William Reeve came to Australia on his own in 1910, sponsored by the Bishop of Bendigo, where he started training for Anglican priesthood. Born in Fulham, London, in 1890, his parents were William J Reeve, a butler in Norwich and Hannah Reeve.

His first posting was as a curate in Tongala in the Goulburn Valley. There he met his future wife Jessie (1892-1976). She was the organist at the small local church which had been built by her three brothers. She was a very strong person and a great organiser.

On 11 November 1916, they were married at St Stephen’s Anglican church in Richmond and returned to live in Tongala. In defiance of the bishop’s orders, William enlisted in the army and shortly after their marriage William locked up the church and went to war along with Jessie’s two brothers.

William was a stretcher bearer in the 3rd/5th ambulance brigade and served in the trenches mostly in Belgium. His grandson William Peter Reeve has many of the letters written home by William during WW1. In those letters he wrote of how much he loved walking through the French and Belgian countryside with friends when not on the front line. A love of walking stayed with him all his life and it was on a solitary walk in the Tasmanian bush that he died.

He saw terrible action, was badly gassed and suffered “trench fever” which permanently affected his health. During the war one of Jessie’s brothers, Jo, received the military medal but died in 1917 in France. He was with his younger brother George when he was shot. George carried him to the dressing station but he died three days later.

In early 1918, due to ill health, William was evacuated back to London where he stayed in hospital, studying at that time to complete his ordination. He also had the opportunity to spend time again with his parents and siblings.

In 1919 he returned to Bendigo and was the curate at St Mark’s Golden Square, Bendigo. He was also chaplain to the Bendigo jail. On the 29th March 1920, their first child was born, William Earnest Reeve (1920-2016). To his family, he was known as Bunny, and was the father of William Peter Reeve. In 1921 they adopted Dorothy who was then aged five. She had been adopted by a cousin of Jessie. The cousin died and rather than send Dorothy back to the orphanage, William and Jessie adopted her. Once in Melbourne, she attended Camberwell Girl’s Grammar School. Jessie was very strict with her and she was not told that she was adopted. It seems that on discovery of her adoption, she was very upset and at age 22 went by ship to the UK. During the voyage she met a man whom she eventually married after the birth of a child. Jessie and the family would have no further contact with her. She died in London in 1977.

In 1921-22 the family moved to Melbourne and William was appointed as secretary to the Church Mission Society, working at the cathedral. They lived in Canterbury in one of the parish properties of St Paul’s Canterbury until in 1925 William was appointed vicar of the newly-built church of St Paul’s East Kew. While the East Kew vicarage was being built, they lived in a rented house at 37 Hartwood Street. In 1928 a second son was born, Lawrence (1928-2013).

Frank Elliott remembered William as being a “very sweet and gentle” person. He loved walking still and neither he nor Jessie ever drove a car. He used to walk to Alphington along the outer circle line and thought nothing of a ten-mile walk. He and Jessie had managed the parish well and grown the congregation. In 1930 William was offered the position of vicar at St John the Baptist church in Hobart. This would be a much larger church and stipend.

George Coles, a wealthy parishioner of St Paul’s, encouraged William to take this position and since the family could not afford the move, Coles paid for the whole family’s passage and relocation by ship to Hobart. On his leaving, the parishioners of St Paul’s presented William with a gold fob watch which is now in the proud possession of William Peter Reeve - to be handed on in the family. 

In 1936, their oldest son, Bunny, enlisted in the RAN and was on one of the first Australian ships to arrive in France. William took leave of absence from his Hobart parish and enlisted in the army. He spent the entire war years at the Brighton Barracks in Hobart, becoming a colonel. During this time he had a couple of long stints in hospital with heart problems, never having recovered to full health after WW1. In 1944 he was discharged due to ill health.

William and Jessie both loved fishing and William loved to walk in bushland in Tasmania. A wealthy parishioner, Alan Knight, owned a chalet guest house at Tarraleah in bushland and William often spent holidays alone there, walking and taking photos. On Monday, 26 July 1948, he sent a letter to his Bunny and his daughter-in-law. It was written from the chalet at Tarraleah. He wrote how much he loved his solitary walks even though it was cold with snow still lying in shaded places. He was to return home at the end of the week. On Thursday, 29 July he went out for a walk in the morning, taking his camera and he didn’t return for lunch. Management reported this to Jessie and the next day search parties were sent out. No trace of him was ever found.

The Mercury reported his disappearance on Monday, 2 August, 1948.

In May 1949, William was officially pronounced dead. At his church of St John the Baptist in Hobart, a chapel was dedicated to him.