The Evening Post of Monday, February 10th 1936 reported that the body of a man had been located in Wellington Harbour at 6:30 am in the vicinity of Clyde Quay Wharf. The body, which it was assessed had been in the water between 3 and 6 hours, was recovered by local police and identified as local resident “…Harry Rollinson, aged about 60, and living at 40 Cambridge Terrace…”. He was reported as being a “…married man with a grown-up family, and was in regular employment”.
Harry had risen at 3:00 am on the day he died but his wife, Dorothy, was not unduly concerned as he was “…an habitual early riser”. The consultant pathologist at Wellington Hospital, Dr Philip Patrick Lynch, stated that there were no marks of injury or violence on Harry’s body to indicate how he had ended up in the water but the newspaper report stated that “…he had not been quite normal for about two weeks prior to his death”.
Harry was born in Birmingham, England on May 23rd 1876 to parents Thomas and Helen Rollinson. I cannot find out much about his life in England other than the fact that, according to his New Zealand Army service records, he was or had been married to Mrs J Rollinson while those records also showed that he had no dependent children. He arrived in Wellington (apparently single) in 1905 and is listed in his army service records as being employed as a “tailor’s cutter” with “Blake & Co Dixon Street, Wellington”. This was probably the tailors L & J W Blake Ltd of 106-108 Dixon Street. Confirmation of this is shown in a report in the Dominion for February 23rd 1917 which mentions a “Mr Rollinson” as presenting a “…luminous gold watch as a token of esteem” on behalf of fellow staff members to Mr A E Gibbes who was “…leaving New Zealand on active service”.
Harry himself signed up for the general draft and was soon conscripted, entering training camp at Trentham as part of the 5th Group “Wellington and Suburbs quota” for the 30th Reinforcements in early January 1917. He joined the New Zealand Rifle Brigade, G Company Reinforcements, as a Rifleman on May 24th 1917 one day after his 41st birthday. On July 26th Harry and his draft embarked Wellington aboard the SS Ulimaroa. The voyage took them to Plymouth in Devon where they arrived on September 24th 1917. The troops then boarded a train for transportation to Sling Camp on Salisbury Plain for further training. On this journey Harry and his fellow servicemen would witness a tragic accident when the train stopped for a signal at Bere Ferrers station in East Devon. Thinking it was a provisioning stop (most of the troops were ravenous by this time having not eaten since 6:00 am) several servicemen exited the train on the wrong side and into the path of the London to Plymouth express. 10 soldiers died on that day and are buried in Efford Cemetery in Plymouth and remembered on various plaques around the district.
From his service record it seems that Harry spent most of his time overseas in army administrative roles serving with the 5thand6th Battalions and the Details Company. Following his war service, during which he rose from the rank of Private to Corporal and to Sergeant, a rank confirmed on December 13th 1918, Harry returned to New Zealand on board the SS Giessen arriving in Wellington Harbour on August 26th 1919. He was officially discharged from the army on September 23rd 1919 having spent 2 years and 4 months in uniform and just over 2 years of that time overseas.
In 1922 Harry married Dorothy Phillips who I suspect had been previously married and in 1923 they had a daughter who they named Jeanne Margaret Shirley. In 1926 Harry is shown as a “Drycleaner” working in Jackson Street, Petone. A touching little snippet associated with Harry appeared in the Evening Post of February 13th 1934 – “LOST, black curly Retriever, answers to Rangi. Good reward for information or recovery. Rollinson, 40 Cambridge Terrace”. 29 years after she lost Harry, Dorothy passed away in Wellington Hospital on December 10th 1965. Her death notice mentions children Gerald Phillips, Juliet (Mrs Archibald) and Jean and grandchildren Carol, Gaye and Geraldine. Dorothy was 75 years old.
Plot: Soldiers/LL/19
By Peter Wells
