Dear jdaft62, Welcome.

Purchasing Death Certificates in Tasmania (?)
Dept of Justice Tasmania - Births, Deaths and Marriages

I did a bit of looking on your behalf...

Information below available at Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Debt of Honour List

In Memory of
Private LESLIE GEORGE DAFT

TX5026, A.I.F. 2/40 Bn., Australian Infantry
who died age 38
on 24 June 1944
Husband of Ellen Francis Daft.
Remembered with honour
SINGAPORE MEMORIAL
located at Kranji War Cemetery

Commemorated in perpetuity by
the Commonwealth War Graves Commission



Supposing you already know about this website ...
Tasmanian Unknown Arrivals


Suggestions...
Register as a new user at RootsChat - Genealogy, Family History, Local History, Messaging Forum and more. Keep the same username as here in case somebody is looking for you. Goto the Emigrants to Australia board and see if rootschatters can find him on their indexes.

I guess the next step would be to try and find your DAFT family on the 1901 and 1891 Census'.

1901 Census of England and Wales Online - 52 search results for William Daft

Cheltenham - Family History, Genealogy, Surnames, and Parish History from Yesterdays Names

Gloucestershire - Cheltenham (St.Mark's) 1901 & 1905 Parish Magazine name index mentions DAFT (available on cd rom I think).

EDITOR.

Here's your man...

The National Archives of Australia - item 6379725

DAFT LESLIE GEORGE : Service Number - TX5026 : Date of birth - 22 Jul 1905 : Place of birth - CHELTHAM ENGLAND : Place of enlistment - LAUNCESTON TAS : Next of Kin - DAFT ALFRED

Perhaps if you order a copy, more information may be obtained (or not).

RootsChat - England - Gloucestershire

Post a new topic - Lookup Requests board - see if Rootschatters can find baptismal record of LG DAFT in churches in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.

Let me know how you get on.

HI allycat

thanks for the valuable info on my grandfather.
I'm just getting started in my search. Some interesting possibilities have been raised. Leslie George and Sydney DAFT have birth records in Cheltenham in the same quarter of 1905 with Sydney having an age at death recorded as 0. Perhaps a stillborn or infant death.

Hi allycat,

I have carried out family research into my family name DAFT here in Cheltenham. You make reference to possibly a William Daft being Leslie George's father; it may be possible that the following information relates to the William in question:

1881 Census:

John Daft (eldest brother of my G-G Grandfather Charles Daft), aged 43
Susan Daft (wife), 39
William Daft, 15
Charles Daft, 14 (remained in Cheltenham and established the family market gardening business)
Frank Daft, 13
Arthur J Daft, 11
Christopher Daft, 9
Susan Daft, 7
Walter Daft, 6
Henry Daft, 11 months

This would mean that this William would have been about 31 when he had Leslie George. I do know that Frank also emigrated to Tasmania with his wife Janet Hay; Frank and the subsequent family were also based in Launceston! I can't find any trace of William in the UK census after 1881. Perhaps Leslie joined his Uncle in Tasmania in 1923 and I do believe that there was a further family link to Tasmania on the maternal side of the family but would need to do more research into this.

(happy to provide more info on the DAFT family in Cheltenham if required).

OOps sorry meant to post to jdaft62:

Hi jdaft62,

I have carried out family research into my family name DAFT here in Cheltenham. You make reference to possibly a William Daft being Leslie George's father; it may be possible that the following information relates to the William in question:

1881 Census:

John Daft (eldest brother of my G-G Grandfather Charles Daft), aged 43
Susan Daft (wife), 39
William Daft, 15
Charles Daft, 14 (remained in Cheltenham and established the family market gardening business)
Frank Daft, 13
Arthur J Daft, 11
Christopher Daft, 9
Susan Daft, 7
Walter Daft, 6
Henry Daft, 11 months

This would mean that this William would have been about 31 when he had Leslie George. I do know that Frank also emigrated to Tasmania with his wife Janet Hay; Frank and the subsequent family were also based in Launceston! I can't find any trace of William in the UK census after 1881. Perhaps Leslie joined his Uncle in Tasmania in 1923 and I do believe that there was a further family link to Tasmania on the maternal side of the family but would need to do more research into this.

(happy to provide more info on the DAFT family in Cheltenham if required).

Hello Gooner,
Pleased to hear from you.
I was wrong about William being Leslie's father (I was going by what my mother in law told me).
Since my original post I have obtained Leslie's b/c and his father was Alfred George Daft and mother Clara Jane Scrivens. A lady from another site shared her family tree with me and now I know most of the line, it goes Leslie, Alfred, Mary, Isaac and Isaac. I believe Mary is the sister of the above John Daft. So yes we do share the same family (through my husband that is). He didn't know much about Leslie as his father never spoke a great deal about him, so he was happy to get some info on the family. From the info I received (unsure of where the lady got it) but William died in 1884. We have Leslie's photo album that shows some of his family back in England. It's great to put faces to the names. I have researched the Frank and Janet in Tasmania but couldn't confirm Frank as being the Frank you refer to, so I'm pleased to find that they are one and the same. I believe that it was John's wife Susan's (nee Bendall) brother Samuel that migrated to Tasmania, is that the link you refer to above.
We would be happy to receive anything about the family and life in Cheltenham. Of course we'll share whatever we have also.
Hope to hear from you soon
Joan and Alf.

Hello Joan and Alf, I'm so pleased that we share the same family and I have a lot of info to share with you and your husband. Yes, Mary was the eldest sister of John Daft, they also had two younger brothers Charles Daft, my G-G Grandfather and I believe another Isaac Jnr who died at an early age. Mary never married and lived her whole life with her father Isaac (married to Hannah) and son Alfred George (gardener) in Cheltenham; they are all buried in the Cheltenham Cemetery in the family plot (Isaac and his wife Hannah, Mary, Charles and his wife Mary Maria (my G-G Grandparents), Albert Henry and his wife Emma nee Allibone (my G-Grandparents) and my G-Uncle Edwin Ernest, spinster (one of Charles's 6 sons). Charles's family home, previously named Woodlands still stands and has recently been renovated to it's previous splendour, I should imagine, a listed building. The entire family lived very close together and shared the family market gardening business. My grandfather Frank, market director (died 45) is buried in another plot alongside my grandmother Hilda Anice, nee Adams (died 72) and eldest son Ronald who died at the age of 13. My father John Bryan Daft (71) still lives in Prestbury, Cheltenham with my mother Brenda Anne, nee Foster. I have one sister Sharon Joy Pender(40) and my name is Helen Adair(43), married to Robin with two children, all based in Cheltenham. I promise I will get back to you as soon as I get a chance to pull everything together.
Speak to you soon,
Helen

Forgot to say, yes the link with Tasmania is through John Daft's wife Susan Bendall's brother Samuel who I believe possibly set up business with Frank Daft but need to do a little more research here!

John's family seem to have scattered far and wide after 1891-1901 but having taken over the family business, Charles family stay pretty local hence the reason why my family remained in Cheltenham for so long I suppose!? (-:

Helen

Hello Helen,
Pleased to hear from you again. I was going through Leslie's photo album and there is a photo of Clara's grave, and I was wondering if you could tell me where she is buried and can I get any info online about the cemetery aswell as the Cheltenham Cemetery that you mention. I have googled Cheltenham Cemeteries but I can't find any images that resemble the photo although it is very faded and grainy, it would probably be too hard to recognize anyway. I would be interested to see a photo of Charles's home if you can get one. I have been researching my own family for the last few years but I am just as excited learning about the Daft side as I am my own. Some of my family came from the Lancashire area. We are only a small family and are the last of the Daft name from this branch. We have two girls 18 & 19, Alf(Alfred John) is 44 and I am 46,and we live about 45 minutes from Brisbane, his father Alfred George died in 2004 but his mother June lives not far from us with his sister Danielle and her family. Leslie died in 1945 whilst a POW, drowned as a result of T6 torpedoing of Jap transport ship. Leslie also had two daughters Betty and Rita who remained in Tasmania but have both passed away in recent years and his wife Ellen died in 1935 from TB.I will send you another message giving you our e-mail if you would prefer to contact us that way. We would be happy to send you anything that we can.
Hope to hear from you soon when you get a chance.
Joan and Alf

were does the name bauer come in?

Hello JDaft62,
My name is Tom Emmerton and I am John(Alf) and Danielle's cousin from Tasmania. I have a small correction to your post on Leslie George Daft's children.
My mother Betty is thankfully, still with us and has not passed away as you have stated above. She is now 85 years of age and not in the best of health however she enjoys an outing or two every week.
Kind Regards,
Tom