Major Downes
| First name | Major |
|---|---|
| Last name | Downes |
| Country of Origin | England |
| Date of Birth | 1834 |
| Year of Arrival in Australia | 1877 |
| Submitted by | Valerie Howse |
Story
Major Francis Downes, son of William Downes Esq. of Dedham, Essex was born in 1834. He spent his boyhood in Dedham, a village on the Essex-Suffolk border made famous by the landscape paintings of the artist, John Constable. At the age of 14, Downes entered the Woolwich Military Academy and after completing training he entered the Royal Artillery in 1852. He became a Lieut.-Colonel 1877, Colonel 1882, and Major-General (retd.) 1884, Major-General, South Australia 1888.
Downes\’ first posting was to Montreal in Canada. He also served in the Crimean Campaign. Various postings in Britain followed, & he commanded the Royal Artillery at Mauritius 1863-5, and at St Helena 1869-71.
He migrated from England to Australia with his family in 1877 to be Commandant of the South Australian Military Forces. He served as Secretary of Defence for Victoria from 1885-88 and again as Commandant of the South Australian Military Forces fromm 1888-93, after which he retired to Geelong in Victoria.
Downes married Helen Maria Chamberlain of Calton House near Norwich, in 1858. She bore him 15 children, all but five of whom died in infancy. Of the surviving four sons and one daughter, it was the youngest, Rupert Major Downes (1885-1945) who became the best known. He was a paediatric surgeon and joined the Australian Army Medical Corps, which he led into World War II. He was responsible for the building of the great metropolitan military hospitals Ð Heidelberg in Melbourne, Concord in Sydney, Greenslopes in Sydney, Springbank in Adelaide and Hollywood in Perth.
In 1899 M.F. Downes accepted an invitation from the Victorian government to come out of retirement to become commandant of Victoria\’s Military Forces. At federation in 1901 he transferred into the newly established Australian Military Force as the army commander for Victoria.
He retired for the last time in 1902, and thereafter lived in the Melbourne suburb of Brighton. In retirement he worked for various charitable causes. He took particular interest in the Gordon Boys\’ Homes (named after his former Woolwich classmate, General Charles Gordon of Khartoum), of which he was president for over seven years. He also became an expert writer of Braille and translated books for the blind.
Major-General (retd.) Major Francis Downes died in 1923