David Keith Baldock

1911–1958

The ninth and last child — twice married, a Second A.I.F. soldier, and dead suddenly at forty-six, leaving behind two families from two marriages.

Born: 20 November 1911 · Newtown, baptised there 13 December
Died: 31 March 1958 · Hornsby, suddenly
Married: Jean Beryl Davis — married 1953, Mosman (his second marriage; his first, to Margery Phyllis Elliott, had ended by then)
Lived: 46 years

David Keith — always “Keith” to his family — was the ninth and last of William Stanley and Jessie’s children, born at Newtown on 20 November 1911 and baptised there on 13 December, his father’s occupation given, as for several of his siblings, as “carriage painter.”¹ He was still an unmarried labourer at 110 Gowrie Street in the 1933 and 1934 electoral rolls, the same rolls that catch his brother Alfred and their father under the same roof.²

He married in 1938, in the Sydney registration district, Margery Phyllis Elliott, daughter of Annie Elliott.³ Two children followed: Noeleine Anne, born in 1939, and a second daughter, Dawn, born and lost in infancy in 1945.⁴ By 1943 the young family had moved to Randwick, Keith now working as an ironworker at 23 Church Street while Margery kept the home;⁵ his service papers place him in the Second A.I.F. under the New South Wales service number NX52661, attested at Paddington, with Margery named as his next of kin — evidently the years just either side of that Randwick roll.⁶

The marriage did not last. By 1949 Keith was on his own, an assistant clerk at 103 Riley Street in the city, with no trace of Margery on the same roll.⁷ Margery, for her part, went on to remarry, becoming Margery McGuiness; a family photograph from these years shows her seated beside her own mother, Annie Elliott, with her small daughter Noeleine standing between them in school uniform — the household Noeleine grew up in after her parents’ marriage broke down.⁸

Keith married a second time in 1953, in the Mosman registration district, to Jean Beryl Davis.⁹ By the 1958 roll the couple were living together at 477 Sydney Road, Balgowlah, Keith now working as a salesman and Jean at home;¹⁰ a daughter, Susan, was born of this second marriage.⁴ Not long afterwards the family moved again, to 408 Pacific Highway, Hornsby, and it was there that Keith died suddenly on 31 March 1958, aged forty-six.¹¹ His death notice named him husband of Jean, father of Susan, and “dear brother of Eileen, Alfred, Janet and Queenie” — his sister Frances Jessie, who had died at Wagga Wagga barely two and a half months before, is understandably missing from the list, and Noeleine, growing up in the McGuiness household, is absent from it too.¹¹ The funeral notice sent him to the Northern Suburbs Crematorium, but a genealogical index instead gives Rookwood — the New South Wales Garden of Remembrance — and family research follows the latter as his actual resting place.¹¹ Probate was granted that August over an estate valued at £560, too small to attract death duty.¹²

A young dark-haired man in a dark military-style jacket, photographed in a head-and-shoulders studio portrait. — David Keith Baldock — a studio portrait, likely from around the time of his A.I.F. service

BALDOCK, David Keith.—March 31, 1958 (suddenly), of 408 Pacific Highway, Hornsby, dearly beloved husband of Jean, loved father of Susan, loved son of the late Mr and Mrs W. Baldock and dear brother of Eileen, Alfred, Janet and Queenie.

Death notice, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 April 1958

Three women and a girl seated and standing on a verandah bench: an older woman, a younger woman beside her, and a girl in school uniform standing at the end. — Annie Elliott, her daughter Margery McGuiness, and Margery’s daughter (by her first marriage, to Keith) Noeleine Baldock — the household Noeleine grew up in

The Record

Sources & References

1
Birth and baptism of David Keith Baldock, 1911

NSW BDM birth registration 43589/1911, Newtown district, father William S., mother Jessie. Church of England baptism register, entry No. 125: David Keith, born 20 November 1911, baptised 13 December 1911, parents William Stanley and Jessie Baldock, of Newtown, father’s occupation carriage painter, by Geo. Middleton — recorded in the same register as neighbouring Newtown-district baptisms of late 1911.
2
Electoral roll, 110 Gowrie Street, 1933–1934

Commonwealth Electoral Roll, Division of Newtown, 1933, entries 252–255, and 1934, entries 237–240: Alfred Charles Baldock (carter), David Keith Baldock (labourer), Jessie Baldock (home duties) and William Stanley Baldock (painter), all of 110 Gowrie-street, Newtown.
3
Marriage of David Keith Baldock and Margery Phyllis Elliott, 1938

NSW BDM marriage registration 13313/1938, Sydney district: David Keith Baldock to Margery Phyllis Elliot(t). Family photographs and the family’s own usage give the surname “Elliott”; the register spells it “Elliot.”
4
The children of David Keith Baldock

Family records (Jenny Kidd) and genealogical index: David Keith Baldock and Margery Phyllis Elliott had two children, Noeleine Anne Baldock (1939–2008) and Dawn Baldock (1945–1945, died in infancy); David and his second wife, Jean Beryl (Davis), had a daughter, Susan.
5
Electoral roll, Randwick, 1943

Commonwealth Electoral Roll, Division of Watson, Subdivision of Randwick, 1943, entries 298–299: Baldock, David Keith (ironworker) and Baldock, Margery Phyllis (home duties), both 23 Church Street.
6
A.I.F. service record

NAA series B883 (Army, Second A.I.F. service records): Baldock, David Keith, service number NX52661; born 20 November 1911, Newtown; enlisted at Paddington, New South Wales; next of kin Margery Baldock. Precise embarkation and discharge dates not yet consulted.
7
Electoral roll, King (Sydney), 1949

Commonwealth Electoral Roll, Division of West Sydney, Subdivision of King, 1949, entry 224: Baldock, David Keith, assistant clerk, 103 Riley Street — no Margery Baldock on the same page.
8
Margery (Baldock) McGuiness and Noeleine

Family photograph (family collection), captioned “Annie Elliott, her daughter Margery McGuiness and Margery’s daughter Noeleine Baldock” — Annie being Margery Phyllis’s own mother (ref. 3 above), and Margery’s remarried surname indicating her first marriage, to David Keith Baldock, had by then ended.
9
Marriage of David Keith Baldock and Jean Beryl Davis, 1953

NSW BDM marriage registration 11007/1953, Mosman district: David Keith Baldock to Jean Beryl Davis.
10
Electoral roll, Balgowlah, 1958

Commonwealth Electoral Roll, Division of Warringah, Subdivision of Mosman, 1958, entries 257–258: Baldock, David Keith (salesman) and Baldock, Jean Beryl (home duties), both 477 Sydney Road, Balgowlah.
11
Death, death notice and funeral of David Keith Baldock, 1958

“Deaths,” Sydney Morning Herald, 1 April 1958: “BALDOCK, David Keith.—March 31, 1958 (suddenly), of 408 Pacific Highway, Hornsby, dearly beloved husband of Jean, loved father of Susan, loved son of the late Mr and Mrs W. Baldock and dear brother of Eileen, Alfred, Janet and Queenie.” “Funerals,” Sydney Morning Herald, 2 April 1958: funeral to leave Bruce Maurer’s Chapel, 281–3 Pacific Highway, North Sydney, Wednesday [2 April], 1.30 p.m., for the Northern Suburbs Crematorium. A genealogical index instead gives cemetery “The New South Wales Garden of Remembrance,” burial/cremation place Rookwood, Cumberland City Council, New South Wales; family research (Jenny Kidd) follows this over the contemporary funeral notice, taking Rookwood as his actual place of disposal.
12
Probate / death duty index card

NSW probate index / death duty card No. B180192: Baldock, David Keith, of Hornsby, occupation salesman; date of death 31 March 1958; not liable to duty, value £560; returned to the Probate Office 26 August 1958.