Daniel McGowan #N77946

Indigenous Australian, Daniel McGowan

Daniel (Dan) McGowan, was born at Thallon, Qld in 1895 to James McGowan, a white man and Eliza Weatherall, a Gamilaraay (Gamilaroi) woman.

McGowan was a skilled horse breaker, and employed at Mungindi, on the border of NSW and Qld when he volunteered to serve with the first AIF.

It is not clear why he travelled to Nyngan in NSW to enlist in May 1917 but there is no doubt that the result would have been the same, had he had enlisted in Queensland.

McGowan was medically examined at the camp established at the Sydney Show Grounds, after which it was noted - the three smallest fingers of his left hand had partially contracted, a result of being accidentally burnt when he was a child.

Several doctors who formed the 'Medical Board' to review his application concurred that the condition of his hand made him permanently unfit for Military Service.

Less than a week after enlisting McGowan was 'discharged, medically unfit, not due to misconduct'. Unable to serve for his country he returned to his extended family in Mungindi and regained work on a number of properties in the area.

Read more ...

• Service record: MCGOWAN, Daniel
• Mungindi Police Letterbook 1924-1939
• One of the soldiers featured in SLQ’s HistoryPin Collection
• Queensland’s Indigenous Servicemen [oral history]

The information in this blog post has been researched by State Library staff and volunteers, it is based on available information at this time. If you have more information that you would like to share or further research uncovers new findings, this post will be updated.