Heckrath family from England and Australia
Adolph James Heckrath
1876-1958
London Bridge about 1895
Adolph James Heckrath, my grandfather, was born in Kimberley, South Africa, at the height of the “diamond rush” there. His parents were Edmund Walter Heckrath and Elizabeth Kift. He was named after his two grandfathers. I don’t know much about his childhood except he told me he didn’t have many books or toys as a child. I believe he and his siblings had a happy childhood judging how their parents had a very good relationship with them all throughout their lives.
In 1888, at the age of twelve, he and his brother, Eddie, were taken to England and put in Thame Grammar School , where they were boarders. He related a story that when they arrived at the school for the first time many of the students were hanging out of the windows to greet them because they had heard two boys from Africa were arriving. Apparently they were expecting black boys! The 1891 census found the boys registered at Norton College, Havelock Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. This school was affiliated to Thame Grammar School. I don’t know how long they remained at this school.
He married Ida Laurie Beatrice Skates. The family story was that he had seen her walking in Brockwell Park, Herne Hill, and decided she was the one he would marry. I don’t know when they first met but in 1901 she was working for a Dr. Thomas Scott as a nurse/servant presumably looking after his young children. She was 16 but is recorded in the census as being 18! This family lived in Denmark Hill, Camberwell, the lower end of which is near Brockwell Park.
In February 1904 Adolph travelled to the Cape, most probably for work, and Ida followed in October accompanied by Irene, Adolph’s sister. Adolph married Ida on 2 May 1905 in Cape Town with his parents and sister present. Sometime later Ida returned to England and on 3 March 1906 Ruby Irene May was born in Brighton, Sussex. Ruby was baptized in St. Peter’s Church, Cranley Gardens, Kensington, on 30 August 1906. She was named after Adolph’s sister, Irene, and Ida’s best friend, May. The family was living in Westbourne Grove, Nottinghill, London.
Adolph James Heckrath 1876-1958
Ida Laurie Beatrice Heckrath née Skates 1884-1935
I’m not sure when Adolph returned to South Africa but Ida went back, to be with him, after their second daughter was born in October 1907 as she told Adolph in a letter how she had to have chloroform again and she was going to name the baby Laurie Elizabeth Kate, after herself and Laurie’s grandmothers. In May 1909 their third daughter, Joan Olive Monica, was born at Seapoint, Cape Town. The family was living in Kimberley. Laurie and Joan were both christened there in October 1909.
On 4 June 1910 Ida and the three girls arrived back in England from the Cape without Adolph, who followed a month later. I think the reason she travelled back on her own was so she could attend and be a witness at her sister’s wedding on 19th July 1910. Edie married Hubert Dallas Beedell at the Register Office in Willesden. Hubert’s brother, Harold, was the other witness. Adolph arrived back on 30 July.
At the end of January and in March 1911 Ida was in Bournemouth as she sent postcards to her sister. The 1911 census in April showed Ida and her three girls were living at 11 Clanricade Gardens, Nottinghill, which was a boarding house. Adolph was most probably in South Africa as he does not appear in the census. Ida and the girls returned to South Africa in June 1911 as on 13th she sent a couple of post cards to her sister, Edie, from Madeira saying “Do not forget to write sometimes”
Ida Heckrath with Ruby, Laurie and Joan on her lap. About 1910.
Joan, Laurie and Ruby with Nurse in early 1912
In April 1912 their fourth child , Claudine Elise, was born at Seapoint, Cape Town. She was later christened at St.Cyprian’s Church, Kimberley.
In May Ruby became ill with a fever. The doctors weren’t sure exactly what was wrong but suggested it may be meningitis which was very serious but not to give up hope. Adolph was in Kimberley and Ida was writing letters and sending telegrams to him with news. Sadly after 10 days of illness Ruby died on 3 June 1912. Ida believed the illness was due to her paddling in the sea.
Adolph worked as a Diamond Sorter and Rough Diamond Merchant in Kimberley from 1905 to 1914.
Ida and the girls returned to England just three weeks before the start of WWI. Adolph followed in the October.
Adolph with Laurie, Joan and baby Claudine in 1912,
Ida with Claudine at Kimberley Station 1914
In 1915 Adolph signed up to serve as a gunner in the Royal Garrison Artillery. In 1917 he was stationed at Weymouth and classified as Class B, so unlikely to be sent out of the country, his father relates in a letter to his sister in Cape Town. However, in early 1918 Adolph was sent to the front. Then Ida received a letter, written on 2 April, from the army to say he had been wounded on 21 March and he was in 54 London General Hospital, Aubengue, which was situated in the Wimereux area which is on the northern coast of France. He was severely gassed and had also received shrapnel wounds to his right foot.
Gunner Adolph James Heckrath
Letter from the Army Record Office, Dover, to Ida to inform her that Adolph had been wounded. Dated 2 April 1918.
From 1915, when their fifth daughter, Angela Barbara was born, to about 1922 the family lived at 61 Kensington Gardens Square. My mother, Pauline Anna, was also born there in 1918. Adolph went back to South Africa at the end of January 1919 and he returned on 6 January 1920. This was his last journey there. He worked with his father until his father retired about 1927 and the business, at 14/17 Holborn Viaduct, was given to him.
About 1922 he bought a house in Hampstead at 33 Platts Lane. After the stock market crash in late 1929 in America the Great Depression commenced and was at the depth in 1932. It would have been a very worrying time for Adolph with his business as nobody would be buying diamonds at that time. Also two of their daughters died of TB in the early 1930s – Laurie in 1930 and Angela four years later in 1934. Then in 1935 Ida had a stroke and died at the age of 50. Adolph had to sell the house and went back to live at Herne Hill with his mother and sisters in 1936, his father having died 5 months after his wife.
During WWII he volunteered as an air raid warden. In the last few years of his life he visited his daughters when he could and stayed in the country for several weeks with Pauline and her family on a couple of occasions. He loved gardening and the garden at Herne Hill was well looked after by him and his sisters.
He died on 4 December 1958 age 82.
Adolph with his girls in 1919. From the left Angela, Laurie, Joan, Pauline in the pram and Claudine.
Letter from Joan to her father in Kimberley. Dated 3 December 1919.
Adolph with his girls – Laurie, Angela, Joan, Pauline and Claudine taken about 1922.
Adolph and Ida with Claudine, Angela and Pauline on Ida’s lap taken about 1924.
Adolph Heckrath in the garden at 36 Stradella Road in 1951.
Children of Adolph James Heckrath and Ida Laurie Beatrice Skates:
Ruby Irene May Heckrath 1906 – 1912
Laurie Elizabeth Kate Heckrath 1907 – 1930
Joan Olive Monica Heckrath 1909 – 1996
Claudine Elise Heckrath 1912 – 1999
Angela Barbara Heckrath 1915 – 1934
Pauline Anna Heckrath 1918 – 2004
Sources:
Legacy pages for Heckrath family.
Cyril Alfred Heckrath
1886-1916
Cyril Alfred Heckrath, age about 5 years
Cyril Alfred Heckrath, age about 15 years
Cyril, my grandfather’s brother and youngest of the family, was born in Kimberley like all his siblings except Edmund, who was born in Cape Town. He was only 3 years old when he was taken to live in England in 1889.
The 1891 census records him as a scholar, age 5, in Beckenham where the family lived when they first arrived in England. Later he attended Dulwich College where he was in the Cadets for two years whilst there. In May 1901 his mother and sister, Cherry, accompanied him by train to Cassel (Kassel), Germany, where he was to attend school. It had been arranged where Cyril would board since his mother had been to Cassel two years earlier and knew the owner of the student boarding house. His schooling had not been arranged, but after getting advice, Cyril was enrolled on 18 May at The Reäl Schule. His mother and Cherry stayed for four weeks and enjoyed their time seeing many sites and going on excursions, while keeping an eye on Cyril.
Cyril stayed in Cassel about a year. On 23 December he wrote to his father “I must wish you all the joy and happiness for Christmas and 1902. Hope you will have a good time with the turkey”. He describes how the shops in Cassel are looking very nice and with their winter attractions and he says “The ideas of the Cassel shop keepers seem to be not to be without a Father Xmas or rather a weak imitation of the “Vater”. “Fathers” gaze at you from every window”. He goes on to say “We have had snow and frost this week; the greatest since I have been here. The temperature had been as low as 21 deg below freezing. I did not find it at all cold as there was no wind …. Fur collars seem fashionable for gentlemen so I think I will slaughter a cat or two, you are allowed to kill cats but not birds, as cats kill birds, therefore the cats are allowed to be killed. If you kill a bird you get 7 years or 40 marks fine, I forget which, if you kill a cat you are likely to be hauled up for making or causing a noise to be made!” He finished the letter by writing “I believe you have a letter belonging to one of our ancestors written from Cassel. Could you give me the address as I should like to go and look at the house it was written from, if it is still in existence?”
Cyril at Dulwich College with his classmates. He is seated 3rd from the right. Date about 1900.
Bessie Heckrath’s holiday notebook where she recorded her travels and events day by day. 2 May to 31 May 1901.
On 15 January 1903 he travelled to Melbourne, Australia, on the ship “Persic”. He recorded his occupation on the ship’s passenger list as “clerk”. Whilst in Australia he attended Dookie Agricultural College, in northern Victoria. It is not known how long he was there but most likely completed the course he embarked on. He was in Australia for six years. In June 1909 he sailed from Melbourne to Durban where he married Mabel Maude Westwood on 20 October. They most probably met in Melbourne since Mabel was an Australian.
Their first child Bessie Annie was born in July 1910 but died just a year later. He and Mabel had three more children – 2 boys and a girl. In January 1911 his father gave him money as a deposit to buy the freehold of the 1000 acres of land he was farming near Bridport, Tasmania. The registration of the land in August 1912 was put in the name of his wife.
On 19 March 1915 he decided to join the Australian Imperial Force at Claremont, Tasmania, and on 24 March was enlisted in the 26th Battalion. He liked to write poems and on 16 May 1915 he had a poem “The Men of Australia” published in a local newspaper.
On 8 August he wrote to his aunts in Cape Town from Heliopolis, near Cairo, to say he had arrived safely. He told them he expected to go to the front in about a month and he was waiting for a summer uniform. He embarked for the Gallipoli Peninsula of 4 September 1915. On 7 November he was sick with enteric fever and was transferred to the 3rd Field Ambulance and admitted to a casualty clearance station from where he was transferred to the hospital ship “Galeka”. On 9 November he was taken to the 15th General Hospital in Alexandria, Egypt, and then it was decided he should go to England. So on 24 November he embarked the ship “Dover Castle”. When he arrived he was admitted, on 5 December, to the 3rd London Hospital in Wandsworth. He was discharged on 24 March and sent to Wareham Camp to recuperate from his illness. Next on 16 June he was transferred to Monte Video base, Weymouth, and from there to Perham Down, just north of Salisbury, where the Australian Overseas Training Brigrade was designed to toughen up convalescent men prior to being sent back to the front. On 9 August 1916 he proceeded to Etaples, France, from where he returned to his unit, 26th Battalion, on 26 August.
M. Maude Heckrath with Edmund Kift Heckrath about 1912
Pte. Cyril Alfred Heckrath, 26th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force.
Poem “The Men of Australia” written by Cyril Alfred Heckrath in 1915
Postcard showing the Hills of Gallipoli sent by Cyril A Heckrath to his wife in Bridport, Tasmania.
Reverse of the postcard (above) sent from a field post office on 26 September 1915.
On 11 November 1916 he wrote, in pencil, to his aunt Annie, in South Africa, wishing them all a happy day for Xmas and a bright New Year. He describes the mud in the trenches and how bad it is with some men becoming fast in it and having to be pulled out. He hopes the New Year will bring an end to the war and he is well in spite of all. This was most probably the last letter he wrote.
First page of a letter in pencil written from the trenches by Cyril Heckrath to his aunt Annie in Cape Town. Dated 11 November 1916. (some words later overwritten by his daughter)
He was reported missing on 14 November 1916 and then on 7 April 1917 he was reported killed in action after his body was found. The coordinates of where he was buried were recorded. On 22 July 1938 his name was inscripted on the Villers Bretonneux Memorial, in Picardie, France. His name was also placed on the War Memorial at Scottsdale, Launceston, Tasmania and on the Roll of Honour at the Australian War Memorial, Canberra.
His wife, Mabel, was naturally quite distraught by the news and wrote to the Australian Imperial Force at Victoria Barracks, Melbourne. She found it very hard to accept the news and thought maybe he had been taken as a prisoner. It was only when his body was found that his death was confirmed.
He left three young children and the youngest, Patricia Mary, was born only eight months before he enlisted.
Report of the death of Cyril Alfred Heckrath on 14 November 1916.
Cyril Alfred Heckrath’s name on the Australian War Memorial at Villers Bretonneux, Dept. de la Somme, Picardie, France.
Children of Cyril Alfred Heckrath and Mabel Maude Westwood:
Bessie Annie Heckrath 1910 – 1911
Edmund Kift Heckrath 1911 – 1934
Daniel Paul Heckrath 1913 – 1974
Patricia Mary Heckrath 1914 – 2008
Sources:
National Archives of Australia: Personal Records
Training Camps: England – Following the Twenty-Second … www.anzac-22nd-battalion.com
Legacy pages for Heckrath family