UNTRACEABLE

4073 Private Norman Richard Brown

At the Australian War Memorial's Last Post Ceremony of 14 October 2019, the Memorial remembered and commemorated the First World War service of Private Norman Richard Brown, Service No. 4073, 20th Battalion, AIF.

Brown's story commenced with the following words, "Today we remember and pay tribute to Private Norman Richard Brown. Norman Brown was born on the 14th of August 1896, the only son of Richard Brown of the Sydney suburb of Leichhardt."

Brown enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force in October 1915, just after his 19th birthday. He was posted to the 20th Battalion and arrived at the battlefront in France/Belgium in June 1916. Sometime on the 14th of November 1916, Brown was severely wounded and, failing to respond to treatment, died the next day. The Last Post Ceremony story concluded with the following words, "Despite being carried to a dressing station, Brown's wounds were too severe and he died the following day. Private Norman Brown was buried in Dartmoor Cemetery at Bécordel-Bécourt. After the war his parents could not be traced, and so he has no epitaph......" 

(The full Last Post Ceremony of 14 October 2019 may be viewed here)

The apparent fact that Brown's parents could not be traced and there appeared to be no other Next of Kin (siblings for example), it was decided to have a closer look at this case. As a result, a few surprises have been revealed.

Norman Brown was born Richard Norman Brown in 1896 (NSW Births 22651/1896), the son of Richard W. Brown and Emily S. Brown (born Stutchbury). Its fair to guess that he was known as "Norman" to avoid confusion with his father, a common practice in those times and, for the purposes of this story, he will be known as Norman.

Brown's year of birth also reveals that he falsified his age when joining the army in order to avoid obtaining parental permission to enlist. The Attestation Paper to the left declares that Brown has given his age as 21 years and 2 months. In fact, Brown had only recently turned 19 years of age.

It can also be noted from the same document that Brown had a sister, Dorothy. In fact, there were two sisters:

     

         * Josephine May born 1888, 

         * Dorothy E born 1894.

At an as yet unknown point of time, Dorothy was nominated as next of kin, in place of their father who, incidentally, had been recorded as William Richard Brown.

The eventual inability of authorities to contact Brown's family appears to be a consequence of two factors. On the one hand, the process of administering all the formalities associated with deceased service personnel took several years to complete. On the other hand, people died, were married, changed address and life continued. 

So, what happened to the family and are there decedents living today? 

The Parents

Richard Brown had married Emily Stutchbury in 1886. Emily died in 1903, when young Norman was about 7 years of age. Richard Brown passed away in 1920 and this is likely the reason for the change of Next of Kin to Dorothy.

The letter to the left has been stamped as received in 1920 (the actual date is unclear, but the year can be determined) and requests that Dorothy be the point of contact for all matters concerning her brother. A new address is also provided.

Notwithstanding this advice, AIF Base Records continued to write to the late Richard Brown up to and including 1923.

The Sisters

Josephine May Brown (1888-1963) married George Matthew Pilgrim in 1908. George Pilgrim was born in 1885, the son of William and Annie Pilgrim, and died in 1976. George and Josephine produced 5 daughters:

• Edna Merle, 1909-1985
• Thelma, 1911-?
• Dorothy I, 1913-1988
• Marie O, 1916-?
• Iris Josephine, 1918-2007

There will be more on the Pilgrim family later.

Dorothy E Brown (1894-?) was, as mentioned above, the nominated Next of Kin for her brother Norman. In her letter to Base Records in 1920 she provided an address as care of Mrs F Jones, "Milewa", Canterbury Rd, Campsie, NSW.

There are three possibilities for Dorothy's marriage, if indeed, she did marry. These are:

• Cecil Whalley in 1919
• Sidney H Treyvand in 1920
• Frederick A Jones in 1920

Given her Campsie address in 1920, the most likely candidate is Frederick Jones. It is important to note, however, that inquiries have been unable to confirm any of the above scenarios.

An attempt was made in November 1921 by Base Records to communicate with Dorothy (see image on left). This appears to have been unsuccessful, suggesting that Dorothy had moved on.

The Pilgrim Family

As noted above, Josephine May Brown married George Matthew Pilgrim in 1908 and produced five daughters.

• Edna Merle Pilgrim (1909-1985) appears to have not married.
• Thelma Pilgrim (born 1911) cannot be traced at this time.
• Dorothy Irene Pilgrim (1913-1988) married Alan Gregory Frecker (1914-1981) in 1937. There is at least one child from this marriage, a daughter, Diane, who was born in 1947 at Waverley in Sydney. While further details concerning Diane are not known at this time, inscriptions on the gravestones of her parents indicate that they were both parents and grandparents. 
• Marie O Pilgrim (born 1916) cannot be traced at this time.
• Iris Josephine Pilgrim (26/5/1918-24/6/2007) married Harry Arthur Dickinson (22/9/1917-17/8/2012) in 1939. Harry was the son of Henry R and Amy Dickinson. Cemetery records indicate there are two children, John and Suzanne.

Untraceable and Unclaimed

The sad truth appears to be that the service medals, Memorial Plaque and Scroll,

all of which Brown's family were entitled to keep and treasure, have never been

received.

In spite of the best efforts of several Government agencies associated with veterans

(no Google in those days) the family was lost and declared as untraceable. 

It also seems likely that the life, service and sacrifice of Norman Richard Brown, brief though it was, has been completely lost to the memory of family with the passage of time. Moreover, the family has, perhaps, also lost this point of connection which could unite them in a common bond of history.

Hope!

There is now some hope that Norman's story can be restored to the family memory and, who knows, perhaps something could be done about the medals, plaque and scroll.

It is now up to you, the reader of this story. The information above tells us that there should be family and we need to find them. We are looking for:

Diane Frecker, the daughter of the late Dorothy Irene and Alan Gregory Frecker, and/or relatives. It is possible that Diane married and is known under a different family name;

John Dickinson and Suzanne Dickinson, the son and daughter of  the late Iris Josephine and Harry Arthur Dickinson, and/or relatives. It is also possible that Suzanne married and is now known by a different family name.

Can you help? If you can provide any information please use the email address at the "Contact Us" tab.

Thankyou.