[Index]
Alfred Joshua BENNETT (1865 - 1946)
teacher, soldier, colonel
Children Self + Spouses Parents Grandparents Greatgrandparents
Alfred Joshua BENNETT (1865 - 1946)

+

Catherine Josephine LAWLER (1878 - 1953)
Barnett Basil BENNETT (1838 - 1929)











Bridget Elizabeth Maria RAPELL RUSSELL (1838 - 1924)











Alfred Joshua BENNETT

Alfred Joshua BENNETT Alfred Joshua BENNETT
Alfred Joshua BENNETT Alfred Joshua BENNETT Alfred Joshua BENNETT
b. 10 Jan 1865 at Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
m. 1920 Catherine Josephine LAWLER (1878 - 1953)
d. 01 Aug 1946 at Randwick, New South Wales, Australia aged 81
Near Relatives of Alfred Joshua BENNETT (1865 - 1946)
Relationship Person Born Birth Place Died Death Place Age
Father Barnett Basil BENNETT 04 Aug 1838 Dorset, England 30 Sep 1929 Mosman, New South Wales, Australia 91
Mother Bridget Elizabeth Maria RAPELL RUSSELL abt 1838 29 Dec 1924 Waverley, New South Wales, Australia 86

Self Alfred Joshua BENNETT 10 Jan 1865 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia 01 Aug 1946 Randwick, New South Wales, Australia 81

Wife Catherine Josephine LAWLER 1878 1953 75

Brother Basil Barnett BENNETT 17 Aug 1862 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia 1912 Ardlethan, New South Wales, Australia 50
Brother Ernest John Russell BENNETT 02 Sep 1869 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia 1951 82
Sister Isabella Elizabeth BENNETT 19 Oct 1871 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia 1953 82
Brother Frederick John Chapman BENNETT 25 Apr 1875 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia 14 Jun 1946 Narromine, New South Wales, Australia 71
Sister Edith Marie Alice BENNETT 1878 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia 1952 74
Sister Minnie Ann BENNETT 1882 Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia 1962 80

Sister in Law Eliza Kate MULHOLLAND 14 Oct 1857 Picton, New South Wales, Australia 17 Jun 1944 86
Sister in Law Una Kathleen SEFTON 1887 1939 52
Events in Alfred Joshua BENNETT (1865 - 1946)'s life
Date Age Event Place Notes Src
10 Jan 1865 Alfred Joshua BENNETT was born Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia
1920 55 Married Catherine Josephine LAWLER (aged 42) 76
29 Dec 1924 59 Death of mother Bridget Elizabeth Maria RAPELL RUSSELL (aged 86) Waverley, New South Wales, Australia
30 Sep 1929 64 Death of father Barnett Basil BENNETT (aged 91) Mosman, New South Wales, Australia 63
01 Aug 1946 81 Alfred Joshua BENNETT died Randwick, New South Wales, Australia
Personal Notes:
WW1
1st Australian Infantry Battalion
3rd Australian Infantry Battalion
4th Australian Infantry Battalion
20th Australian Infantry Battalion
Sudan
New South Wales Contingent - Sudan
Boer War
1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles
3rd New South Wales Mounted Rifles
CMG, DSO, VD, MID*

Gravesite Details
Age: 81, Death date listed may be the interment date
Source References:
62. Type: Web Page, Abbr: Australian Dictionary of Biography, Title: Australian Dictionary of Biography Online Edition, Publ: ANU, Locn: http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/adbonline.htm
- Reference = https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/bennett-alfred-joshua-5208 (Name, Notes)
- Notes: Alfred Joshua Bennett (1865–1946)
by Darryl McIntyre
Alfred Joshua Bennett (1865-1946), soldier, educationist and administrator, was born on 10 January 1865 at Dry Valley Farm, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, son of Barnett Basil Bennett, farmer, and his Irish-born wife Bridget Elizabeth Maria, née Russell. Educated at Wagga Wagga State School and Fort Street Training College, Sydney, he became a teacher with the Department of Public Instruction.

In 1885 Bennett enlisted in the Sudan Contingent as a corporal and saw action in the advance on Tamai. On his return he took up a teaching post at Wagga Wagga and on 10 April 1886 joined the local company of the New South Wales volunteer infantry as a second lieutenant. He was promoted lieutenant in December 1894 (he was then teaching at Windsor) and captain in March 1898. When the South African War broke out in October 1899 Bennett enlisted as a captain in the 1st New South Wales Mounted Rifles and was given command of 'D' Squadron. He was in action from February 1900 to March 1901, was severely wounded at Driefontein on 10 March 1900 and for 'courage and resource' at Bothaville on 5-6 November was awarded the Distinguished Service Order. His unit returned to Australia in April 1901 but Bennett, promoted major on 30 March, was transferred to the 3rd New South Wales Mounted Rifles Regiment and remained until May 1902. He commanded an independent mobile column under General Rimington, was mentioned in dispatches, and later attended the coronation of King Edward VII.

In 1902 Bennett resumed his career in the Department of Public Instruction and was a head teacher in 1914. On 13 August he was commissioned by Colonel H. N. MacLaurin to form the 3rd Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, which he expected to lead, but was appointed second-in-command to his close friend Lieutenant-Colonel Robert Owen, a regular soldier. The unit reached Egypt in December and went into training at Mena Camp where Bennett, who dealt severely with shirkers and malingerers, was soon nicknamed 'Defaulter's Waterloo'. A week after the landing at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915 he was promoted lieutenant-colonel and given command of the 4th Battalion. He led this unit during the Turkish attack on 15 May and soon afterwards became commander of the 1st Battalion. He served with distinction in the fierce battles for Lone Pine in August, when he was second-in-command to Brigadier General (Sir) Nevill M. Smyth. Wounded in action, he was evacuated with paratyphoid on 2 September and invalided to Australia; he received the Volunteer Officers' Decoration and was later appointed C.M.G. for his services at Lone Pine. From October 1916 to April 1917 he was in charge of troops on the transport Ulysses, then resumed active service in 1918, commanding the 20th Battalion in France from February to June. Invalided from the line, he was appointed commandant of the Australian reinforcements camp at Charlleroi, Belgium.

Demobilized in October 1919, Bennett returned to the Department of Public Instruction and became supervisor of evening continuation colleges. On 18 November 1920 he married Catherine Josephine Lawler at St James Catholic Church, Glebe. He remained with the department until 1929 when he was headmaster of Waverley Public School. He was then appointed administrator and chief magistrate of Norfolk Island for a three-year term, after which he went into retirement. He had retired from the Australian Military Forces in 1925 with the rank of colonel; during World War II he served as a manpower officer. Survived by his wife, he died of cancer on 1 August 1946 at Randwick and was buried in South Head cemetery.
76. Type: Web Page, Abbr: Find a Grave, Title: Find A Grave, Locn: https://www.findagrave.com/
- Reference = https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/218830897/alfred_joshua_bennett (Marriage)
- Reference = https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/218830897/alfred_joshua_bennett (Name, Notes)
90. Type: Book, Abbr: History of Wagga, Title: A History of Wagga Wagga, Auth: Keith Swan, Date: 1970
- Reference = p165 (Name, Notes)
- Notes: Among the 'heroes of the hour' was Alfred J. Bennett (later Lieu-tenant-Colonel) whose father Basil B. Bennett claimed to have planted Wagga Wagga's first wheat crop in 1846. A. J. Bennett trained as a pupil teacher at the Wagga Wagga Public School in the late 1870s and later taught in various New South Wales schools until the 1920s, but he was best known for his participation in the Soudan and Boer Wars and World War 1.

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