William George Robins (1895 - 1968)

Born 30 May 1895 in Birmingham, Warwickshire, England

Ancestors

Husband of Ethel May (Dalby) Robins — married 28 Jul 1920 in Kings Norton, Worcestershire, England

Descendants

Died 30 Sep 1968 at age 73 in Mosman Park, Western Australia, Australia

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Biography

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William was about 5foot 5inches tall according to his military records.

William earned a B Sc in Chemistry at Birmingham Uni according to his military records.

William fought in both World Wars. The first for the British and the 2nd for Australian forces.

His daughter, Ethel, said that William put himself through Uni by playing the organ & the violin at the silent movies. He also played the organ at church wherever he lived. Ethel says: "my father was restless, he didn't move jobs, but we moved house on the average every six months" After arriving in Australia they lived in Moonee Ponds, Victoria while William worked at Maribyrnong where he taught how to make TNT. The family moved to Sydney about 5 years later where William was manager and chief chemist at Kitchens Soap factory About 5 years later, the family moved to Perth WA where William was manager & chief chemist at the North Fremantle Soap Factory The family moved house 5 times in the 5 years that Ethel was at Perth Modern School. When the family (minus Ethel) moved back to Melbourne in 1944, William worked as a gas examiner, determining the cause of building fires and catastrophes. William & Ethel May moved back to WA where they lived until they died.

William refused to live in the leafy suburbs where the upper class lived. He said that they were educated enough to manage their own affairs. He preferred to live in the working class suburbs where he could help with advice & so on.

Ethel believes that her family came to Australia because it provided diverse opportunity as opposed to the British conformity of "we've always done it this way" and "you don't rock the boat".

Ethel wrote: "I think his War Service in the trenches in Belgium was the root of my father's short fuse. He was the kindest and most generous man, given to sudden, violent rages. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome was unheard of in those days. The troops were told to go home and get on with their lives.

William was accepted in 1922 as an Associate of the Institute of Chemistry of Great Britain & Ireland

Ethel said: "My father read biography mostly and religious books"

You will note in William's army records that he asked, if he were to be killed in action, that Miss Doris Markham also be informed. Now, that is another story in itself!!!

Sources

• Birth certificate
• England & Wales, FreeBMD Birth Index: 1837-1983
• Marriage certificate
• England & Wales, Marriage Index: 1916-2005
• Death certificate
• Australia Death Index, 1787-1985
• Immigration records
• Australian Army WW2 records
• UK Army WW1 records
• Australian Electoral Rolls, 1901-1936
• 1901 & 1911 English census
• Cemetery records
• Personal correspondence between his daughter, Ethel, and Dale Gatherum-Goss Goss-3390 between 2009 and 2012