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Aussie Soldier, English War Bride & Town Councillor

The story of Bertram Sydney Harold Bailey, Australian WW1 Soldier English nurse, Ivy Phoebe Moore

- and her parents, Thomas & Caroline Moore

Submitted by Judith Bush & James Goulter

Bertram Sydney Harold Bailey, known as ‘Syd’ for most of his life, was born on 3 Aug 1892 at Grafton on the Clarence River in northern NSW. He was the eleventh of sixteen children born to Edward Bailey and Mary Kezia Childs and was just one month old when the large family moved further north to Myrtle Creek in northern NSW. His father, Edward, had selected 138 acres of land with a frontage to the creek and one of the conditions for the selection was that the land had to be fenced. He also had to build a dwelling and live on the property. He constructed a cottage using slabs and shingles split on the property and the cottage was named ‘Fernleigh’. When Syd was about eleven years old a railway line was being built between Casino and Grafton. A little settlement was then established at Myrtle Creek Rail, which included a Post Office and General Store, which his father part owned. There was also a public hall, several houses and a Catholic Church. The rail line opened other avenues including the transportation of firewood to Casino and Lismore as the land was cleared. In 1907 Syd’s father donated land and built a Baptist Church at Myrtle Creek. Another cottage was built later and named ‘Rosebank’. More of this cottage later.

As Syd got older he worked on the Fernleigh property cutting cord wood for the bakers ovens, fencing, and as a stockman. He also worked on the construction of rail viaducts and wooden culverts for the road from Casino to Grafton. When WW1 broke out Syd enlisted for the AIF, but just as his unit was about to be dispatched to Anzac Cove, Gallipoli, he had to undergo an appendicitis operation. Had he gone with his unit his story may have been different - he may have died there with his cousins. At Lismore on 27 Jul 1916 Syd re-enlisted as a Private, Service No 6467, in the 15th Battalion, 27th Reinforcements. He was now just one month off his twenty fourth birthday. He embarked from Brisbane on the Boonah on 21 Oct 1916 and docked at Plymouth on 10 Jan 1917. On 28 Feb 1917 he departed from Folkestone for battle in France aboard the Invicta. No sooner there and he was in hospitalised with mumps. On 11 Apr 1917, within two months, he received severe gunshot wounds to the shoulder and

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buttock and travelled on the Hospital Ship Grantully Castle back to England where he was admitted to the 2nd Southern General Hospital in Bristol. On 13 Jul, about three months later he was sent on to Weymouth, Dorset, for further recuperation. It is unclear whether he was in hospital or billeted at Weymouth but it may have been both. It was here that he met Ivy Phoebe Moore who was working as a voluntary aid nurse. In late 1914 she had attended a course of lectures and demonstrations on home nursing that qualified her for a certificate with the British Red Cross. After his recuperation Syd was promoted to Lance Corporal and then in October 1917 was shipped back to the battle in France. According to his service record the rest of 1917, and up until October 1918 was uneventful. At the end of April 1919 he was returned to England where he took leave to marry. The marriage to Ivy Phoebe Moore took place in Birmingham on 7 May 1919 at the Parish Church, Reddich, Worcester. Although the Moore family were living in Weymouth, and had been since about 1909, their origins were in Birmingham and they were ‘Brummies’ through and through. This is where their lifetime of family and friends still lived and where the wedding took place.

Working on railway culverts near Myrtle Creek

Centre: bride & groom: Bertrand Sydney Harold Bailey [Syd] and Ivy Phoebe Moore.

Back row, l to r: John Bourne, Mrs Gwen Beard, Hardy Beard, James Sherer, Alf Stevens, Thomas & Caroline Moore

Front row, l to r: Mrs Elizabeth Bourne, Mrs Lily Dillon (bride's younger sister), Mary Middleton Moore (bride's youngest

sister), Alice Crabtree, Mrs Sarah Smith holding baby Marguerite Ivy (Lily's daughter) [Photographer: Walter Terry, of Redditch]

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When Ivy was very young she had suffered from pleurisy and pneumonia and one winter she almost died. Thomas & Caroline were advised to move to the seaside if they wished to rear her to an adult and they chose to move to Weymouth. The family had lived in the “back to backs” of Birmingham and were involved in brass work there, including making brass bedsteads. Birmingham was an industrial area with many cottage industries such as pearl button making and larger industries such as those in the Gun Quarter where percussion cap manufacture took place. The work was extremely dangerous involving several explosive substances including fulminating mercury. Explosions involving loss of life were not uncommon and the emissions from the factories would have been problematic. Ivy Phoebe Moore was born in Birmingham on 18 June 1897, the eldest daughter of Thomas Moore & Caroline Middleton. Their second daughter, Lily, was born two years later, also in Birmingham. Their third and last child was born in 1912 at Weymouth, about three years after they had moved from Birmingham. Ivy had long, beautiful, dark brown hair. When she would un-plait it to brush it, she could sit on it. Ivy’s father, Thomas, was a well known and liked local character. He was involved in local theatre, acting, singing and general entertainments. He had an avid interest in racing and became well known to the local

Thomas & Caroline Moore

Thomas & Caroline with youngest

daughter, Mary, c 1922

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sporting fraternity. One of his hobbies and pleasures was music. He had an excellent tenor voice and was a member of the Weymouth Operatic Society. He played a principal part in the production of 'A Country Girl' c1928 and had a cast part in ‘Merrie England’ .

Thomas Moore, believed to be the man in black, performs in ‘Merrie England’ at the Pavilion Theatre in

Weymouth 25th to 30th April 1927 [Photographer: S. T. Abrahams, Naval Photographer, Weymouth UK]

On 25 Aug 1911 the Western Gazette reports on a “Police raid on a Weymouth betting house”. Thomas was convicted of using his house for betting and he was given a hefty fine. He initially denied the claim but gave in with good grace and accepted his fate. This doesn’t seem to have affected his standing in the community. On 24th Sep 1912 Thomas enlisted in the Territorial Force of the County of Dorset for four years home service as a sapper, service number 205. The family were living at 35 High West St at the time. He was promoted to Acting Corporal on 13th Feb 1915 and but only served for four more months prior to being discharged, medically unfit due to suffering from neurasthenia, on 12 Jun 1915. Neurasthenia is an ill-defined medical condition characterised by lassitude, fatigue, headache, and irritability, associated chiefly with emotional disturbance - probably similar to what is now diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome. Many soldiers were diagnosed with this. His physical description on discharge was given as 36 years and 7 months old, 5 feet 5 ½ inches tall, fair complexion, blue eyes, brown hair and his trade was still ‘brass founder’. His address was now 161 Abbotsbury Rd, Westham, Weymouth.

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Thomas Moore’s Westham Cinema, being run for the AIF by the YMCA. It was closed soon after the First World War and was

thereafter used variously as a church, garage, then retail units in the 1950s.

At the outbreak of the war Thomas owned a cinema at Westham which he let to the Australian Imperial Forces Entertainments Board. This was run by the YMCA on their behalf.

In the years after the war this area was developed for housing and some of the streets were named after

Australian cities eg. Perth St, Sydney St, Adelaide Cres, Melbourne St.

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Thomas & Caroline outside their shop at 20 St Albans Street, Weymouth, c early 1920s

Below: 2018

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Thomas and Caroline did very well in Weymouth. He and Caroline operated various businesses eg. a sweet shop, dental technician (which he gave as his occupation at times). He also owned garages in Dorchester Road and at Greenhill. He operated a shop at 20 St Albans Street in Weymouth and we have a photo of the shop with Thomas & Caroline standing in the doorway. It would have been taken in the early 1920s. The shop still exists and is currently occupied by Rolys Fudge Shop, who are in the process of installing a copy of the old photo in-store.

Thomas entered Weymouth Town Council in 1924 and was returned as one of the representatives of Melcombe Regis South. He was a staunch Conservative and a prominent member of the Weymouth Ratepayers' Association. He was actively associated with the Gardens, entertainments as a member of the Gardens and Amusements Committee, and was also keenly interested in town advertising, being chairman of the Publicity Committee. No one strove harder than he to make the charms of Weymouth known far and wide. He was also interested in slum clearance, and played a prominent part in the controversy that was aroused over the demolition of Burden's-buildings, later the Regent garage). He fought all the time for the interests of the poor and the "under dog". His service to the town in Corporation affairs was disinterested, devoted, and sincere. He was a representative for over five years. In 1926 he was one of the delegation to visit Weymouth in Massachusetts to take part in some memorable celebrations in connection with the 150th anniversary of Independence Day. They took gifts with them and they reciprocated with a stone that was to be incorporated in the new Weymouth Town Bridge. Numerous newspaper articles in the Southern Times (US) and Western Gazette provide detailed descriptions of their departure, visit and return. Next page has an account of their send off, just one of many articles published on the whole trip.

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Southern Times, 3rd July 1926 [from the Weymouth Mass. USA paper]

This article quotes Thomas Moore at the send off held at Alexandra Hall, Weymouth. [in bold]

Weymouth, England to Weymouth, Massachusetts

Big Send Off to Mayor's Party Blaze of Enthusiasm in Alexandra Hall

Tonight (Friday) the Mayor of Weymouth (Councillor Percy A'Court) and his party will be nearing the town of Weymouth in Massachusetts, after a luxurious trip across the Atlantic in the giant Cunarder, Aquitania. It will hardly seem to them to be a week ago that they had such a magnificent send off from their own town at one of the most memorable of local assemblies, as it was certainly the most unique. …

The town's present to Weymouth across the seas is an exquisite silk banner, bearing the borough arms, and an album containing old prints, as well as pictures of modern Weymouth. The Mayor is taking many interesting personal gifts, including three silver cigarette cases, silver menu holder, silver cigarette ash trays, gold brooches, cases of spoons, as well as a replica of an antique mustard pot which was presented by Queen Charlotte as a wedding gift to the daughter of the Court Physician when George the Third was in residence at Gloucester Lodge, Weymouth (now the Gloucester Hotel). ...[more on gifts taken]

The Send Off Enthusiastic Scenes

Amid a blaze of enthusiasm in the Alexandra Hall on Friday night the Mayor and his party were given a rousing send off. The atmosphere was charged with something very nearly akin to emotion. The hall was crowded in every part. The Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack were enfolded both outside in the Gardens an on the stage of the Alexandra Hall. The Weymouth banner was also hoisted at one end of the stage, and added another rich and radiant touch of colour to the scene. The Municipal Orchestra, under Mr Eldridge Newman, rattled through a typically Yankee programme :- “the Diplomat”, a stirring Sousa march, then the “John and Sam” overture by Ansell, the foxtrot, “Barn, Barn, Barney Shore,” and a fantasia on American airs, which included everything from “Yankee Doodle”, to the “Old Folks at Home”.

From eight o'clock for an hour the music and the speeches were broadcast, a land wire being used to the Bournemouth studio. During the playing of the overture “Plymouth Hoe”, the delegation entered the hall. This was headed by the two mace-bearers (Messrs Winzar and Talbot), followed by the Mayor (Councillor Percy A'Court), the Town Clerk (Mr Percy Smallman), and Councillors W.J Peters and T. Moore...The party were in evening dress and at once took their places on the stage...

First of all they wish this evening to emphasize the great importance that there is in this visit to America, because this is the first time in history that an English town has been specially represented in America on Independence Day...

Councillor T. Moore said he was proud to be one of the town's representatives going to America, and he took that official send off as a reciprocating in the fullest degree the feelings of brotherhood and goodwill in which the invitation was sent. “I sincerely thank you (he said) and all those numerous friends, seen and unseen, who have wished us bon voyage. In conclusion allow me to say that, however attractive Weymouth in the United States may be, we shall be happy to meet you all again in this our beautiful town. Till then,

farewell and good night”.

The audience rose while the orchestra played the National Anthem and the “Star Spangled Banner”, which concluded the send off proceeding...

The Mayor of Weymouth, with his sister, the Mayoress (Miss Violet A/Court), the Town Clerk and Mrs Smallman, and Mr M.C. Prowse motored to Southampton on Saturday morning. Councillors Peters and Moore going on by train. ..On board the Aquitania...the Weymouth delegation were “snapped” by camera and film men...

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After the war Syd and Ivy arrived in Australia on 20 Apr 1919 on the Demosthenes. Syd was discharged from the AIF on 3 Nov 1919 and received the British War Medal and Victory Medal. Ivy was six months pregnant with their first child when they arrived at the tiny railway station of Myrtle Creek on 20th November, 1919. She was ill equipped to be a farmer's wife but she had to make the best of her lot. They moved into the second cottage that had been built, ‘Rosebank’. The old house wasn't fit to house fowls, let alone human beings. The roof leaked badly when it rained. The old detached kitchen was built from slabs of timber cut full width off the trees with axe and wedges, then put up splinters and all. Because the slabs weren't straight sided, they didn't close together, leaving large gaps or ventilation between them. In the summer it wasn't so bad, but come winter the cold winds and rain would have been unbearable.

Within three months this genteel English mother learnt to milk cows, make her own bread and butter, scrub wooden floors on her hands and knees and do the washing in large round tubs after boiling the clothes in a copper built into an old drum. She hung the clothes on long lines of heavy fencing wire, held sky-wards to dry with long forked saplings. One of the larger tubs was used for baths, which in winter would be placed in front of the big kitchen stove for a little warmth. All the water had to be carried from a tank many yards from the house for drinking and washing. The heat and flies were dreadful. Such a contrast to the nurse’s aid, piano and organ teacher that she was in England. Their daughter, Mary, was born on 25 Feb 1920.

Rosebank Cottage in 1920

Ivy & Syd with Mary in the bassinet on the verandah. Ivy’s ‘wedding shoes’ are under the cabinet at the left

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Syd’s father seemed to resent Ivy even before he had met her and most of the family seemed to feel the same. Was this because Syd had brought home a ‘foreign’ bride? They had no exposure to other cultures and maybe they thought she spoke or sounded superior to them when she was simply English. Over the years Ivy became alienated from most of them. She had two allies in Syd’s mother and his oldest sister, but unfortunately his mother died in 1922 and this was a great loss to Ivy. Syd felt Ivy wasn't trying hard enough and wouldn't believe that his father was causing trouble when he was absent. Over the years some of his family seemed to get along much better with Ivy, but she found it very hard to reach out because of all the misunderstandings when she first came out as a young English bride. This was when she especially needed the love, or understanding, and more so, friendship, to help her adapt to the very harsh country she had come to. Three more children quickly followed Mary: Violet Selina 1921, Joan 1922, and finally a boy, Edward in 1923 - four children in three and a half years. Syd was so excited that at last he had a son as there hadn't been a Bailey boy for twenty eight years. Mary suffered a terrible childhood due to her father. He had desperately wanted his first born to be a boy and seemed to hold it against her, never showing her any warm feelings. The other girls did not suffer in this way. On the 15 Jul 1924 Syd & Ivy and their four children under five years of age, boarded the Largs Bay to return to England to live, probably with financial assistance from Thomas & Caroline. Their daughter, Mary, has many memories of the time. Initially they stayed with her grandparents before their home was bought at 9 Westerhall Road, Weymouth.

Passport for Syd, Ivy and children

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Mary reminisced: “How I loved racing to my grandparents bed early in the morning and how I loved my grandfather. In our own home I loved sliding down the banisters, the flowers, days at kindergarten, playing with cousins and visiting other relatives around England on train trips. Lovely walks with Aunt Mary across quaint bridges, the snow on the windows and our doorstep, a wonderful Christmas and the lovely lights, donkey rides and Punch & Judy” Her stay in England seemed carefree and happy and she understood why her poor mother always seemed to cry in April and say, "Oh, to be in England now that April's here", and why she always pined for an English spring. The happiness wasn’t to last. Syd quarrelled with Thomas & Caroline over money matters and their home was sold. They returned to the same dreadful house in Australia on the Balranald on 9 Jul 1925. At least Ivy no longer had to milk cows and feed calves as Syd didn't go back to dairying. Instead he was able to get a job on the railways as a ganger and he still kept a beautiful vegetable garden with many kinds of fruit trees. They had three more children: Ruth 1926, Arthur 1929 and Lois 1930. Meanwhile, back in England, Thomas & Caroline also had a home, ‘Lynden Lea’, at Sutton Poyntz, near Weymouth, and owned a bed and breakfast, ‘Sunnyview’, in East Street. ‘Lynden Lea’ is still there. On 3rd July 1929, Ivy’s father, Thomas, tragically died. He had undergone an operation and died a few days later. He was only fifty three years old. The newspaper reported: “Today the flags over Weymouth Guildhall and in front of the Weymouth Municipal Offices were flown at half mast as a token of respect to the memory of Councillor Thomas Moore of 14 Dorchester Road, Weymouth, whose death was announced in the Echo last evening." This would have been a severe blow to the family and there were comprehensive obituaries in the local papers. Thomas was buried at Witton Cemetery back in their home city of Birmingham where his father, Thomas Underwood Moore was also buried. Caroline continued to live at ‘Lynden Lea’ and never remarried. She travelled widely to both Australia and America visiting her children.

Violet, Mary, Joan & Edward

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Thomas & Caroline’s second daughter, Lily, married a British WW1 soldier, Francis Norman Dillon (known as Frank) in 1918. They had three children, Marguerite Ivy ‘Pat’ in 1919, David Norman Thomas, 1922 and Peter John (known as John) in 1937. Her husband died in London in 1939. Lily died in Allegany, New York in 1948 when she was visiting her daughter, Marguerite. Caroline was also in the US at the time of Lily’s death and bought ‘John’ back to the UK where she and younger daughter, Mary, raised him. In 1945 in Weymouth, Marguerite married an American soldier from WW2, Glenn W. Niver. Carolyn’s youngest daughter, Mary, also married an American soldier from WW2, John J. Moore, in 1945 at Weymouth. They continued to live in Weymouth and had two children. John died in Weymouth in 1973 and in 1975 she married Arthur W Elson in Weymouth. Mary died in Oxfordshire in 2001.

Thomas & Caroline’s second daughter, Lily, with

Frances, Marguerite and David, 1922.

Thomas & Caroline’s youngest daughter, Mary, with John J.

Moore, 1945.

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Mary Bailey with her father, B.S.H.(Syd) Bailey, WW2

Caroline died in 1955 in Weymouth and is buried with Thomas at Witton Cemetery, Birmingham.

This photo was taken prior to Carolyn’s

death in 1955. Unfortunately we don’t have

a picture of the grave with her details.

Syd Bailey enlisted in the Army Citizen Military Forces in WW2. In their later years Syd & Ivy built a home at 125 Johnston Street, in the township of Casino, where they remained until their deaths. Syd died on 24 Oct 1969, age 77 years. Ivy died on 25 Feb 1981, age 83 years, never returning to her home in Weymouth. Both are buried in the Casino Lawn Cemetery, Uniting Church Section. Their daughter, Mary, secretly enlisted in the WAAF (Women’s Auxiliary Air Force) in WW2 to escape the bullying by her father. Her father also enlisted although details of his service are not known. While in the Air Force, Mary met her future husband, Victor Harold Goulter and they married in Casino NSW in 1942.

Lily’s headstone in Friendship, New York USA.

Carolyn had this made of Portland stone near

Weymouth and had it shipped to the US.

[Thank you to Elaine Niver, granddaughter of Lily, for her input and proof reading]