NameEast, Percival CollectionCollection summaryThe East family is very well known in Shellharbour and Kiama. Thomas and Elizabeth East arrived in Australia in 1841 and farmed at ‘Prospect’, where East’s Caravan Park at Kiama is today. Thomas and Elizabeth had a family of six boys and six girls.
One son, John East, married Elizabeth Jarman in 1875 and settled at ‘Ellerslie’ farm at Dunmore. John and Elizabeth had a family of nine children, five boys and four girls, all raised on the farm.
Their youngest son, Wentworth ‘Wenty’ Lincoln East was Killed in Action in 1917 during the First World War. In a letter Wenty wrote to his parents, he said : “I am receiving all I require, and moreover I am facing this awful business calmly, knowing that if it comes to the worst, I am fully prepared for the end” (Kiama Library).
Percival ‘Percy’ John Walkden East, John and Elizabeth’s eldest son, carried on farming at ‘Ellerslie’.
In 1913, Percival married Elsie Gambell and two years later Leslie Percival East was born.
Sadly, Leslie was just four years old when his mother died, aged 31. Percy lost both his brother and wife within two years.
