Life History

Notes

• Tom is said to have left a bit of money in his will. The money was used by Nellie to take her family out to Australia. It has been suggested by Edwin Harris that she pulled a bit of a fast one and perhaps wasnot entitled to take the money.
  
  The General Register shows a Thomas Woollett born in June quarter 1897 ref: W.Ham 4a 256.
  His birth was registered on June 4th 1897 in West Ham, sub district East Ham.  A copy was obtained from the Register Office in West Ham (Newnham).
  
  See Commonwealth War Graves Commission web site.  He was in the Australian Infantry and died Saturday 12th August 1918.  I have not heard it said that he had emigrated to Australia but given that he enlisted in the Australian Infantry this does seem likely.
  
  Name: WOOLLETT, THOMAS
  Initials: T
  Nationality: Australian
  Rank: Private
  Regiment: Australian Infantry, A.I.F
  Unit Text: 11th Bn.
  Age: 21
  Date of Death: 10/08/1918
  Service No: 441A
  Additional information: Son of John and Eliza Woollett. Born at East Ham, London, England.
  Casualty Type: Commonwealth War Dead
  Grave/Memorial Reference: IV. I. 1.
  Cemetery: HEATH CEMETERY, HARBONNIERES
  
  Country: France
  Locality: Somme
  Location Information: Heath Cemetery is situated on the south side ofthe straight main road from Amiens to St Quentin - the N29, approximately 13 kilometres from Villers-Bretonneux. CWGC signposts will be seen directing visitors to the cemetery.
  Historical Information: Harbonnieres was captured by French troops inthe summer of 1916. It was retaken by the Germans on 27 April 1918, and regained by the Australian Corps on 8 August 1918. Heath Cemetery, so called from the wide expanse of open country on which it stands, was made after the Armistice, next to a French Military Cemetery, now removed. Graves were brought into it from the battlefields between Brayand Harbonnieres and from other burial grounds in the area. The earliest date of death is September 1915, the latest October 1918, but the majority died in March or August 1918. There are now 1,860 Commonwealth servicemen of the First World War buried or commemorated in this cemetery. 369 of the burials are unidentified but there are special memorials to 26 casualties known or believed to be buried among them. Other special memorials record the names of 21 casualties buried in othercemeteries, whose graves could not be found. The cemetery was designed by Sir Reginald Blomfield.
  No. of Identified Casualties: 1491
  
  Born at 7, Abbotts Cottages, Wall End, East Ham, Essex.
  

Sources

• 1. 1901 England Census
  • Name: The Generations Network, Inc.; Location: Provo, UT, USA; Date: 2005;
  • Database online.