bapaume and on 31st August obtained his Commission. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 2nd January 1918 and took part as Scout and Intelligence Officer for his Battalion in the Battles of Villers-Bretonneux, Ville-sur-Ancre, Hamel, Amiens, Cappy, Mont St. Quentin and Montbrehain in which he was gassed and after which he was transferred to 24th battalion from 21st battalion which was broken up owing to lack of reinforcements. He returned to Australia on 17th July and his appointment was terminated on 26th October 1919. (War Services of Old Melburnians)
Notice in the local paper of Archer being wounded at Pozieres.
Swan Hill Guardian and Lake Boga Advocate September 7, 1916
Archer's brothers Hugh and Ronald had also enlisted and they both returned home during 1918. Hugh became an Architect and worked initially with his father and died in 1965, aged 76 years old. Ronald may have survived the War, but like so many men he never physically recovered and died in 1933 at the age of 41. There was a short obituary in
The Argus Mr. Peck, who was educated at Melbourne Grammar School, was seriously wounded and gassed at Messines while serving with the 29th Battery, 8th Brigade, Field Artillery, in the Great War. Until about two years ago Mr. Peck was employed by the Lothian Publishing Co. Pty. Ltd., but ill health caused by his war injuries led to his retirement. (The Argus, October 14, 1933)
. Ronald had only been married in 1924 and had three sons, it's all so sad. Their sister, Olive, died in 1982 at the age of 91.
The War Service of the Peck brothers
The Great War: the RVIA Record of Service from The Royal Victorian Institute of Architects Journal, March 1921.
After his return to Australia Archer married Grace Ethel Ellis in 1932, I don't know if they had any children. We can get some idea of what Archer did after his return from the War from the Electoral Rolls. He did not return to Lake Boga, in 1924 he is listed as a grazier living at New Gisborne. In the 1937 and 1943 rolls Archer and Grace are living in Mont Albert and his occupation is that of Librarian. I don't know if he worked at the State Library of Victoria or some other Library or if he actually operated a 'Circulating' Library, a small private library where people would have to pay to borrow. Either way, I was a bit surprised to see this as his occupation (and nothing wrong with being a Librarian, of course, I am also a Librarian). By 1954 Archer and Grace had moved to Mount Eliza and he had taken up farming again, his occupation being a grazier. Archer died in 1967 at the age of 75.
The Catani family and the Peck family - on paper two very different families - the Peck family has long links back to the early days of white settlement in Australia, whereas Carlo Catani was a more recent migrant from Italy. The Pecks and the Archers were also migrants of course, but being English, they would never have considered themselves to be such, Tasmania and Victoria were after all British colonies, just another part of the Empire. Yet both Carlo Catani and Arthur Peck made their mark in Victoria - Carlo was a man who achieved so much that a monument was erected to him by the people of St Kilda and Arthur was respected enough in his field of architecture to be given the honour of designing a monument to the men from St Kilda who served in the Boer War.
Arthur Peck's name on his Boer War Memorial (1) in St Kilda. The tiles were constructed by the Australian Tessellated Tile Company.
Photo: Isaac Hermann
Did Carlo Catani and Arthur Peck know each other? Did they meet each other at Melbourne Grammar speech nights or sports days? Did they meet at the unveiling of Peck's Boer War Memorial in St Kilda on March 12, 1905? Did they meet at Dookie College if they went to visit their sons when they were both studying there? Did they meet on May 10, 1915 when they were seeing their sons off on the HMAT Ulysses? I cannot tell you, but we do know that their sons, Enrico and Archer, knew each other, that even though they had left their College days behind them they were both keen to hear the news from Dookie College on their way to Gallipoli on the
Southland, with their other College mates.
Next time you are at the Carlo Catani Memorial in St Kilda, gaze across to the Arthur Peck designed Boer War memorial and think of their sons - Enrico and Archer, mates from College, brothers in arms.
..........................................................................................................................................
Acknowledgement
Once again, I am indebted to fellow Carlo Catani enthusiast and my research colleague, Isaac Hermann, for, as I have already mentioned, alerting me to the St Kilda Boer War Memorial, which led me down this research path which connects Enrico and Archer. Isaac also told me about the St Kilda Victoria Cross Memorial and supplied me with some great photos and the blog post title
Fathers and sons: mateship and monuments. Thanks, Isaac.
Trove list
I have created a list of articles on
Trove relating to the Peck family, Enrico's time at Dookie College and few other Dookie College articles and the
Southland. You can access it
here. All the articles referred to in this post are on the list.
Footnotes
(1) For more information about the St Kilda Boer War Memorial, see the Victorian Heritage Database (VHD) citation,
here. The Memorial was unveiled on Sunday, March 12, 1905 by the Governor of Victoria, Sir Reginald Talbot. The VHD citation says that
it was designed by Arthur Peck, although it is probable that Robert Haddon, who did work for other architects including Peck, was largely responsible for the design. There are no sources listed for that statement but Haddon and Peck did work together. In 1905 they designed the Malvern Presbyterian Church. A report in
The Age of July 31, 1905 (see
here) says that
Mr. R. J. Haddon, assisted by Mr. Arthur Peck, had drawn up architectural plans for a handsome building to cost about £3000, and these plans were submitted to the meeting and approved. The Memorial also has a life-size figure of a soldier on one side, sculpted by Charles Douglas Richardson - I have written about him,
here.
C.D. Richardson's soldier on the St Kilda Boer War Memorial.
Photo: Isaac Hermann.
The Memorial honors local men who volunteered to fight with British forces against the Boers, or Dutch-Afrikaner settlers in South Africa from 1899 until 1902. It is also called the South African War and referred to as the Second Boer War. The First Boer War, fought between the Boers and the British, took place in 1880-1881, but no Australian troops were officially involved. You can read more about Boer War on the Australian War Memorial website
https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/atwar/boer
Robert Patrick Norton Robertson is listed on the St Kilda Boer War Monument and he also has a plaque at All Saints Anglican Church in East St Kilda. It is located right below the plaque to Hugh and Emma Peck, which is an interesting connection. You can read about Robert's family and his sister Muriel,
here, on the East Melbourne Historical Society website.
Photo: Isaac Hermann.
(2) The Victoria Cross Monument was unveiled April 21, 1985. It was designed and sculpted by Peter Schipperheyn. You can read about the monument on the Monument Australia website,
here. The monument honours four men who received the Victoria Cross.
Captain Albert Jacka (1893 - 1932) - received the first Victoria Cross awarded to the A.I.F in the Great War, was later the Mayor of the City of St Kilda. Jacka Boulevard in St Kilda is named for him. Read his Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB) entry here.
Major William Ruthven (1893 - 1970) - had a distinguished military career in both World Wars, was a member of the Legislative Council and Mayor of Collingwood. The railway station of Ruthven, near Reservoir is named for him. His ADB entry can be read here.
Lieutenant Lawrence Dominic McCarthy (1892 - 1975) - had a sad start to his life as his parents died when he was young and he was raised in an Orphanage. Lieutenant McCarthy was also awarded the French honor, the Croix de Guerre avec Palme. Read his ADB entry,
here.
Flight Lieutenant William Ellis Newton (1919 - 1943) - born in St Kilda. Was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross; he was captured by the Japanese and beheaded March 29, 1943, Read his ADB entry here.
Interesting to note that Enrico, Archer and the three Great War V.C recipients Albert Jacka, William Ruthven and Lawrence McCarthy all fought at the Battle for the Somme.
(3) W.E. Carroll was William Edward Caroll - Service number 815 - he was a farmer. Harold Nathan - you would think Harold Nathan would be easy to identify, but no. There was a Harold Nathan who enlisted twice, but he wasn't in the 21st Batallion and was still in Australia when the
Southland was torpedoed. The article (see
here) which published William Carroll's letter also includes this
Harold Nathan writes that two of his brothers were killed and two cousins and another brother are leaving for the front. He is anxious for news from his old college. I can't find two men with the surname of Nathan who were killed in 1915, so I believe Harold 's surname was listed incorrectly.
(4) Melbourne Grammar published
War Services of Old Melburnians in 1923. You can also access the same information on their website here
http://dbtw.mgs.vic.edu.au/dbtw-wpd/textbase/war_services.htm
After Enrico's death his father Carlo had the sad task of putting the property up for sale and this he did a mere four months before his own death on July 20, 1918. I presume a manager was employed to keep the farm operating during Enrico's absence and after his death, The clearing sale was held on March 15, 1918, and the property had already been sold. The advertisement (6) for the clearing sale gives us some idea of Enrico's farming enterprise and household.
