Ms Brown located Pte Neville’s great-nephew, Herbie Neville, by searching for the soldier’s name and the town he was from online, as his mother’s address was included in the note.
Mr Neville told ABC News the experience had been “unbelievable” for his family, especially for Marian Davies – Pte Neville’s niece – who remembers her uncle leaving to go to war and never returning.
The second letter, written by Pte William Harley, was addressed simply to whoever found the bottle. His mother had died years earlier.
Pte Harley’s granddaughter, Ann Turner, told ABC she and the soldier’s four other surviving grandchildren were “absolutely stunned” by the message.
“It really does feel like a miracle and we do very much feel like our grandfather has reached out for us from the grave,” she said.
“I feel very emotional when I see that the other young man had a mother to write to, and that message in the bottle was to his mother, whereas our grandfather long ago had lost his mother so he just writes it to the finder of the bottle.”
The bottle was thrown overboard “somewhere in the Bight”, Pte Harley’s letter said, referring to the Great Australian Bight off the country’s southern coast.
An oceanography professor told ABC it may only have been in the water for a few weeks before it landed at Wharton Beach, where it may have remained buried for 100 years.