H. Wade / Frederick Henry Wade (1874-1939)

1915

Wyndham City Libraries

text

eng

H. Wade / Frederick Henry Wade

None given

Mrs Kathleen Wade,
70 Stevedore Street,
Williamstown, Victoria
Wife

70 Stevedore Street,
Williamstown, Victoria

Married

Williamstown Cemetery
Salvation Army section

Frederick Henry Wade
Frederick Henry Wade was born at Ballarat East in 1874, to Frederick Wade and Elizabeth Ellis. They had married in Tasmania in 1873 (Cert No.2474/1873), and then moved to Victoria, where they had six children:
[Digger - Pioneer Index Victoria, 1836-1888]

• Frederick Henry Wade - born at Ballarat East, Certificate No.1874/20611
• Thomas James Wade - born at Williamstown, Certificate No.1878/26454
• Annie Wade - born at Williamstown, Certificate No.1880/19599
• Nellie Wade - born at Williamstown, Certificate No.1882/20089
• Jessie Wade - born at Williamstown, Certificate No.1884/21587
• Ester Wade - born at Williamstown, Certificate No.1886/30576

Pre War
After leaving school, Frederick Henry Wade became an apprenticed seaman.

When he applied to enlist in the A.I.F. in 1915, he claimed that he had the following military service:

1. Served with the Victorian Naval Contingent in China in 1900 as Able Seaman Frederick Henry Wade, Service Number 165; Embarked on 30 July 1900 per S.S. Salamis; Returned to Australia per S.S. Chingtu on 25 April 1901. * Whilst in China he contracted malaria, and suffered recurring bouts, sometimes several times in one week.  A detailed account of this forces activities, as part of the Boxer Rebellion, was published in a letter home by one of the participants, in The Bendigo Advertiser, 11 January 1901, p.2.

2. Served in South Africa. [Victoria sent five contingents and three Battalions to the Boer War (1899-1902). The Battalions were the 2nd, the 4th, and the 6th.]

3. Served with the 8th Victorian Regiment. [The 8th Victorian Regiment (5th Battalion) held a shooting match against the 6th Victorian Regiment (2nd Battalion) in Melbourne in 1903),
The Bendigo Independent, 19 August 1903, p.3.

and

4. Served 10 years with the Naval Brigade. (in 1860 the Naval Brigade contingents at Sandridge and Williamstown were nearly 250 in number.)
The Argus, 27 October 1860, p.4.
In the Victorian Assembly on 2 December 1881, one of its members, a Mr Wood, spoke about the volunteer force and the defences generally.  He said that "We have an ironclad which cannot get up steam without endangering the lives of her crew; an antiquated wooden frigate, and a few batteries in various states of decay. We have no force – except perhaps the Naval Brigade – which in a military sense, can be considered to be thoroughly efficient.."
The Argus, 2 December 1881, p.4.

In 1909 Frederick Henry Wade married Catherine Irving at Ballarat in Victoria.  They did not have any children.
Find my past - Victoria Marriages 1836-1941, Cert No. 1909/4696

War Service
At the age of 43 years, Frederick Henry Wade applied to enlist in the A.I.F. on 5 July 1915, at Victoria Barracks in Melbourne.  After being accepted, he went to the Melbourne Depot between 12 July 1915 and 2 August 1915.  He was then transferred to the No.2 Coy of the 4th Depot Battalion at Seymour, and remained there until 18 January 1916.

At that time he was transferred to Ascot Clearing Depot, where the decision was taken that he would be discharged from the A.I.F., as medically unfit.  He was suffering with malaria and chronic eczema on his right leg.  His condition was so bad, that he was having several bouts of malaria each week.

Post War
After the war, he continued to live in the Williamstown area.

Frederick Henry Wade died at Williamstown in 1939, aged 64 years.
Digger – Death Index, Victoria, Cert No.1939/7374
He is buried in the Williamstown Cemetery, Salvation Army section.

Medals and Entitlements:

• None awarded

Notes
No families by the name of Wade lived in the Shire of Werribee during the time of the Great War. This man is the closest, and living on the Shire boundary, at Williamstown.

Name on the Werribee Shire Oak Board: WADE, H.

The name "Wade, H. from Werribee" first appeared  in the Roll of Honor, Werribee Shire Banner, 13 February 1919, p.3 after the war had ended.

* A.W.M. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/R1444414