Frederick Birks - Early Life

Early Life

Birks was born in Buckley, Flintshire, North Wales on 16 August 1894 to Samuel Birks, a groom, and his wife Mary, née Williams. The family lived at Garden Cottage, Lane End. The youngest of six siblings, Birks was five years old when his father died in a coal-mining accident. He attended the local Anglican school (St. Matthews) in Buckley and was awarded a medal there for 11 years "without ever being absent or late". He was known to be adventurous, being active in boxing and association football as well as the local Church Lads' Brigade. Birks left school at fourteen, before entering the workforce as a labourer and steel rollerman in nearby Shotton. During 1910, Birks is thought to have enlisted in the Royal Artillery, staying in the service for three years. On 29 August 1913, Birks migrated to Australia with two friends Emrys Edward Jones and William Gray (both from Buckley). They sailed from London on the SS Otway disembarking in Melbourne. He went on to work in Tasmaniawhere he stayed with a Herbert Jones ( a friend of his brother), South Australia and Victoria as a labourer and later, a waiter. In late March 1914, at the age of nineteen started a relationship with sixteen year-old Suzy Gelvin who lived in Largs Bay. Suzy kept in contact with Birks throughout his service, although she apparently lost contact with him for some time in mid-1917. He is known to have lived in Norwood, a suburb of Adelaide where he lodged with a Mrs. E Cornelius, and in Hobart.