NAME Albert Frederick Gordon Hunter
BORN Abt. 1890
DIED  ?
MILITARY SERIAL NO. 2613
UNIT 3rd Battalion
ENLISTED Albion Park 28 January 1915
DISCHARGED Sydney 18 September 1918 – Medically Unfit

Albert Frederick Gordon Hunter was allotted a block of 129 acres on 14 March 1919. The block which was as a Settlement Purchase No. 1919/1, was located at Albion Park on the South Coast of NSW in the County of Camden, Parish of Yarrawa, Moss Vale Land District.[1]   Hunter applied for his loan on 31 March 1919 and it was approved on 26 May 1919.[3]

There was  a minor problem in September 1920 relating to a supposedly inaccurate report given by Hunter  to the Director of Solder Settlements about the number of  cattle that had died.  Hunter protested stated that the numbers  given to them were correct. He accused the Soldier Settlement Branch of ‘unfair bungling … I expect to be dealt with fairly in the future’ he said.[7]

Toward the end of 1921 he was granted an extension of time until 31 December to meet his arrears.[8]  In April 1922, he reported that he was having a ‘bad autumn with the oats for his cattle a failure’.[9]  An inspection report dated 2 February 1923 stated that, ‘He was a hard working and practical man but  was having a hard time because of the adverse season.  He has put in a lot of hard work ridding the cleared lands of black berries and rabbits.  He is a very desirable class of settler’.[10]

In March 1923, Hunter  requested payment of £30 for clearing brush land on his holding.  The Department refused payment in full initially, but approval was given to pay the full amount by the end of April.[11]   At this time Hunter said that he had ‘expended every available penny (he) possessed to keep (his) cows alive.

They are still on their legs but if I do not get assistance they will die. I cannot expect the local people to keep me any longer’.[12] 

He was requesting a truck of chaff to feed his animals.  It appears his request for fodder was refused.[13]

By March 1925, his fortunes took a turn for the better temporarily.

The season has been a splendid one for me and I have made great strides towards recovery.  The local storekeepers that stood to me though the two years drought have been nearly paid off – an amount of over £300.[14] 

By the end of 1925  Hunter asked permission to sell his diary cows because he didn’t  have the money for fodder.  He wanted to switch to sheep as he thought they would bring in better returns.[15] The Department didn’t agree with him, although he was allowed to take in a few sheep and grow vegetables.   It was reported that Hunter ‘had done his utmost to make a success of dairying but had been handicapped through lack of capital and physical disability, the result of war service’.[16]

He was given an extension of time to meet his arrears toward the end of 1926.  The file ends without providing information as to the fate of Albert Hunter.

Footnotes

[1] SRNSW: Lands Department; NRS 8058, Returned Soldiers Loan files; [12/6845 No. 1353], A.F.G. Hunter to the Director Repatriation Committee 28 March 1919.

[2] Ibid, Application for Loan 31 March 1919.

[3] Ibid, Application for Advance 26 May 1919.

[4] Ibid, RSS Branch Search form 3 May 1919.

[5] Ibid, AHG Hunter to  JGR Bryant Director of Soldier Settlements 12 & 27 June 1919.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid, Albert Hunter to Director of SS 14 September 1920.

[8] Ibid, RSS Branch Office Memorandum 3 November 1921.

[9] Ibid, Albert Hunter to Director of SS 5 April 1922.

[10] Ibid, Conditional Purchase Inspection 2 February 1923.

[11] Ibid, District Surveyor to Under Secretary 7 April 1923

[12] Ibid, Albert Hunter to the District Surveyor 18 April 1923.

[13] Ibid, 4 February 1924?

[14] Op.cit, 26 March 1925.

[15] Ibid, Land Board Office Report to the Under Secretary 30 December 1925.

[16] Ibid.

Sources used to compile this entry:

State Records of NSW: Lands Department; NRS 8058, Returned Soldiers loan files, [12/6845 No. 1353] Albert Frederick Gordon Hunter.

National Archives of Australia: B2455, First Australian Imperial Force Personnel Dossiers (Albert Frederick Gordon Hunter) online: http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/Imagine.asp?B=7023729