Booklet Number 58
This booklet remains the property of Saint Andrew’s Uniting Church. Please see a Guide if you would like a copy.
BURRELL BROTHERS ROSS
1888 – 1960
MORETON
1894 – 1990
The Anzacs landing
2
©Saint Andrew’s Uniting Church Corner Ann and Creek Streets
Brisbane QLD 4000 2015, revised 2018
Cover illustration. Both Burrell brothers were involved in active service on the Gallipoli Peninsula in 1915. Ross was injured and Moreton played an important role in the Evacuation but both brothers survived and went on to fight in France.
Photograph by Bettmann/Corbis, The Guardian, 8 Aug 2014
3
Robert and Edith Burrell and Family
Ross and Moreton Burrell were the only sons of William Robert and Edith Jane Burrell née Armstrong. The names of Ross Burrell and Moreton Burrell are on the Wharf Street Congregational Church Honour Board. This is simply explained because their parents were members of that congregation, having first met each other at the Wharf Street church in the 1880s, but it is also interesting to note that Mrs Edith Burrell’s grandfather was the Rev William Pascoe Crook (1775–1846), missionary, schoolmaster and the first Congregational minister to settle in Australia.
During his lifetime he served with dedication and outstanding ability, often in pioneering ventures, in many places, beginning as a missionary at Santa Christina in the Marquesas. He married Hannah Dare (1779–1837) in England and travelled as chaplain on the ship Ocean in the expedition to establish a British Settlement at Port Phillip, New South Wales.
William Pascoe Crook was the son of Count Croah, a French nobleman who with his family escaped to England during the French Revolution and started life again at Dartmouth in Devonshire, their name being anglicised into “Crook”. W P Crook was born in Dartmouth, England and died in Melbourne (then in New South Wales) in 1846.
Rev William Pascoe Crook
4
During this colonising project W P Crook worked tirelessly amongst the settlers as preacher and teacher of their children but the settlement was later abandoned and the whole equipment moved to Port Dalrymple. The Crook family journeyed to Sydney where W P Crook was associated with the Rev Samuel Marsden (1765–1838), chaplain, magistrate, missionary, farmer, also prominent in the early establishment of the colony of New South Wales. He established a school which became the first boarding school in Australia and became Marsden’s parish clerk and official pastor at several preaching places. He returned to the islands where he laboured for nearly twenty years as pastor at a Tahitian church and returned to Sydney in 1830. There he opened a school, became a prominent figure in several philanthropic causes and preached in Wesleyan and Congregational churches. His wife died in Sydney in 1837 and when his own health failed in 1841 he went to Melbourne to live with his son and died there in 1846. William Pascoe Crook’s participation in the early days of colony and church in Australia is well documented in historical journals and accounts. It is mentioned here because his life and work also influenced his family including its later generations. William Robert Burrell (known as Bob) and Edith Armstrong were married at the home of Edith’s brother in Leichhardt Street, Brisbane in 1887 by the Rev J Ewen, Presbyterian minister at Fortitude Valley at the time. The couple went immediately to live in Townsville because Mr W R Burrell, a clerk in the Brisbane office of the Custom Department had received a transfer to the Townsville office. Their four children were born in Townsville – Ross, Lydia, Eileen and Moreton.
5
They returned to Brisbane shortly after their youngest child Moreton was born and lived briefly at Stoneleigh Street Albion before settling for the rest of their married lives at Denelbie, Byrne Estate, Bowen Bridge Road, Windsor.1 Lydia died in Brisbane at the age of 23 years as the result of a congenital heart condition. Eileen married Lieutenant Maurice Christopher Wood2 in Brisbane in 1916.
Major Ross Burrell Ross, the eldest member of the Burrell family was born in Townsville on 26 August 1888. He attended Windsor State School and the Normal School and at the age of 16 in December 1904, he passed a Brisbane Technical College examination in shorthand correspondence after attending classes at Fortitude Valley State School. He was a member of his school cadet corps and on leaving school worked as a book keeper at Queensland Trustees Limited. He was well known in Brisbane as a Rugby referee. On 26 October 1914 Ross Burrell enlisted at Brisbane to serve overseas in the Australian Imperial Force, giving his age as 24 years though he was really 26 years old and stating his religious denomination was “C.E.” He stood to the height of 5 feet 3½ inches (162cm). Private Burrell, regimental number 435 was allotted to the 2nd Light Horse Field Ambulance for initial training at Enoggera.
1. The address of the Burrell family residence “Denelbie” was earlier described as Earl Terrace or Earle Terrace, off Federation Road, Lutwyche or O’Connell Town, later Windsor. The location today is dominated by the airport link motorway and major connecting roads though Bowen Bridge Road, Federation Street and Byrne’s Paddock Park still exist. 2. See Stories from the Honour Boards, Booklet Number 203.
6
In November he was promoted
to Corporal and by May 1915,
he had landed at Gallipoli in the
Mediterranean Expeditionary
Force. On 13 June he received a
bullet wound. Details of the
casualty were confused at first
and cables and letters were
sent between the Base Records
Office and Ross’s mother and
father. Mr Burrell wrote to
Senator Pearce, Minister for
Defence, on 7 July 1915, “I have
my only two sons at the front,
one of whom No 435 Corp Ross
was wounded about 3 weeks ago in the Dardanelles and was invalided to Malta. I have had 2 cables from him since but in none has he stated what his injuries are. Today I received another cable from him stating that he was going to England for treatment. Presumably the authorities will not allow him to advise me to what extent he has been injured. Naturally his mother and I feel very anxious and will be very grateful if you will exert your authority and obtain for us the desired information if possible and to what hospital in England he is going so that we may write to him.” A week later Mrs Burrell wrote from her Bowen Bridge Road home, “I received today an urgent telegram stating my son 435 Corp Ross Burrell had been seriously wounded and that you would cable should we wish it done. We would very much like to know extent of injuries and his present address.
7
“If he has left Malta at what hospital in England. We received a cable from him on 7 July saying he was leaving Malta for England for treatment. But we do not know what address in England. Will you please cable and find out for me.” On 27 July Captain Lean, Officer-in-charge of Base Records in Melbourne advised Mrs Burrell that her son, Corporal R Burrell was in the Hospital at Manchester and recommended she contact him through the High Commissioner in London. It was eventually revealed gunshot wounds to the head had caused the trouble but he had recovered sufficiently to carry out duties as a medical orderly on board HMAT Suevic from England to Sydney in November and from Sydney to Alexandria on HMAT Runic arriving there on 20 January 1916. Corporal Ross Burrell returned to Field Ambulance duties in Egypt before embarking from Alexandria on the troopship Oriana to France in March. He was promoted to Sergeant in October while based at the Australian Divisional Base Depot at Étaples. In 1917 Ross Burrell was transferred to the 5th Field Ambulance establishment, acted for a while as Sergeant-Major and took leave in England.
A Field Ambulance
(Australian
War Memorial. EO3137)
8
On 18 January 1918, while Sergeant Ross Burrell was serving from the Australian Infantry Base Depot at Le Havre, he was transported to Hurdcott, England then to Weymouth for hospital treatment. A note mentioning “old face GSW”1 was recorded as the reason for his sudden admission to hospital. The letters PB meaning Permanent Base indicated he was unfit for active service and was employable only at a base depot. So serious was his condition, a decision for his early return to Australia on SS Ruahine was soon made and he was discharged from the AIF on 25 July 1918. Sergeant Burrell was awarded the 1914/15 Star, the British War Medal and the Victory Medal. The bullet wound on Ross Burrell’s forehead left a permanent scar physically and in all likelihood, on his mental condition. On his return to Brisbane, Ross Burrell lived again with his parents at Earl Terrace, Windsor and resumed his career with Queensland Trustees Limited. His employment as a senior officer in Queensland Trustees Limited lasted over twenty-five years. On 6 October 1926 he married Myra Heaslop (1894–1978) at St Michael’s and All Angels’ Church of England, New Farm. Myra’s late father, Thomas Heaslop (1853–1911) had been a successful retail merchant and company director and Alderman of the City of South Brisbane from 1888 to 1895, three of them as Mayor over three successive yearly terms during which the present fine municipal buildings in Vulture and Stanley Streets were built. Mr and Mrs Heaslop’s residence was Newstead House, Breakfast Creek.
1. The gunshot wound occurred when a bullet grazed the right side of his skull, melting the bone.
9
Thomas Heaslop Building, Roma Street, c 1885
Newstead House - the Heaslop residence from 1908 to 1918
With their two children (Thomas Ross and Joyce Ross), Ross and Myra Burrell lived at 178 Bowen Terrace, New Farm. Ross gave many years of service to the Queensland Bowling Association and the Booroodabin Bowling Club where he was President. Ill health troubled him and he acted on his doctor’s advice by
Booroodabin Bowling Club
resigning from the positions he held in connection with bowls in 1936.
10
Burrell’s son, Mr Thomas Ross Burrell OBE (1927 - 2009) was a member of the Brisbane Stock Exchange and was noted for his significant contributions to the Australian financial services industry. Their daughter, Mrs Joyce Angus lives in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. During World War II, Ross Burrell served on full time war service in the Citizen Military Forces. From 24 June 1940 to 18 June 1942 Major Burrell, Personal Number Q185205, was attached to Head Quarters, Northern Command and was later appointed Major, Sea Transport, responsible for training of troops on transport ships which required his involvement in the activities of Eastern Command.
Major Ross Burrell
11
He served on voyages of RMS Aquitania,1 RMS Queen Mary2 and RMS Queen Elizabeth3 during voyages between Australia and the Middle East. Queen Mary, for example, travelled from Suez via Trincomalee4 and Fremantle to Sydney arriving there on 25 May 1941. Major Burrell’s record of service notes his employment in Poona, India in March 1941 while in the service of Eastern Command.
1. The RMS Aquitania was the longest serving Cunard liner built in the 20th century and survived service in both World Wars. Launched in 1914, she was sold to a breakers’ yard in Scotland in 1950.
2. The RMS Queen Mary is a retired ocean liner that sailed primarily on the North Atlantic Ocean from 1936 to
1967 for the Cunard Line – known as Cunard-White Star Line when the vessel entered service. With the out-
break of the Second World War, she was converted into a troopship and ferried Allied soldiers for the dura-
tion of the war. Queen Mary was officially retired from service in 1967. She left Southampton for the last
time on 31 October 1967 and sailed to the port of Long Beach, California, United States, where she
remains permanently moored.
3. Royal Mail Ship Queen Elizabeth was launched in 1938. The vessel was scrapped in July 1948. 4. The British and the Allied Powers chose Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, as the chief naval base
for the entire South East of Asia and Far East Command during World War II.
Ross Burrell died in Brisbane in 1960 aged 71 years. His name is inscribed with other members of the Heaslop and Burrell families on the Heaslop Monument at Dutton Park Cemetery, South Brisbane.
12
Captain Moreton Burrell
Moreton Burrell, second son of William Robert and Edith Burrell was born at Townsville on 31 August 1894. He attended Brisbane Grammar School in 1909 and 1910 and was a member of the 1st Cricket Team. On 1 December 1910 he joined the service of the Bank of New South Wales and while there joined the Moreton Regiment, CMF in which he held a commission.
When the war broke out he volunteered for active service and enlisted on 26 January 1915. He embarked from Brisbane per HMAT Ascanius in June 1915 as Officer-in-Charge of the Machine Gun Section of the 26th Battalion, 2nd Division. Before leaving for Gallipoli in September 1915 he was promoted to First Lieutenant. Lieutenant Moreton Burrell served with credit through the latter part of the campaign on the Peninsula until the evacuation. In connection with
the latter operation he was detailed to select sixteen volunteers to remain behind with him during the withdrawal of his brigade. Their duty was to keep up a continuous machine gun fire until the last man had embarked. This operation was successfully accomplished but the task of withdrawing his own small section was by no means easy, all the ammunition having been expended and each man having to be lowered one by one down the face of a cliff four hundred feet high. This difficult task was carried through without a casualty.
13
Later, he saw service in Egypt and went with his Division to France in 1916. He suffered gunshot wounds to the thigh on 30 May 1916 and was admitted to Bathurst House for treatment and convalescence in England. On 7 August 1916, Moreton Burrell married Constance Turner at Aberdeen, Scotland.
He was appointed Adjutant of the Command Depot at Westham, Weymouth and held this position till his return to France in April 1917. He was then promoted to second-in-command of the 7th Machine Gun Company and received his captaincy in June 1917. A few months later he had command of the 7th Machine Gun Company and held that post until the
Armistice. For his work during the Somme Campaign of 1918 he was mentioned in despatches by Sir Douglas Haig. Captain Burrell, accompanied by his wife and sister-in-law returned to Australia on board Themistocles on 6 January 1920. Moreton Burrell served in the Bank of New South Wales as Bank Manager in branches in Sydney and Launceston. His wife Constance died suddenly on 27 April 1950, survived by her husband and their two daughters. Moreton Burrell married Marion Flora Harrisson in Sydney later in the year 1950. After retirement the couple lived at Rose Bay and later Bellevue Hill. Moreton Burrell died at Sydney on 4 February 1990, aged 95 years.
14
Select Bibliography National Archives of Australia, World War 1 and World War 2 military records First World War Embarkation Rolls Gunson, Niel, William Pascoe Crook, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Melbourne University Press, Volume 1, 1966 Bardon, Richard, The Centenary History of the Presbyterian Church in Queensland, 1849 – 1949, Smith & Paterson, Brisbane, 1949 Brisbane Courier, 21 Dec 1887; 15 Sept 1913; 28 Sept 1926, p 16; 29 Sept 1926, p 21; 30 Sept 1926, p 17; 2 Oct 1926, p 23; 4 Oct 1926, p 17; 7 Oct 1926, p 17. Argus, 6 September 1926, page 7 The Sunday Mail, 15 Jan 1950 The Queenslander, 16 September, 1911, page 29 The Congregationalist, 1 March 1912 The Courier-Mail, 26 May 1936; 28 April 1951 The Telegraph, 29 Sept 1926, p 14; 4 Oct 1926, p 4; 7 Oct 1926, p 4 Daily Standard, 7 Oct 1926, p 2 The Week, 15 Oct 1926, p 28 Sydney Morning Herald, 8 Nov 1928, p 8; 19 Aug 1929; 10 Oct 1929; 13 May 1933, p 8; 28 Apr 1950; 25 Oct 1988; 10 Feb 1990 The Mercury, Hobart, 5 July 1938, p 1 Ryerson Index on line Ancestry.com.au, Electoral Rolls Wharf Street Congregational Church Year Book, 1916, p 20 Saint Andrew’s Presbyterian Church Annual Report, 1916 Archives, Brisbane Grammar School, The Golden Book Queensland Register of Births, Deaths, Marriages New South Wales Register of Births, Deaths, Marriages Bank of New South Wales Roll of Honour Australian War Memorial, Record G0000788, letter Capt M Burrell to Brig Gen HR Goddard, 7 Dec 1918 Brisbane City Council, Cemetery Records
Acknowledgement Thanks are expressed for the considerable help, additional information and explanation given by Chris and Roger Burrell (grandsons of Ross Burrell) and Mrs Joyce Angus (Ross Burrell’s daughter) enabling the revised publication in May 2018.
Compiled by Noel E Adsett, Brisbane, May 2015 and revised April/May 2018
15
16
