Alfred Ansell
Mary Ellen Ansell
Alfred Erold Ansell


Alfred Ansell, the son of Henry and Mary Ann (née Freshwater) Ansell, was born about 1847 in Chatham—a market town in Kent on the River Medway. When the English census was taken in 1851, the family were living in Globe Lane where for many years Henry conducted his business. Present on that occasion were: Henry (41, watchmaker), Mary Ann (39), Henry Jr (16, butcher’s boy), Mary Ann (14), Amelia Jane (11), Frances Sarah (8), Oswald (6), Alfred (3) and Frederick (1).


Alfred George Ansell

Twenty years later, all of the children had left home except Alfred who was then living in John Street with his widowed mother and working as a labourer in the historic Chatham dockyards. He left England for Australia about 1871 on a ship yet to be identified; and on 15 August 1872 he married Mary Ellen Sidey, the daughter of Thomas (an engineer) and Ellen (née Bleakley) Sidey, both of whom are also buried in this cemetery.Alfred, a dairyman of Brown’s Plains, died in the Brisbane Hospital at the age of 47 years on 16 November 1893. His burial, certified by Nils Stjernqvist, took place at God’s Acre on 19 November 1893 in the presence of witnesses, John and George Boyland. Left to mourn his passing were his wife and their six children: Maria Ellen (b. 21 June 1874; bur. 6 May 1969), Edith Florence (b. 10 October 1878), Emily Louisa (b. 24 April 1883; d. 19 April 1971), Margaret Ann (b. 11 July 1885), Elfreda Lavinia (b. 17 March 1890) and Alfred Erold (b. 12 May 1892).

The marriage details of the Ansell children are as follows: Maria Ellen married William Doggrell (d. 10 August 1927), an orchardist from Mapleton, on 6 February 1906; Elfreda Lavinia married William St John Cain (d. 17 February 1944) on 29 June 1912; Emily Louisa married Francis Orr Leichhardt Boyland (d. 26 0ctober 1958) on 14 August 1907; Margaret Ann married Friederich Jacob Diefenbach on 31 July 1916. Emily Louisa’s husband is one of at least nine members of the Boyland family buried in God’s Acre.

Mary Ellen Ansell, Alfred’s widow, was born in Pilkington, Lancashire. She came to Australia with her family on the 1360-ton Black Ball ship, Fiery Star (Captain WH Yule). (For details of the voyage and of her family, see the entry under Sidey). Maria Ellen died on 19 August 1925 in the Mental Hospital, Goodna; and her interment, which was undertaken by KM Smith, took place in the Cooper’s Plains Cemetery two days later. The Reverend Hugh Thomas Molesworth of the Church of England conducted the service; the witnesses to the burial were Charles William Lyon (undertaker) and FW Cash.
 


 



Alfred Erold Ansell, the youngest child of his parents, was born on 12 May 1873 and was barely 18 months old when his father died. Alfred married Ethel Tilly Morse, the daughter of Ernest Tilly and Mary (née Brogden) Morse, on 25 June 1913. The young couple set up house at ‘Eroldvale’, Princess Street, off Fairfield Road, close to the South Brisbane Cemetery. They welcomed their only child Alfred Ernest Ansell on 1 May 1914. Alfred supported his family, first as a railway porter and later as a baker’s carter.

On 14 September 1916, while the First World War was raging in Europe, Alfred Erold Ansell (2707) and his twin brothers-in-law, Oswald Hector Morse (2705) and Vernon Eustace Morse

(2706), who were born 11 May 1893, joined the 42nd Battalion. Sadly, Alfred and Vernon (a farmer), who had gone to school together at Cooper’s Plains, perished in that dreadful conflict on the same day, 4 October 1917, in the battle of Broodseinde in Belgium. According to Roll of Honour records in the Australian War Museum, Alfred was ‘killed about 50 yards on the right side of the railway line from Zonnebeke going towards Passchendaele’. Ossie Morse survived the war and died in December 1967 aged 74 years.

The names of Alfred Erold Ansell and Vernon Eustace Morse are inscribed on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium. More accessible to Alfred’s family and to other visitors to God’s Acre is the inscription on the gravestone of his parents. A photograph of Alfred in his military uniform may be found in the 28 July 1917 issue of the Queenslander, the weekly edition of the Brisbane Courier.
 


 

Ethel Tilly Morse, the daughter of Ernest Tilly and Mary (née Brogden) Morse, on 25 June 1913. The young couple set up house at ‘Eroldvale’, Princess Street, off Fairfield Road, close to the South Brisbane Cemetery. They welcomed their only child Alfred Ernest Ansell on 1 May 1914. Alfred supported his family, first as a railway porter and later as a baker’s carter.

The names of Alfred Erold Ansell and Vernon Eustace Morse are inscribed on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial in Belgium. More accessible to Alfred’s family and to other visitors to God’s Acre is the inscription on the gravestone of his parents. A photograph of Alfred in his military uniform may be found in the 28 July 1917 issue of the Queenslander, the weekly edition of the Brisbane Courier. On 14 September 1916, while the First World War was raging in Europe, Alfred Erold Ansell (2707) and his twin brothers-in-law, Oswald Hector Morse (2705) and Vernon Eustace Morse (2706), who were born 11 May 1893, joined the 42nd Battalion. Sadly, Alfred and Vernon (a farmer), who had gone to school together at Cooper’s Plains, perished in that dreadful conflict on the same day, 4 October 1917, in the battle of Broodseinde in Belgium. According to Roll of Honour records in the Australian War Museum, Alfred was ‘killed about 50 yards on the right side of the railway line from Zonnebeke going towards Passchendaele’. Ossie Morse survived the war and died in December 1967 aged 74 years.

Ethel Tilly Ansell did not remarry after her husband’s death. She died on 17 August 1969 and was cremated at the Mount Thompson Crematorium on the following day.