Community & Business
1 May, 2024
Family remembered
It was an emotional visit to Gilgandra last Thursday for the Stubbs and Anderson families as they travelled long distances to the ANZAC Day service to remember family members who paid the ultimate sacrifice.
It was an emotional visit to Gilgandra last Thursday for the Stubbs and Anderson families as they travelled long distances to the ANZAC Day service to remember family members who paid the ultimate sacrifice. Jesse Stubbs, 25, recalled the story of his great granduncle Frederick John Stubbs who enlisted in WWI on January 31, 1916. Frederick Stubbs served with the 36th battalion, machine gun section and died of wounds in the battle of Villiers-Bretonneux in France on April 4, 1918. Jesse, who lives at Narrabri, has been interested in family history since he was five. His curiosity developed when an adopted family member unknown to the Stubbs’ at that stage reached out and contacted the family. “I got interested in family history altogether from that,” he said. “It’s been an on-going process.”
This quest for knowledge led Jesse to learn more about his great grand-uncle Frederick John Stubbs from Gilgandra, and also discover Frederick’s second cousins, the Hobbs’. Four Hobbs boys all fought in WWI. Two lost their lives, and two survived. Arthur Hobbs enlisted on February 21, 1916. He served with the 45th battalion, third reinforcement and was killed in action in Bapaume, France on February 19, 1917. Charles Hobbs enlisted on January 4, 1916. He served with the 54th battalion, second reinforcement and was killed in action in France on March 29, 1917. Henry Hobbs and Thomas Hobbs fought in WWI and both survived. The Hobbs’ and Frederick Stubbs shared great grandparents.
Jesse’s pop Frederick Stubbs was named after the Frederick John Stubbs that lost his life serving Australia. Frederick John Stubbs that served in WWI was a Gilgandra man and enlisted with Cyril Skinner, his friend and neighbour. Jesse Stubbs, his dad Kevin Stubbs and Jesse’s uncle Bill Stubbs went to a previous Gilgandra ANZAC Day ceremony in 2021 and marched with Frederick John Stubbs’ enlistment forms. “Before that, we had never seen a photo of him and didn’t know what happened to his medals,” Jesse explained. Jesse said his dad had grown up hearing stories from his father about what a great soldier Frederick John Stubbs was.
Jesse sent a social media post out to see if any extended family members knew of any photos of Frederick, or of the whereabouts of his dead man’s penny and war medals. One of Jesse’s dad’s cousins (Robin Anderson) responded with the news he had war medals, photos, and other keepsakes of Frederick John Stubbs, but not the dead man’s penny (a memorial plaque issued to the families of soldiers of the British Empire who were killed in battle during the first world war. So, the families decided to meet in Gilgandra and honour their family members and march together this year. Robin Anderson also attended and wore Frederick John Stubbs’ war medals. Robin’s wife Elena and daughter Celina also attended.
Jesse’s father Kevin Stubbs, Jesse’s sisters Hayley Kinstler and Aimee Lions all attended along with their families. Aside from attending ANZAC Day in Gilgandra, they were all able to attend the grave of Frederick’s father George Stubbs and the old family house at ‘Glenbrook’ on Leeches Creek Road. “It meant a lot … to be able to do that for my dad was great,” Jesse Stubbs said. “It was very emotional. He was my age (25) when he (Frederick John Stubbs) died. We want to make sure his memory lives on as he had no children of his own.”
In another interesting footnote, Arthur Stubbs, the little brother of Frederick John Stubbs, fought in WWII and survived. Jesse Stubbs noted the sacrifices both the Stubbs and Hobbs families from Gilgandra made for Australia.
