Baker, Arthur

Arthur Edmund Baker, known as Ted, was born on 2 August 1916 in Murrumburrah, New South Wales, the eldest child and only son of engineer Arthur Baker (1877-1964) and Rachel Mary Baker (nee Shepherd) (1891-1973). Ted’s father was from Gloucestershire and married his English-born mother in Sydney in 1914.

The family moved to Taranaki between Ted’s birth and that of his three sisters: Ethel Mary (later O'Sullivan), Thelma Margaret (later Sharp) and Patricia May, known as Pat.

Ted attended New Plymouth Boys’ High School and was working as a plumber before the Second World War broke out. He served as a Sapper with the NZ Engineers in the Middle East and attended a Boys’ High reunion dinner in Cairo in June 1941, along with over 100 other former pupils and teachers.

On 13 July 1943 Ted’s name appeared on a list of 255 local men arriving home on furlough by special train that night. Several days later the Taranaki Daily News clarified that Sapper Baker was one of a group of sick and wounded soldiers who had been invalided. By October of that year, Ted was appealing to the No.8 Armed Forces Appeal Board in New Plymouth for permission to take extended leave from military service. Whether this was due to his injury or for personal reasons, the decision was deferred and Ted returned to active service, finally arriving home for good on 20 August 1945.

Ted married Mollie Helen Day (1925-1993) in 1946 and continued working as a plumber until his retirement in the 1980s. The couple had three children: Arthur, Joy and Don.

Ted Baker died in New Plymouth on 6 April 1993, just a few days after his wife. They are buried together in Awanui Cemetery.