Lot 2 – Kentdale
Thomas "Allan" and Jessie Rhodes
War Service Land Settlement Scheme
Farm gate memorial sign
T. A. "Allan" Rhodes was born into a well-known Flinders Island family and was educated on the island. At the age of 37 he enlisted in the Australian Army on 28 June 1943, serving with the 2 AASC Draft Constructing Party (Horses) until 27 February 1945. His service was unusual, as he was among the relatively few Australian soldiers in the Second World War to serve in a Horse Company. Following the war, Allan and his wife, Jessie and family became the original settlers of Lot 2 on the Kentdale Estate, farming the property for several years before family circumstances led them to relinquish the farm and leave Flinders Island.
The block was then re-allocated to Jimmy and Leila Virieux
Allan Rhodes
Military Service
Allan Rhodes’s military service is recorded as Army, with the service number TX14812 (T21073). Further details of his wartime service are still being researched and may be added as additional records become available.
Recorded details: Army · Service number TX14812 (T21073)
Property History
Reallocated-
E. E. "Jimmy" Virieux was born on Flinders Island in 1920 and attended school at Blue Rocks and later Whitemark. He enlisted in the Australian Army on 27 March 1941, serving with the 2/14 Infantry Brigade (Service No. TX5293). During five years of military service he took part in the major Middle East campaigns before returning to Australia, and was discharged in January 1946. Returning to civilian life, Jimmy share-dairied at Ranga for Martin Gavin before serving as Council Overseer. The Kentdale Estate's Lot 2 was reallocated to him in 1959–60, where he and his wife, Leila, raised their family and successfully farmed until 1979. They then moved to Glengarry on the West Tamar, where their family established several businesses while Jim and Leila continued operating a small farm. Both lived into the 21st century and died after 2000.
Timeline
| year | moved to Lot . |
Maps and Location
Lot 2 Kentdale was part of the Furneaux Estate, the largest soldier settlement area developed on Flinders Island.
Historical maps and current location images will be added as research continues. Lot boundaries, house sites and later property changes may require further verification.
Photographs and Records
Photographs, maps, service records, family documents and newspaper items relating to Lot 2 Kentdale are being collected.
Can You Help?
The Furneaux Museum is continuing to document the history of each soldier settlement lot.
If you have photographs, family stories, military service records, farm records, maps, newspaper articles or corrections relating to Lot 2 Kentdale, or its owners over time, we would be pleased to hear from you.
Your contribution will help preserve the history of the Soldier Settlement Scheme on Flinders Island.
Sources and Research Notes
Information on this page has been compiled from local soldier settlement records, family and community contributions, and ongoing research by the Furneaux Museum Soldier Settlement Scheme Working Group.
Some details may be incomplete or subject to correction as further information becomes available.