My husband's great uncle Roland Justus Hill emigrated to New
Zealand in the early 1900s. He was the son of a noted
Victorian artist Justus Hill of Ealing/Acton near London and
he was born in 1886 (23/11 I think).
Roland clearly enjoyed life in his new country, and he
married Catherine Anne Hughes in Dunedin on 16/5/1910.
He worked as a clerk at the Oriental Hotel, Dunedin and
before that he may have been a ship's steward. They had two
children, Phyllis Mary (born 1/11/1909 in Wellington) and
Roland Justus (born 8/1/1911 in Timaru).
With the start of Word War I, Roland joined the New Zealand
Expeditionary Force in 1914 and served in the Otago regiment
as batallion quartermaster. He was promoted to Lieutenant and
then to Captain and was a war hero, mentioned in despatches
and then awarded the Military Cross in the New Years Honours
list 1918.
He was tragically killed in a very sad incident on 3/3/1918
in France. A private of his own regiment who had become
demented at the thought of going back to the front line, ran
amok with a rifle and shot and killed Roland and another
officer, and then turned the gun on himself.
I have tracked Roland's son's (another Roland Justus
sometimes spelt Rowland Justice) burial (7/7/1969 in
Anderson's Bay Cemetry Dunedin). I have also managed to find
the interment of the son's wife's ashes (Jean Alwyn Hill) on
8/1/1992 in the same plot (Block 73S Plot 23). The address
given in funeral records is 100, Marlow Street, Tainui,
Dunedin.
So, my amateur sleuthing has borne some fruit-but I now
really feel I must find out more. I feel sure there must be
descendents around Dunedin. This year we are going to France
to find and photograph the grave of Roland, and to pay proper
respect to a forgotten hero. He is not commemorated in
England because he had emigrated, and I suspect, will
probably not be remembered in New Zealand, because he was
born an Englishman.
I would love to be able to give a copy of the photos we take
in France (and a lot of other family history) to any long
lost Hill relatives around Dunedin, and I would like to hear
of anyone who can add to my story.
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