Parnell Now Remembered as A Fiji Hero! Because it was New Zealanders who were purported to have seen him, it was assumed Parnell must also be a New Zealander, she added Credit: Maiana Oh for sharing. Read more from Fiji Times; FOR almost a century his grave lay at the back of the Lepper familys estate along Savusavus scenic Hibiscus Highway. No one really had any idea who this person was. To many, he was probably just a family friend or a little known relative who was laid to rest at Namawa. Little did anyone realise that this grave held the remains of a bona fide war hero WHO fought alongside other Fijian soldiers in World War I. Interesting new details have emerged about this previously unknown character, who won the Distinguished Service Medal in the Great War which claimed the lives of 179 Fijians. It would take the curiosity and determination of one woman (who wasnt even a relative) before the pieces could be put together about him, and as a result we now know who he was. The war hero whose gravestone lay without a name for over 90 years at Namawa has been identified as Roy Parnell. As part of our ongoing series commemorating 100 years since the beginning of WW1 we give you Roy Parnells story. It was the dogged investigations of one Carol Gordon — whose English born great grandfather, Robert Lepper, settled in Vanua Levu in 1888 — which has brought Parnells story to light. Gordon belongs to one of many kailoma or Part-European families whose ancestors starting arriving and establishing themselves on the large plantations and estates within the Vanua Levu area towards the end of the 18th century. Before we arrive at how Parnells story emerged, we first look at the history of the Leppers in Savusavu. At the age of 28, Robert Lepper left England. After living in Australia and New Zealand, he settled in Fiji in 1888 on the island of Vanua Levu, explained Gordon. He bought land at Natewa Bay near Savusavu on the island of Vanua Levu and started a copra plantation he named Namawa. Robert Lepper married Edith Smith and they had six children. Before his death, he passed the plantation to his only son Alfred Lepper. He subdivided it for his sons Cecil, Alfred (Tutsie) and Keith. Subsequently the house went to Alfred Leppers youngest son Keith Lepper. Keiths wife Peggy and her son Alfred and his wife Viti now live at Namawa. My mother Elvera was Keith Leppers first cousin and when she died in 2006 she left the property she owned in Savusavu to my sisters and I, said Gordon. We go to Savusavu often and we always visit our relatives at Namawa. This is where Gordon became intrigued by the gravestone with no name. It was during a visit in July 2009 that I became fascinated by a man named Parnell, explained Mrs Gordon. His grave lies alongside the Lepper family graves up behind the old homestead at Namawa. Until last year, 2013, the grave was unmarked. Apart from knowing that his name was Parnell, that he had died in the house, that he had metal in his head and that he was a soldier, little else was known about him. Oh yes, seven New Zealanders said they had seen his ghost over the years and no-one wanted to sleep in the bedroom where he died, said Gordon. Because it was New Zealanders who were purported to have seen him, it was assumed Parnell must also be a New Zealander, she added. In July 2009, when I first became interested in his story, no one in the family knew when he died, who his next of kin were or how old he was. My curiosity was aroused and I decided to find out more about him. My objective then was to get a plaque made for his grave and to find a living relative. I wanted to know if the family knew what had happened to him. When Mrs Gordon returned to New Zealand from Savusavu she started making enquiries. I sent off many emails to various military organisations in New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and England, she recalls. Fortunately I was put in contact with Christine Liavaa by Lynley Yates, a personnel archives officer at the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF). Through Liavaa she learned that there was a William Royston Parnell mentioned in her book, Qaravi Nai Tavi — They Did Their Duty. This Parnell was mentioned as being the first soldier from Fiji to be decorated with a Distinguished Conduct Medal or Distinguished Service Medal. Curiosity turned to full blown obsession as Gordon realised what she had stumbled upon. Through her research Christine had found out that Roy Parnell was born in Australia. He had lived with his parents in Hawera, Taranaki, New Zealand before the family moved to live in Surrey in England. After completing his schooling and an apprenticeship ,Roy left his family in England and returned to live in Australia where he tried to find work. He then moved to Fiji in about 1912, said Gordon. In Fiji, Parnell was employed by CSR (Colonial Sugar Refining Company) in Lautoka as an engineer. When war broke out shortly afterwards he enlisted in the 1st Fiji Contingent. According to documents made available to Gordon, in January 1915, Parnell travelled to England with the contingent and in Liverpool he joined the 4th Kings Royal Rifle Corps as Rifleman 10202. On May 8, 1915 while fighting in Belgium near Ypres, (note here Ypres is pronounced as Lepers, what an interesting coincidence) Parnell rescued two men from a collapsed trench and treated their wounds under very heavy shell fire. One of those men was Major General Hugh Wharton Myddleton Watson, Gordon explained. Later that same day, in a separate incident, Roy Parnell was wounded in the head and the arm. He had a piece of shrapnel embedded in his skull, some of which was never removed and was sent back to England recovering in a Manchester hospital. Parnell would receive a DCM for his bravery (gallantry) and the citation appeared in the London Gazette of August 5th, 1915 for conspicuous gallantry on the 8th May, 1915, East of Ypres, when he dug out an officer and another man, who had both been buried in a trench, and dressed their wounds under a very heavy shell fire. Parnell later received a disbursement from the Fiji Day Fund and is listed in the Fiji Times Roll of Honour. Newspaper articles were written about him in Fiji and Australia, where they claimed him as an Australian hero. Learning these facts about Roy Parnell made me more determined to get his grave named, shared Mrs Gordon. I needed to establish his date of birth, when he died and who his next of kin were. Over the months little progress was until during a visit to Namawa in April 2010 a breakthrough was made. Aunty Peggy (Lepper) had found the 1922 plantation diary and in it were dates and details about Parnells visit, said Gordon. He had arrived on September 23, 1922. He had stayed for six days and during that time he became ill. He was seen by a Fijian doctor on the September 28, however he died on September 29, 1922. There was no mention of his Christian name, his age or whether or not his family had been informed. Now I had a date for his death but I needed to establish when he had been born. I decided to join ancestry.au and that proved to be very helpful. At the time of the 1901 England census there was a family with a Roy Parnell living in Dorset in England. He was aged 10. By checking baptism records and birth registrations, we established that Roy Parnell had been born in the early 1890s. Further research revealed his full name was William Laurence Royston Parnell and he was born on September 28, 1890. Christine put me in touch with some of her contacts; plus a friend of mine who lives in Savusavu was also helping. Together they managed to piece together Roy Parnells life and eventually found the names for his parents, his siblings and his grandparents and great- grandparents. May 12, 2010 was a particularly exciting day when Gordon was sent a copy of the Certificate of Death from the archives in Suva. I learned that my grandfather Robert Haynes, plus great uncle, Alfred Lepper, and great-aunt, Sarah Lepper had all been witnesses to Roy Parnells burial, she said. Robert Haynes (my grandfather) was aged 26 and was newly married to his wife Ann Lepper. Christine Liavaa then sent through some obituaries published in the Fiji papers and from these I found out that Roy Parnell had been helping to concrete the grave of a Mrs. Smith of Benau just days before he died. I believe this was the grave of Richard Backhouse Smiths first wife, Emily Coster. Parnells grave can still be seen at Benau, Werekanunu Estate. From an old newspaper advertisement we have found it would appear that Roy Parnell and his friend George Deighton did quite a lot of work in the Savusavu and Natewa Bay area, said Gordon. From newspaper articles published after his death, it appears that Roy Parnell got an infection which, because he had shrapnel in his head, caused blood poisoning and his subsequent death. Parnell died at 2 am on September 29, 1922, the day after his 32nd birthday. In July 2010, Gordon found a message from another member of the Ancestry website. Sue Harlow had seen the Parnell family tree Gordon had been working on and she too was working on a family tree for the clan. Through the Ancestry website Gordon linked up with Harlow who lives in Sydney. It transpired that Roy Parnell was her great uncle. Sues grandmother Ezil was Roys sister. The lovely thing is that Sues father, Jack Harlow (aged 90 in 2010) was living with her in Sydney. He was delighted to find out where his uncle was buried as the family did not know where his final resting place was, despite trying to find out over the years. It seems that Roys younger brother Jack was living in Suva at the time of his death so one would assume he knew, but the information had not been passed down to the current generation of the family. Peter Harlow from Sydney is Sues brother. He works for Taronga Park Zoo and has visited Fiji for well over 30 years as he is involved with a program to eradicate goannas from Fiji. During those visits he would often ask people if they knew where a Roy Parnell was buried. Nobody he spoke to or knew could help him. In August 2010, he visited Savusavu and Alf Lepper drove him to Namawa to visit the grave of his great uncle. In 2013 the Harlow family and I together designed a suitable plaque to be placed on Roys grave. Eventually on September 30, 2013, exactly 91 years and one day after Roy Parnells death, Carol, her husband Ian affixed the plaque to his grave. The fact that Parnells identity went unnoticed for so long is a good indication that many in Fiji and abroad are largely unaware of the involvement of their relatives during the Great War. According to Ancestry.uk, one in three in 10 modern day relatives of World War I veterans are unaware of their military heritage, and many lose the opportunity to find out about their link to the Great War when family members pass away. WW1 local historian Mike Thoms says, This story and research illustrates the work that goes into digging up the facts to remember these brave men, it can be an emotional journey at times and as shown here can become a significant mission, my personal thanks to Carol for sharing this information with us. I doubt we would have ever known Roy Parnells story without her tremendous effort, says Thoms. Mrs Gordon has also written a booklet which is kept in the house at Namawa and records some of the details of Roys life and his story. It has been a privilege to learn about Roy Parnell and I am very grateful for all the help people have given me. I hope now that he may now can rest in peace. * Have we got others out there with information on their forebears, photos, memorabile and the like? We would love to hear from you, please email >[email protected]; or heatleyernest@gmail
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 13:06:23 +0000
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