On the Bulga Plateau, in the Wingham hinterland, a small number of blocks were set aside for selection by returned service personnel after their repatriation following World War I. One of these blocks, being Portion 37 Parish of Bulga, County of Macquarie,1 was selected by Herbert Allison Watson.
English born Herbert enlisted in January 1916. He was 26 years old, unmarried, and gave his address as Mooki Springs, near Quirindi, NSW. In May he embarked for overseas service and arrived in England in July where he shortly after married Alice Kate Stewart.2
He was subsequently found to be medically unfit for service and repatriated to Australia in December 1916. His wife gave birth to a baby girl on 1 August 1917 in Quirindi.3
In May 1918 Alice petitioned for divorce citing Herbert’s relationship with Violet Day. Evidence presented in support of her application included a letter from Herbert declaring that their marriage had been a great mistake and that he had no love at all for her. The uncontested divorce was made absolute in February 1920.4
In 1920 Herbert sold his soldier settlement block to Joseph Edmund John Andrews of ‘Woodside’ Mount George5 and purchased a block of land at Auburn in Sydney.6
Herbert married Violet Day in 1920.7
Author: Penny Teerman – based on research undertaken by Arthur Mason
References:
1 NSW Government Gazette No. 44 of 23 March 1917 Pg 1717
2 https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=1914482 (WW1 Service Records)
3 https://www.records.nsw.gov.au (Divorce No. 331 of 1918)
4 Ibid.
5 Wingham Chronicle Tuesday 17 August 1920 Pg 2
6 New South Wales Land Registry Services – Certificate of Title Vol: 2432 Fol: 57
7 NSW Births Deaths and Marriages – Marriage Registration No. 1845/1920
