Ralph Edward Cheeseman (1895-1961)

(last updated: 20 July 2009)

Ralph Edward Cheeseman was the youngest child of Alfred John and Jane Elizabeth Cheeseman. He was born at Carngham in Victoria on 14 March 1895 and grew up there working as a labourer. Following the outbreak of war in 1914, Ralph, pictured on the right in his uniform, enlisted in the First AIF in June 1915. He was assigned to the 10th reinforcements and was sent to Egypt. On 18 March 1916, the Ripon Shire Advocate quoted from a letter he had written to his father on 26 Dec 1915:

This is Boxing day. We drilled Christmas eve and went into Heliopolis at night, but it was very dead. The rain fairly poured down all evening. The first rain I have seen since just after leaving Australia. All of the hotels were closed and most of the picture shows. At midnight the band came round and played Christmas carols. Next day we had a church parade at 10 am. Subsequently each soldier got a billy. My billy was from Miss Walton from Yarraville.

The paper continued that 'the writer then described the contents of the billy among which was a tin of insectobane. He took that as a joke for the lice were thick there. After dinner he went with two others, got donkeys and went for a ride to see some aeroplanes. They then went to a sports meeting. Missing their train, they got a carraige and pair and drove to the biggest cafe in Heliopolis and had a big dinner. They spent the most enjoyable Christmas they could in this rotten hole. His thoughts were of home all day as it was the first Christmas he had spent away and he hoped it would be the last. Their captain was a grand man. He dismissed all his guards and turned out all the prisoners on Christmas day, saying that he believed in peace on earth and good will to all. They were always counting up the hours and thinking what they were doing in Australia. The time there was 8 and1/2 hours behind Australia so that they were having tea at home when the boys in Egypt were having breakfast. Writing on Jan 2, Pte Cheeseman says, "I am jogging along pretty well and feel extra good. He described the mosques and said Mr Fred Finches’ son from Eurambeen was in the next line"'.

Ralph served eventually with the 57th Battalion at first in Egypt and, from June 1916, in France. He was first wounded in action in France on 24 March 1917 and repatriated to England to the 3rd London General Hospital at Wandsworth. In October he rejoined the 57th Battalion in France where he was promoted to Sergeant and was wounded again twice, first on 27 April 1918 and then on 8 August 1918. The second wound saw him return to England to recover, this time at Brighton.

While recuperating from his wounds he met and married Elizabeth ('Bessie') May Palmer at the Parish Church of England in Tavistock in the County of Devon on 9 November 1918. Bessie was born at Bratton Clovelly in Devon in 1890, the daughter of Thomas and Mary Martha Palmer. Thomas, a tenant farmer, was born at Ashbury in Devon in around 1859. His parents were probably William and Mary Palmer. Mary had been born at Germansweek in Devon also in around 1859. She was the daughter of Walter and Mary Maria Palmer nee Rowe. The censuses show that Walter ran a 130-acre farm near Germansweek, and that Bessie's siblings included: Thomas Banbury (born at Germansweek in 1882), Walter (Germansweek, 1884), Theresa Mary (Bratton Clovelly, 1887), Annie (Bratton Clovelly, 1891) and Reginald (Nutfield, Surrey 1894).

At the time of their wedding Ralph was 23 years old and Bessie was 28. The wedding party (pictured on the left) shows, in addition to Ralph and Bessie, Bessie's parents, Thomas and Mary, Ralph's older brother Lieutenant William Charles Cheeseman and an Australian nurse, Edna May Richards.

Ralph left England for Australia on 25 January 1919 the H. T. CERAMIC. Bessie may have sailed back to Australia with him although she may have came separately the following year. His military record shows that Ralph disembarked at Melbourne and was discharged from the Army there on 30 May 1919. He was classified as medically unfit due to a disabilty caused by a gunshot wound to his right hand. After the war he initially farmed land near Skipton but eventually moved to Melbourne where he lived until his death at Caulfield in 1961. In later years he became a justice of the peace and served on his local council. His military record shows that he also served in the Australian Defence Canteen Service during the Second World War, joining up on 7 July 1942. By that time he was 47 years old, and was said to be a retired caterer. Click here to see a copy of his signed oath of enlistment.

Ralph and Bessie had one son, Palmer Selwyn 'Charlie' Cheeseman, who was born at Skipton in Victoria in 1921. Pictured below at the Carngham cemetery, Charlie became interested in his family's history, and spent a great deal of his time collecting information on the Cheesemans of Carngham and their forebears. Some of his findings informed a mimeograph entitled 'The Cheeseman Family Tree' which was, we believe, the first attempt to list Benjamin and Jane's Australian descendants. In his Foreword, Charlie spoke of the joy of meeting 'lots, and lots, and lots' of new cousins, and hoped that 'some day, a reunion will take place, when we can all come together, [and] meet one another.' Unfortunately that grand reunion has not yet taken place although, inspired by Charlie's enthusiasm, a number of us continue to add to his initial findings. Since the late 1980s, a move to Queensland coupled with declining health have prevented Charlie from meeting more cousins. His work is held by his daughter in Ballarat, Sue Taylor (pictured below with some of her extended cousins), who has graciously contributed to the photographs and information contained on this website.

Palmer Selwyn 'Charlie' Cheeseman

(last updated: 20 July 2009)