Keith Wickham Allen
Keith Wickham Allen was the grandson of Walter Allen and Charlotte Dunster of Shellharbour.
Walter Allen established a general store and residence in Shellharbour Village in 1868. He operated the post office adjacent to the store until his death in 1876. Mrs. Charlotte Allen and members of the family continued the business for many years as Allen Bros. Clothing and other goods were often ordered by catalogue through the Post Office, and arrived by boat, train or mail.
The following article details Keith’s time at war. it is taken from the Goulburn Evening Penny Post 21 January 1919. Tongarra Museum has in its collection a wonderful photo album from the Allen family of Shellharbour. The following photos of Keith are from that album.
Augustus (Gus) Milton East was born in 1893, the son of Alfred and Katie East of Shellharbour. During WWI he joined the 18th Battalion AIF to serve overseas. He was killed in action in France on the 19th May 1918 aged 25yrs.
Tongarra Museum holds a collection of significant items relating to Gus; the legacy he left behind includes war diaries, letters, mementos from overseas and a souvenir ‘wartime’ scarf bought for his sister Marjorie. These precious objects describe Augustus’ experience at war and the way in which his family dealt with his death.
What is particularly of note is the concern from Augustus for his family in Australia while he was fighting at war. His thoughts were always with his family and home, even as he was enduring the horrors of war. One of the letters Gus wrote was to the James girls of Dunmore.
These items were treasured by his family after his death and are now treasured by the museum and local community. They were donated to the museum by Gus’ niece.
Eva, Miriam and Beatrice James were Red Cross nurses during World War One. They were the daughters of Thomas and Rachel James who lived at Rosemont farm, Dunmore. Their grandfather, William James, was one of Shellharbour’s first European settlers, and the James family was known for their kindness and generosity to others.
William, a stonemason, arrived in Australia in the 1850s. He settled in Shellharbour at Dunmore and built his home “Bravella”. He purchased breeding stock from local farmer Andrew McGill and established the James Family dairy herd. William was an Alderman on the first Shellharbour Municipal Council in 1859 and served as Mayor 1870-1871.
Charles Vivian Ziems was a storekeeper at Albion Park and later Kiama. The Ziems family are well known in the Illawarra and have contributed greatly to the local community over many generations.
During his early life Mr Charles Vivian Ziems was a member of the Illawarra Lancers and held rank of Lieutenant. As a private he embarked from Sydney on board the RMS Morea in 1917 as part of the Camel Corps Reinforcements. He was 25 years old. He was fortunate to survive the war and returned to Australia July 1919 as sergeant.
His obituary in the Kiama Independent 22 August 1972 said of Mr Ziems -
Mr Ziems was born at Albion Park and was the son of the late Mr and Mrs Henry Charles and Sophia Ziems (nee Fryer). His father conducted a general store at Albion Park for many years and was later assisted by his son.
During his early life Mr Ziems was a member of the Illawarra Lancers and held rank of Lieutenant. In about 1910 he rode with the lancers then based in Kiama, to Canberra for the dedication of the site of one of the Houses of Parliament. The journey took about five days on horseback and the Lancers paraded before the then Prince of Wales, later King George V.
At the outbreak of WWI Mr Ziems was seconded by the Army to train recruits at Menangle. He wanted to fight overseas but Authorities ordered him to train recruits. Mr Ziems then resigned his commission with the Lancers and joined the AIF as a private. He served for three years in the Middle East and returned at the end of the war as a sergeant.
About two years after the war he opened a boot shop at Kiama in premises now included in the Grand Hotel. Later the store developed into a boot and clothing store which still traded under that name in 1975.
Mr Ziems was associated with many organisations in Kiama. He was treasurer of the School of Arts and also treasurer of Kiama RSL. He was a excellent cricketer and in his youth was member fo the Kiama Cricket Club. He was also a good golfer and member of the Kiama Golf Club when it re-established at Minnamurra. Mr Ziems sold tickets at local balls when they were a weekly event in Kiama.
Mr Ziems married late in life but his wife Edith died less than two years after they were married, about 20 years ago. He is survived by brothers Selwyn of Leura and Alan of Kiama. Ziems store was closed on the day of the funeral as a mark of respect.
Colin Dunmore Fuller was born at Dunmore House in 1882, the eleventh child of George Laurence and Sarah Fuller. He attended school in Sydney at Shore College and Sydney Grammar School, eventually returning to Dunmore to help run his father’s estate.
Colin enlisted 21 July 1905 as Second Lieutenant 1st Australian Light Horse Royal NSW Lancers and was promoted to Captain in 1908. At the outbreak of World War One Captain Fuller was promoted to Major and was second in command of the 6th Light Horse 1st A.I.F. going ashore at Gallipoli in 1915. Colin was promoted to Lt. Col. and given full command of the regiment to 1918; he was wounded and spent some time in Cairo hospital before rejoining them.
Colonel Fuller was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (D.S.O) and at the end of the war he returned to Dunmore House and the family home. Through his suggestion, a memorial arch was erected in Kiama and officially dedicated 25 August 1925 by his eldest brother, George Warburton Fuller, then Premier of NSW.
Colin became, as his father before him, one of the leading figures in the Shellharbour community and was known throughout the district (especially in later years) as the ‘Old Colonel’. Like his father, Colin was very generous with money and anxious to help those around him. After a long battle with lung cancer, he died on 19 of September 1953.
