Albert Victor Darwin Braitling was born in Palmerston, NT 7 August 1893. He was the 2nd son born to William Walter Braitling and Amelia Louisa Braitling (nee Richards) known as Minnie, who were married at the North Australian Hotel in Palmerston on 26 March 1891. William was the 4th son of Christian Fredreich Braitling and Mary Ann Elizabeth Braitling (nee Varlet) a wine merchant in London and Minnie was the 4th daughter of George Thomas Richards and Eliza Mary Richards (nee Waterman) of Mt. Gambier, SA. William was sixteen when he left England with his older brother Charles Christian Braitling who settled in Queensland. William Braitling was the proprietor of the ‘Coffee Palace’ in Smith Street, Palmerston which was licensed for wine and billiards. He was also a saddler and general storeowner and a well-known race horse owner in the Pine Creek/Katherine region, and often rode his horses in race meetings held by the Katherine Turf Club. William also ran a boarding house in Pine Creek from where coaches left to the Wandi gold fields offering special fares to miners. He also raced his horses at Fannie Bay beach near the old brickyard. In 1895 he sold the land that he owned in Pine Creek which was bought by the government for the purpose of erecting a school. He also sold all his racing gear with the view to moving south. The family left the Territory on the SS'Taiyuan' on 10 January 1899. William and Minnie had further 6 children all born in New South Wales including twins. In February 1900 William Braitling intimated that he would return to the Territory bringing some horses with him, but this never eventuated. Instead William established Braitling Piano Works in 1900, a company specializing in piano tuning which is now run by his grandson. William and Minnie had a large house in Haberfield that contained a piano and billiard table that the family used for entertainment. Albert married Eva Jesse Roberts in 1920 in Casino, NSW and left behind his wife and daughter Faith when he died at his home in Eastwood, NSW aged 55 years. Albert was the cousin of William (Bill) Braitling of Mt. Doreen Station who also served in World War One.,
Date of death
1948-09-22,
Place of death
Eastwood (N.S.W.),
History
Braitling served for 12 months in 33rd Infantry at Haberfield, NSW with a rank of Lieutenant prior to enlisting. He embarked from Sydney, on board SS 'Makarini' on 1 April 1916 and returned to Australia 10 July 1916 on HMAT A46 'Clan MacGillivray', with influenza and was discharged medically unfit.,
Subject
Australia. Army. Australian and New Zealand Army Corps,
History,
World War, 1914-1918,
Northern Territory,
ANZAC,
Related links
http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=3111854&I=1&SE=1,
http://www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/AWM8/23_20_3/PDF/0501.pdf,
http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/nominal_rolls/first_world_war/page.asp?p=1655944,
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/war_diaries/first_world_war/subclass.asp?levelID=1745,
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/19347123,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18085754,
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_-HG6sHHFk,
http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18085754 ["Death Notice", Sydney Morning Herald, 23 September 1948: p.12.],
http://static.awm.gov.au/images/collection/items/ACCNUM_LARGE/RCDIG1067370%5CRCDIG1067370--501-.JPG [Embarkation Roll],
http://www.awm.gov.au/collection/war_diaries/first_world_war/subclass.asp?levelID=1745 [Unit War Diary],
http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/19347123 [Randwick to Hargicourt : history of the 3rd battalion, A.I.F. by Eric Wren. Sydney, N.S.W. : Ronald G. McDonald, 1935.],
http://naa12.naa.gov.au/scripts/imagine.asp?B=3111854&I=1&SE=1 [Service Record],
http://www.awm.gov.au/research/people/nominal_rolls/first_world_war/page.asp?p=1655944 [Nominal Roll],
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_-HG6sHHFk [William Walter Braitling family history - streaming video not available on NTG computers],