Details of those to have served aboard Gayundah have proved difficult to locate.
The following information has been distilled primarily from an article “The Queensland Naval Forces” published in the 14th October 1899 edition of ‘The Queenslander’.
The Queensland Marine Defence Force comprised of three elements: Staff, Permanent Marine Force, and Naval Brigade.
Staff
Delivery Crew - sailed Gayundah from Britain to Australia
Captain: Captain Henry Townley Wright R.N.
First Lieutenant: Lieutenant Hesketh R.N. (ret.)
Navigator: Lieutenant Williams R.N.
Chief Engineer: Nicholson R.N. (ret.)
At the time of the ‘mutiny’ aboard Gayundah:
Captain Henry Townley Wright.
First Lieutenant, Francis Pringle Taylor.
Once Blue Ensign was re-hoisted (following mutiny) – command passed to Lieutenant Taylor and in due course to Captain Walton Drake (appointed Commander 1889, Acting Naval Commandant 1892. Drake was a descendant of Admiral Drake of Spanish Armada fame).
Staff-Paymaster Edward Vincent Pollock. (Appointed 1886 as Paymaster and Secretary to the Naval Commandant. In 1889 became Staff Paymaster – a position still held in 1899).
At time Gayundah recommissioned in December of 1898,
The Queenslander newspaper makes mention of the following crew:
Captain Drake
Staff Paymaster E.V. Pollock
Lieutenant Beresford (officer / instructor to the Naval Corps)
Lieutenant Curtis (Navigating lieutenant)
Staff Surgeon W. Kebbell
J. Grady (Warrant Officer)
J. Dole (?) artificer/engineer (boatswain)
A. Malcolm (?) (chief petty officer)
W. Greaves (gunnery instructor)
H.J. May (quartermaster and yeoman of signals)
W. Foster (quartermaster)
W. Lewis (quartermaster)
E. Morley (torpedo coxswain)
J. Collins, W.H.J. Morry, W. Nell (?) and W. Malcolm. (leading stokers)
Other officers on staff at Brisbane in 1899:
Naval Storekeeper H.B. Miles (also a torpedo instructor).
Permanent Marine Force
The Permanent Marine Force served as officers and crew of the Gayundah. The personal of the gunboat (in 1899) being a skeleton crew of 26 just sufficient for the working of the ship.
Originally officers and crew were in the Imperial Navy but drew their pay from the Queensland Government.
Naval Brigade
The Naval Brigade has 4 corps – Brisbane, Maryborough, Townsville and Cairns.
Eligibility criteria:
Age: 18 to 50
Minimum Height: 5ft 4in.
Minimum chest measurement: 33in.
Members of the Queensland Marine Defence Force.
Names of Individuals not known by author.
Copyright: Details unknown.
Officers and Crew of the Gayundah circa 1898.
Lt. Curtis, Capt. Drake, Lt. Beresford.
Reference: Queenslander 10.12.1898. p.1129
Copyright: John Oxley Library, Negative #3009
Other known crew
Charles Thomas Hession
Rank SMN/GNR in Australian Navy
Birth Milton 6 April 1891
Baptism 21 May 1891 St Marys Star of the Sea RC Milton
Parents Charles Thomas Hession and Harriet Wilmott
Service Navy Service 1912 - 1919 - British Gunboat HMS Gayundah, Cruiser
HMAS Encounter, Destroyer HMAS Huon and HMAS Australia.
Death 1960
James Wilson
(details provided by his grandson, Richard Wilson)
Serial Number 1563
Birth ?
Baptism ?
Parents ?
Service
Commenced service 2 / 4 / 1912.
Gayundah O.S. 12/04/1912 to 30/04/1913
Gayundah A.B. 01/05/1913 – 31/12/1913
Penguin A.B. Depot Ship in Sydney
Gayundah A.B. 03/08/1914 to 31/01/1915
Penguin A.B. Depot Ship in Sydney
Notes: Obtained drivers Licence – Sydney residential address at
time of first service in Penguin.
Death ?
Stephen Bartlett
(from Redcliffe Herald. July 10, 1958. p.5)
Warrant Officer. Commissioned 1896. Served on Gayundah under Captain
Drake.
Biography: Born in Devonshire. Served his time in Plymouth, Dartmoor and Barnstaple before going to sea with the merchant marine. In 1854 he joined a gun recovery mission to Crimea. He came to Brisbane at an early age and became a leading shipwright, mast and spar worker and attended to work on the Black Adder, Junina and Cutty Sark before joing the Harbours and Rivers Department as an inspector.
W. (Billy) Phillips
Seconded from Royal Navy to Queensland Navy,
Held position on Gayundah as gunnery instructor when vessel used as
a minesweeper in WW1.
Thomas Bennet
Rank of Captain. Engineer in charge of Gayundah during her war service.
Help Wanted (1)
Derek Marshall (and I ) would like to know if anyone has information on the original crew of the Gayundah that brought the ship out from the UK. His father’s grandfather (Marshall) was apparently on board.
Help Wanted (2)
...my interest being in Family history and in particular my great grandfather Frederick James CLARKE, also known as "Jildie".
Frederick was born in 1865 and for some 25 years of
his life was Sub
Inspector of Fisheries based at Maryborough, QLD. He had a passion for
sailing and along with his brothers won many trophies in QLD and NSW.
His war medals bear the following inscriptions - "F.G. CLARKE P.O.
R.A.N.B." and "F.J.CLARKE A.B." and I have always been
told that he "skippered" the GAYUNDAH during WW1 as it patrolled
Moreton Bay. I have not been able to find any records or evidence to
verify this story although it is probably true that he was at least
part of the crew. His obituary (1920) states "he was a foundation
member of the Naval Brigade of which he was a Petty officer and one
of the founders of the Naval Association". I have attached a photo
of Jildie in his Naval uniform for your interest.
Copyright: Details unknown.
Photograph provided by Marilyn Handley.