NAME Keith Ashley COOPER
BORN 1892
DIED 1946
MILITARY SERIAL NO. 64
UNIT 1st Vet. Section
ENLISTED Liverpool 28 October 1914
DISCHARGED Sydney 20 May 1919

Keith Ashley Cooper applied for a loan towards the end of 1919. The property was Farm No.32 Portion 178, on Bective Soldiers Settlement, County of Parry, Parish of Somerton, Tamworth Land District. The block was a Soldiers Group Purchase No.1922.18.

He appears to have faced severe difficulties almost from the beginning. There was a severe drought in 1920 and he had problems replacing dead stock.[1] Sometime around January 1922, it appears he had more bad luck when he lost his crops because of hail. Throughout the 1920s his financial difficulties continued following crop failures and poor markets.

On 12 Feb 1929, he applied for his indebtedness to be waived. Arrears were deferred to 31 January 1931.[2] Cooper overcame his difficulties and his farm is still occupied by his descendants.

Bective Soldiers Settlement Memorial Plaque. Click to view larger image

Footnotes

[1] SRNSW: Lands Department; NRS 8058, Returned Soldiers Settlement loan files; [12/6850 No. 1119], RSS Branch Report, 17 May 1920.

[2] Ibid, 26 September 1930.

Sources used to compile this entry:

State Records NSW: Lands Department; NRS 8058, Returned Soldiers Settlement loan files; [12/6850 No. 1119] Keith Ashley Cooper.

National Archives of Australia: B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers (Keith Ashley Cooper) online: http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=3412421&I=1&SE=1.