The full length figures of St. John and St. Alban were set in a background of foliage, against an arras, and with a decorative architectural canopy and base. The trefoil in the tracery above the two saints was designed with a laurel wreath surrounding a flaming heart and topped by a radiant white cross. The design of the window is attributed to William Wheildon, senior stained glass artist at Brooks, Robinson & Co. on stylistic grounds as records from this period of the firm's output have not been found.
Sergeant Osborne's father, the Reverend Alfred George Osborne, had been the incumbent at Christ Church, Hamilton and his mother was Mrs. Emily Harris (formerly the widow of the Rev. Osborne). The window was unveiled by the Right Rev. Bishop Green of Ballarat at a service held in the presence of local dignitaries, returned servicemen and the YWCA on 17 June 1917. Sergeant Oborne's death from illness was reported among the Western District war casualties in the Camperdown Chronicle and local papers at Horsham and Ballarat.
Private Percy Osborne embarked on the Themistocles in Melbourne, arriving at Plymouth on 11 September 1916. While at Perham Downs with the 2 Training Brigade he was severley reprimanded after a prisoner, Sergeant Adcock, escaped while in his custody however, only one month later, he was promoted to corporal and then to acting sergeant. He became ill with a bad cold in December 1916 and was admitted to Tidworth Hospital for more than a month. Only a few days after his discharge, he was readmitted with increasingly serious symptoms. He died of spinal meningitis on 2 February 1917, aged 22 years, and was buried in Tidworth Military Cemetery, Wiltshire. His name was included among the fallen on the Christ Church Honour Roll and a plaque in tribute to him was installed in the Chapel of his old school, Ballarat Grammar School.
References & Acknowledgements
AWM Roll of Honour; NAA: B2455, Osborne Percy Beaumont; Camperdown Chronicle,17 February 1917, p.4; Hamilton Spectator, 19 June 1917, p.7.
Photographcourtesy ofRay Brown.
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