33rd BATTALION - 1st BATTALION AIF
Private: 18 Roderick Hamilton BUDSWORTH. Gamilaroi / Kamilaroi
Born: 24th July 1878. Coonamble, New South Wales, Australia.
Died: 5th November 1916. killed in Action. France.
Father: James Bowen 'Mudgee Jimmy' Budsworth. Gamilaroi / Kamilaroi (1840-1930)
Mother: Catherine Mary Budsworth. nee: Ryan. (1835-1931)
INFORMATION
No.18 Roderick Hamilton BUDSWORTH was a 37 year old Brick-Maker from West-Tamworth in NSW when he enlisted in the AIF at Armidale on the 22nd of December 1915. He was a man of Indigenous heritage (Gamilaroi / Kamilaroi).
He embarked as a member of “D” Company of the 33rd BATTALION AIF (New England’s Own / the Northern Battalion) on board the HMAT (A74) ‘Marathon’ which departed Sydney for Egypt on the 4th of May 1916. Several days after leaving Albany in Western-Australia, the ship received a wireless message saying that the 9th Brigade’s destination was changed to England, and the troopship was recalled to Western Australia in order to top up with sufficient coal to reach its destination in Europe.
It finally reached Devonport in England on the 9th of July 1916, after the longest recorded voyage for a troopship during WW1. The route of the voyage was via: Albany, Freemantle (twice), Durban, Capetown, Dakar, and arriving in Devonport in England on the 9th of July.
On arrival in England the 33rd Battalion then travelled by train, via Exeter, to Salisbury-Plain in Wiltshire where they unloaded at the village of Amesbury. They then marched the several miles to the Australian Camps at Larkhill where they marched into the No.2 Camp. The men then were given 4 days Disembarkation-Leave prior to commencing their training.
The Battalion now became part of the 9th Australian Infantry Brigade (33rd, 34th, 35th, and 36th Infantry Battalions, 9th Machine-Gun Company, and the 9th Light Trench Mortar Battery), of the 3rd Australian Division (9th, 10th, and 11th Infantry Brigades). It would spend the next couple of months training hard on Salisbury Plain to learn all the latest methods of War and fighting Trench-Warfare.
In August of 1916, while still in training in England, the 3rd Australian Division was ordered by the 'War Office' in London to release men to reinforce the depleted Divisions already in France and each Infantry Battalion had to supply 120 men. Roderick was one of the men selected from the 33rd Battalion.
Roderick was transferred to the 1st Training Battalion, and from there then he proceeded to France on the 16th of September 1916 as reinforcement for the 1st Battalion AIF, marching into the 1st Australian Infantry Division Base Depot at Etaples. He marched out to the Front on the 30th September and was then taken-on-strength by the 1st BATTALION AIF on the 1st of October 1916.
On the 5th of November near Flers in France, Roderick was first reported as wounded and then missing. A later Court of Inquiry amended his ‘fate’ to KILLED-IN-ACTION.
He was initially buried in the field (450 yards N.N.W. of Gueudecourt) then later exhumed and reinterred at the Caterpillar Valley Cemetery , at Longueval in France.
Caterpillar Valley Cemetery, Longueval in France.
(Bill Durrant: August 2020)
Family Information
Roderick was a single 37 year old Brick-Maker from West-Tamworth, N.S.W. upon his enlistment with the AIF.
Rodericks Grandmother was known as (Black) Kitty
By Jennifer Sanders 2019.
Kitty was born about 1807 into the Warmuli Clan which was centered around what is now the suburb of Prospect, N.S.W. Australia. The Warmuli Clan was part of the Darug Nation who were traditional custodians of much of what is modern day Sydney. The Nation stretched from Broken Bay in the north to Botany Bay in the south and west to the Blue Mountains.
In July 1813, at about the age of 6, Kitty was placed in a missionary`s private home at Parramatta along with 4 other young children from various Darug clans. Eighteen months later on the 28th December 1814 these five children were the first to be admitted to Governor Macquarie's Native Institution in Parramatta. The institution was established by Macquarie to "civilise, educate and foster habits of industry and decency in the Aborigines".
While attending the institution Kitty became friends with Maria. Maria was also one of the first five children to be admitted to the institution and was around the same age as Kitty. Ten years later on the 12th June 1822 Kitty, age 15, married Maria`s brother Colebee, age 39. Both Maria and Colebee were the children of Yarramundi the Chief of the Boorooberongal Clan of the Darug Nation. The Boorooberongal Clan was centred around what is now the town of Richmond, N.S.W. Australia.
After their marriage Kitty and Colebee lived on his 30 acre block of land on the Richmond road. The land had been granted to Colebee three years earlier by Governor Lachlan Macquarie for services rendered. Macquarie had stated on the 31st August 1819 that Aboriginals should be granted land, very few received it, Colebee was one of the lucky ones. The 30 acres was located at what would soon become known as Blacktown, N.S.W. Australia. It was here that Kitty gave birth to her and Colebee`s first and possibly only child, Samuel Colebee, in 1827. Four years later in 1831 her husband Colebee died.
The following year in 1832 Kitty married Joseph Budsworth. Joseph was a convict who had arrived in the colony just over two years earlier. He was transported from England and arrived in Sydney on the 6th December 1829 aboard "Claudine". Shortly after their marriage Kitty and Joseph headed north to the Liverpool Plains on the Peel River. John Oxley had passed through the area in 1818 but the first sheep and cattle stations were only established in 1831, one year before Kitty and Joseph arrived.
It was here at Liverpool Plains on the banks of the Peel River that Kitty and Joseph began their family. Firstly with the birth of Joseph in 1833 and followed with the birth of James in 1840 and John in 1843. Over this time, during the 1830`s, a town began to develop on the Peel`s southwest bank. However it was not until 1850 that a public town was gazetted on the opposite side of the river from the existing settlement. This town would become known as Tamworth and in 1851 the white population was only 254.
Military Records
© Commonwealth of Australia (National Archives of Australia)
Under Construction: 08/08/2020.
Comment
As a descendant of Roderick Budsworth I was fascinated to read this information. I was aware of him from my mother, but all this information is wonderful Thank you so much and please keep me informed if any further information relating to he and the family comes to light.
Hi June Lyne..
I am a gt gt gt niece of Roderick email me at Budsworthfamily@gmail.com
I cried when I read this,what a hero and should be commended and remembered as such,my great great great uncles,James and Roderick,both brothers are hero’s in my eyes. brett simpson
Hi Brett
Thankyou for your comments, yes he was a hero, in my eyes they all were. What they went through during the war was horrendous. I try to honour all who served so they will be remembered. It is rather sad that as I know most won’t be as I have compiled thousands of individual profiles over the 22 years and many have never been viewed as they had no family left when they died and there is know one to remember them. Very Sad.
Regards
David Harrower ACM
hi David,I’m a veteran myself like a few people in my family and it’s taken me nearly 60 years today to work this out,thankyou for helping our family,brett
Hi Brett
My pleasure mate, I add more content if it becomes available, so it is a never ending project to honour our veterans. If I can help with anything please let me know.
Regards
David Harrower ACM