45th BATTALION AIF
Corporal: 1677 William Thomas HITCHEN
Born: 19th February 1864. Mudgee, New South Wales, Australia. Birth Cert: 11339/1864.
Married: 28th May 1890. Coonamble, New South Wales, Australia. Marriage Cert:3153/1890.
Wife: Emma Jane Hitchen. nee: Lyons. (1963-1948) Died at Wellington, New South Wales, Australia. Death Cert:10603/1948.
Died: 3rd September 1916. Died of Illness, 1st Australian Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield, Middlesex, England.
Father: George Hitchen. (1819-1902) Died at Coonamble, New South Wales, Australia. Death Cert:8938/1902.
Mother: Catherine Hitchen. nee: Guare. (1833-1913) Died at Orange, New South Wales, Australia. Death Cert:19016/1913.
INFORMATION
William Hitchen was born near Mudgee NSW and was a plumber in Gilgandra when he enlisted on October 10, 1915. He stated his age as 44 but he was 51 at the time. William marched with the Coo-ees to Sydney but afterwards remained in Bathurst to help organise the Kookaburra Recruitment March from Tooraweenah to Bathurst. At the medical examination at Bathurst in February 1916 he was described as 5’7 1/2”, 180lbs (81kgs), medium complexion, light brown eyes, fair hair and religion, Roman Catholic.
He embarked from Sydney on the HMAT Ceramic on April 14, 1916 and arrived in Plymouth via Egypt on June 16 on the transport Franconia. William had reported sick with tonsillitis while on board the Franconia and was admitted to hospital from the ship on June 16, 1916. He gradually grew weaker and died on September 3, 1916 in Harefield Hospital. He was buried in the St Marys Churchyard, Harefield with full military honours in the presence of a French priest, the Officers, Doctors, sisters, orderlies, patients, and Mr and Mrs Charles Billyard-Leake, the Australian owners of Harefield House. The schoolchildren of Harefield have placed flowers on the graves annually since the 1920’s.
William and his brother Richard were the instigators and organisers of the Coo-ee March. It was the first recruitment march of its kind. When the march left Gilgandra Williams 14 year old son, Cob, and a friend accompanied them as scout dispatch riders and buglers. His older son, William James Hitchen had enlisted earlier and was overseas by the time the march arrived in Sydney. Bill, as he was known, was recalled from the Western Front to spend time with his father before he died.
His possessions were returned to his wife, Emma Jane Hitchen and included a purse, identity disc, Masonic Badge, 2 religious charms, diary, Devotional Book, balaclava, gloves, razors strop and comb. When she received the Memorial Scroll and Kings Message she wrote to Major McLean and said she ‘was glad to have it’. Emma had moved from Bridge St Gilgandra to Kensington Sydney NSW and called her house ‘Cooee’.
William is commemorated on the Gulargambone War Memorial, the Gilgandra War Memorial and the Cooee Gateway Memorial. There is a W Hitchen on the Masonic Memorial at Baulkham Hills that may be William.
Gilgandra and District Diggers
Patriotic Sons of the West. A 320 -Mile March. William front rank next to Officer.
GILGANDRA has blossomed into fame. On Sunday week a squad of 30 men who had volunteered for service at the front, left town on a 320 mile march to Sydney. The movement was organised by the Captain of the local Rifle Club, Mr William Thomas HITCHEN who is accompanying the recruits on their journey. Residents contributed nearly 200 pounds towards the cost of the march, while along the line of the route donations of various kinds are being made by public spirited men and women who realise the great value that attaches to the unique scheme as a recruiting aid. At each stopping place the number of volunteers is being increased and it is expected that by the time Sydney is reached (November 12) the total will be considerable. Our picture show's the "Coo-ees" (as they have been christened) after they had rested well down on their march and were leaving behind them the great wheat belts of the western plains, where most of them had lived all their lives.
The Sydney Mail 20th October 1915.
Leader (Orange, NSW : 1899 - 1945), Friday 22 October 1915, page 6
Hitchen's Coo-ees.
Tomorrow's the day-the day when Orange will turn out to view and welcome Hitchen's brigade: these men from the back blocks, who have been raised by Bill Hitchen for the defence of the Empire. Everything is well in hand, and immediately after the Coo-ees have been welcomed they will march to Wade Park, where the patriotic Ladies of Orange will have a repast fit for a King in readiness for them. Mr. Harley Blacket, of Dubbo, is accompanying them, and arranging all the business details in connection with the march. Bathurst is well forward with its arrangements for their welcome, and the boys will receive a fitting reception at Millthorpe and Blayney. At the official luncheon at the Carcoar Show, Mr. W. J. Brady submitted to auction a choice pot of seasonable flowers. It was sold and resold several times, and realised in all £6/10. This sum will go towards the Gilgandra boys.
As a result of the collection that was made on the ground in the afternoon in connection with the Gilgandra recruit march over £24 was realised. The sum realised by auction (by Mr. Brady, and mentioned above) will bring the total to nearly £31.
A well attended meeting was held at Yetholme on Saturday night, to consider the best way to show the Gilgandra recruits how much they are appreciated. Cr. Berry (President of the local Recruiting Association) pre sided. Sunny Corner and Meadow Flat were well represented. The outcome was a decision to provide dinner (evening) and a great smoke social afterwards, and a promise to the recruits that the speeches will be short and very few.
Mr. J. C. L. Fitzpatrick, M.L.A. for Orange, will be present at the reception here, and will deliver a recruiting speech. The Mayor and other gentlemen will also address the soldiers, but it is to be hoped that the speeches will be brief, as the Coo-ees have had a surfeit of addresses since leaving Gilgandra, and require a rest from their weary march. The morale of the young army is good, and they are all in perfect health. Last night they were at Molong, and will bivouac to-night seven miles on the Orange side of Molong, where they will be entertained by Mr. M. F. Dalton, of Kangaroobie, and Mr. W. Hood, of Tantallon. From there they will have a 15 miles forced march into Orange, which they expect to reach about 3 p.m. tomorrow. Many Orange citizens will ride or drive out to meet them in the morning, and accompany them into town, and the Mayor (Mr. E. T. McNeilly) intends to go to Molong and act as escort from there to Orange. Visitors will be present from the adjacent country centres, and a large contingent will arrive from Gilgandra to witness the effort of Orange to entertain their soldiers.
The ladies had a good meeting on Wednesday, when the final touches were put to the arrangements for the dinner at Wade Park to-morrow night. Those who intend sending in uncooked meats must do so by noon today. Other edibles may be sent in tomorrow to Mesdames McNeilly, Johns and Malcolm Stewart.
It was reported to a committee meeting on Wednesday night that £50 was in hand, and Mr. P. C. Weston was responsible for raising £25 by an appeal at the saleyards yesterday. We'll soon have the £100 aimed at.
The Mayor made a very comprehensive report on the preparations which have been made. He and the secretary (Mr. H. J. Leary) have done a lot of work to do honor to the marching recruits.
Misses Swain and Pickett have consented to arrange the programme for the continental on Saturday night. It is already assured that it will he tip-top. Miss Mona Punch, it is believed, will take part.
The Monarch Pictures have agreed not to commence their season until Wednesday next owing to the continental tomorrow night and the Eight Hour effort on Monday.
There will be no charge of admission to the open air concert, but patrons of the grandstand must pay sixpence.
No public collecting is to be allowed during the stay of the recruits at Orange. Voluntary subscriptions are expected to pay the cost of keeping them whilst here, and also the expense of our own men who join them on the march to the sea.
The Light Horse will assemble at the drill hall at 2 p.m. to join in the procession. The speakers at the recruiting meeting at Cook Park on Sunday will include Mr. Fitzpatrick and Mr. Dawson Moore. There will also be a musical programme.
In response to a request, from our Mayor, Colonel Kirkland has granted leave to all Orange soldiers in camp at Sydney, to come home and take part in the celebrations.
Blue Mountain Echo (NSW : 1909 - 1928), Friday 19 November 1915, page 3
Notes on the Coo-ees. Last week, we published photo blocks of two of the men mainly responsible for the "Coo-ees" recruiting march, but pressure on our space prevented brief sketches of the principals. / CAPT. W. T. HITCHEN. / Capt. Hitchen (or "Bill," as he is better known in the West), is a native of Mudgee and is 51 years of age. He is a member of one of the best-known and oldest families in the West, his people having settled in the Mudgee district back in the early fifties, where they reared a large family. A plumber by trade, Capt. Hitchen is a senior partner of W. T. Hitchen and Son, of Gilgandra. W. T. has lived all his life in the West, and has done his share in the past in the way of advancing the town of Gilgandra and district. He has been on the committee of every institution, including the Progress Association, P. and A. Association, Hospital, Jockey Club and Recruiting Association. It was he who first spoke of a recruiting march, and he made the first small mould for what has turned out a worthy movement. Boxing Day, 1913, is a day that will live in the memory of residents of Gilgandra for many years to come, for it was on that day that the genial and popular "Bill" Hitchen, together with William, junior, had the misfortune to stand on a rotten staging, which gave way, and the pair fell some 80ft to the bottom of a well. The younger man, who at that time was not yet 16 years of age, made the sensational ascent from the well, and was the means of saving his father's life. The hero of that episode has volunteered for the Front, and sailed from Sydney last Monday week. As Captain of the Gilgandra Rifle Club, W. T. Hitchen has done good work, and it is mainly due to his efforts that it owes its existence and status to-day. The veteran is hoping to go to the Front, but will probably aid in further recruiting work before he goes.
Bathurst Times (NSW : 1909 - 1925), Monday 18 September 1916, page 3
HITCHEN DEAD
THE MAN FROM GILGANDRA.
Corporal William T. Hitchen, died of illness, Harefield Hospital. The simple announcement of a simple fact, and yet what a flood of memories it begets. How short a time it seems since Captain Bill Hitchen loomed so large and warmly in
the public eye. How we hung upon the tale of the progress of his stalwarts from Gilgandra to Gallipoli. With his own two good hands and trusting heart he attempted to prove that the voluntary system of recruiting wanted but the impetus his plans would give it. For a brief while he looked like doing it. Then as the days and weeks passed; as each month recorded its march of the Wallabies, of the Waratahs, and the like, and still the men held back—we saw the failure we had dreaded for him. But bluff Bill Hitchen would admit no failure. If failure there, was he would take the blame to himself. It will come as a surprise to many to hear that Hitchen was 52 years of age. Fifty-two years, a husband and a father of three sons, and now dead of illness in a war hospital.
Corporal: 1677 William Thomas Hitchen (1864-1916)
Saint Mary the Virgin Churchyard, Harefield, London Borough of Hillingdon, Greater London, England. PLOT Aust. 6.
Family Information
William was a 44 year old married Plumber from Gilgandra, New South Wales upon his enlistment with the AIF. He was a Mason with Lodge 297 Gilgandra and was the Captain of the Gilgandra Rifle Club.
George Hitchen (1819 -1902) and spouse Catherine Hitchen nee Guare (1833-1913) at Gilgandra General Cemetery, Gilgandra, Gilgandra Shire, New South Wales, Australia.
George Hitchen (1819 -1902) - Catherine Hitchen nee: Guare. (1833-1913)
News Article published in the Braidwood Dispatch and Mining Journal (NSW : 1888 - 1954) Wednesday 31 December 1913, Page 2.
REMARKABLE RESCUE / LAD SAVES HIS FATHER. / AFTER FALL DOWN A WELL. / Gilgandra, Saturday. W. Hitchen, a plumber, and his son William Hitchen, were engaged in erecting a windmill over a well some three miles from town, and were connecting a pipe below the surface, when a staging collapsed, and both fell to the bottom of the well, a distance of 80ft. On the way down they crashed through four sets of staging, and eventually fell into 5ft of water. After striking the water the lad looked for his father, and, not seeing him, concluded that he was under the water. He found him lying at the bottom unconscious, and immediately got his head above water, and propped him up in a corner with pieces of wood. He then determined to seek assistance. The only way out of the well was by climbing up the piping, which he succeeded in doing after a hard struggle. When he reached the top of the piping he was still eight feet from the surface, which he had no means of reaching, owing to the collapse of the staging. The lad, however, balanced himself on the pipe, which brought his hands about 3ft from the surface, and, making a desperate leap, he succeeded in catching a piece of wood placed across the top. / As soon as he pulled himself clear, the lad harnessed a horse which was handy, and drove into town, and then to the racecourse where he obtained the assistance of the police and a number of civilians, who proceeded to the well in a motor car. On arrival two young men went down, and with the aid of ropes, rescued Hitchen, who was found to have sustained severe injuries to the back. The lad also received the doctor's attention, and was found to be suffering from a number of cuts and bruises.
Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales (Sydney, NSW : 1901 - 2001), Friday 19 January 1923 (No.7), page 327
In the Supreme Court of New South Wales.
PROBATE JURISDICTION.
In the will of William Thomas Hitchen, late of Gilgandra, in
the State of New South Wales, plumber, and also a member of the Australian Imperial Expeditionary Force,
Deceased.
PURSUANT to the Wills, Probate and Administration Act, 1898, and pursuant to the Testator's Family Maintenance and Guardianship of Infants Act, 1916: Notice is hereby given that every creditor or other person having any claim against the estate of William Thomas Hitchen, the abovenamed deceased, who died on or about the 3rd day of September, 1916, and probate of whose will was, on the 5th day of January, 1917, granted by the Supreme Court of New South Wales, in its Probate Jurisdiction, to Mayford George Hitchen and John Henry Hitchen, the executors named in the said will, is hereby required to send in, particulars in writing of such claim to the said Mayford George Hitchen and the said John Henry Hitchen, care of the undersigned, Beveridge and Serisier, at their office hereunder mentioned on or before the 23rd day of February, 1923, at the expiration of which time the said Mayford George Hitchen and John Henry Hitchen will proceed to distribute the assets of the said deceased amongst the persons entitled thereto, having regard only to the claims of which they then have notice; and notice is hereby given that the said Mayford George Hitchen and John Henry Hitchen will not be liable, for the assets or any part thereof so distributed, to any person of whose claim they shall not have had notice at the time of such distribution.—Dated this 12th day of January, 1923.
BEVERIDGE AND SERISIER,
Solicitors,
And their Agents,— Gilgandra.
Clayton and Utz, Solicitors,
280 Castlereagh-street, Sydney.
2189 16s.
Military Records
© Commonwealth of Australia (National Archives of Australia)
Under Construction: 10/09/2025-08/03/2026.
