Florence Perry

War widow, mother

Florence Eckersley, born on 25 April 1886 in Manchester, England, married Manchester-born Joseph Perry (birth name Rigby) in 1907 and had two children. The family arrived in Australia before World War I and Joseph Perry was employed as a groom at Duntroon Military College, Canberra. Immediately war was declared, he was recalled to England, embarking on 17 October 1914 to join his battalion in Manchester. Florence and her two children were left behind living in Sydney where, two years later, she heard that her husband had drowned on 18 November 1916 while on active service. She was left a widow with two children then aged seven and five. She remarried in Sydney in 1919.

Florence Eckersley was born on 25 April 1886 in Manchester, England. On 30 June 1907, she married Manchester-born Joseph Perry (birth name Rigby) at Christ Church, Harpurhey, Manchester and had two children, Joseph, born on 19 December 1909 and Elizabeth Irene, born on 22 April 1911, both in Manchester. The family migrated to Australia before World War 1 and Joseph Perry, a British Army Imperial Reservist with the 3rd Battalion, Manchester Regiment, was employed as a groom at Duntroon Military College, Canberra. When war was declared in August 1914, he was among the first to be ‘called to the colours’. When he embarked for England on the Militiades on 17 October 1914 to join his battalion, Florence Perry and the children were left behind in Australia.

Florence Perry was living in the central district of Sydney when she was notified of the death of her husband, Sergeant Joseph Perry, who drowned on 18 November 1916 while on active service aboard SS Connemarra when it collided with another ship and sank at the entrance to Carlingford Lough, County Donegal, Ireland.

As the widow of a member of the British Army, Florence received an Imperial war pension paid by the British Government for herself and allowances for her children, an arrangement that started off in a simple manner but which became complicated as Florence was also entitled to an Australian war widow’s pension and allowances for her children to bring her total payment from both sources to the amount she would have received if paid entirely under the Australian War Pensions Act. Both the British and Australian acts of Parliament were amended or replaced during and after the War. Frequent changes in legal provisions and slow communication resulted in calculation of Florence’s entitlements becoming extremely complicated and spreading over many pages of the Perry Repatriation file. There was also a unique complication because the marriage of Florence and Joseph Perry was registered under his legal birth name of Rigby, although he was raised as Joseph Perry, following his mother’s remarriage when he was a baby, and he enlisted under that name.

Florence’s entitlements from both sources also changed when she married her second husband, George Holland, in Sydney on 31 May 1919. On 12 June 1919 she notified the Repatriation Department that her British pension was to be stopped but this did not occur until about a year later resulting in an overpayment which was recouped. Under the amended Australian War Pensions Act of 1916, Florence was paid an Australian widow’s pension until the end of the period of two years after her remarriage. When this date approached an order was added to the Perry file: ‘Make no further payments after 10 May 1921.’ It appears from the Perry file that Repatriation held Florence responsible for some over payments when they were likely the result of tardy communications between British and Australian authorities.

Manchester-born Florence Perry was left in a difficult position when her husband was recalled suddenly to England, seemingly abandoned with young children away from her country of birth. Her remarriage provided some prospect of a life in Australia, but it has not been possible to discover anything further about the lives of Florence Eckersley/Perry/Holland and her children Joseph and Elizabeth Irene Perry.

DR PATRICIA CLARKE OAM FAHA

Archival resources

  • NAA, MT1487/1, Service Records and correspondence concerning Australians serving with other Imperial forces, WWI, 1918-1928, Perry, Joseph, 8961, barcode 6042832.
  • NAA C138, Personal Case Files, single member series, 1917-1924, Perry, Joseph, Sgt, 8961, Series Control Symbol C22820, barcode 22463204.

Online sources