Carew Reynell (16 September 188328 August 1915) was an Australian

winemaker A winemaker or vintner is a person engaged in winemaking. They are generally employed by wineries or wine companies, where their work includes: *Cooperating with viticulturists *Monitoring the maturity of grapes to ensure their quality and to de ...

and army commander. Born into the pioneering wine-making Reynell family of

Reynella Reynella is a metropolitan suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is located 20 km south of the Central Business District of Adelaide in the north of the City of Onkaparinga. It is bordered to the east by Main South Road, to the south by ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, he was killed in action during the Battle of Hill 60.

Early life

Reynell was born on 16 September 1883 in

Magill ''Magill'' was an Irish politics and current affairs magazine founded by Vincent Browne and others in 1977. ''Magill'' specialised in investigative articles and colourful reportage by journalists such as Eamonn McCann (who wrote its anonymous ...

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

, the fourth child and first son of Walter Reynell and his wife Emily (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Bakewell). His grandfather John Reynell had established wine-making in the region shortly after the settlement of South Australia. He was raised in

and attended St Peter's College. At age 19, he took over his family's winery from his father, substantially improving it and increasing its size. Having become interested in brandy production since 1906, his distillery's Reynella Hospital Brandy soon became the premier hospital brandy in Australia. By 1914, his vineyard had around of vine. He also reared

Shropshire sheep The Shropshire breed of domestic sheep originated from the hills of Shropshire, and North Staffordshire, England, during the 1840s. The breeders in the area used the local horned black-faced sheep and crossed them with a few breeds of white-faced ...

and horses.

Military career and death

Reynell attempted to enlist in the Australian army to fight in the

Second Boer War The Second Boer War (, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, Transvaal War, Anglo–Boer War, or South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer republics (the South African Republic and ...

but was prevented from doing so by his father. Nonetheless, in July 1908, he became a member of the pre-war militia as a second lieutenant in the 16th Light Horse Regiment (South Australian Mounted Rifles), reaching the rank of major in the 22nd Light Horse Regiment in November 1912. Shortly after the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Reynell volunteered to serve in the Australian Imperial Force. He rose rapidly through the ranks and was appointed as a major in the 9th Light Horse Regiment. During the Gallipoli Campaign, he took command of the regiment after its commanding officer was killed at the

Battle of the Nek The Battle of the Nek () was a minor battle that took place on 7 August 1915, during the Gallipoli campaign of World War I. "The Nek" was a narrow stretch of ridge on the Gallipoli Peninsula. The name derives from the Afrikaans word for a "mount ...

. Promoted to lieutenant colonel, he was killed shortly after on 28 August at the Battle of Hill 60, aged 31. He was buried in the Hill 60 British Cemetery and posthumously

mentioned in dispatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face of t ...

on 5 November 1915.

Personal life

A Roman Catholic, Reynell was a member of the Adelaide Hunt Club and enjoyed

polo Polo is a stick and ball game that is played on horseback as a traditional field sport. It is one of the world's oldest known team sports, having been adopted in the Western world from the game of Chovgan (), which originated in ancient ...

in his spare time. On 11 May 1910, he married May Marian Byard (died 1967), the eldest daughter of Hahndorf College headmaster D. J. Byard. They had two children: a daughter, Lydia, and a son,

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language">Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' and ''*hardu-'' 'strong, brave, hardy', and it therefore means 'st ...

, who became a fighter and test pilot, and died in combat during the

Battle of Britain The Battle of Britain () was a military campaign of the Second World War, in which the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the Fleet Air Arm (FAA) of the Royal Navy defended the United Kingdom (UK) against large-scale attacks by Nazi Germany's air force ...

almost 25 years to the day after his father was killed at Gallipoli.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reynell, Carew 1883 births 1915 deaths Australian winemakers People from Adelaide Australian Army officers Australian military personnel killed in World War I People educated at St Peter's College, Adelaide