To Redeem the Past:

(Glimpses of the Great War Based on the Letters of Eric Standring)

©2014 All Rights Reserved

Written and Edited by Sue Guest

Dedicated to the late Gladys Hull,

Loved Gran to her Grandsons.

She helped to keep Eric’s memory alive.

©2014 All Rights Reserved-Do not copy or re-use any material from this article, including but not limited to, photos, quotations, descriptions, etc., without express written consent from the author of this article.
For more information, please contact the website administrator at: Request@dextergenealogy.com.

Eric Standring Aged 2 Years — Eric Standring-Aged 2 Years

Rev James and Millie Standring Not Long After Their Marriage

Rev James in front of his Moa bone collection

Introduction

Every year Gladys Hull (nee Standring) put another ANZAC poppy on the photograph of her brother, Lieutenant Eric Standring who died on active service in France in 1917. The photograph was mounted under glass in a brown oak frame, and there was just enough gap between glass and frame for the stems of the poppies to fit. By the 1950’s there were nearly 30 of them, and the older ones were becoming faded and fragile, but she never removed any.

She kept a number of the letters and cards he wrote, filed in brown envelopes with the year marked on them. These provide a glimpse of Eric’s war as he reported it to his family.

Early Life

Hubert Eric Standring (always known as Eric) was born on 22 November 1894 in Invercargill. His father, the Rev. James Standring, was a minister in the Baptist church. Eric was the fourth of five sons – though his next oldest brother died, aged two, less than five months before Eric was born. There was one daughter, Gladys who was born two years after Eric.

James Standring was from Bury in Lancashire, England. He attended the East London Missionary Training Institute and came to New Zealand on the “Waipa” in 1882. In New Zealand he met Amelia Alice Stringer (known as Millie). She had been born in Staines in Middlesex, England and had arrived in New Zealand on the “Northumberland” in 1880.

Shortly after Eric was born his father transferred to the Presbyterian Church and in 1895 was called to be Minister of the Waiareka parish near Oamaru in North Otago. It was here that Eric spent his boyhood. The Standring children attended Teaneraki School (later called Enfield School).

Rev James clearly led a busy life. He was strongly involved in the community, church politics and was a great supporter of the temperance movement.

Eric got his secondary schooling at Waitaki Boys High School in Oamaru. He was successful at school and came 70th in New Zealand in the Junior Civil Service exam. In March 1912 he left for Wellington to take up a Civil Engineering cadetship with Public Works Department of the New Zealand Government.

Joining up

New Zealand received news of the outbreak of the war on 5 August, 1914. Three days later the Government began countrywide recruiting of volunteers for the main body of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF). Eric Standring signed up on 29 August. He was not yet 20, the minimum age for enlistment and his army records show he added a year to his birth date. He was in good health, quite tall at 5 foot 11 inches with dark hair and brown eyes.

Eric joined the 12th Otago Mounted Rifles (OMR) and went into Camp at Tahuna in Dunedin. Most of those who joined the regiment had some experience as a soldier or a territorial; Eric did not though he must have been used to riding horses from his boyhood in the country.

As the OMR was a mounted regiment, troopers were required to bring a horse and a saddle although they sold their horse to the Government and were allocated one.

Eric wrote to his parents about life in the OMR:

Saturday night

Dear Dad and Mother

I am writing now in reply to your letters. I am very glad to get them I can tell you. I am glad you all got home safely after coming down. I felt very down-hearted after you all got away. Things here are pointing to a move at last. In the parade for inspection this morning, the Honorable James Allen said we would certainly go within a week from today. I am going for sure unless sickness or accident intervenes.

My regimental number, as far as I know is 9/481. We have been working very hard everyday at Mounted parades, riding tests etc. I have got a jolly good horse but it is very hard in the mouth and is a terror to bolt, but I have got an enormous curb bit and can hold him in now, but he got away with me twice and ran into a rock yesterday and cut his leg but it is healing up nicely today. We are going to the front and not to any other place, except England first so I will be the second of the family to see the old country.

There is a hideous row in this tent just now and it takes ones thoughts off letter writing. All this afternoon we went miles over cross country. It came on to rain about 2:00 pm and we had a picnic riding home down some very steep grassy hills which were as slippery as glass. We got home without accident though. Well they have been a good few accidents lately as we have to do more on the horses and they get very excited and restless. This is one day’s work.

Get out 6.00 am

Stables at 6.15 Roll call before. Water and groom horses till 6.45. Mess orderlies go to the galley for the breakfast, which is back about 8.00. Have breakfast and wash up.

8.45 Have all gear on and cleaned up

8.55 Saddle up

9.00 Parade on parade ground mounted and go to the beach or country until 12 noon

12.00 noon till 12.45 groom, water and feed horses.

1.00 Go for day’s rations for tent and at 2.00 Parade mounted till 5.00pm. Stables again till 5.45 and then pickets, guards etc. are detailed off and leave granted and tea is got, which is generally a good feed.

If you are not on picket, which you are not nearly every alternate night out of you can go to bed to 9:00 pm and then turn out to stables and give your horse another feed and after that go to bed for the night and you generally sleep very soundly after that. If you are on horse picket you go up and down the horse lines catching horses that break loose and generally looking after them. Lights out at 10.00pm.

I am very well and healthy except for a bit of a cold which everyone has got here and am feeling a lot better than when I was working at the glass trade.

I ran into a Bill Battersby at the camp today and had a yarn with him. He looks very altered and aged and wizened up. I will write again before I go and say goodbye

Now with much love

Your son

Eric

C squadron No 2 troop
12th Otago Mounted Rifle Regiment
Tahuna Park
Dunedin

(Please continue with this article, next post, The Letters of Eric Standring).

Dexter Directs, Family Collage/Photo Pages

Ronald H. Dexter and Karen Faye Rutherford Collage

22 April 2015 CJ Spicer

Blog Information, Family Collage/Photo Pages, General Posts

Family Page Galleries, Post Pages and Authorship on The Site

22 April 2015 CJ Spicer

Out of necessity, and in order to make sure that we are correctly linking data from and to the correct individuals, I am proposing that each of us (who are interested in this process) begin making nested family blog posts which will include photos from our own personal archives.

Doing so will help in a few ways: first, I won’t feel so responsible for errors… (ok, smile if you will)… Secondly, we can build the family post pages in greater fashion while leaving the family PAGES (older, more historical data) intact and available to build upon those as well. And third, you will each have control over your posts, and your authorship will be duly noted on each page. That authorship is most important in establishing your rights to the material you post.

For example, I know that Bill Guest has a truly amazing article that will soon be posted regarding his Grand Uncle, Eric Standring (I believe that is his correct label… Bill? If I’m wrong, please correct me, it’s been a bit since I read it… but as I recall, Eric was your grandmother’s brother?). Making sure Bill (and his wife Sue) has/have the appropriate attribution is important, and topping it off, he or they will be able to add photos to the story which will add a much more human feel and longer term impact.

I would also like to encourage each of you to write an author statement. It would be the final paragraph, is biographical in nature and should be italicized to distinguish between your post and your statement. If you will follow along a moment, each of you with authorship attribution (which most of you will have if you intend to contribute) when you complete your post (but before you actually publish it) should scroll down the dashboard page until you see the box labeled “Author”. Click on the name in the box and scroll until you see your own, then select it. When you post the page, it will name you as the Author automatically and as the articles are dated and timed, your claim to the copyright is fairly complete, short of submitting to the offices of copyright.

You are also able to upload audio and video files, which can be effectively added to a page as well. Feel free to address anyone reading as if you are telling the precise story you want. When you close the page, your author statement will conclude the page.

While we all want to share the joys of our children and pets and more, I would prefer to not get into overkill. We might offer a “Dexter Pets” page of photos, but the kids stick with the best of the best. Special events, yes; recognitions, etc. Things which put them in historical context – military service or a fraternal organization that may be documented as important to our descendants… But everyday posts can go onto Facebook or other social media for sharing.

I’ll do a starter page and see if we can build upon that. Our collages should wind up being quite fascinating.

Love to all,

Connie

PS: Here is a sample author statement. If you need help, let me know and we can talk it out.

Connie Dexter Spicer has been investigating her family origins, since, as a teenager-one of her school social science classes was a study of family history after the film Roots came out. The information she gathered then became the basis for all her research since. And, since those modest beginnings lead to connecting with cousins all over the world, it has been a very merry adventure for her.

General Posts

How To Reach Us

3 January 2015 CJ Spicer

Happy New Year 2015, Friends and Family!

We are all busy people, right, so it would be nice to have the option to reach folks as soon as possible. Should you want to request information, have a problem with the site or just in general need some other guidance here, feel free to email us at:

Request@DexterGenealogy.com (don’t worry, caps are not necessary. I only put them in to make it easier to read)

Or if you want to make a phone call, my number is (772) 226-0277.

You can also join our mailing list or ask a question using the form below, so don’t be shy, join in the fun. We don’t submit a new article every day, but we do review email because we enjoy learning about this family!

Connie (Dexter) Spicer

[contact-form to=’dexterhistoriani@aol.com’ subject=’Dexter Genealogy Site Question’][contact-field label=’Name’ type=’name’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Email’ type=’email’ required=’1’/][contact-field label=’Website’ type=’url’/][contact-field label=’Comment’ type=’textarea’ required=’1’/][/contact-form]

General Posts

How To Use Our New Site

22 December 2014 George Dexter

How To Use This Site (The Basics)

Welcome to this new Dexter site “How To” article. As you will find out, this is very different from our old ‘MyFamily’ site and it is with gratitude that we must thank Connie Dexter Spicer for her hard work and endeavours in getting this site up and working to the extent that she has.

What Needs Done

Many of the threads need to be checked out that they have transferred ok and the attribution for all items including photographs or articles might be incorrect. How to do this? Simply read them and if you notice an error, tell us!

It is important that, where possible, these are dealt with correctly and the correct attribution can be made. It is not our intention to claim copyright or authorship over your material!

Many of you have spent a vast amount of time in research and it is important your efforts be recognised. It is not our interest to take credit for your hard work, so please let us know, should you find something that you recognize as your own. Our research has been done over decades and we don’t always remember where or from whom things came.

How To Author A New Post

All articles submitted should be done using “Posts/Add New” from the left side of the dashboard. All posts are added directly to the blog and are publicly posted. As an author or content creator, please do NOT add new “Pages”. Those main pages are primarily for direction, not for additions.

So, click “Posts” – “Add New”, and a new center will open.

To make your article easy to find from the Internet, make sure your title is concise and goes along with your content. You wouldn’t be able to find an article about Staines, England if you are talking about Dayton, Ohio, for example.
Once your photos are added to the media library, you can insert into your article by clicking the “Add Media” (we also have sign up forms you can add – just click “Add Form” for family members to sign up for our website.
Use the toolbar above the text area, just as you would use a Word program to write any document.
Use “Tags” – You can “Tag” information in your article by looking to the right sidebar. Tags are Keywords and Key Phrases that describe what is in your post, what you’re writing about. You should also designate a “Category” so your post can appear in the best location for others to find. When in doubt, leave that blank and an editor can help.
You an add a Featured Image as well, to help define your page. So, if you are writing about how Aunt Mary started an organization and you have a photo of Aunt Mary at her new organization, upload that image! What a perfect representation!

Rules of the Internet for Writing Posts

Keep paragraphs small (2 to 5 sentences, 20-25 words per sentence); no more than 300 words per paragraph. (Think short, clear thoughts)
Use Headings to divide longer paragraphs. Use smaller headings within the same ideas to convey that the idea is part of the primary heading. (Example-look at this page. We start with a welcome and How To… It is then broken down into smaller bits so it can be followed more easily.
Try not to use a lot of passive language. Passive uses soft verbs, not active. This may take practice, but you will appreciate how much clearer your writing becomes.
Be SURE to ADD Photos or other media file that directly relate to your topic and completes a train of thought. Articles are always more interesting with something visual.
Be sure to LINK to other pages (not within the site, although you can. If you have problems with this, please ask.)
Finally, if you aren’t sure how it’s going to play out, send one of us your article and let us review it. We can suggest “How To” make it better.

OK, I Published. Now What?

After your post is published, a few things happen. You can post the URL (easiest to copy/paste it) and share with your social media.

It also becomes open to comments. When someone makes comments on any post, they won’t appear automatically as in the past. All comments go to the Admin Team of Connie Dexter Spicer and myself for approval. This helps keep unwanted spam out of posts.

How To Add New Media To The Library

Do you want to add photos, videos or audio files you have saved? From the Dashboard on the left side, click on “Media” (or the camera/music note icon), then Add New.

From there you can drag and drop (just right-click and hold the file) you want to upload or within the box, click the “Select Files” button. Once uploaded, be sure to add Alternative Text (which describes the purpose of the image. For example, I uploaded a death certificate. The purpose is to “provide proof for a D.A.R. record”).

It is not necessary to add it if it is a decorative photo, such as a garden, your pet or something similar, unless you wish. Do include a caption, which provides a title for your image. This works great for those decorative photos or simple video/audio files.

We’ll talk about how to insert this information into your own posts, but it is very easy to do – and if you play within the dashboard, you will quickly teach yourself most of this.

Have Fun!

Well that’s all for now, play around with what’s available to you on the site and please use the ‘Help Me’ tutorial at the bottom of the page to help you to get around. Or, you can email Connie for some lessons by writing “dexterhistoriani@aol.com”.

We look forward to seeing you all with your contributions in the near future.

George Dexter

Dexter Genealogy Website

To Redeem The Past: Glimpses of the Great War Based on the Letters of Eric Standring