BENJAMIN HENRY DRIVER
Regimental No. 59510
23 March 1881 – 28 Mar 1918
Benjamin Henry DRIVER was born in London, England, in the second quarter of 1881, the youngest child of James Driver and his wife Sarah. In the 1881 UK Census Benjamin is recorded as being one month old, and his mother’s name is Eliza. In the 1891 census Benjamin was living with his widowed father James, and his siblings Sarah, William, Eliza, Martha, and George, at 10 Russell Street Buildings, St. George in the East, London. This area is north of the docks, in Wapping and is now part of Tower Hamlets. His father's occupation was barge lighterman, so he was one of the highly skilled men who operated unpowered lighters, a type of flat-bottomed barge moved by oar and water currents of the Thames. Two of Benjamin’s older siblings who lived at home were working in 1891: William, aged 16, was an errand boy/porter, and Eliza, aged 14, was an umbrella maker. Two older siblings, James and Frederick, were not living with the family in 1891, so were either living independently or had died in the decade since the previous census. Several neighbours were also lightermen, and their sons were apprentices in the same trade.
In 1901 Benjamin was working as one of many domestic servants at a hotel in Dover Street, Westminster. However, he eventually went to sea and was recorded in the Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services 1848-1939 as having served on the “Hindustan” from 28 September 1908 until 5 September 1909 and the “Venus” from 6 September 1909 until 6 November 1909. His birthdate in the Register is 1883. He seems to have been an Officer’s Steward.
In April 1913 Benjamin’s sister Sarah migrated to New Zealand on the SS Manuka. Benjamin followed soon after, working his passage on the SS Ruahine, which arrived in Wellington on the 11th December.
He seems to have decided to settle in New Zealand, and on the 1914 electoral roll he was living at 2 Mitchell Street, Brooklyn, Wellington. In the same year he moved to 24 Maarama Cres., Te Aro, Wellington.
By the time Benjamin attested for military service on 12 May 1917 he was working as a waiter for the NZ Railways Department. His birthdate on his attestation papers is recorded as 23 March 1884, though his stated age on his medical examination was 37 years and 2 months, which more nearly equates to his birthdate of 1881. His mother’s name is recorded as Sarah Gough Driver, and Benjamin noted his previous service with HM Navy, and that he had been rejected as unfit for service because of blood poisoning.
Benjamin was first assigned to D Coy, later to 8th Coy, 2 Battalion, Otago Rifles, then back to D Coy, 30th Reinforcements, Otago Infantry Regiment. The details of his medical examination say he was 37 years and 2 months old, 5 feet 71/2 inches tall, weighed 140 lbs and had a chest expansion of 34 to 36 inches, a pale complexion, with blue eyes, brown hair, good eyesight and hearing, normal heart and lungs. He was also free of hernia, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, had no contagious skin complaints, fits or other “slight defects”. It was noted that he had blood poisoning 7 years previously which may have been the cause of his discharge from the Royal Navy. His religious beliefs were that of the Church of England. His last known address is given as 129 Ohiro Road, Brooklyn, Wellington, where he seems to have been living with his sister Sarah, who had married Thomas Andrew KENNEDY in 1914. Sarah was listed as his next of kin.
After his initial training Benjamin sailed on the “Corinthic” from Wellington on 13 Oct 1917 on HMNZT No.93, disembarking at Liverpool on 8 Dec 1917 from where they left for Sling Camp on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, the same day. While at Sling Camp Benjamin was given more training and then posted to France on 14 February 1918. At this stage Benjamin had only 6 more weeks to live.
On the 19 February 1918 he was attached to the NZ Division Wing at Abeele in Belgium. By 16 March 1918 he had joined the 2nd Battalion and was posted to 8th Company and sent into the field.
The great final German Offensive was launched on March 21st and initially they made great progress gaining ground at many points, in some places achieving dramatic successes. On March 21st the New Zealand Division received orders to be prepared to move south as G.H.Q. Reserve.
“The [Otago Infantry] Regiment was on the move again early on the morning of the 26th, and before midday passed through the outskirts of Amiens, headed by its Regimental Bands. The sweeping and destructive nature of the German advance and the startling depths to which it had penetrated, had some time since become tragically evident. Throughout the previous night there had been a constant stream of motor-lorries and ambulances speeding westward with refugees and wounded men; and on this day the roads were choked with the swell of guns and transport, the stragglers of broken regiments, peasants with their primitive wagons conveying a few cherished effects and their sobbing women; others, old men and women and children, struggling woefully along on foot, anon glancing back in terror at their burning homes and the smashing of high-explosive and incendiary shells among the ruins—a human stream driven to none knew where by the fury and the ruthlessness of war.”
The Regiment was in action around the Colincamps area to the south and west of Arras, and 11 kilometres north of Albert.
“The sweeping and destructive nature of the German advance and the startling depths to which it had penetrated, had some time since become tragically evident. Throughout the previous night [25/26 March] there had been a constant stream of motor-lorries and ambulances speeding westward with refugees and wounded men; and on this day the roads were choked with the swell of guns and transport, the stragglers of broken regiments, peasants with their primitive wagons conveying a few cherished effects and their sobbing women; others, old men and women and children, struggling woefully along on foot, some glancing back in terror at their burning homes and the smashing of high-explosive and incendiary shells among the ruins—a human stream driven to none knew where by the fury and the ruthlessness of war……
……at one o'clock on the morning of the 27th the 3rd (Rifle) Brigade, less three battalions, with the 2nd Battalions of Otago and Wellington, and one Machine Gun Company, moved out from Hedauville, Otago troops leading. This force proceeded through Mailly Maillet to Colincamps, where the 2nd Battalion of Otago Regiment put out a screen covering the eastern side of Colincamps and the remainder of the Brigade.”
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Otag-t1-body-d2-d12-d2.html
The next day, 28 March, Benjamin Henry Driver was amongst those killed as the fighting continued.
He was at buried at Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps, Somme, France, his burial service conducted by Rev. D.C. Herron who was attached to the 2nd Battalion. In the same row alongside Benjmin are men of the NZ Engineers and the NZ Rifle Brigade who were killed between 26 March and 5 April 1918. The cemetery now contains 1,293 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War, 285 of whom were from New Zealand. Alexander Watters (Brooklyn Memorial) had been buried at Euston Road the previous day.
Benjamin made a will with the Public Trust in Wellington leaving his estate to his sister Sarah Kennedy.
Benjamin was entitled to the British War Medal and Victory Medal, and these were sent to his sister Sarah Kennedy on 2 May 1923. The Plaque and Scroll were sent to his brother George Driver in England on 17 May 1923. In 1957 the Public Trust wrote to the Under Secretary of Defence mention the British War Medal and the Victory Medal that was issued for Benjamin, saying that one Albert Kennedy, a nephew by marriage, was asking if he could retain the medals for sentimental reasons. No response to this request is listed in Benjamin's file.
On the anniversary of Benjamin's death in 1919 and 1920 his sister Sarah inserted memorials in the Evening Post New Zealand Roll of Honour.
Sarah Kennedy died 29 May 1956 aged 81 and her husband Thomas died 28 June 1957 aged 78. Both were buried in the Lawn Cemetery at Karori Cemetery, Wellington.
Researched by Vivienne McIsaac
Sources:
1891 English Census Records
Ancestry – Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services 1848-1939
Family Search - Passenger arrivals to New Zealand and Probate Records
National Library of New Zealand - Archway Archives – NZ Army Personnel File
Auckland Museum Cenotaph Database
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
National Library of New Zealand - Papers Past
NZSG Index Vol. 2
Karori Cemetery, Wellington Database Online
NZ Electronic Text Collection, Official History of the Otago Regiment, N.Z.E.F. in the Great War 1914-1918, pp. 280-285
Regimental No. 59510
23 March 1881 – 28 Mar 1918
Benjamin Henry DRIVER was born in London, England, in the second quarter of 1881, the youngest child of James Driver and his wife Sarah. In the 1881 UK Census Benjamin is recorded as being one month old, and his mother’s name is Eliza. In the 1891 census Benjamin was living with his widowed father James, and his siblings Sarah, William, Eliza, Martha, and George, at 10 Russell Street Buildings, St. George in the East, London. This area is north of the docks, in Wapping and is now part of Tower Hamlets. His father's occupation was barge lighterman, so he was one of the highly skilled men who operated unpowered lighters, a type of flat-bottomed barge moved by oar and water currents of the Thames. Two of Benjamin’s older siblings who lived at home were working in 1891: William, aged 16, was an errand boy/porter, and Eliza, aged 14, was an umbrella maker. Two older siblings, James and Frederick, were not living with the family in 1891, so were either living independently or had died in the decade since the previous census. Several neighbours were also lightermen, and their sons were apprentices in the same trade.
In 1901 Benjamin was working as one of many domestic servants at a hotel in Dover Street, Westminster. However, he eventually went to sea and was recorded in the Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services 1848-1939 as having served on the “Hindustan” from 28 September 1908 until 5 September 1909 and the “Venus” from 6 September 1909 until 6 November 1909. His birthdate in the Register is 1883. He seems to have been an Officer’s Steward.
In April 1913 Benjamin’s sister Sarah migrated to New Zealand on the SS Manuka. Benjamin followed soon after, working his passage on the SS Ruahine, which arrived in Wellington on the 11th December.
He seems to have decided to settle in New Zealand, and on the 1914 electoral roll he was living at 2 Mitchell Street, Brooklyn, Wellington. In the same year he moved to 24 Maarama Cres., Te Aro, Wellington.
By the time Benjamin attested for military service on 12 May 1917 he was working as a waiter for the NZ Railways Department. His birthdate on his attestation papers is recorded as 23 March 1884, though his stated age on his medical examination was 37 years and 2 months, which more nearly equates to his birthdate of 1881. His mother’s name is recorded as Sarah Gough Driver, and Benjamin noted his previous service with HM Navy, and that he had been rejected as unfit for service because of blood poisoning.
Benjamin was first assigned to D Coy, later to 8th Coy, 2 Battalion, Otago Rifles, then back to D Coy, 30th Reinforcements, Otago Infantry Regiment. The details of his medical examination say he was 37 years and 2 months old, 5 feet 71/2 inches tall, weighed 140 lbs and had a chest expansion of 34 to 36 inches, a pale complexion, with blue eyes, brown hair, good eyesight and hearing, normal heart and lungs. He was also free of hernia, varicose veins, hemorrhoids, had no contagious skin complaints, fits or other “slight defects”. It was noted that he had blood poisoning 7 years previously which may have been the cause of his discharge from the Royal Navy. His religious beliefs were that of the Church of England. His last known address is given as 129 Ohiro Road, Brooklyn, Wellington, where he seems to have been living with his sister Sarah, who had married Thomas Andrew KENNEDY in 1914. Sarah was listed as his next of kin.
After his initial training Benjamin sailed on the “Corinthic” from Wellington on 13 Oct 1917 on HMNZT No.93, disembarking at Liverpool on 8 Dec 1917 from where they left for Sling Camp on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, the same day. While at Sling Camp Benjamin was given more training and then posted to France on 14 February 1918. At this stage Benjamin had only 6 more weeks to live.
On the 19 February 1918 he was attached to the NZ Division Wing at Abeele in Belgium. By 16 March 1918 he had joined the 2nd Battalion and was posted to 8th Company and sent into the field.
The great final German Offensive was launched on March 21st and initially they made great progress gaining ground at many points, in some places achieving dramatic successes. On March 21st the New Zealand Division received orders to be prepared to move south as G.H.Q. Reserve.
“The [Otago Infantry] Regiment was on the move again early on the morning of the 26th, and before midday passed through the outskirts of Amiens, headed by its Regimental Bands. The sweeping and destructive nature of the German advance and the startling depths to which it had penetrated, had some time since become tragically evident. Throughout the previous night there had been a constant stream of motor-lorries and ambulances speeding westward with refugees and wounded men; and on this day the roads were choked with the swell of guns and transport, the stragglers of broken regiments, peasants with their primitive wagons conveying a few cherished effects and their sobbing women; others, old men and women and children, struggling woefully along on foot, anon glancing back in terror at their burning homes and the smashing of high-explosive and incendiary shells among the ruins—a human stream driven to none knew where by the fury and the ruthlessness of war.”
The Regiment was in action around the Colincamps area to the south and west of Arras, and 11 kilometres north of Albert.
“The sweeping and destructive nature of the German advance and the startling depths to which it had penetrated, had some time since become tragically evident. Throughout the previous night [25/26 March] there had been a constant stream of motor-lorries and ambulances speeding westward with refugees and wounded men; and on this day the roads were choked with the swell of guns and transport, the stragglers of broken regiments, peasants with their primitive wagons conveying a few cherished effects and their sobbing women; others, old men and women and children, struggling woefully along on foot, some glancing back in terror at their burning homes and the smashing of high-explosive and incendiary shells among the ruins—a human stream driven to none knew where by the fury and the ruthlessness of war……
……at one o'clock on the morning of the 27th the 3rd (Rifle) Brigade, less three battalions, with the 2nd Battalions of Otago and Wellington, and one Machine Gun Company, moved out from Hedauville, Otago troops leading. This force proceeded through Mailly Maillet to Colincamps, where the 2nd Battalion of Otago Regiment put out a screen covering the eastern side of Colincamps and the remainder of the Brigade.”
http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-WH1-Otag-t1-body-d2-d12-d2.html
The next day, 28 March, Benjamin Henry Driver was amongst those killed as the fighting continued.
He was at buried at Euston Road Cemetery, Colincamps, Somme, France, his burial service conducted by Rev. D.C. Herron who was attached to the 2nd Battalion. In the same row alongside Benjmin are men of the NZ Engineers and the NZ Rifle Brigade who were killed between 26 March and 5 April 1918. The cemetery now contains 1,293 Commonwealth burials and commemorations of the First World War, 285 of whom were from New Zealand. Alexander Watters (Brooklyn Memorial) had been buried at Euston Road the previous day.
Benjamin made a will with the Public Trust in Wellington leaving his estate to his sister Sarah Kennedy.
Benjamin was entitled to the British War Medal and Victory Medal, and these were sent to his sister Sarah Kennedy on 2 May 1923. The Plaque and Scroll were sent to his brother George Driver in England on 17 May 1923. In 1957 the Public Trust wrote to the Under Secretary of Defence mention the British War Medal and the Victory Medal that was issued for Benjamin, saying that one Albert Kennedy, a nephew by marriage, was asking if he could retain the medals for sentimental reasons. No response to this request is listed in Benjamin's file.
On the anniversary of Benjamin's death in 1919 and 1920 his sister Sarah inserted memorials in the Evening Post New Zealand Roll of Honour.
Sarah Kennedy died 29 May 1956 aged 81 and her husband Thomas died 28 June 1957 aged 78. Both were buried in the Lawn Cemetery at Karori Cemetery, Wellington.
Researched by Vivienne McIsaac
Sources:
1891 English Census Records
Ancestry – Royal Navy Registers of Seamen's Services 1848-1939
Family Search - Passenger arrivals to New Zealand and Probate Records
National Library of New Zealand - Archway Archives – NZ Army Personnel File
Auckland Museum Cenotaph Database
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
National Library of New Zealand - Papers Past
NZSG Index Vol. 2
Karori Cemetery, Wellington Database Online
NZ Electronic Text Collection, Official History of the Otago Regiment, N.Z.E.F. in the Great War 1914-1918, pp. 280-285