Alfred James Kingshott
Alfred James Kingshott was born at Didling, Sussex, on 27 May 1879 and baptised at Treyford with Didling on 6 July that year. His life took him from a Sussex farming family to London, then to Queensland, and back to Europe as a soldier during the First World War. He eventually settled in a place called Saltwater, in the Proserpine district, where he sadly died following a snakebite in 1943.
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Alfred was a son of James Arthur Kingshott (1835–1892) and Emma Turner (about 1838–1905), who married at Trotton on 24 April 1862.
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The 1881 and 1891 censuses place Alfred with his family at Piper’s Farm, Didling. In 1891 he was recorded as a scholar. By 1901 he had moved to London, where he was recorded as a coffee-house keeper at 643 Fulham Road.
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On 21 August 1908, Alfred departed London aboard the Orient, bound for Brisbane. The passenger-list transcription describes him as a single labourer. His elder brother, Henry Kingshott (1867–1918), had already emigrated to Queensland by this time, and this was likely to have encouraged Alfred to follow suit.
By 1916, both brothers were recorded at Long Pocket, near Ingham, in North Queensland. Alfred named Henry as his next of kin when he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force. He enlisted at Cairns, Queensland, on 29th January 1916. He was recorded as a single labourer, aged 36 years, and became Private 6045, joining the 19th Reinforcements of the 9th Infantry Battalion.
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He sailed from Brisbane aboard HMAT Itonus on 8 August 1916. The military chronology preserved in the family records places his arrival at Plymouth, Devon, England on 18 October 1916 and his transfer to France on 16 January 1917.
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On 17 August 1918, almost three months before the end of the war, Alfred was wounded in action, suffering a shell wound to his thigh. He survived the war, and his recorded discharge date was 3 May 1919. For his service, he would have been awarded the British War and Victory medals. Click on the image below to view a PDF of his service record.
Alfred returned to civilian life in Queensland. An electoral roll entry places him in the Proserpine area in 1934, and his later obituary describes him as a well-known resident who had lived in the district for many years. At one time, he farmed in the Preston district. By September 1943, he was living at Saltwater. He had no wife or children, and his brother, whom he had followed to Queensland, had sadly died in 1918.
On Thursday 30 September 1943, an unknown species of snake bit Alfred on the leg. Friends administered first aid, and an ambulance was met on Conway Road. He was taken to hospital, where he died that night. The reports do not identify the species of snake or describe the treatment Alfred received in hospital, and Queensland was, and is, home to a number of the world's most venomous snakes.
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The Daily Mercury reported the incident on 8 October. An obituary in The Proserpine Guardian, published the same day, added details of his life locally and his funeral.
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Report of Alfred’s fatal snakebite: Daily Mercury (Mackay, Queensland), 8 October 1943, page 5.
Obituary published as “Alfred John Kingshott”: The Proserpine Guardian (Proserpine, Queensland), 8 October 1943, page 2.
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The obituary names Alfred as “Alfred John Kingshott” and gives his age as 63. The burial transcription also uses John and gives the same age. His military records identify him as Alfred James, while his recorded birth date of 27 May 1879 makes him 64 at his death. The source of the newspaper’s personal details is unknown; these appear to be reporting inaccuracies. His obituary gives his birthplace as Midhurst, whereas the family records identify the nearby village of Didling.
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His brother Henry Kingshott (1867–1918)
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Henry Kingshott, Alfred’s elder brother, was baptised at Trotton on 3 March 1867. In 1871 he lived with the family at Ingrams Green, Trotton. By 1881 they were at Piper’s Farm, Didling, where fourteen-year-old Henry was described as a farmer’s son.
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Henry arrived at Townsville, Queensland, on 13 August 1888, twenty years before Alfred’s departure for Australia. In 1916, Alfred’s military embarkation roll recorded Henry as his next of kin at Long Pocket, Ingham—the same address given for Alfred.
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Henry died on 25 October 1918, with his burial recorded at Cairns. His death preceded Alfred’s by almost twenty-five years.
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His brother Arthur Kingshott (1869–1943)
Another of Alfred’s elder brothers, Arthur Kingshott, made his home in Canada. Born at Trotton, Sussex, in 1869, Arthur later took over the running of Piper’s Farm at Didling following their father’s death. By 1911 he was living in Littlehampton and working as a coal merchant and dairyman.
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In July 1911, Arthur emigrated to Canada with his wife Isabel and their five children aboard the Virginian. They eventually settled at Orangeville, Ontario, where Arthur continued in the dairy business. His son Frederick subsequently established the Kingshott Creamery Company.
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Arthur died at Orangeville on 28 February 1943, seven months before Alfred’s death in Queensland. The brothers’ lives illustrate how one Sussex family established new branches on opposite sides of the world.
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Read more about Arthur Kingshott and his family in Canada here.
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My Relationship to Alfred
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Alfred James Kingshott (1879–1943) was my fifth cousin three times removed. His brothers Henry and Arthur were obviously related in the same way.
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Our shared ancestors were William Kingett, baptised at Fernhurst, Sussex, England on 28 May 1657, and his wife Barbary Heather. Alfred descended through their son Richard Kingeet, baptised at Fernhurst on 29 November 1688, while my line descends through their son Roger Kincet, baptised there on 2 July 1693.
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William and Barbary were Alfred’s four-times-great-grandparents and my seven-times-great-grandparents. The different surname spellings reflect those recorded within the family over the centuries.
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Visiting Alfred’s grave
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In October 2026, I visited Alfred’s unmarked grave in Proserpine Cemetery, Queensland. Although our branches of the family had separated many generations earlier, standing at his resting place gave that distant connection a personal meaning.
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​​​​​​​​Me paying my respects at Alfred James Kingshott’s unmarked grave, Proserpine Cemetery, 22nd October 2026—eighty-three years after his death.
