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Blackboy Hill Camp: The near misses of the Morton Letter, 1917

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About this object

Registration label from Perth, red, rectangular, dated 05 July 1915. 

Envelope is addressed to 'Mr James William Morton/Electrician/Perth /No 6 Company/HSC/Blackboy Hill Camp.' 

Also attached: no (removed) postage stamp(s); Black ink postmark from no (removed) (unidentified type).

Object details
Museum accession number
H2020.2896
Type
Registration label
Label Date
05/07/1915
Label Place
Perth
Addressed to
Mr James William Morton/Electrician/Perth <struck>/No 6 Company/HSC/Blackboy Hill Camp
Style
print letters
Shape
rectangular
Colour
red
More object details
REGISTRATION LABEL
Label number
12759.0
COVER
Cover media
cover
Cover text
ON HIS MAJESTY'S SERVICE
MARKS & STAMPS
Postmark type
unidentified
Postage stamp type
no (removed)
FRONT MARKS
Postmark cancellation
no (removed)
Other marks on front

BLACKBOY HILL; UNCLAIMED; CALLED LCR; square DLO PERTH; ORS LAND TITLES OFFICE PERTH; manuscript 'Ascertained that Mr/Morton is not at/(this camp?)', 'Sailed/with 16th A(?) Corps/for/Egypt'

REVERSE MARKS
Other marks on reverse

-

Blackboy Hill Camp

The near misses of the Morton Letter, 1917

The state’s first recruits arrived at Blackboy Hill Camp just twelve days after WWI was announced. Over 32,000 men would pass through the camp on their way to war, undergoing rigorous training in drills, physical reconditioning and musketry. 

soldiers standing and kneeling
Soldiers at Blackboy Hill in November 1915. Credit: Image courtesy of State Library of Western Australia, 4547B/2

This letter addressed to James Morton was originally redirected to Blackboy Hill Camp, where Morton had enlisted in August 1915. The Scottish-born Morton was quickly dispatched from Australia aboard the HMAT Ulysses in November 1915. But this letter missed him again by a matter of weeks, as the postman’s note suggests: 

Ascertained that Mr

Morton is not at (this camp)

Sailed with 16th [battalion]

two men in uniform
Sergeant James Morton (left) in uniform at Blackboy Hill. Credit: Image courtesy of the Morton family

Contact with Morton was very limited from this point on. In December 1916, his wife actually reached out to the army herself to ask about her husband’s condition, after Morton’s mother in Scotland informed her of a postcard from her son, explaining Morton had been taken prisoner of war in Germany and ‘had one arm taken off’! 

man, woman, and two children
James Morton with his second wife Ada and family, c.1918. Credit: Image courtesy of the Morton family

Morton returned from the war in 1917 but by this stage, this letter had been sent on to the Dead Letter Office, a facility that processes undeliverable mail with invalid addresses or no return address. You can see the stamp here in purple.

A close up of a stamp
Credit: Image taken by WA Museum, 2024
Additional reading
  • Everett, V. (2015, April), ‘Blackboy Hill is calling’, Valerie Everett for Katharine
    Susannah Prichard Foundation Incorporated, Greemount WA, <
    https://www.museumofperth.com.au/blackboy-hill-is-calling >
  • Wynn, E & Horsley, L, (2014, August 19). ‘Blackboy Hill training camp: The
    birthplace of Western Australia’s Anzac forces’ ABC Radio Perth, <
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-19/blackboy-hill-perth-ww1-armycamp/5678794 >, accessed August 2023
Citations and licences
Cite this page
Western Australian Museum 2025, Blackboy Hill Camp: The near misses of the Morton Letter, 1917, accessed 17 May 2025, <https://collections.museum.wa.gov.au/collection/hanekamp-postal-collection/object/81>.
Text licence
Text content on this page is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Image licence
Unless stated otherwise, images on this page are copyright © Western Australian Museum, 2025
Questions or feedback
Enquire about image reuse
If the email links above do not work, please email your feedback/enquiries to reception@museum.wa.gov.au using the subject https://collections.museum.wa.gov.au/collection/hanekamp-postal-collection/object/81

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