Corporal Joseph Harold Durkin was a Kilmore resident who enlisted for the First World War. There is a biography of Durkin on this website. His story is a tragic one in that he was murdered during his time in the armed services by a fellow soldier, who was executed for the crime.
He was the grandson of Bart Durkin, a local farmer with strong connections to St Pats Church, and the son of another Bart Durkin, who worked as a tailor in Kilmore.
We have been contacted by a UK historian who is interested in compiling a book on the Brookwood murders, Brookwood being the scene of J H Durkin’s death. He is particularly interested in photographs. We have no knowledge of any photographs of Corporal Durkin.
Do any Durkin descendants or relatives have any photographs or other data about this sad chapter of our local history ?
The Annual General Meeting of the Society was held on 2d Feb, some months later after the Covid19 restrictions caused it to be held over from Sept last year.
President : Alison (Ali) Coombe
Vice President : Grahame Thom
Secretary : Rose King
Treasurer : David James
Committee : Barbara Wilson, Francis Payne, Liz Dillon-Hensby, Brian Clancy.
Thank you to all those who were willing to stand. In particular we would thank Brain Clancy, who is a new face on the Committee. Brian has a longstanding interest in local history and has done significant research of his own, and is in the process of gathering material for a projected book.
We have had several donations of books for our planned Used Book Sale. Our thanks go out to those who have purged their shelves for unwanted volumes. But ‘The more the merrier’, and we are still happy to receive any further contributions. Either drop them in on a Tuesday or contact us to organise a pick-up time.
Kilmore, Victoria, Australia. Victoria's oldest inland town
Kilmore Historical Society 