William Lynch's Story

DOES THIS STORY MAKE YOU WANT TO BRUSH YOUR TEETH?

The army had to make sure their soldiers were healthy before they sent to them war, and for William Henry Lynch that meant a serious visit to the dentist.

When the war first broke out, around 35% of volunteers were rejected due to poor teeth. New Zealand volunteers were known for having teeth so bad that when they bit into their rock solid rationed biscuits, their teeth sometimes snapped. If someone was sent to war with such poor oral hygiene, they were at risk of further infection and disease, especially since the conditions on the front were so horrible.

The dental history sheet for William Henry Lynch states that his mouth was in such bad shape, he was required to have all of his remaining teeth pulled out. He was fitted with top and bottom dentures while he was at sea on his way to Egypt. A ship seems like an unusual place for a dentist office, especially when volunteers were being rejected for poor teeth, but William was a special case.

In school William had been in the cadets and when he left school he served in the territorial forces. William had previous military experience and it would have been hard to say no to an experienced soldier, even one who needed so much work to get him fit for active service.

Uncover more pieces of William's story

WHAT DID THE LYNCH FAMILY HAVE TO DO WITH EMERALD GLEN?

William and Oscar's History Sheets tell us that their father was called Ossian Lynch. The Lynches were some of the first Europeans to establish themselves in the Paekakariki area. Their home was called Emerald Glen.  Use Google Maps to find Emerald Glen near Paekakariki. Use Papers Past to trace the Lynches and Emerald Glen as Paekakariki develops into a large community. Search 'Lynch Emerald Glen' 

part of the camera club

Use Digital NZ to search for the school that Oscar and William both attended. Find the photo of them in the school Camera Club. The release of the Kodak camera in 1888 made cheap, easy-to-use cameras available to non-professionals.  This amateur culture found form in the establishment of photographic societies and camera clubs throughout the country. It is clear that Oscar and 'Willie' enjoyed their Camera Club with this photo being situated at Emerald Glen, their family home. 

how many lynches were there? 

There were many Lynches in the Paekakariki and Paraparaumu area. Lots of William and Oscar's documents give us clues about the Lynch Family. Cenotaph gives us the names of William Lynch's parents Ossian and Annie Gertrude Lynch. Use Births, Deaths and Marriages to work out how many children Annie Gertrude had.  Papers Past and Google give us school awards and memorial notices. Can you create a family tree of the people in William's family? How many of them can you connect? Did anyone else serve in the First World War?

Solve the Unsolved Mystery

what did william lynch and the school dental service have in common?

Schools became the scene of a different kind of war – one targeting tooth decay – following the appointment in 1920 of Colonel Thomas A. Hunter as Chief Dental Officer of the Education Department. Formerly Director of the New Zealand Army Dental Service, Hunter proposed that some of the ambulances children had raised funds to purchase during the war be used as mobile dental clinics.

The School Dental Service was born.