Harry Graham Corbett, died in Australia

[PaulC78]

I found this man while looking up some Irish soldiers, I don't plan on going to the trouble or expense of seeking out an Australian death certificate but perhaps he will be of interest to someone else?

 

Pte Harry Graham Corbett, 73257, South Irish Horse. Son of F Graham Corbett, of 18 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin, or of 148 Leinster Road, Rathmines, Dublin. Enlisted on 28 July 1916 and discharged on 27 October 1918, disability was tuberculosis attributed to military service. He subsequently moved to Australia and died on 15 June 1921 at Narrogin, Western Australia, aged 22.

 

 

Cause of death not known but he looks like a promising non-com candidate. Buried at Narrogin Cemetery, there are photos of his grave on BillionGraves: https://billiongraves.com/grave/Harry-Graham-Corbett/26611213

 

Headstone inscription reads: Erected by Mr & Mrs S. Graham Corbett Dublin. In loving memory of their dearly beloved eldest son Harry Graham Corbett (South Irish Horse) aged 22 years who died at Narrogin 15th June 1921 from illness contracted on active service in Palestine. "Well done thou good and faithful servant."

[davidbohl]

There's an excellent article on him in the Australian newspapers Trove https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/155845323?searchTerm="Harry Graham Corbett"&searchLimits=

He died of consumption after being gassed in the trenches, which doesn't fit with Palestine does it ?

 

Dave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PaulC78]

Great article, thanks for sharing!

[chrisharley9]

Not only the cost which is about £26 also you have to prove your relationship to the casualty to get the DC

[vaugh]

On 16/05/2020 at 18:52, PaulC78 said:

I found this man while looking up some Irish soldiers, I don't plan on going to the trouble or expense of seeking out an Australian death certificate but perhaps he will be of interest to someone else?

Pte Harry Graham Corbett, 73257, South Irish Horse. Son of F Graham Corbett, of 18 Lower Ormond Quay, Dublin, or of 148 Leinster Road, Rathmines, Dublin. Enlisted on 28 July 1916 and discharged on 27 October 1918, disability was tuberculosis attributed to military service. He subsequently moved to Australia and died on 15 June 1921 at Narrogin, Western Australia, aged 22.

Cause of death not known but he looks like a promising non-com candidate. Buried at Narrogin Cemetery, there are photos of his grave on BillionGraves: https://billiongraves.com/grave/Harry-Graham-Corbett/26611213

Headstone inscription reads: Erected by Mr & Mrs S. Graham Corbett Dublin. In loving memory of their dearly beloved eldest son Harry Graham Corbett (South Irish Horse) aged 22 years who died at Narrogin 15th June 1921 from illness contracted on active service in Palestine. "Well done thou good and faithful servant."

Thanks for posting this Paul, there certainly is a case for having him included on the CWGC list, however without a death certificate this won't happen just yet. His Aussie records have yet to be digitised and at AU $76 or so it' not likely to happen any time soon. 
The note on the grave about contracting his illness in Palestine is consistent with others from the SIH who remained as cavalry and did indeed serve in Palestine. So not such a stretch for him to have done the same. The lack of a 7th (SIH) Btn Royal Irish Regiment number from his records adds more weight to his having served in Palestine. 

[vaugh]

On 16/05/2020 at 20:32, davidbohl said:

He died of consumption after being gassed in the trenches, which doesn't fit with Palestine does it ?

Hi Dave, 

See my note above in reply to Paul's post. In essence him having a Corps of Hussars number (73251) adds weight to him having actually served in Palestine alongside many others from the SIH who did indeed see service there. Sadly the lack of a war diary or other records clouds this issue. Of course it could also just be a piece of family misinformation, though in my experience these snippets do often have an element of truth in them however bizarre it sounds. 

[davidbohl]

On 16/12/2021 at 20:28, vaugh said:

His Aussie records have yet to be digitised and at AU $76 or so it' not likely to happen any time soon.

I've found quite a few Aussie research groups dedicated to certain Regiments that are extremely helpful in sharing their resources. e.g King Edward's Horse.

I'm not particularly aux fais with all things twitter and facebook but you may be able to home in on somebody in Melbourne who will go to the Australian War Memorial archives (it is a fascinating place if you ever get there) https://www.awm.gov.au/research/guide/ww1

cheers

Dave

[rksimpson]

Hi

 

No use going to Melbourne, his records are in Perth, they aren't letting too many people in there!

regards

Robert

Item details for: PP2/11, BP5175

Request copy

Title CORBETT Henry Graham - 73251 South Irish Horse Contents date range 1923 - 1924 Series number PP2/11 Click to see which government agency or person created this item. Control symbol BP5175 Citation NAA: PP2/11, BP5175 Item ID 30810210 Location Perth Access status Open Date of decision 27 Feb 2014 Physical format PAPER FILES AND DOCUMENTS (allocated at series level) Records authority class number 7692

[vaugh]

13 hours ago, davidbohl said:

I've found quite a few Aussie research groups dedicated to certain Regiments that are extremely helpful in sharing their resources. e.g King Edward's Horse.

Cheers Dave, I've been on his case for a while now and had simply put this on a back burner. This forum is great with bringing people out of the woodwork to help and I'm ever hopeful that a family member of other interested party will pick this up from Australia at some point.

I first applied for his records back in 2014 when a fair sum of money was required to have the records digitised. I'm sure that archivists are working in the background and eventually all of these records will become available via a pay per view site in the future, until then I'll bide my time.

This was my submission to the Australian archives back on the 17th March 2014:

Quote

See individual file, records exist in NAA (Australia)
http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=30810210
Item details for: PP2/11, BP5175     Title CORBETT Henry Graham - 73251 South Irish Horse
Contents date range 1923 - 1924 Series number PP2/11 Copy ordered 17Mar2014

The above was what I pasted into my database and at the time a physical request had to be made, they sent me a payment form if I wanted to proceed, which given that it was going to cost AU $78 I declined, the position remains the same.
 

[vaugh]

1 hour ago, rksimpson said:

Hi
No use going to Melbourne, his records are in Perth, they aren't letting too many people in there!
regards

Robert

Cheers Robert, see my reply above, wherever the records are held it's still a long way to go from 'sunny' Brum! As time goes on a trip to Australia seems ever less likely.
I do have a few family connections with Australia, this article deals with one of them.
https://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/article/view/308
He is my first cousin four times removed ascending!! He changed his name from Vaugh to Le Vaux when he was in Canada... erroneously believing we were of French descent!