Looking for Info on the Gentil Family IN Particular a Werter Basil Blake Gentil Born IN Christchurch New Zealand IN 1889 Married a Ruby Childs from...
family members still living in New Zealand or Australia. Cannot find any trace of his side of the family, have been told he was enlisted in the war but not sure which one, or which country....please email me you do have any info or photos will be much appreciated....thankyou Karen
Werter Basil Blake GENTIL - there is a record of an 1888 birth registered New Zealand registration no. 17195, the son of Charles Barrett GENTIL and Annie Elizabeth.
SOURCE: Births, Deaths & Marriages Online - Historical Records of New Zealand
A search through the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website reveals only 1 GENTIL, namely Cedric GENTIL Trooper died WW1 1915 son of Alfred Herbert & Hermine GENTIL.
Looks like this is a possible Enlistment record for your W. GENTIL within the National Archives of Australia. NB You can request a copy of this information for a small fee.
Likely this is the same branch of your family Ralph Byrne's Family Tree as it mentions the names: Blake, and Barrett. If so, the Australian descendants could be in the State of Victoria, Australia.
That's all I could find for now...
A bit more ...
New Zealand's Papers Past five newspaper articles of interest.
AUSTRALIAN ANZACS IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1918
The AIF Project has a record for Werter GENTIL.
Here is his digitised record with the Australian Military Forces for you to see Mapping our A.N.Z.A.C.S.
Werter GENTIL served wtih the Australian forces during WWI at Rabaul, New Guinea
SERIAL NUMBER - 44
OCCUPATION - Theatrical Agent
ENLISTED FROM - Brisbane
RANK - Private
ROLL TITLE - 3 Infantry Battalion, Tropical Unit (November 1914)
UNIT NAME - Australian Naval & Military Expeditionary Force (Queensland Reinforcement)
DATE OF EMBARKATION - 28 November 1914
PLACE OF EMBARKATION - Sydney
SHIP EEMBARKED ON - SS Eastern
he was born in 1889 in Paeroa, which is 180km South of Warkworth, New Zealand
- parents were Charles Barrett GENTIL (1856-191935) & Anne ELizabeth SMITH (1856-1924)
- Charles George Gentil was born in London. He worked for the Bank of Australisia in Geelong, Australia and was the manager of the Bank of New Zealand in Coromandel He died aged 78. His OBITUARY
- his mother Annie was also born in Geelong (1856-1929)
- they married in Christ Church in WARKWORTH which is 64km north of Auckland
- SO, the CHURCH they married in was called Christ Church but the city was NOT Christchurch which is in the South Island.
- Charles was the Poundkeeper in Paeroa in the early 1900s
- Werter (and his siblings) attended the Paeroa School
- Werter's (known) siblings & their spouses (all married in NZ):
1879 - Edith Constance Beryl Gentil
- nothing known
1881 - Amie/Annie Dora Gentil
- married Herbert Edwin PHILLIPS in 1904
1882 - 1945 Charles Herbert Gentil
- married Margaret KING in 1911
1884 - Vera Mildred Gentil
- married Gerald Frank Gilbert SMITH in 1908
1886 - 1966 Ferdinand St John Gentil
- married Sarah Jane STANLEY in 1914
1888 - 1963 Naomi Gentil
- married Thomas Edward IBBOTSON in 1912
- Werter wrote home (NZ) from the war in 1915
- you can read his letter here:
LIFE IN NEW GUINEA
Werter's life after the war - marriage, children etc not yet known but hoping someone will 'recognise' him from this short bio
I cnnot thank all you kind people for helping me with my research, Werter Gentil is my husbands paternal grandfather he married a Ruby Childs from Australia, Werter wife Ruby had 1 child called Drusella or Bubbles as she was known to everyone, Werter and Ruby also had twin girls still living in Australia, and my husband is one of their sons, we are still puzzled by someone else researching under Gentil Family which is stating that there was a male child born to Werter may be still living that we cannot trace would love to confirm if there is another child, if anyone could help us find out or let me know how I could find out would be much appreciated....again thankyou so much, my husband and even his mother and aunt did not know much about their fathers/grandfathers side....Karen
I am adding this other journal here so as to keep the GENTIL journals together ...
Werter Basil Blake GENTIL & family
there is some wonderful reading in Werter's letters home to his mother while he was serving in WWI (at the link)
Do you know in what town in Australia Werter & Ruby lived ? and where they were buried would also be very helpful in finding more
Thankyou again for all the information, Ruby and Werter lived in Queensland, in Ascot near the Brisbane River, they died in Brisbane although i am not sure where or what cemetary they are buried in, what i have been told is that he was a very kind person....one of his daughters has a photo of him in military uniform, my husband was very young when he died, but he visited his grandmother Ruby quite often up until her death, he adopted Ruby's first child Drussla. Again thankyou for the information you have provided, has closed a hole for his family....Karen
My husband is a grandson of Charles Herbert Gentil (brother of Werter) and there are a lot of Gentils still here in New Zealand, including several grandsons of their other brother, Ferdinand St John Gentil. Very interesting to hear something about the hitherto 'missing' Werter.
Thanks Kauri I will pass this info on to my husband, any information or photos we can exchange helps brings a lot of questions to a close...Karen