Stanley Price Weir

Stanley Price Weir
Colonel Stanley Price Weir
Born	(1866-04-23)23 April 1866 Norwood, South Australia
Died	14 November 1944(1944-11-14) (aged 78) St. Peters, South Australia
Buried	West Terrace Cemetery, Adelaide
Allegiance	Australia
Service/branch	Australian Army
Years of service	1885–1921
Rank	Brigadier General
Commands held	10th Infantry Regiment (1908–12) 19th Infantry Brigade (1913–14) 10th Battalion, AIF (1914–16) 20th Infantry Brigade, AMF (1918–21)
Battles/wars	World War I Gallipoli Campaign Battle of Pozières Battle of Mouquet Farm
Awards	Distinguished Service Order Volunteer Officers' Decoration Mentioned in Despatches Order of St. Anne, 2nd Class with Swords (Russia)
Spouse(s)	Rosa (née Wadham) Lydia Maria (née Schrapel)
Other work	Public Service Commissioner

World War I

Brigadier General Stanley Price Weir, DSO, VD, JP (23 April 1866 – 14 November 1944) was a public servant and Australian Army officer. During World War I, he commanded the 10th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) during the landing at Anzac Cove and the subsequent Gallipoli Campaign, and during the Battles of Pozières and Mouquet Farm in France.

Weir returned to Australia at his own request in late 1916 at the age of 50, and in 1917 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and was mentioned in dispatches for his performance at Pozières and Mouquet Farm. He went on to become the first South Australian Public Service Commissioner. He was given an honorary promotion to brigadier general on his retirement from the Australian Military Forces in 1921. Weir was retired as public service commissioner in 1931. In retirement he contributed to various benevolent and charitable organisations, and died in 1944.

Weir was born in Norwood, South Australia, on 23 April 1866, a son of Alfred Weir and Susannah Mary (née Price). His father was a carpenter, who had emigrated to South Australia from Aberdeen, Scotland, in 1839, two years after the colony was founded. Weir attended Moore's School, the Norwood Public School, and Pulteney Street Grammar School. In 1879, at the age of 13, he joined the Surveyor General's Department as an office assistant. He assisted the surveyor who pegged out the land at the rear of Government House, Adelaide, for the Torrens Parade Ground, and was later promoted to clerk. On 14 May 1890, he married Rosa Wadham at the Christian Chapel, Norwood. He rose through the department to be appointed Survey Storekeeper, Custodian of Plans and Custodian of Government Motor Cars, on 1 July 1911. He was appointed a justice of the peace on 10 September 1914.