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Leonard Edgar Forsythe 1894 - 1981

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• Birth	22 Jun 1894	St Leonards Reg No 31513/1894
  Gender	Male
  Died	16 Feb 1981
  Person ID	I0247	Forsyth Tanners
  Last Modified	8 Mar 2014

  
  

  Father	David Henry Clarke,   b. 1876, England ,   d. 2 Jun 1945, St. Vincent's Hospital. Sydney Reg No 6863/1945
  Mother	Martha Rosewell Forsyth,   b. 23 Mar 1875, High St, Willoughby ,   d. 14 Jun 1917, Chatswood Reg No 6989/1917
  Married	28 Dec 1904	Christ Church, Lavender Bay, North Sydney. St Leonards Reg No 2373/1905
  Family ID	F016	Group Sheet

  
  

  Family	Beatrice Maude Huddlestone,   b. 3Q 1896, PRO Registration Chesterton Vol 3b Page 450. Cambridgeshire ,   d. 1962, Chatswood age 76. Sydney Reg No 1148/1962
  Married	7 May 1918	St John. Melcombe Regis, Weymouth Dorset England. PRO Registration 2Q1918 Weymouth Vol 5a Page 698. Dorset
  Children	1. Living
  Last Modified	8 Mar 2014
  Family ID	F082	Group Sheet

  
  

• Photos		Leonard Edgar Forsyth's Medals
  		Leonard Edgar Forsyth 1960
  		Opening of the Navy Leagues Sydney Training Depot Snapper Island by Mr Lyons
  		The opening of the Navy League's Sydney Training Depot by Mr Lyons Leonard Forsythe on right
  		Marriage Leonard Edgar Forsyth + Beatrice Huddlestone
  		Leonard Edgar Forsyth
  		Leonard Edgar Forsythe Flag Display

  
  

  Documents

  Leonard Edgar Forsyth and Snapper Island

  
  

• Notes

  Notes say adopted by Thomas Todd Later Commander Leonard Forsythe Leonard Forsythe had the title BEM - British Empire Medal The British Empire Medal (BEM), officially the Medal of the Order of the British Empire for Meritorious Service, is a British medal awarded for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the crown. While recipients are not technically members of the Order of the British Empire this honour is nevertheless affiliated with it. Recipients are entitled to put the letters "BEM" after their name. The BEM was awarded in similar circumstances to the Order of the British Empire, but usually to people below management or professional level. In the uniformed services, it was awarded to non-commissioned officers of the armed forces, Dorset, England, Marriages and Banns, 1813-1921 Name: Leonard Edgar Forsythe Birth Year: abt 1893 Age: 25 Marriage or Bann Date: 7 May 1918 Parish: Melcombe Regis St John Father's Name: Leonard Arthur Forsythe Spouse's Name:Beatrice Maude Huddlestone Spouse's Father's Name: William Huddlestone Death - Ryerson Index FORSYTHE Leonard Edgar Death notice 16FEB1981 Death late of Snapper Island Sydney Morning Herald 17FEB1981 WW1 record names wife as Beatrice Maude Forsythe of 279 Sailors Bay Rd Northbridge ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Snapper Island History Snapper Island is the smallest island in Sydney Harbour. Located south west of Cockatoo Island, this rocky outcrop was declared a public recreation reserve in 1879. The island was leased to the Cockatoo Island dockyard for additional storage during World War I. In 1930 the tiny island caught the eye of Leonard E. Forsythe who was able to persuade the Commonwealth Government to lease it to him for a peppercorn rental of £15 per year. His vision for the island was to create a training depot for boys in nautical skills. Around 50 cadets, known as the Navy Sea League Cadets, worked to transform the island into a land-based ship. The lantana that covered the island was cleared and it was flattened by blasting an estimated 1,000 tonnes of rock from the top over an eight-month period. The island also grew by about 1,000 square metres through land reclamation. The stone sea walls of the island were sculptured to create the shape of a ship with a bow (pointing towards Drummoyne) and a stern (pointing towards Cockatoo Island). The name given to the new facility was the Sydney Training Depot - named as a memorial to the famous Australian cruiser which had sunk the German raider Emden during World War I. Items salvaged from HMAS Sydney when it was stripped on Cockatoo Island in 1932 formed the basis of a collection of naval artefacts and memorabilia. In 1932 building work commenced on a signal station, wharf and the other main buildings that can be seen today. The layout of these buildings models the layout of a naval ship. The cadets also planted the two cabbage-tree palms, which are still the only vegetation left on the island. Training provided on the island was broad and varied, including rowing, sailing, seamanship, boat maintenance, signalling and rope work, rigging, radio operations, first aid, cooking and marksmanship. Today Snapper Island is a collage of makeshift waterfront buildings in tin and timber, slipways, boat storage, gardens, flagpoles, a jetty and its two distinctive cabbage palms. The island is currently closed to the public. In 1879 Snapper Island was declared a public recreation reserve but it remained a rarely visited rocky outcrop. The island was leased to the Cockatoo Island Dockyard for additional storage during World War I. From 1931/2 Snapper Island was flattened and expanded by blasting and reclamation to set up the training depot (Sydney) for naval cadets and so fulfilling the vision of Leonard Forsythe, a founder of the Navy League in NSW. The stone seawalls created the shape of a ship with a bow and a stern. Building work commenced on a signal station and other buildings. The names and layout of buildings and structures on the island model that of a naval ship. The Navy League Sea Cadets salvaged many items from HMAS Sydney when it was stripped at Cockatoo Island in 1932. This collection forms the basis of a museum, opened in 1952, which still exists on the island. It contains an extensive range of naval artefacts. ------------------------------------------------------- Martha Rosewall Forsyth, born in 1875, daugther of Thomas Todd Forsyth and Ann Lile Lewis, had a child in 1894 when she was just 19 years of age, and 11 years before she married David Clarke in 1905. Her son born in 1894 was Leonard E Forsyth. Leonard died 16 Feb 1981. Leonard's wife was Beatrice Maude Huddlestone born 3Q1898. There is no marriage for them in NSW BDM, but I now know why. I looked up his WW I war record which fills in some of the puzzle. When he enlisted his next of kin was his mother Martha Clarke (nee Forsyth) living in North Sydney. But Martha died while he was away at the war, on 14 June 1917. He completed a change of next of kin form and his records were also changed to show his next of kin as his wife Mrs Forsyth (no first name recorded) at Lake Place Hoylake Cheshire England. So he married an English girl while in England. This is the Beatrice Maude listed in this file. She died 1962 at Chatswood Registration Number 1148/1962. Leonard was still alive and living in Drummoyne in 1968 as he wrote to the Army Records Office re his age service pension. There is only one descendent, a daughter Beryl Maude who married Edward Newburn in 1950.