Tommy Atkins Fund

Late in 1899, during the time of the Boer or South African War, people in Australia began raising money for the Tommy Atkins Fund. Tommy Atkins was generic name for the brave British soldier. There is an interesting account of the origin of the term, which is said to have been suggested by the Duke of Wellington, here on the Historic UK website. The Fund was for the relief of the wives and children of the British soldiers killed in the War. 

Australians took up the fund raising with gusto and partiotic concerts were held in towns and local Councils also contributed. The Shire of Berwick was especially enthusiastic. At their meeting held on Janaury 13, 1900 they had a whip around and raised eighteen shillings. At a Council meeting on February 10 the President, Cr. Vieusseux, moved and Cr. Barr seconded, "That a sum of £37 based on 6d. per assessment throughout the shire, be voted towards the funds now being collected, in the following proportions: Patriotic Fund, £15; the Bushmen's Corps, £15; and the Tommy Atkins Fund, £7 14/." The motion was carried with the utmost enthusiasm, the councillors rising from their seats and calling for three cheers for the Queen and the Empire. The president initiated a local subscription for the Patriotic fund, and the sum of £10 3/ was subscribed by the officers and the councillors. It is intended to hold a public meeting in Berwick on Friday evening next to further augment the subscription lists (1).

The Patriotic Fund was to support  dependents of soldiers from Australia who may fall or be wounded during the South African campaign (2). The Bushmen's Corps or Fund was to raise money to send a contingent of troops or bushmen from Australia to South Africa (3).

The Shire of Berwick also organised a concert to raise money for these causes, to be held on February 16, 1900 at the Rechabite Hall in High Street, Berwick.

Advertisement for the Patriotic concert

South Bourke & Mornington Journal February 14, 1900 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/70045327

As you can see by the advertisment the Tommy Atkins Fund was to help the home that Tommy's left behind. This was a line from a song by Rudyard Kipling, The Absent-Minded Beggar. It was set to music by Sir Arthur Sullivan (the Sullivan of Gilbert and Sullivan fame). The song is very 'nationalistic' or patriotic but it is a product of it's time. It really is a tribute to the British soldier, Tommy Atkins, who volunteers to fight for his country and the need to support his family left behind. You can read story of the song and see the full lyrics here on the Gilbert and Sullivan Archive website, but here is one verse to give you an idea of the song -

There are families by the thousands, far too proud to beg or speak:
And they'll put their sticks and bedding up the spout,
And they'll live on half o' nothing paid 'em punctual once a week,
'Cause the man that earned the wage is ordered out.
He's an absent-minded beggar, but he heard his country's call,
And his reg'ment didn't need to send to find him;
He chucked his job and joined it - so the task before us all
Is to help the home that Tommy's left behind him!

The Berwick concert was a most brilliant success (4) and altogether a total of above £37 was raised, a very creditable sum....During the singing of "The Absent minded Beggar" by Mr. T Bergin the sum of £4/19/7 was collected. At the close of the entertainment Mr. F Barr offered a donation of £5., conditionally that another £5 be collected. The condition was fulfilled almost immediately (5).

Mr Bergin repeated his performance of The Absent Minded Beggar at a concert held at Pakenham on February 23, 1900. A sum of £27/10 was raised, £7 of which was contributed during Mr Bergin's song. You can read a full report of the concert, here (6). The Absent Minded Beggar song would have been familiar to most of the concert goers, with the lyrics well circulated. At a concert at Upper Beaconsfield held on February 10, copies of this song, provided by the Cameo Cigarette Company, were distributed, and the chorus was taken up enthusiastically by the audience (7). 

Another concert at Berwick was held on Friday, March 2 1900. The locals knew what to expect as nearly all the artists from the first concert were scheduled to appear again - Miss Perry, Miss L. Perry, Miss Mauger, Miss Rankine, Miss E. Taylor, Miss Searle, Miss G. Taylor, Miss A. Hands, Mr. Bergin, Mr. Latta, Mr. Robt. Young, Mr. H. Perry, Mr. G. Perry, Mr. Colvin, and Mr. Edgar Latta. As the South Bourke & Mornington Journal said they were truly a great combination of talent (8).

Over all the Shire raised over £200 for these three causes. The South Bourke & Mornington Journal reported the district must be well satisfied at the result achieved. Over £200 is an amount worthy the reputation of the shire, and, if the adjacent municipalities subscribe similar of amounts, it will draw attention to this portion of the colony for its loyalty and generosity. In addition to the following list, the outlying portions of the shire did their part towards swelling the grand total; Beaconsfield contributing £20 and Gembrook £11 11s. 6d.; whilst nearer home. Pakenham raised £24, and Narre Warren £19 (9). The bulk of the money went to the Patriotic Fund, £17 to the Bushmens Fund and over £13 to the Tommy Atkins Fund. You can read the full break-up of the amounts raised here.

Other reports of local concerts to held to raise money for the Tommy Atkins fund where The Absent Minded Beggar was sung were held at Cranbourne, Lang Lang and Lyndhurst.

Concerts at Cranbourne and Lang Lang.

The Age, March 2, 1900 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/196025338

 

Patriotic Concert held at Lyndhurst, where Miss Connie Martyn 

sung The Absent Minded Beggar.

The Age March 23, 1900  http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article196030093

Trove list
I have created a list of articles relating to find raising for the Tommy Atkins Fund in the Casey Cardinia region, access it here. All articles referred to here are on the list.

Footnotes
(1) The Age February 13, 1900, see here.
(2) The Argus, January 3, 1900, see here. There is also a good overview of the Tommy Atkins Fund in The Age, December 20, 1899, see here.

(3) The Age January 4, 1900, see here and The Age, January 6, 1900, see here.

(4) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, February 28, 1900, see here.

(5) The Argus February 19, 1900, see here.

(6) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, March 7, 1900 see here.

(7) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, February 14, 1900, see here.

(8) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, February 28, 1900, see here.

(9) South Bourke & Mornington Journal, March 14, 1900, see here.

The Poppy: a symbol of remembrance and gratitude

The Poppy was first sold to commemorate Remembrance Day or Armistice Day - November the 11th - in 1921. They were made by the orphaned school children in France (1). It was estimated that over 9,000 French children were orphaned due to the War (2). The poppy was adopted because during the First World War, red poppies were among the first plants to spring up in the devastated battlefields of northern France and Belgium. In soldiers' folklore, the vivid red of the poppy came from the blood of their comrades soaking the ground (3).

The sight of poppies on the battlefield at Ypres in 1915 moved Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, to write the beautiful poem In Flanders field  - 

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row on row,

That mark our place: and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae died of pneumonia and meningitis in France on January 28, 1918. You can read more about his life on the Veterans Affairs Canada website, here.

Souvenir of France. Postcard, dated September 23, 1916,  written from 

son Tom to father Mr J. O'Halloran, North Castlemaine.

State Library of Victoria Image H41582

This is a report from The Herald of November 11, 1921 of selling of the poppies in Melbourne for the first time (4). 

The Poppy's Appeal - City Red with emblems - Remembrance and Gratitude
The Poppy, the universal memorial flower for the Allied fallen soldiers, reigned supreme today. More than 300 ladies sold the little silk emblems which had been made by the orphaned school children of Flanders, in the regions desolated by the war, throughout the city streets, for the Poppy Day Appeal. Melbourne, having honored the Dead, remembered, the orphaned children. The occasion was a day of solemnity. It was the most subdued street appeal which has been seen here. Women workers of the Alfred Hospital Auxiliary, under the leadership of Mrs James Angus, had a stall in Queen's Walk, and the volunteer staff of the Anzac Buffet also gave help. The six kiosks in the city, under the supervision of Mrs McMillan, Mrs Deakin, Mrs Herbert Brookes, and Mrs Collins, displayed practically nothing but floral emblems. Stationery, in the form of writing pads, calendars and Christmas cards, all bearling the red decoration, were also sold. But tomorrow the street cleaners will have little work to do in restoring the condition of the city to its usual standard. There will be very little rubbish left strewn about on the road ways and footpaths.
Buyers Eager
Mr A. M. David, secretary of the Victorian branch of the Returned Sailors and Soldiers' Imperial  League of Australia, who is acting as organising secretary, of the Poppy Day Appeal, said this morning that he expected all the 250,000 silk poppies of the smaller size would be sold during the day. One lady from Albert Park had returned her collecting box filled at ten this morning, and had taken away another. The larger flowers, for which 2/6 was demanded by the voluntary sellers, had been eagerly sought after, and though their number ran well into four figures, very few of them, were left on hand before noon. Many of these had arrived from Flanders made up into the form of crosses and wreaths, large and small, and it was hoped that generous sympathisers would buy them with £5 notes. The star attraction was a large aeroplane model which had been decorated with those larger poppies by Mrs Jocelyn, of the Anzac House staff. It was hoped that this would bring in many pounds to the fund, of which 50 per cent, will be sent to France to succor the orphans of French soldiers, and 50 per cent., less 10 per cent., will be devoted to the fund for the Anzac House Memorial Building. The balance will be given to the sub-branches of the R.S.S.I.L., which have undertaken to soil poppies in the country.
Business at Its Best
When the congregations poured out of the many city churches, after the Armistice Day services, business at the kiosks was at its best. Buying a poppy at a kiosk - and most of those sold there were of the larger size - seemed to be part of the devotion to the fallen. The lighter vein was seldom noticed. The organisers had many offers of help from musical parties, willing to sing and give "stunts" in the streets, but in view of the day's commemoration it was very wisely considered undesirable to encourage any theatrical displays. Tonight the boxes containing money will be counted at the National Bank, but Mr David wants to point out that those who have been unable to leave their homes today, or have passed the time in quiet contemplation, may still send their donations to his Poppy Day Appeal office, in the basement of the Town Hall.

Footnotes

(1) The Herald, November 11, 1921, see here.

(2) Some of these orphan made their way to Australia, read about this here https://sjmc.gov.au/french-orphans-who-came-to-australia/ 

(3) Australian War Memorial website https://www.awm.gov.au/commemoration/customs-and-ceremony/poppies

(4) The Herald, November 11, 1921, see here.