Albert William Dengate

Married: 5 June 1930, Roman Catholic Presbytery, Temora, New South Wales, Australia

Albert William Dengate, ‘Bert’ as he was known, was born in Hastings, Sussex, England on 19 October 1907. Albert was the first son of Albert Edward Dengate and Edith Eliza Ward.

The family came to Australia on 2 January 1913 on board the Orsova and settled in Tarcutta Street, Wagga Wagga, New South Wales. In an obituary notice in the Wagga Advertiser Paper dated 7 February 1913, for Mrs Edith Eliza Dengate, it reported that ‘Edith Eliza Dengate only became ill on Saturday last and was admitted to the hospital on Sunday afternoon. She was aged 25 and was diagnosed with enteric fever (typhoid fever). There was keen sympathy for the husband and motherless children’. It is understood that Edith was pregnant and a daughter, Eliza, was born and also died. Both Edith and Eliza died in 1913 in Wagga and are buried in the Church of England portion of the Wagga Cemetery, although Eliza wasn’t mentioned in the obituary. Albert was only 5 years and 3 months when his mother died. Below is a photo of the grave, in a sad state of repair. It reads 'In loving memory of Edith Eliza Dengate February 3 1913 age 25'

Albert Edward subsequently remarried in 1914, when he married Lily Henrietta Bateman.

Albert (junior) was caught smoking by his father, so he was made smoke a pipe full of tobacco, but it didn’t stop him from smoking. Albert always wrote to Jean (Doris Jean, born to Albert and Lily) and Corrie (Coral Ida, ‘Corrie’ as she was known, was Lily’s daughter) and always referred to them as brother and sister, no mention was ever made of their being half brother and sister.

Back Row: Isabella Dawson Jemmett Bateman ( Mrs Blandford Thomas Lucas Bateman) holding Laura (born 4 October 1916) , Mrs Bert Dengate holding Horrie (born 8 April 1915) Mary Bateman (nee Lucas)

Front Row: Albert William Dengate (born 19 October 1907 Died WW II 1942 buried at Singapore ) , Corrie Dengate ( born 28 August 1911 Mrs Ellingsworth), George Dengate (born 21 May 1909 ) Dorothy Amy Chorine Bateman (born 12 April 1908 Mrs Harold Bunt), Henry Bateman. It was taken at the back of Mary Street, North Wagga where Henry and Mary Bateman lived and it was taken during WW I, c.1917.

At age 22, Albert William married Kathleen May Ralph in Temora, New South Wales on 5 June 1930 in the Roman Catholic Presbytery, Temora. The marriage was dissolved on 28 May 1935 and he married Joan C Kelly in Wagga in 1935. Albert never had any children.

The family subsequently moved from Wagga to Canberra in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in 1939. This was after Albert (senior), Albert (junior) and George had found somewhere to live in Queanbeyan, New South Wales, which was just out of Canberra, and all being painters, they got jobs with the Department of Works. This enabled them to go onto the list for housing in Canberra.

Albert (junior) and Joan continued to live in Queanbeyan until Albert enlisted in the Australian Army from Wagga as a cook. His Service Number was NX35266, and he was attached to the 2/19 Infantry Battalion. He had just been moved to the transport section and was driving a truck which was bombed on 19 January 1942, his half-sister Jean’s 21^st birthday. He was aged 34 years and 3 months. Albert is buried in Kranji Cemetery, Singapore. His name is on the ‘Honour Roll’ at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Grateful thanks to Jan Westcott for writing this biography and also for the photographs used and to Debra Bateman for the additional photo of the Batemans and Dengates.