Lieutenant Lachlan John Caskey
Image courtesy of: State Library of Queensland. Formal digital ID: picqld-citrix10—2005-01-09-47. Image number: 108539

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Three of Queensland’s earliest war memorials are dedicated to a much-loved teacher.

Lieutenant Lachlan John Caskey, known as Jack, was part of the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen when he was killed at the age of 31 on 27 September 1901 in the Boer War.[1]

Jack was an active member of the recently formed Queensland Teachers’ Union in the 1890s,[2] and was teaching at Leichhardt Street Boys’ School – now known as Brisbane Central State School – before he enlisted and was killed in action at Mokari Drift.[3]

Losing his father as a boy was said to have shaped Jack into a man with ‘an intensely sympathetic disposition–his heart going out instantly to any in trouble, pain, sorrow, or poverty’.[4]

After growing up on a farm at Spring Creek near Clifton, he became a pupil teacher at Bulimba State School at the age of 15,[5] before becoming a qualified teacher and serving at a number of schools,[6] including Leichhardt Street Boys’ School (LSBS) between 1892 and 1901.[7]

The reverend head teacher of LSBS wrote that Jack was ‘… an excellent teacher, a popular and considerate cadet officer, a courteous and obliging assistant. The cadets adored him, for to know him was to love and respect him … I could and did place such implicit confidence in him’.[8]

Jack was one of the first Queenslanders to volunteer to fight in the Boer War.[9]

To be accepted into the contingent soldiers had to be between 167cm and 177cm tall, 21 to 38-years-old, under 74 kilos, and ‘good shots, good riders and practical bushmen of experience’.[10]

Three other members of the contingent also lost their lives at the battle at Mokari Drift, Caledon River, on 27 September 1901.
 
On 12 December 1901, a memorial tablet was unveiled at the LSBS.[11]

Less than six months later, State Education (Public Instruction) Minister John Murray unveiled a memorial to Jack in the Toowong Cemetery, at a ceremony attended by representatives of the 5th Queensland Contingent, the Teachers’ Corps and the State School Cadets.[12]

Another memorial was unveiled at Spring Creek State School inscribed with the words: 
“In loving memory of Lieutenant  Lachlan John Caskey, who during the Boer War was killed in action while bravely leading his men against overwhelming numbers at Mokari Drift, South Africa, on the 27th September, 1901.  An endearing upright lad, an eminent teacher, a gallant and brave officer, faithful and obedient unto death. Erected by his classmates and admirers at Spring Creek on 24th May, 1902.”[13]

The original memorial was destroyed in a fire in 1912, but a replica is now at the Allora P-10 State School.[14] Jack’s name is also listed on the Anzac Square Boer War Memorial in Brisbane.[15]

[1] Unknown. (12 October 1901). THE LATE LIEUTENANT L. JOHN CASKEY. The Brisbane Courier, p12.  http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19158682. [Accessed 4 November 2016].

[2] Hemmings, L. (2012). True Hero Immortalised. Daily News, [online]. https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1G1-301196871/true-hero-immortalised [Accessed 4 November 2016].

[3] Unknown. (12 October 1901). THE LATE LIEUTENANT L. JOHN CASKEY. The Brisbane Courier, p12.  http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19158682 [Accessed 4 November 2016].

[4] Ibid.

[5] Hemmings, L. (unknown). True Hero Immortalised. Daily News, [online]. https://www.questia.com/newspaper/1G1-301196871/true-hero-immortalised[Accessed 15 March 2017].

[6] Unknown. (12 October 1901). THE LATE LIEUTENANT L. JOHN CASKEY. The Brisbane Courier, p12.  http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19158682 [Accessed 4 November 2016].

[7] Unknown. (13 December 1901). THE LATE LIEUTENANT CASKEY. SCHOOL MEMORIAL. The Brisbane Courier, p6.  http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19162073?searchTerm=Lachlan%20John%20Caskey&searchLimits

[Accessed 4 November 2016].
[8] Unknown. (12 October 1901). THE LATE LIEUTENANT L. JOHN CASKEY. The Brisbane Courier, p12.  http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19158682. (Accessed 4 November 2016).

[9]  Unknown. (5 May 1902). Fallen Officer. Lieutenant L. J. Caskey. Memorial Unveiled at Toowong. The Telegraph, p3. http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/175169674?searchTerm=Lachlan%20John%20Caskey&searchLimits
[Accessed 4 November 2016].

[10]National Boer War Memorial Association (unknown). 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen.  For an Australian Boer War Memorial [Online]. http://www.bwm.org.au/site/5QIB.php [Accessed 18 April 2017].
 
[11] Unknown. (13 December 1901). THE LATE LIEUTENANT CASKEY. SCHOOL MEMORIAL. The Brisbane Courier, p6.  http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/19162073?searchTerm=Lachlan%20John%20Caskey&searchLimits
[Accessed 4 November 2016].
 
[12] Unknown. (5 May 1902). Fallen Officer. Lieutenant L. J. Caskey. Memorial Unveiled at Toowong. The Telegraph, p3. http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/175169674?searchTerm=Lachlan%20John%20Caskey&searchLimits
[Accessed 4 November 2016].
 
[13] Unknown. (21 May 1902). UNVEILING A MEMORIAL. The Warwick Examiner and Times, p2. http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/82272196?searchTerm=Lachlan%20John%20Caskey&searchLimits [Accessed 18 April 2017].
 
[14] Queensland War Memorial Register, (2014).  Caskey Memorial Tablet (Allora). [Online]. Available at: http://www.qldwarmemorials.com.au/memorial/?id=392 [Accessed on 4 November 2016].

[15] Queensland War Memorial Register, (2014). ANZAC Square Boer War Memorial Digger. [Online]. Available at: http://www.qldwarmemorials.com.au/memorial/?id=80 [Accessed 18 April 2017].