Florence Taylor – Architect and Engineer – Parramatta

 Florence Taylor – Architect and Engineer – 1879 to 1969

 

Florence Mary Parsons was born in Somerset, England on 29 December 1879. She was four years old when she came to Australia with her parents Charles Parsons and Augusta Parsons. Florence had two brothers, Tom two years older and five years younger Theodore. Her sister Lily was two years younger. They lived briefly in Queensland before moving to Parramatta. Her father worked as a draftsman clerk with the Parramatta Council.  Her parents died when she was in her late teens though both Charles and Augusta’s deaths are listed as unknown in Ancestry database.  After the death of her parents, Florence was forced to find a work to support her siblings. She was working as a clerk in one of her father’s architectural practice. She was inspired by the earnings of drafts people, who were earning far more than her. She enrolled herself in night classes at the Sydney Technical College. In 1904, she was first qualified female architect. Then she started her studies to become a first woman to train as an engineer in Australia. 1907 was the year when Florence Parsons married Sydney born artist, inventor and craft worker George Augustine Taylor. They got married in St Stephen’s Presbyterian Church in Sydney. In December 1909, Florence Taylor became the first Australian women to fly the aircraft (glider) built by her husband George Taylor. Both Florence and George were passionate about architecture and building industry.  

Florence’s husband died after drowning in his bath tub due to epileptic fit in 1928. After his death she was managing the publishing business until her retirement in 1961 at the age of 81. She lived in Potts Point and died on 13 February 1969.  

The Hills Shire Timeline - Baulkham Hills Council

40,000 BC - Darug Aborigines (also spelt Dharug, Daruk, Dharuk) inhabited the Shire until the early 1800s, especially around waterholes.
1791 - Governor Phillip journeyed to the Shire in April.
1794 - Hawkesbury Road (Old Windsor Road) was developed from Toongabbie Government Farm to the Hawkesbury River. William Joyce received the first land grant in the Shire and by 1811 was operating the Shire's first inn that was located on this road.
1799 - Joseph Foveaux was granted 300 acres which he sold to John Macarthur in 1801. John and Elizabeth Macarthur farmed sheep on this property before establishing them at Camden. Part of this land was later acquired by the Pearce family and became known as 'Bella Vista Farm'.
1801 - Toongabbie Road (Junction Road) was made from Toongabbie Government Farm to Baulkham Hills and then Castle Hill Road (Old Northern Road) was built to the new Castle Hill Government Farm.
1804 - The convicts rebelled on 4 March and made a stand for freedom at the Battle of Vinegar Hill on 5 March.
1807 - George Suttor of 'Chelsea Farm' Baulkham Hills, was the first person in the colony to produce oranges commercially.
1810 - Windsor Road was constructed.
1811 - Castle Hill Government Farm was converted to the first lunatic asylum in the colony. It operated until 1826 when it was relocated to Liverpool.
1823 - Most of the land in the southern part of the Shire had been granted by then. As the century progressed these original grants were subdivided into farms.
1826 - Construction of Old Northern Road, part of the Great North Road, from Castle Hill to Wisemans Ferry began.
1830 - More land started to be granted in the northern part of the Shire.
1840 - The first school in the Shire, St Simon's School, began at the Old Castle Hill Government Farm site.
1856 - John Malloy Kelly opened the first general store and post office in the Shire near the corner of Junction and Windsor Roads, Baulkham Hills (now the M2).
1886 - Castle Hill District Show began at Rogans Hill and moved to Showground Road Castle Hill in 1891
1890's - 'Bella Vista Farm' was thought to be the largest orchard in NSW.
1894 - A telephone service was extended to the Hills from Parramatta.
1902 - Tram from Parramatta to Baulkham Hills commenced with an extension to Castle Hill opened in 1910. This accelerated the subdivision of old estates adjacent to the railway into residential blocks.
1906 - Baulkham Hills Shire Council was created on 6 March via the Local Government Act of 1906. The first meeting was held on 16 June at James Pearce's Baulkham Hills residence.
1907 - Telephone links were created between the Hills and the Hawkesbury area.
1911 - Population of the shire was 3,498
1913 - Sir Joseph Cook, Member for Parramatta (which included the Baulkham Hills Shire) became Australian Prime Minister.
 - Water pipes in Showground Road were connected to the Sydney Water Supply. By 1917 there were water pipes in Baulkham Hills.
1920 - Slab huts in Windsor Road, Baulkham Hills, just south east of the crossroads were used in the filming of Raymond Longford's 'On Our Selection'.
1920's - Poultry and egg production replaced citrus and stone fruits as the main industry.
1921  Population of the shire was 5,113
1923 - A train service from Westmead to Castle Hill replaced the tram. It was extended to Rogans Hill in 1924.
1926 - Electricity came to Baulkham Hills and Castle Hill.
1932 - Railway closed mainly due to the advent of the combustion engine used in trucks, cars and buses that, in turn, needed a wider main road.
1933 - Population of the shire was 8,075.
1947  Population of the shire was 10,675.
1956 - Population of the Shire was 16,500.
1961 - Population of the shire was 23,643
1960's - Urban development accelerated from this time.
1966 - Population of the shire was 33,499.
1971 - Population of the shire was 57,373.
Sewerage connection was available to residents in Baulkham Hills; Castle Hill followed in 1977.
1976 - Population of the shire was 75,665.
1978 - Land in Victoria Avenue and Carrington Road, Castle Hill, was set aside for an industrial area now known as the Castle Hill Trading Zone.
1979 - The first stage of Castle Towers Shopping Centre commenced with additions following in 1982, 1989, 1993, 1999 and 2001.
1980 - Population of the Shire was 90,000. NSW Department of Environment and Planning began looking at the potential development of the Rouse Hill area.
1981 - Population of the shire was 93,068.
1982 - Council moves in to its new administration building on Showground Road, Castle Hill.
1986 - Population of the shire was 102,804.
1988 - The Hills Centre for the Performing Arts was opened at Castle Hill.
1991 - Population of the shire was 114,032.
1996 - Population of the shire was 118,797.
1997 - Baulkham Hills Shire Council obtained title to the significant heritage sites: 'Castle Hill Heritage Park' and 'Bella Vista Farm'.
2001 - Population of the shire was 139,404.
2001 - Rouse Hill Regional Centre plans revealed.
2004 - Baulkham Hills Shire Council opened its new 'state of the art' Castle Hill Library and Community Centre at Castle Grand.
2006 - Population of the shire was 159,391.
2008 - Baulkham Hills Shire Council opened its new Vinegar Hill Memorial Library and Community Centre at Rouse Hill in March.
The council’s name was changed to The Hills Shire Council in November.
2010 - Population of The Hills Shire as at June 2010 was 179,716
2011 - Initial Planning and Geotechnical Investigation of North West Rail Link route corridor begins.
2012 - State Government announces purchase of Showground Road Council Administration Building and surrounds for North West Rail Link Development. The Hills Shire Council purchases new building in Norwest Business Park with plans to relocate in 2013.
2013 - Council's new administration building, located at 3 Columbia Court, Baulkham Hills is officially opened on 15 December by Mayor Byrne and the Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir AC CVO, Governor of New South Wales.

Source: Baulkham Hills Council

One of the first drowning in Parramatta

 

Eleanor McCabe and Christopher Magee were one of the first free settlers in Parramatta.

Eleanor was in her early 20s when she was convicted in 1785. She had been tried at the Old Bailey for assaulting John Harris in the home of William Calloway, on 11 May 1785. During the trial Eleanor along with the three other women physically attacked the prosecutor and almost tore him to pieces. Eleanor was sentenced to seven years transportation.

During the trial evidence was heard that Eleanor was a "hawker". She has been before the court on several previous occasions for prostitution and other offences. On one occasion she was sentenced to death but later pardoned and on another sent to a House of Correction for six months.

Eleanor was aboard Lady Penrhyn in February 1787. During this voyage she gave birth to a still-born boy. During the voyage Eleanor along with three ladies was transferred from the Lady Penrhyn to Prince of Wales.

 

In 1788 Eleanor McCabe married fellow-convict Christopher Magee. He is also known as Charles Williams. Christopher was convicted at the Old Bailey in 1784 for theft of a bag from a wagon outside the Three Cups in Fleet Market. He had some knowledge of farming and had earlier been a convict in America. He was sentenced to transportation. He arrived in the colony aboard the Scarborough on 26th January 1788. Christopher is one of the early settlers of Camellia. On 30 March 1791 he was granted 30 acres of land on the south side of the Parramatta River. Christopher worked hard on his grant and within six months had eight acres cleared and under crop.        

Eleanor and Christopher had 2 children but on 18th January 1793, Eleanor and one child, plus another woman, drowned in the Parramatta River near Breakfast Cove.

Christopher worked hard on his grant and within six months had eight acres cleared and under crop. Watkin Tench wrote highly of his endeavors. This high opinion was not, however, maintained — especially after a burglary case in 1792 when Collins records that he left the court "much degraded in the opinion of every man who heard him."

Eleanor and Charles had their first child James, who lived only for two months. A year later their second child, Mary, was born. Shortly after her birth the couple moved to Rose Hill to settle on Williams' land grant.

The actual entry in Judge-Advocate David Collins’ Account of the English Colony of New South Wales reads:

"On Friday the 18th, Eleanor McCabe, the wife of Charles Williams, the settler, was drowned, together with an infant child, and a woman of the name of Green. These unfortunate people had been drinking and revelling with Williams the husband and others at Sydney, and were proceeding to Parramatta in a small boat, in which was a bag of rice belonging to Green. The boat heeling considerably, and some water getting at the bag, by a movement of Green's to save her rice the boat overset near Breakfast Point, and the two women and the child were drowned. If assistance could have been obtained upon the spot, the child might have been saved; for it was forced from the wretched mother's grasp just before she finally sunk, and brought on shore by the father; but for want of medical aid it expired.

The parents of this child were noted in the Colony for the general immorality of their conduct; they had been rioting and fighting with each other the moment before they got into the boat; and it was said, that the woman had imprecated every evil to befall her, and the infant she carried about her (for she was six months gone with child) if she accompanied her husband to Parramatta. The bodies of these two unfortunate women were found a few days afterwards, when the wretched and rascally Williams buried his wife and child within a very few feet of his own door. The profligacy of this man indeed manifested itself in a strange manner: a short time after he had thus buried his wife, he was seen sitting at his door, with a bottle of rum in his hand, and actually drinking one glass and pouring another on her grave until it was emptied, prefacing every libation by declaring how well she had loved it during her life. The grave is near the Camellia Railway Station, opposite Subiaco.”

 

Eleanor and her child are buried about 100m north of Camellia Station. It is said to be among the oldest known graves in Australia. This grave was restored by the Royal Australian Historical Society in 1920s with the installation of a brass headstone which reads:

“In this grave lie the remains of ELINORE MCGEE and her infant child who were drowned in the Parramatta River. January 1793. The grave is one of the oldest in this continent.”

 

On 28 February, 1982 the Fellowship of First Fleeters dedicated a memorial plaque to Eleanor acknowledging that Eleanor McCabe had arrived in the colony on the First Fleet. The foot of the masonry border of her grave plot was also fixed. Now it is completely fenced off. There is no safe access to the grave.

 

In October 1793 after his wife’s death, Charles sold his farm for less than 100 pounds. He expressed the intention of returning to England but he remained on the farm (his farm) as a labourer. Later on he moved to Hawkesbury and working as a labourer for Thomas Rickerby. He died 10 years later on 13 March 1815 and was buried at St. Matthew’s Anglican Church, Windsor.          

References:

• Terry Kass et al, Parramatta, A Past Revealed, Parramatta City Council, 1996
• David Collins, An Account of the English Colony in New South Wales, Vol. 1
• Cumberland Argus and Fruitgrowers Advocate: Saturday, 15 April 1893 “A Neglected Grave” Retrieved on 15 December 2015 http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/85657966?searchTerm=a neglected grave&searchLimits=l-state=New+South+Wales|||l-category=Article|||l-title=351
• Royal Australian Historical Society, Journal and Proceedings, Vol.1, pp120&121. 1901
• Elinor Mcgee, Vertical File, Local Studies and Family History Library, Parramatta Heritage and Visitor Information Centre
• www.fellowshipfirstfleeters.org.au
• http://www.arhsnsw.com.au/lunchclubnotes/1508%20Camellia/Camellia.pdf
• http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/state-archives/
• http://fmpro.uow.edu.au/FirstFleet/index.html

 

John Taylor - Auctioneer - Part 3

John Taylor was born on 8 December 1827 in Parramatta. He was son of Hugh and Elizabeth Taylor. Hugh Taylor wanted his son John Taylor to become a lawyer but in early 1840s John had taken up an apprenticeship with James Urquhart, Parramatta’s coachbuilder. After six years working with James, John went to New Zealand and then Maori war. In 1849 he went to California and arrived back to Australia just in time for gold rush.

John’s coach making skills proved very profitable in Californian gold mines. In early 1850s after the death of his parents John returned to Parramatta with his American wife and Afro-American servant. His servant Frank was very good in boxing and athletics, which made him sporting hero among the Parramatta crowd in late nineteenth century. 

John Taylor was very successful in America. With his success and inheritance, he established auctioneer and valuation business on Church Street Parramatta. He was very successful in his business and he dominated Parramatta market. Cumberland Times newspaper was established by John Taylor.

There were no local banks for major financial transactions. Local solicitors and publicans were providing this service to local residents. In 1847 solicitor William Lewthewaite of George Street was offering to lend 300 pounds at 10 per cent interest. In 1859 John Taylor offered the same service to lend the amounts of pounds 100 or more.

John Taylor was a licenced auctioneer in Parramatta. He had auction rooms in Church Street, Parramatta. John had an efficient staff of clerks with the special knowledge of sales, cash handling with ultra-promptness. He laid out is week as:

Tuesday – land sale day at the sale rooms, Church Street, Parramatta.

Wednesday – selling livestock, dairy stock and produce adjoining the Parramatta Railway Station. Wednesday is always a very busy day.

Friday – sale of furniture and general merchandise.

Special sales were held as and when required for houses, land, fruit orchards any day of the week.

John Taylor died on 6 April 1905 in Parramatta.

References:

Anne-Maree Whitaker, Shaping a City: 150 years of Parramatta City Council, Parramatta City Council, 2012

John Taylor, Parramatta: Past and Present, Parramatta, 1882

J. Wharton, Jubilee History of Parramatta, Parramatta, 1911

J. Jervis, The Cradle City of Australia, G. Mackaness ed. Parramatta, 1961

J. Jervis, ‘A history of politics and politicians in Parramatta’, Parramatta and District Historical Society, Journal, 3 (1926)

John Taylor, Parramatta: Past and Present, Parramatta, 1882

Terry Kass et al, Parramatta, A Past Revealed, Parramatta City Council, 1996

The Cumberland Argus, Saturday 18 December 1897

Hugh Taylor, Vertical File, Local Studies and Family History Library, Parramatta Heritage and Visitor Information Centre.

http://parramattahistory.blogspot.com.au/

http://www.ancestry.com.au/

Photo from Historic Houses Trust - Hugh Taylor with wife and son at their house in Church Street Parramatta, 1870 – Image 35533

Hugh Taylor Jr

Hugh Taylor junior and his brother John Taylor were first generations of native-born Australians locals, also known as “The Currency”. More about the Taylor bothers in the next posts.

Hugh Taylor jr was a son of Hugh Taylor. He was born on 19 March 1823 in Macquarie Street Parramatta. He went to King’s School. After leaving school he started butchering which he carried out very successfully. He was very passionate about Parramatta issues. Hugh was a champion for the working people and was also known as a friend to the poor. He was involved in lot of things like being a Justice of the Peace, member of Park Trust, member of Parramatta School Board, and president of the cricket club, just to name the few. He was elected to council in 1865 and remained an alderman until his death in 1897. Hugh also served as a Mayor from 1871 to 1874.
Hugh served on the management committees of the District Hospital and the Protestant and the Catholic orphanages. He was a diligent Trustee of Parramatta Park and of St John’s Park in Parramatta, and of the local Eisteddfod and he was a member of the local school board.

Hugh Taylor died on December 13, 1897 aged 74. He remained in public eye for the most of his life. He was concerned about the poor and a public opinion was  so great and massive amount of people were there to attend his funeral.

“The funeral moved from Mr Taylor’s late residence at 4.30 pm on Tuesday. The procession was a sight never before beheld in Parramatta’s streets. The foot ways along the line of the route were blocked with crowds of onlookers. St John’s bells tolled on Monday morning (Hugh Taylor died on Sunday evening) and throughout the funeral. The muffled bells of All Saints rang during the funeral procession, joined by the bells of the other Parramatta churches. Father O’Reilly read the burial service with Fathers Martin, Sheridan, Kerwick and Mahony and then presented what was reported to be an eloquent address: “We shall miss him … But above all, the poor of Parramatta shall miss him, because he was a friend and a father to all in distress” from The Cumberland Argus, Saturday 18 December 1897.

The Petrel Papers

 

The Petrel Papers was a weekly shipboard newspaper produced on board the Parramatta during a voyage from London to Sydney (1882 -1883). The 'Parramatta' departed London 7 Oct. 1882 and arrived at Sydney on 3 Jan. 1883 under Captain Goddard. The journals contain contributions from passengers and crew including reports of shipboard activities and entertainments; details of the ship's progress including latitude, longitude, distances, temperature and barometer readings; verse and stories written by passengers.

The Petrel Papers was written and edited by John Maffey and was 'published' by being 'read aloud at the Saloon table during dessert' each Saturday. The manuscript newspaper was then circulated amongst the ship's passengers and crew. Though Maffey was supposed to have a committee of three to assist him with compiling the newspaper, he claimed he received neither assistance nor contributions. As his personal correspondence suffered as a result of the newspaper taking up most of his spare time, this copy of the newspaper was sent home for circulation to his family and friends.

Click on the link below to read The Petrel Papers:

http://acms.sl.nsw.gov.au/album/albumView.aspx?acmsID=985697&itemID=997108

Source: State Library of New South Wales

Types of ration during WW1

Reserve Ration

Three special-purpose rations came into general use in World War I-the reserve ration, the trench ration, and the emergency ration.16 The first of these was an individual packaged ration which the soldier carried on his person for utilization when regular food was unavailable. The reserve ration, which sought to provide a complete food allowance for one man for one day, included a one-pound can of meat (usually corned beef), two 8-ounce tins of hard bread, 2.4 ounces of sugar, 1.12 ounces of roasted and ground coffee, and 0.16 ounce of salt. It weighed about 2 ¾ pounds and contained about 3300 calories. The food was considered ample and satisfying but the packaging, in cylindrical cans of one-pound capacity, was far from practical or economical.17

Trench Ration

As its name implies, the trench ration was designed to provide subsistence under conditions of trench warfare. The unit consisted of sufficient canned meats and canned hard bread to provide 25 men with food for one day. The canned meats were roast beef, corned beef, salmon, and sardines. Other components included salt, sugar, soluble coffee, solidified alcohol, and cigarettes. The unit was packed in large, galvanized containers designed to protect contents from poison gas.15 Although the trench ration was to be prepared as a hot meal, it could be utilized without preparation or cooking. The ration had the advantage of convenience, afforded excellent protection against poison gas, and provided a wider diet than the reserve ration. Its disadvantages were an excessive use of iron and tinplate, which made it heavy and difficult to handle; the unsuitability of the units for a single meal; the invitation to spoilage and contamination offered by opened containers; and its nutritional inadequacy.

Emergency Ration

The emergency ration, popularly known as the "Armour" or "iron" ration, was a packaged unit of concentrated food carried by the soldier to sustain life during emergencies when no other source of subsistence was available. It consisted of three 3-ounce cakes of a mixture of beef powder and cooked wheat and three one-ounce chocolate bars. These hardy items were contained in an oval-shaped, lacquered can which fitted the soldier's pocket. At the time of the Armistice, about two million rations had been shipped to France.19 Manufacture was discontinued after the war, and in 1922 the item was officially eliminated from the list of Army rations. Some of the emergency rations procured in World War I were subsequently used by aircraft pilots on Mexican border patrols, a usage which suggests that the item has some claim to parentage of modern Air Force flight rations.

Hugh Taylor Senior

Hugh Taylor with wife and son at their house in Church Street Parramatta, 1870 – Historic Houses Trust Image 35533

Hugh Taylor senior was born in England in 1794. Hugh Taylor senior, came to New South Wales under life sentence in 1815. Life sentence is generally given to the repeated offender.  Within 6 years of arrival, Hugh Taylor senior was given a Ticket-of-Leave in 1821 and thereafter he was able to secure the position of Constable in Parramatta. He received an Absolute Pardon on 26^th March 26 1824.

 

Elizabeth was Hugh Taylor’s wife. Elizabeth Walker Farrell was born in Parramatta on 22 April 1797 to Owen and Jane Farrell. On 31 January 1814, at the age of 16, Elizabeth got married to William Brown at St. John’s Church Parramatta. Elizabeth and William had four children:

Jane (1815 - 1866), Elizabeth (1819 – 1851), Thomas (1820 – 1823) and Mary (1821 – 1921). William Brown died in Parramatta on 29 January 1821 at the age of 46.

After William Brown’s death, Elizabeth re married a second time to Hugh Taylor in 1821. Although is no marriage record can be found. As per Ancestry and BDM, Elizabeth Brown got married to Hugh Taylor on 26 May1847 at St. Andrew’s Scots Church, Sydney. After their marriage, they moved to their newly built home opposite the modern-day entrance to Parramatta Park.  In this house Elizabeth gave birth to her daughter Mary Ann, eldest son Hugh junior, Grace, John, Sarah, Emma, Sophia, James and Susanna. They had nine children.

Mary Ann Taylor was born on 16 September 1821. She was married to Robert Nairn on 11 October 1843 in Presbyterian Church.

Hugh Taylor was born on 19 March 1823. He got married to Frances Eliza Conner on 29 December 1846 at St Patrick Church, Parramatta. He died at the age of 74 on 13 December 1897 in Parramatta.

Grace Taylor was born on 3 July 1825. She was married to Robert Rutter on 12 January 1867 at St Pauls Church of England in Canterbury. She died on 5 January 1911 in Parramatta.

John Taylor was born on 8 December 1827. He got married to Nancy Agnes Shaw of California in 1854. He died on 6 April 1905 in Parramatta at the age of 77.

Sarah Taylor was born on 31 December 1828. She was married to James Plunkett on 24 February 1849 at Scots Church, Sydney. She died on 29 November 1896 in Sydney

Emma Taylor was born on 17 November 1831 and died on 15 June 1833.

Sophia Taylor was born on 10 September 1833. She was never married and died at the age of 80 on 17 November 1913 in Parramatta.

James Taylor was born on 31 January 1836. He died at the age of 59 on 16 January 1896 in Dubbo.

Susanna Taylor was born on 26 May 1839. At the age of 16 she got married to James Gould on 8 September 1855. She died on 17 July 1912.

Elizabeth died at the age of 55 on 22 August 1852 and buried at St. John’s Cemetery, Parramatta on 25^th August 1852.

Hugh Taylor senior died at the age of 70 on 7 November 1864 in Parramatta.



Food for Troops - World War One

 

A total of 3,240,948 tons of food was sent from Britain to the soldiers fighting in France and Belgium during the First World War. The British Army employed 300,000 field workers to cook and supply the food. At the beginning of the war British soldiers were given 10 ounces of meat and 8 ounces of vegetables a day. As the size of the army grew and the German blockade became more effective, the army could not maintain these rations and by 1916 this had been cut to 6 ounces of meat a day. Later troops not in the front-line only received meat on nine out of every thirty days. The daily bread ration was also cut in April 1917. The British Army attempted to give the soldiers the 3,574 calories a day that dieticians said they needed. However, others argued that soldiers during wartime need much more than this.

Soldiers in the Western Front were very critical of the quantity and the quality of food they received. The bulk of their diet in the trenches was bully beef (caned corned beef), bread and biscuits. By the winter of 1916 flour was in such short supply that bread was being made with dried ground turnips. The main food was now a pea-soup with a few lumps of horsemeat. Kitchen staff became more and more dependent on local vegetables and also had to use weeds such as nettles in soups and stews.

The battalion's kitchen staff had just two large vats, in which everything was prepared. As a result, everything the men ate tasted of something else. For example, soldiers often complained that their tea tasted of vegetables. Providing fresh food was also very difficult. It has been estimated that it took up to eight days before bread reached the front-line and so it was invariably stale. So also were the biscuits and the soldiers attempted to solve this problem by breaking them up, adding potatoes, onions, sultanas or whatever was available, and boiling the mixture up in a sandbag.

The catering staff put the food in dixies (cooking pots), petrol cans or old jam jars and carried it up the communication trenches in straw-lined boxes. By the time the food reached the front-line it was always cold. Eventually the army moved the field kitchens closer to the front-line but they were never able to get close enough to provide regular hot food for the men. Sometimes a small group of soldiers managed to buy a small primus stove between them. When they could obtain the fuel, which was always in short supply, they could heat their food and brew some tea.

Food was often supplied in cans. Maconochie contained sliced turnips and carrots in a thin soup. As one soldier said: "Warmed in the tin, Maconochie was edible; cold it was a mankiller." The British Army tried to hide this food shortage from the enemy. However, when they announced that British soldiers were being supplied with two hot meals a day, they received over 200,000 letters from angry soldiers pointing out the truth of the situation. Men claimed that although the officers were well-fed the men in the trenches were treated appallingly.

Food supply was a major problem when soldiers advanced into enemy territory. All men carried emergency food called iron rations. This was a can of bully beef, a few biscuits and a sealed tin of tea and sugar. These iron rations could only be opened with the permission of an officer. This food did not last very long and if the kitchen staff were unable to provide food to the soldiers they might be forced to retreat from land they had won from the enemy.