johnboy Posted 30 August , 2015 Share Posted 30 August , 2015 Thanks for looking TimD Can you see if the fathers might have initials HN. Just wondering if they were given to a son leaving for WW1. They could also have been sold on before the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 30 August , 2015 Share Posted 30 August , 2015 They don't I'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 30 August , 2015 Share Posted 30 August , 2015 Thanks for trying. I could be looking for the wrong town! I thought Sydney because that is where they were bought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 30 August , 2015 Share Posted 30 August , 2015 We they they only Australian distributor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 30 August , 2015 Share Posted 30 August , 2015 Yes as far as I know. They had Fairfax on them with a Ross serial number. Other distributors would have had their name on them? although I suppose they could have supplied other stores anywhere in the country. It seems reasonable to start with Sydney . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 30 August , 2015 Share Posted 30 August , 2015 I might be onto something. There was a H.N.Wilkinson who is recorded an old boy of the Sydney Church of England Grammar School in the late 1890s. He was from the Wilkinson family who had wineries in the NSW Hunter Region - named Coolalta Wines. There appear to have been a number of brothers who settled in the area, including a gentleman named Alfred Wilkinson - formerly a Cadet of the East India Company and 33rd Regt Madras Infantry. Try as I might I can't seem to figure our H.N's names. Tim D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 30 August , 2015 Share Posted 30 August , 2015 This probably the type of family he would have been from . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 30 August , 2015 Share Posted 30 August , 2015 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/162827107?searchTerm=Wilkinsoncoolalta&searchLimits= One of the son's who started the winery was John Alfred William and his son Harry Noel Wilkinson 1877-1941 was the old boy I'd say. Born Maitland NSW. Rgs Tim D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 30 August , 2015 Share Posted 30 August , 2015 Would a family tree be available to you? I just wondered if any of the sons were 21 yrs old 13/3/09. I also read that John had travelled in Europe studying vinyards and wonder if they could have been lost then, before the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 30 August , 2015 Share Posted 30 August , 2015 I think they had done their study well before 1909. He doesn't have any family listed in any of the trees online and no mention of family in the only obituary I have found. http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/17761885?searchTerm=harryWilkinson gosford&searchLimits=l-decade=194|||l-year=1941|||l-state=New+South+Wales Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 Might be worth contacting what was the family vineyard to see if there are any relatives around that may know of the binoculars? https://www.audreywilkinson.com.au Rgds Tim D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 Perhaps the old boy gifted his binoculars to equip a family member going off to the war. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 That was my thought. Nothing obvious jumping out though...... Cousin Audrey was commissioned, but did not serve OS: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/wilkinson-audrey-harold-9101 Rgds TD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 I have emailed the vineyard but could not find a personal email address. Hopefully they will reply but their website is not that strong on their history!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 Perhaps the old boy gifted his binoculars to equip a family member going off to the war. That was my thought in one of my early posts. It is trying to find a link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 How about this one. His brother John Frederick Moore Wilkinson is living in London in 1911 - occupation Captain, 1st Australian Horse. Served in the Boer War and looks like commissioned into RFA in Great War. Later a Major. He has papers at NA. http://search.ancestry.com.au/cgi-bin/sse.dll?db=1911England&h=1475712&ti=5544&indiv=try&gss=pt&ssrc=pt_t2467558_p1054700747_kpidz0q3d1054700747z0q26pgz0q3d32768z0q26pgplz0q3dpid Rgds Tim D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 MIC: http://interactive.ancestry.com.au/1262/30850_A001682-01950/5672223?backurl=http%3a%2f%2fsearch.Ancestry.com.au%2f%2fcgi-bin%2fsse.dll%3fgss%3dangs-c%26new%3d1%26rank%3d1%26gsfn%3dJohn%2bFrederick%2bMoore%2b%26gsln%3dWilkinson%26gsln_x%3d1%26cpxt%3d1%26cp%3d11%26MSAV%3d1%26uidh%3dtg7%26pcat%3dMIL_AWARDS%26h%3d5672223%26recoff%3d9%2b10%2b11%2b12%26db%3dMedalRolls%26indiv%3d1%26ml_rpos%3d6&ssrc=&backlabel=ReturnRecord Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 Relative mentioned here still living at Pokolbin: http://www.bwm.org.au/site/John_Wilkinson.asp London Gazette - 1913 Commission into King Edward's Horse: https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/28697/page/1759 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 Brilliant detective work Tim and Johnboy. Although inevitably circumstantial there seems a strong probability given the clear linkage that you have uncovered. As a gunner an especially strong requirement for good binoculars too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 Cheers mate, I wouldn't take it to court...but it's a nice story! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 Cheers mate, I wouldn't take it to court...but it's a nice story! It would be nice if the family could be contacted to bring the story full circle, especially if they were keen to bring the binoculars 'home' and have them refurbished, but that's the old romantic in me speaking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 It would be nice if the family could be contacted to bring the story full circle, especially if they were keen to bring the binoculars 'home' and have them refurbished, but that's the old romantic in me speaking. See post#64. I will await reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FROGSMILE Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 See post#64. I will await reply. Yes, I am sorry johnboy, I had seen that you have emailed the winery/vineyard, I was just thinking of any direct descendants that might be alive who can remember talk of family members back that far. It will be interesting to see if you get a reply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blackblue Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 Coolalta Wines where Harry worked in Sydney was only about 300m from the distributor. I am going to predict he was also a militia officer, unfortunately I don't know how we can prove it! More interesting reading here: http://webjournals.ac.edu.au/ojs/index.php/ADPCM/article/view/231/228 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnboy Posted 31 August , 2015 Share Posted 31 August , 2015 At this stage I am not sure if they were all with the same company. Audley was I think a cousin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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