Anthony Aloysius Devine

DEVINE, Anthony Aloysius- – – – – SPC 1902-1904

 

DoB:– – 16 June 1888, Kensington Hill, near Geelong, VIC

Father:- – Anthony Devine

Mother:– – Julie, nee Madden

 

Service No:– —

Rank:– – Lieutenant

Unit:– – 29th Battalion, 119th Howitzer Battalion

Anthony Devine enlisted on 12 May 1915. He was a single man from Skipton, who worked as a Grain Commission Agent. He was 26 years and 11 months old, five feet 11 inches tall, and had a fair complexion, blue eyes and fair hair.

He embarked from Melbourne aboard the Ballarat, on 18 February 1916, travelling via Port Said, Egypt, to England by October. On 24 October 1916, he was evaluated for duty with the 119th Howitzer Battalion and, after further training, proceeded overseas to Etaples, France.

Over the next two years, he served in France, with several respites in England. In April 1919 he was granted leave in London from 5 April to 5 June 1919 with pay and subs, to investigate the business practices of the Tea Trade at Lloyd, Matheson & Cerritt, 130 Fenchurch Street, London. He requested an extension to this leave, which was granted, so he could continue his Tea Trade investigations at Messrs McGrath Bros, 3 Bachelors Walk, Dublin, Ireland.

By August 1919 he reported back to London, in preparation for his return to Australia. He embarked on the Nestor on 1 November 1919, and was formally discharged from duty on 19 March 1920.

Upon his return to Australia it appears that Anthony spent some time in South Australia (according to correspondence from him to the Army Records Office). He appears in the electoral roll in 1924 with his spouse, Louisa, nee Fitzgerald, as the proprietor of the Hotel Continental at Sorrento, Victoria. By 1931 they were managing the Emerald Country Club, in Emerald, Victoria. Louisa died in 1933. The couple had one child, Gerard.

By 1949, Anthony was managing the Broken River Hotel in Benalla. He then moved to 709 High Street Fawkner around 1954 and was a hotelkeeper. By 1963 he lived with his second wife, Mabel, nee Shaw, at 56 Cliff Road, Frankston and was an investor.

Anthony Devine died on 18 July 1964, in Heidelberg, aged 76 years. He was buried at the Frankston Cemetery on 21 July 1964. He was survived by his second wife, Mabel.