KEAST, Raymond Fairbairn

Raymond Fairbairn Keast stated that he was born in Ballarat on 21 March 1895.  He was the son of John Keast, accountant of Buningong, and his wife, Jessie, nee Bowes.  The couple’s marriage ended in divorce in 1910 on grounds of his desertion.  An article in the Geelong Advertiser reported that,

Jessie subsequently married Walter Keevil Watts, whose first wife, Charlotte, had died in 1902.  She and Raymond lived with him and his children at 130 Wellington Parade, East Melbourne.  Walter’s father, Thomas, was an architect and builder and had constructed many houses in East Melbourne as well as the now defunct Baptist Church in Albert Street.  He built No 130 in 1876 to extend his Springhill Terrace to three houses.  Walter’s sister, Ada, lived at 126.

Raymond enlisted on 21 March 1916, his 21st birthday, so he said.  He gave his occupation as bank clerk.  He had had military experience with the Senior Cadets Area No 64 East Melbourne for two years, and another three years with the Citizens Forces in the same area, and was still serving.  He was just over 5ft 4ins with a fresh complexion, blue eyes and brown hair.  He was appointed to the No. 14 Australian General Hospital as a private and sent to the Domain for training which included time at the Alfred Hospital.  He embarked on 19 August 1916 aboard HMAT Karoola to serve in the Middle East.  From the time of his arrival overseas he was In and out of hospital with a variety of complaints until sent home to Australia on 7 March 1917 for six months’ change, but was discharged on 1 June 1917.  He was given a fortnightly pension of 30/- later reduced to 15/-

On 21 July 1921 Table Talk announced Raymond’s engagement to Aimee Lois (later Amy Louise) King. She was described as ‘an active worker at Caulfield Hospital during the war’.  It was a long engagement and the two were not married until 1925.  Their only child, a daughter, was born the following year when they were living in Brighton.  At this time Raymond was working as an accountant.  It seems the couple separated or divorced as the electoral rolls have them at different addresses from the 1930s, and Amy’s death notice in 1950 made no mention of her husband. The entry in the probate index describes her as a widow, yet Raymond did not die until 1960.

On 2 May 1938 Raymond made a Statutory Declaration to the effect that he had lost his discharge papers through fire.  He gave his address as Holcombe, 23 Clarendon Street, East Melbourne.  He stated his birthdate as 21 March 1897, meaning that he had actually enlisted on his 19th birthday.  Later electoral rolls give his address as 7 Collins Street, Melbourne and his occupation as clerk.

He died on 5 November 1960 and was described as a war pensioner.