He was born in Rio, but moved with his parents to England, where he became an accountant. In 1896 he married Isabella Ann Fitzsimons ‘Nina’ Cregeen (1871- ) in Camberwell, and they had three children. After Isabella died, George is thought to have married again and to have had two children.
510. Stella Violet Austin
Death registered by niece, Janet Mary Mitchell
311. Arthur Gordon Austin
Richard, Arthur’s father, died when Arthur was about a year old. His mother then went to live in Framlingham, where she had relatives and where she lived until her death in 1924. Arthur went to school at Framlingham College and was in the Army Pay Corps at the very end of the World War I. He was a keen sportsman, playing rugby and golf for local teams. After military service, he joined Lloyds Bank, working in Kettering, where he met and married Marjorie Winifred Knight. He was later posted to Hadleigh (Suffolk). He died there after a long illness.
316. Robert Gordon Lefroy Austin
Gordon was born in Cheltenham, went to Cheltenham College and to Oriel College, Oxford, from where he gained the degree of B.A. in 1894. He was a housemaster at Harrow School before being brought out to the Transvaal under the auspices of Lord Milner to organise schools for the English speakers in the former Republic. With the union of the four Provinces and the creation of South Africa he left government service in 1918 and purchased Parktown Preparatory School, by now established at Mountain View, Johannesburg, in a magnificent mining magnate’s former home. In Gordon’s time as headmaster, there were three pupils destined to become chairmen of the three rival mining houses of South Africa, Harry Oppenheimer of Anglo American, Colin Anderson of Union Corporation and Peter Anderson of Rand Mines. Gordon married Marie Kathleen O’Connor (1882-1975) of Port Elizabeth and they had three children. He revived the use of the name Wentworth for his two sons (their great grandmother was Mary Jane Wentworth). Gordon died on his fruit farm at Dwarsrivier near Stellenbosch.
Of Port Elizabeth
520. Pilot Officer Guy Paul Wentwoth Austin
He was born in Pretoria. He was destined to succeed his father Gordon at Parktown Preparatory School. He went to Oriel College, Oxford where he joined the Flying Club and qualified as a pilot. He joined up at the outbreak of World War II. He was shot down over Germany while serving as a pilot in 9 Squadron RAFVR, and died. His grave is at the Berlin 1939-1945 War Cemetery, Brandenburg, Germany.
521. Anne Rosemary Austin
She was born in Johannesburg, but suffered bad health, retiring to a nursing home in Natal, where she died a spinster.
317. Edward Neville Lefroy Austin
Neville was born in Cheltenham and educated at Cheltenham College, and then joined the Royal Navy. However, he left the Navy and went to South Africa where he served as a trooper in the Imperial Light Horse during the Boer War and was in the battle of Elandslaagte and the siege at Ladysmith. In 1904 he joined the Native Recruiting Corporation in Cofimvaba, Eastern Cape, and served there as an agent for the mining industry until 1915. In 1910 he married Nora Frances Lawlor (1886-1977) from Engcobo, Cape Province, at East London and they had four children. He died of an embolism whilst on a hunting trip near Queenstown, Cape Province. In 1924 his wife went into the hotel business to support her family of four.
523. Emily Joan Austin
She was born in Cofimvaba. Known as Joan, she was a book keeper for Marble Lime Co. and a keen and competent horsewoman, like her mother Nora Frances. Joan did not marry, but lived with her mother, mainly in Johannesburg, until her death there.
525. Barbara Mary Austin
She was born in Queenstown. She joined the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY, part of the Special Operations Executive and involved in British intelligence, despite the name) in Nairobi in 1941 and served in both Signals and Intelligence and was promoted Sergeant in 1943. On 12th February 1944, while she was en route to Trincomalee in Ceylon on the troopship S.S. Khedive Ismail, the ship was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-27, and Barbara died. The submarine itself was eventually sunk by the destroyer escorts H.M.S. Petard and H.M.S. Paladin in a remarkable action that is described in chapter 7 of ‘Capturing Enigma’ by Stephen Harper (Sutton Publishing, 1999), Barbara’s name is one of those on the FANY Memorial at St Paul’s Church, Knightsbridge, London.
321. Charles Henry Bruce Austin
Known as Bruce, he was keen on the violin and owned instruments for over 60 years: together with a grand piano the violin has now been passed to his grandson Wayne. Bruce became a travelling magistrate in Natal, journeying from place to place by horse (his saddle and whip are now in the possession of his granddaughter Sheila Ann). He married Grace Dixon in 1910 and they had two children. He retired in 1943 and went to live in the Johannesburg area.
322. Helen Violet Austin
She married A. E. Browning and they had three children, Errol, Stuart and Elsie Sheppard
He was born in Newcastle, Natal and married Elsie Peck who died in 1983 and they had one son. Vernon worked for Barclays Bank, becoming a branch manager.
324. Marguerite Mary Myrtle Austin
She married E. H. Doveton who died in 1940. They had three children: Phyllis (1915- ), Audrey (1917- ) and Douglas (1922- ). Douglas was a dentist in Port Shepstone. Phyllis married John Kable and they had three children, Edwin, Lindsay and Paul. When John Kable died in 1957, Phyllis married John Bertram. Marguerite’s second child Audrey married Robert A. Wood and they had three children, Brenda (1948-), Owen (1951- ) and Mark (1954- ). Marguerite’s third child, Douglas, married N. Petty and they had four children, David (1953- ) Colin, Neil and Patricia.
Known as Emil, he was born at Lake Chrissie, Transvaal and educated at Maritzburg College, Natal. He served in East and West Africa during World War I, having been commissioned an officer. He subsequently served in France until the end of the war. After the war he worked for two years as a mine assessor. In 1921 he bought a plot of undeveloped land in the Highflats district of Natal. He developed the land into a model commercial dairy and arable farm. He was well known for his conservation practices, for which he won awards. On the outbreak of World War II he enlisted with the 2nd Natal Mounted Rifles, serving as a Captain. When the regiment went north, he was demobilised for reasons of health and age. He served on various farming committees and for many years was a director of a large dairy co-operative. When he retired from farming, his eldest son took over. Emilius married Florence Holmes (1902-1981) and they had four children.
352. John Richard Colin Gordon
Dick was born in British Guiana and married Hilda Sloman (1884-1982) in 1906. He was for some time manager of Blairmont Estate, Berbice, but in 1926, he and Hilda moved to Nickerie in Surinam, again to work in the sugar industry, before retiring to Georgetown. Dick died in Georgetown, British Guiana, and is buried in the churchyard at St Sidwell’s Church. He and Hilda had two sons