HADDEN COUSINS
Gilbert & Lloyd (their fathers were brothers, born Victoria)
WX7213 Gilbert (Gil/Bert/Boong) Valentine HADDEN b. Kalgoorlie 2 Mar 1908 one of two sons and four daughters to Gilbert Carlisle Hadden and Florence Camping Hunt who married 1900.
Gilbert Hadden (Snr) died in 1927 and Florence Hadden died in 1923.
GILBERT HADDEN enlisted AIF at Leonora 1 Aug 1940, later joined 2/4th’s ‘D’ Coy 14 Platoon under Commanding Officer Lt Tomkins. Please read about ‘D’ Company
He worked on the Burma-Thai Railway around the Hellfire Pass Cutting with ‘D’ Force Thailand S Battalion.
Right: Gilbert Valentine Hadden, known as Gil or ‘Boong’ was a prospector from Leonora. He was 8 years older than his cousin Lloyd Foster Hadden who was also born Kalgoorlie. (Lloyd lived most of his formative years around Newdegate and Mt Barker region.)
Because of his 2/4th Nickname ‘Boong’ we believe Gil Hadden’s name was included in ‘Forever Warriors’ by Jan James, Northam. This historical book records the names of indigenous Western Australians who served in Australia’s military.
(I did visit Jan James at her Northam home and informed her of this incorrect fact but she did not plan at that late stage of her life to reprint and rectify this mistake. Jan James died in 2021. I confirmed this with Gil Hadden’s granddaughter who had recently received her DNA results which did not include any indigenous ancestry. It was during a conversation with Dick Ridgwell and Ron Badock when we realised ‘Boong’ Hadden was given his name because of his dark complexion acquired during decades of prospecting! Cheryl Mellor)
Gil Hadden’s father Gilbert Hadden (Snr) arrived in Kalgoorlie from the Victorian goldfields about 1896 and was followed soon after by three brothers and two nephews. The Hadden family seemed to be everywhere in the WA Goldfields and more often than not, successful with prospecting and goldmining.
Gilbert (Snr) was in partnership with brother Robert in mining ventures. The brothers dissolved the partnership 1912 and Robert died in 1914.
Above: The wedding of Gilbert Hadden’s parents 1900, Kalgoorlie.
You can read further about Gilbert Hadden
Lloyd’s father, Oliver Foster Hadden first travelled from Victoria to South Africa. He married and began a family there and was involved in mining. The family arrived at Kalgoorlie and Lloyd was born in 1916.
Oliver chose to take up farming rather than mining and moved his family to Kendenup and later Newdegate area.
WX9139 HADDEN Lloyd Foster b. Kalgoorlie 31 Dec 1916 son of Oliver Foster Hadden and Lily Emma Troubridge who had married Johannesburg, South Africa 1907.
Oliver and Lily travelled from South Africa to Australia, in particular to Kalgoorlie where Oliver’s brothers Gilbert (Snr), Robert and Arthur lived and were involved in mining. Oliver later chose to take up farming and moved his family firstly to Kendenup and then to Lake Grace-Newdegate area.
As with nearly of the Hadden brothers, Oliver died young in 1931 at Newdegate and was buried at Wagin.
Brother Robert Carlisle Hadden died 1914 (having previously been in mining partnership with Gilbert Snr). Arthur Graham died in 1931. The fourth brother Andrew died in Victoria in 1937.
Lloyd Foster Hadden enlisted AIF 30 Oct 1940, later joined 2/4th’s ‘B’ Company 8 Platoon under commanding officer Lt. MacKinnon as a driver. From Singapore Lloyd worked on the Burma-Thai Railway with D ForceThailand Captain Fred Harris Party.
Read about Capt. Fred Harris Party
He survived and was recovered from Thailand at the end of the war.
(Lloyds’ younger brother Ron, born 1922 Mt barker enlisted with the RAAF.). When Ron Hadden married the wedding party included 2/4th’s Phil Beilby and his wife and brother Lloyd Hadden.
