Royal Mint Sydney Branch Roll of HonourPrint Page

The wooden roll of honour commemorates those from the Sydney branch of the Royal Mint who served in World War One.

The Sydney Mint honour roll hangs in the southern stair hall of the former Royal Mint building on Macquarie Street.

It carries the names of seven men, entered in order of the date on which they enlisted in the 1st Australian Infantry Force (AIF) for service in the ‘Great War’. The men were Charles William Miller (1886–1958), Frederick Sydney Hoptroff (1896–1956), Arthur McPhail Kilgour (1896–1941), Edgar King Upton (1894–1958), Oliver Richard Whiting (1897–1917), Theophilus Robert Bowmaker (1877–1963) and John Stanislaus Gilchrist (1899–1989). The roll itself gives neither full names nor dates but notes that Miller, Kilgour and Bowmaker were wounded and that Whiting was killed in action.

The Sydney Mint honour roll was designed in a simple style, using the language of classical architecture, with the list of names framed by Doric columns supporting an entablature carrying a shield with the painted coat of arms of the Royal Mint. The shield is a reminder that most of the employees of the Sydney branch of the Royal Mint were imperial civil servants. The men whose names are on the board all had their appointments authorised and gazetted in London.

All but Oliver Whiting were back at work at the Mint when the memorial was unveiled by the Governor of NSW Sir Walter Davidson on 6 October 1920. So was a Mint watchman named Daniel Clifford. He had served in the Royal Australian Navy from 1916 to 1919 but his name is not on the board. Appointed locally, he was not part of the ‘establishment’ of the Mint. One other ‘missing’ name is that of assistant assayer Raymond Stoddart. He had tried to enlist but was rejected for foreign service on health grounds. Instead he took leave from the Mint to serve as a captain in the Home Defence Forces. He died at the age of 36 on 21 July 1918 and his memorial is a plaque in the church of St Matthew’s, Manly, erected by ‘fellow workers and children of St Matthew’s Sunday School’
https://mhnsw.au/stories/ww1/sydney-mint-honour-roll/ 5 Dec 2022

His Excellency the Governor, who was accompanied by Dame Margaret Davidson, and attended by Mr. Lamb (private secretary), unveiled the honor roll at the Royal Mint yesterday morning. 
Daily Telegraph (Sydney), 7 October 1920.

Location

Address:	Macquarie Street, Sydney Mint, Sydney, 2000
State:	NSW
Area:	AUS
GPS Coordinates:	Lat: -33.868957 Long: 151.212415 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.

View Google Map

Details

Monument Type:	Honour Roll
Monument Theme:	Conflict
Sub-Theme:	WW1
Actual Event Start Date:	04-August-1914
Actual Event End Date:	28-June-1919
Link:	http://www.warmemorialsregister.nsw…

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:	Wednesday 6th October, 1920

Source: MA,NRWM