George Vowles
ca. 1846 — 28 November 1928
George Vowles (2‑49‑35)
Vowles, born ca. 1846 in Ipswich, claimed to be the first Queensland‑born soldier to serve overseas for the Empire. As a seventeen year old, he participated in the Invasion of Waikato which was a campaign during the middle stages of the New Zealand Wars, fought in the North Island from July 1863 to April 1864. The conflict was between the military forces of the Colonial Government and a federation of rebel Māori tribes known as the Kingitanga Movement.
On his return he joined the Public Instruction Department in 1869, and spent six years as head master of the Allenstown School (in Rockhampton), six years at North Ipswich and nearly 29 years at Petrie Terrace Brisbane. He retired in 1917. He attained the highest possible rank in the teaching profession, being in class 1, division 1. He was the author of a small book of poems, Sunbeams in Queensland.
In 1921, Vowles was elected the president of the Imperial Navy and Army Veterans' Association of Queensland. He died on the 28 November 1928 aged 82.