Dadswell Family

'Cousin Walter', or Walter Thomas Bassett, has figured in Australian and Dadswell family history on a number of fronts.

Walter is known for his service in the Victorian Navy in colonial times, his trip to China as part of the Victorian naval contingent during the so-called Boxer Rebellion, and - until his death in 1952 - his contact with members of the Dadswell family.

Contact with he and his wife (formerly Annie Crittall) at their Ivanhoe, Melbourne, home led to meetings over many years with members of the Bassett and Crittall families when Australian Dadswells travelled to England.

So, what do we know about Walter and his family?

Walter and Annie were first cousins, and their grandmother was a Dadswell (Jane Hannah, who married John Bassett). They also had an uncle (Charles Bassett) who married a Dadswell (Elizabeth Jane), so the Bassett and Dadswell families were intertwined well before the couple settled in Australia.

Walter was born in Rotherfield, Sussex, on 21 April 1865. In September 1883, when aged 18, he embarked on a career at sea, sailing aboard the trading ship Cape Vincent as an apprentice for four years.

The following year he was selected to act in place of the 3rd officer who was one of seven crew members lost to cholera. Walter remained as acting 3rd office until completion of his apprenticeship.

He was still aboard the Cape Vincent in November 1888 when it arrived in Melbourne with a cargo of timber. He left the ship there, and in the following January enlisted in the Victorian Navy, a small colonial force prior to establishment of the Royal Australian Navy.

[Although there are some time discrepancies in the story, Henry Dadswell (1894-1978) of Red Cliffs said Walter had told him he went to sea early in life, that the captain of his ship had been so severe he ran away - and by joining the Navy the captain could not pursue him].

His certificate of service with the Victorian Navy showed that despite his prior sea-going apprenticeship, he still served six months on probation before being accepted for a five year enlistment.

It was during this first period of service (in April 1891) that he travelled to Sydney to marry Annie Crittall, his cousin (a nurse) who had arrived in Australia the previous month aboard the P&O steamer Brittania and who was listed as living at Leichhardt, Sydney.

[This union meant that Annie was marrying into the Bassetts, her mother's side of her family - see chart below].

Walter continued to serve in the Victorian Navy and this included time aboard HMVS Cerberus - the picture at right is Walter aboard this ship. As a signaller, he left Melbourne in 1900 aboard the SS Salamis with the Victorian naval contingent to serve in China. A year later he was back in Melbourne, and subsequently was made yeoman (or petty officer) of signals.

He remained in navy service until 1911 when he transferred to Navy Office (the main administration centre of the Royal Australian Navy), which at that time was located in Victoria Barracks, Melbourne. After his "retirement" in 1932, he received a letter of appreciation from the State Governor for services rendered.

However, for this very naval-minded man, it was not the end of his association with the Navy.

Both Henry Dadswell and Tom (Toz) Dadswell (b1932) could recall a story about Walter giving a false age so he could again serve.

Toz believes this was during World War Two, when Walter applied to again serve at Navy Office. But by this time (ca 1939), Walter was more than 70 and apparently was only accepted when he somehow concealed his real age.

He was a very young 70 - at the time of this work he was cycling from his home in Ivanhoe to Navy Office in St Kilda Road, a distance of about 10 kilometres, and home again, often in the dark.

Eventually he was recognised, his age was checked, and he was compelled to retire!

Henry Dadswell said Walter had made contact with his father (Alfred Otto Dadswell), and the family contact grew from there.

Henry said also that he had met Walter before he (Henry) sailed to Europe to serve in World War One theatres (Henry wrote in Diary of a Sapper that Mrs Bassett - he would never have called her Annie - took him under her wing when he was recovering from diphtheria during his army training in Melbourne).

It was from those meetings that Henry visited the Bassett and Crittall families while he was on leave in England.

Other members of the family also met Walter at the Waterdale Road, Ivanhoe, Melbourne home or at the Dadswell family home at Warrak, near Ararat (the picture above is of Otto Dadswell, left, and Walter at Warrak).

Walter's sea-going stories certainly had an influence in the decision of Tom (Toz) Dadswell joining the Royal Australian Navy in 1946.

The young Thomas had met Walter and had heard stories of his sea-faring days.

Walter subsequently followed with interest the naval career of the young Dadswell, and he also attended Tom's graduation ceremony at Flinders Naval Depot in 1949.

At the graduation, he was introduced to Rear Admiral J. A. (later Sir John) Collins, who then recalled Walter from the time when he (Sir John) first joined the Navy as a cadet (1913).

Picture at right: Walter (left), aged 84, at the Royal Australian Naval College 1949 graduation at Flinders, Victoria, of Thomas (Toz) Dadswell (centre), with Rear Admiral J. A. (later Sir John) Collins.

So, where does the Bassett family fit in with the Dadswell family?

Family tree

In the table and chart below, only the direct family lines have been shown - for clarity, siblings have not been included. Firstly, the chart shows the common line of our direct descendents:

Robert Doudeswell (ca1560 - 1636) married Elizabeth (surname unknown) v

Robert Doudeswell (1606 - 1676) married Mary Anyscombe (died 1633) v

Edward Dodswell (1659 - 1736) married Elizabeth Elliott (ca1657 - 1735) v

Alexander Dodswell (1686-1766) married Anne Baker (1693-1778) v

Thomas Dadswell (1732-1803) married Sarah Brown (?-1808) v

James Dadswell (1786-1838) married Charlotte Ovenden (c1788-1882) At this point, the family lines diverge, and a chart may be a better way to show how the Dadswell, Bassett and Crittall families came to know each other.

For Henry Dadswell, his 'Cousin Walter' was, in fact, his second cousin.

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