2nd Lieutenant, Gilbert Bernard Owen TUCK
Aged 35
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Gilbert Bernard Owen Tuck was born in Bucknall in 14th May 1881 ( 3rd qtr 1881 Stoke upon Trent 6b:169), son of Reverend Julian George and
Fanny TUCK (née POW). Baptised in Bucknall on 5th June 1881. Educated at King's School, Ely.
1891 census...Aged 9, he was at The Rectory, Tostock with his father Julian G TUCK [39] Rector, born Tostock; his mother Fanny [30] born Honiton, Worcestershire; sisters Magdalene F.P [8] and Winifred M [4], both born in Bucknall. 1901 census...Aged 19, undergraduate of Cambridge, he was still at The Rectory, Tostock with his parents and sister Magdalene and Winifred. He arrived at Freemantle, Australia on 16th July 1908 He enlisted at Parramatta, N.S.W. on 1st July 1915, giving his age as 34 years 1 month, a schoolmaster born Buckhnll,nr. Hanley. Commissioned 1st February 1916. He embarked at Sydney on SS Boorara on 19/8/1916 and arrived Plymouth 13/10/1916. Marched in at Hardcott from Officer's School on 5th January 1917 and went to France on 22nd January 1917. Joined 54th battalion in the field on 8th Febraury 1917 and was killed in action on 19th Fenruary 1917 From Cambridge University Alumni :- Admitted at College.PEMBROKE, Oct. 1900. S. of the Rev. J[ulian] G[eorge] (1871), R. of Tostock, Bury St Edmunds. B. May 14, 1881, at Bucknall, Hanley, Staffs. School, Kings', Ely. 'Matriculation: the formal admission of a student into the University as distinguished from his admission into a College. It occurred in each of the three terms, Lent, Easter, Michaelmas. Matric. Michs. 1900; B.A. 1903. Assistant Master at the Mount School, Scarborough; and subsequently at the King's School, Paramatta, Australia. Served in the Great War, 1914-19 (Lieut., Australian Force); killed in action in France, Feb. 19, 1917. (Kings' Sch. Ely, Reg.; Univ. War List.) From the records of Kings School Ely there is :- "Gilbert Bernard Owen Tuck was the son of the Reverend Julian George Tuck (1852 Tostock, Suffolk) and Fanny (née Pow) (1861) Honington , Worcestershire). He was born in Bucknall, Staffordshire. His sisters, also born in Bucknall, were Magdalen (1883) and Winifred (1886). By 1891 the Reverend Julian Tuck had become the rector of his own home village of Tostock near Bury-St-Edmunds, in Suffolk and this was Gilbert's home from this point. Julian's father, William Gilbert Tuck, had also been rector of Tostock until his death in 1876, so Tostock Rectory was effectively the "family home". The Tucks had been both patrons and incumbents of the living since at least the 1840s and Julian was actually appointed to the parish by his own mother. Julian was to be rector of Tostock for forty-six years. He was remembered as an amateur field naturalist and ornithologist (in 1891 he published the book "The Ornithology of Suffolk") and a "delightful companions for a ramble and a talk, and ever ready to impart (his) knowledge and help to members of a younger generation ". One can imagine Gilbert accompanying his father on these nature rambles. Gilbert became a boarding pupil at the King's School in Ely and was Head Prefect. From here he went on to Pembroke College, Cambridge and then emigrated (possibly in 1907). In Australia Gilbert became a Geography teacher at the King's School, Paramatta from 1912-15. As news came through of the deaths of his former pupils in the Dardanelles, Gilbert determined to follow them and the school's headmaster into the Army. He enlisted at Parramatta, New South Wales, in 1915 was sent to the Depot School, Liverpool (New South Wales, Australia) followed by the officers' School Showground Musketry School and the Bombing School, all at Liverpool. On 1st February 1916 he was appointed as a Second Lieutenant and on 19th August 1916 embarked at Sydney aboard HMAT Boorara A42. Gilbert did not go directly to the Front as he reached Plymouth on 13th October 1916 and was sent on to the Officers Training School at Tidworth from 7th to 22nd January 1917. He finally proceeded to France, and reached Etaples on 7th February 1917 to join the 54th Australian Infantry Battalion. Less than a fortnight later he was killed by a sniper. Gilbert is remembered on the Australian War Memorial in Canberra and on the unique memorial in St Andrews Church, Tostock. |
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and commemorated on a personal monument in Tostock (St Andrew's) Churchyard. and on the roll of honour of King's School, Ely. click here to go to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission website for full cemetery/memorial details |
