Apprentices' Stories
Alexander Galbraith Simpson (Part 1)
In the Melcombe Regis Cemetery at Weymouth, England, you will find the grave of a soldier named Alexander Galbraith Simpson. Although he was living in Scotland in the month before the First World War was declared, ‘Alex’ came to die whilst serving the Australian military and is buried under Australian Infantry Force (AIF) insignia. Read on if would like to find out how this came to be…
Alex, an only child, was born on 6 July 1895 at 49 Stormont Street, Perth, Scotland. By the tender age of 12 and a half, Alex had three criminal convictions for theft and was sentenced to attend a reformatory school for five years after a fourth conviction. The reformatory to which he was admitted, the Kibble Farm School, near Paisley, Glasgow, deemed the cause of his delinquency as “frequenting the company of older boys”.
Whilst at the Kibble Farm School, Alex learnt skills in agriculture, such as milking, ploughing, driving and riding. He was also appointed Secretary to the School Council, as he was “very smart educationally and industrially”. When it came time for his discharge in July 1914, it was observed that Alex’s widowed father had remarried and that Alex’s stepmother “has taken no interest in this boy. She has never allowed him to go home for a holiday. Consequently he has no desire to return to Perth”. Instead he indicated a desire to emigrate. The Institute recommended Alex for the South Australian Government’s assisted passage scheme for farm apprentices, although it also noted that “he could quite easily turn to bookkeeping or tailoring” instead.
Alex embarked for Adelaide on the SS Orsova with four other Kibble pupils. It was assumed that they would never see Scotland again, as such a journey was a once in a lifetime event in those days. The Orsova arrived in Adelaide on 11 July 1914 and on the next day Alex was sent to the Fielding family’s property, ‘Fermoy Estate’, at Lameroo in South Australia’s newly settled Murray Mallee region. Due to an administrative error, he was too old to become an apprentice and instead signed a contract to pay back the balance of his fare over the course of one year.
John Fielding was well respected in the Lameroo community. He was licensee of the Settler’s Hotel (now the Commercial Hotel), the first master of the town’s Masonic Lodge, a life member of the Agricultural Show Society and a Board member for the local hospital. In his initial correspondence with the State Government, Alex advised, “from first acquaintance I think I will get on first-class with [Mr Fielding]. The farm is only ten minutes walk from the station and a fine homely place it is and I am sure I could hardly wish for a better home” and that he was “pleased to inform you that I am in every way satisfied with my work. I have every reason to be satisfied with my prospects and I have no doubt that I will stay here for some time … I have a good home and have every reasonable convenience”. Alex’s duties included driving the ploughing team (eight horses), assisting with chauffeuring, milking and attending poultry. He was fortunate to be placed with such a respected family, and to have his isolation reduced by close proximity to the township.
Unfortunately for the emigration scheme’s participants, 1914 was one of the worst
droughts on record in South Australia.
The Murray Mallee suffered the impact of universal crop failures, which resulted from the district’s annual rainfall
dropping to 5.59 inches (142 mm), compared with the annual average of approximately 15 inches (381 mm).
Fielding negotiated reduced wages for Alex so he could continue to employ the boy, a practice recommended by the Government.
Alex accepted a particularly low rate of five shillings a week. This earned him the Immigration Officer’s praise:
“You are ... taking a very sensible view of the position, and are to be commended ... I hope that you realise that the conditions
are extraordinary, and could not have been foreseen ... The good times will come again, and your consideration for Mr Fielding
in the present serious position of his affairs will no doubt then be rewarded”.
Alex Simpson's story continued...