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Edgar Robert Bolt Grigg - Information

The Griggs have a long history in the Camden area. Edgar’s grandfather, Henry John, migrated the NSW Colony from England in the mid 1800s. Henry eventually settled in the Camden area, marrying Ann Bolt at Brownlow Hill in 1861. Henry and Ann then began their family, with Charles Gabriel, Edgar’s father, in Theresa Park in 1861. Charles then married Mary Harriet Small in Mulgoa in 1885. Subsequently, Edgar was born in Theresa Park on the 9th of November 1894. Edgar grew up in the Camden area with his many siblings. The family then relocated to Palmdale near Qurimbah, where Edgar worked as a labourer. He watched his older brother, Henry John, enlist in the Light Horse in August 1915. Edgar then decided to join up, signing up on the 16th of August 1916 in Newcastle, aged 21. Edgar was made a Private with the 1st Pioneer Battalion and departed Sydney on the HMAT Borda on the 17th of October 1916.

Disembarking in Plymouth in early January, Edgar was marched into the Training Camp at Larkhill and Parkhouse. While he was in Fovant, Edgar was charged with neglecting to obey an order and being in the area without a pass. He was fined four days pay for the infraction. In mid October, he left Sutton Veny for Signal School. On the 31st of March 1918, he was transported to France via Southampton. He left the Australian Infantry Base Depot to join the 1st Pioneer Battalion in late April. Unfortunately, Edgar was then wounded in action on the 24th of August, with a shell wound to his back/neck. The next day, he was evacuated to England to the Boscombe Military Hospital. At the beginning of November, he was moved to the 1st Australian Dermatological Hospital. He was still in hospital when the war ended. In the new year, Edgar had recovered and was back on duty. He soon married his sweetheart, a Miss C. Mooney, of 70 Crail St in Glasgow. Sadly, she was a war widow. They married at Blythswood on St Valentine’s Day, the 14th of February 1919. At this time, his parents moved back to the Camden area of Glenmore. Edgar then returned to Australia with his new bride onboard the Themistocles.