[Editor: This article, regarding a memorial to Lieutenant William Rupert Harriott, who died during the Boer War (1899-1902), was published in The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW), 30 April 1901.]
Fallen in the war.
Memorial to Lieutenant Harriott.
A large gathering assembled at St. Thomas’ Church of England, North Sydney, on Sunday afternoon, on the occasion of the unlocking by Major Holmes, D.S.O., of iron gates erected by personal friends to the memory of the late Lieutenant Harriott, of the New South Wales Mounted Infantry, who fell at the battle of Diamond Hill on June 12th, 1900. There was a church parade of the Army Service Corps, who mustered in full strength, under the command of Captain Selwyn Smith, and the E Company of the First Regiment was present under the command of Captain V. Horniman. The band of the First Regiment was in attendance.
A short service was conducted by the Rev. S. H. Childe (the rector of St. Thomas’), the sermon being preached by the Rev. T. K. Abbott, who spoke on the duty of self-sacrifice, and on the true Christian spirit of the deceased officer.
An adjournment was afterwards made to the western end of the church, where the ceremony of unlocking the gates took place.
Mr. Dugald Thomson, M.H.R., in the course of a vigorous speech, paid a high tribute to the estimable qualities of Lieutenant Harriott.
Major Holmes, D.S.O., before unlocking the gates, bore testimony to the manly, self-sacrificing, unselfish, and courageous conduct of the deceased. He wished to contradict a statement that had been made to the effect that Lieutenant Harriott had met his death through reckless exposure to danger. He had died simply doing his duty. He was beloved by officers and men.
The gates bear the following inscriptions:—
“In memory of William Rupert Harriott, Lieutenant of the New South Wales Mounted Infantry, who fell at the battle of Diamond Hill, South Africa, June 12th, 1900, aged 23 years.”
“These gates were erected by his personal friends:
“We doubt not that for one so true
There must be other, nobler, work to do.”
Source:
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney, NSW), 30 April 1901, p. 5
Editor’s notes:
The quote at the end of the article is taken from the poem “Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington” by Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892); however, commas were added before and after the word “nobler”, presumably to make clear the cadence of that line of the poem. The original quotation does not include those commas nor a full stop:
Until we doubt not that for one so true
There must be other nobler work to do
See: 1) Alfred Tennyson, “Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington”, Bartleby
2) Alfred Tennyson, Maud, and other poems, London: Edward Moxon, 1855, pp. 119-136 (see p. 135)
3) “Alfred, Lord Tennyson”, Wikipedia
D.S.O. = the Distinguished Service Order: a medal awarded for meritorious service during wartime, usually awarded regarding service in combat (originally only awarded to commissioned officers; the award was utilised by the military forces of the British Commonwealth)
See: “Distinguished Service Order”, Wikipedia
M.H.R. = Member of the House of Representatives (someone elected to the lower house of federal parliament)
Rev. = an abbreviation of “Reverend” (a title given to a minister of a church, a priest, a member of the clergy)
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