Souvenir Saturday: Military Memorabilia: BMR

Border Mounted Rifles Collar Badge showing motto

Rough and  Ready*

Brass button with BMR insignia

A badge of the Border Mounted Rifles  Boer War era. This is a slouch hat badge in which the Crown has been removed and then used as a collar/shoulder insignia, as was common practice of the day. There were two designs, one with the Victoria Crown between 1894 & 1901 and then the Kings Crown between 1902 & 1914. This badge appears to have been the earlier Victoria Crown design.

TNA WO 127/2       Border Mounted Rifles.Enrolment Forms

For a list of BMR serving in the Anglo-Boer War see Mole's Blog at 
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2012/09/boer-war-border-mounted-rifles-list.html

* For the story behind the Boot and Spur and BMR Motto see the Regimental History page 52
'Rough but Ready: An Official History of the Natal Mounted Rifles and its Antecedent and Associated Units' by E Goetzsche.

Who's Who in Natal 1933 B

WHO'S WHO IN NATAL with which is incorporated WOMEN OF NATAL 1933
Published with the kind permission of Mr PN Knox of The Knox Printing & Publishing Company, Durban

BIOGRAPHIES

B
Backenstoe, Mrs Mary B - b. Windsor, New York, USA
Baikie, Reginald Lund
Baker, Albert - b. 2 July 1881 London
Baker, William Henry - b. 22 Dec 1886 Devonshire
Ballance, Geoffrey Descarrieres - b. 23 July 1909 Witbank, Transvaal
Ball, Alfred Edward - b. Newcastle, Natal
Ballantine, Rev TR - b. 4 July 1864 Ballynahinch, Co. Down, North Ireland
Ballantyne, Walter - b. 5 April 1862 Glasgow
Balston, George Richard - b. 27 Feb 1879 Thornhills House, near Maidstone, Kent
Banks, Reginald Alfred - b. 10 May 1890 London
Banting, Walter S - b. Gloucester, England
Barbour, Percival Hamilton - b. 25 July 1900 Pietermaritzburg
Barbour, Theophilius Henry - b. Happy Valley, Victoria, Australia
Barboure, William Bruce - b. 7 May 1887 Sea Point, Cape Town
Barden, Francis Philip William - b. 15 July 1883 Newport, Monmouthshire
Barker, Alexander Noel - b. 19 March 1906 Durban
Barker, Cecil Newton - b. 13 Nov 1855 Putney, London
Barkhan, Daisy - b. London
Barkhan, Isisore
Barklie, Alexander Thomas - b. 30 Sept 1902 Pietermaritzburg
Barnes, Algernon Strange Valentine - b. 24 Oct 1907 Heidelberg, Transvaal
Barnes, Reginal Stanley - b. Johannesburg
Barns, Ernest William - b. 2 Oct 1867 Buckfastleigh, Devonshire
Barrett, Henry
Barrett, Victor Holmes McNaghten - b. 3 March 1887 Newcastle, Staffordshire
Barton, Horace Dale - b. 22 Nov 1891
Barton, Robert Henderson - b. 14 May 1908 Durban
Barton, William - b. 22 Jan 1868 Ecclefechan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland
Bawden, John Trevaskis - b. 24 Feb 1878 St Ives, Cornwall
Bawden, William Pascoe - b. 1875 St Ives, Cornwall
Bayer, Adolf Joseph Wilhelm - b. 8 Jan 1900 Natal
Beadsworth, Charles Percy - b. 25 Jan 1876 Stamford, England
Beale, Ernest Dugmore - b. 1 Oct 1882 Queenstown, Cape
Beall, Reginald William - b. 11 Feb 1873 Billericay, Essex
Beardall, W
Beattie, Thomas Oliver
Bechard, Joseph Richard Michel - b. 9 March 1898 Jersey
Bechet, France Joseph - b. 30 Dec 1887
Behrens, John
Behrmann, Franz Heinrich Carl - b. 13 Feb 1880
Belcher, Reginald George Hollond - b. 22 April 1878 Heveningham, Suffolk
Bell, Alfred Charles - b. 26 Sept 1861 Ladysmith, Natal
Bell, Charles Victor - b. 11 Dec 1897 Estcourt, Natal
Bell, Eric Bertram - b. 1894 Queenstown, Cape
Bell, Harry Gilmour
Bell, Henry James Steen - b. 18 April 1870 Umzinto, Natal
Bell, JJ Dr
Bellville, Horace William - b. 22 Feb 1877 Malvern, Natal
Belner, Victor Rev - b. 25 March 1877 Faulguemont, Lorraine, France
Beningfield, Cyril James - b. 18 Jan 1884 Durban
Benjamin, Maurice Arthur - b. 10 July 1883 Port Elizabeth, Cape
Bennee, Archibald John
Bennett, George - b. 1870 Sheffield, Yorkshire
Bennett, Henry Eustace - b. 15 Feb 1875 Driffield
Bennett, Walter Edwin - b. 10 July 1897 Durban
Benson, Mrs Edith - b. Durban
Bentley, Thomas Mulock - b. Co Dublin
Bergendorff, Eric - b. 21 Oct 1898 Copenhagen, Denmark
Bestall, Albert Campbell - b. 15 Sept 1904 Durban
Betty, George Edward John - b. 1872 Bristol
Bews, John William - b. 16 Dec 1884 Kirkwall, Orkney Islands
Biggs, Charles Edward Langley - b. 1 Oct 1894 Durban
Biggs, Charles William - b. 23 March 1887 Essex
Bilmark, Amon - b. 2 May 1894 Copenhagen
Birch, Hubert Charles - b. 29 Sept 1899 Durban
Bird, James William Fairbridge - b. 15 June 1858 Pietermaritzburg
Bishop, Percy Cook - b. London
Bisset, John Jardine - b. 1882 Dimbula, Ceylon
Blair, David - b. 12 June 1881 Perth, Scotland
Blake, Katharine
Blake, Vere Edwin Cyril - b. 14 April 1892 Durban
Blaker, George Ernest - b. 20 Nov 1880 South Downs (Lowlands), Estcourt
Blakeway, Richard George - b. 17 Sept 1856 Fort Beaufort, Cape
Blamey, Arthur Elton - 9 Sept 1900 Umzinto, Natal
Blamey, L - b. 3 March 1879 Pietermaritzburg
Blanckenberg, Francis J - b. Durban
Blennerhassett, Emily
Bloom, Samuel - b. 1867
Blunden, Frank Mason - b. 18 Aug 1899 Redhill, England
Boast, Wilfred Reginald - b. 19 Oct 1885 Mt Moriah, Weenen, Natal
Bogue, James Yule - b. 6 Oct 1881 Cork
Bodenstein, Wilhelm - b. 23 Aug 1885 Upstedt
Bohm, William - b. 18 July 1898 Budapest
Bonamour, Maisie Jessie Cecilia - b. Durban
Bonfa, Albano
Booth, Frederick Joseph - b. 13 Jan 1890 Pretoria
Borain, Joseph Edward - b. 8 May 1867 Pietermaritzburg
Borders, Reginald William - b. Dec 1866 London
Borland, Albert Francis - b. 13 Dec 1901 Durban
Borlase, Herbert Poynton - b. 24 April 1891 Durban
Borlase, Emily Anne - b. 20 June 1863 Durban
Boshoff, Johannes Jacobus - b. 9 Sept 1903 Standerton, Transvaal
Boshoff, Johannes Jeremias - b. 12 Aug 1895 Greytown, Natal
Bosman, Pieter Wilhelmus - b. 21 May 1895 Utrecht
Botha, Louis Laurence Nel - b. 29 Oct 1901 Greytown, Natal
Bowen, William Patrick - b. 17 March 1857 Ireland
Bowker, Joseph - b. 3 Jan 1905 Hyde, Cheshire, England
Boyce, Edwin Charles - b. 1 Sept 1867 Karachi, India
Boydell, Senator The Hon Thomas - b. 1882 Newcastle-on-Tyne, England
Boyd-Varty, Mrs Una Ethel Agathee Maud - b. Pietermaritzburg
Bradford, Elsie Middleton - b. 31 May 1898
Bradford, Harry Bertram - b. 19 Dec 1873 Exeter, Devon
Bradley, Colonel Sir Augustus Montague - b. 23 April 1865
Bradley, Captain Vaughan Montague - b. 15 Oct 1895 Dover
Bradley, Winifred Wallace - b. Durban
Bradshaw, VE
Brand, Andrew Nevill - b. 30 Nov 1879
Brews, Sidney Francis - b. 29 May 1899 Blackheath, London
Brickhill, Isabel Jane - b. 5 Sept 1898 Umsinga Mt, Pomeroy District, Natal
Brien, Sydney Herbert Edward - b. 13 June 1902 Claremont, Cape Town
Briggs, Percy - b. Bolton, Lancashire
Brink, Rev Charles John - b. 20 March 1885 Mochudi, British Bechuanaland
Briscoe, John Edward - b. 29 March 1866 Settle, Yorkshire
Brisker, Senator, the Hon, Sidney Symon - b. 11 Dec 1881 Jersey, C I
Bristow, Dora Mildred - b. Durban
Brokensha, E Stanley
Bromley, Joseph Alfred - b. 29 Nov 1884 Leeds
Brookes, George Cyril Steven - b. 7 July 1888
Broome, Francis Napier - b. 18 Jan 1891 Pietermaritzburg
Brown, Arthur Roberts - b. 26 Nov 1864 London
Brown, Cardinal Albert - b. 2 Jan 1901 Kimberley
Brown, Harry Egerton - b. 16 March 1879 Langbank, Renfrewshire, Scotland
Brown, Harry Lewis - b. 24 Feb 1882 Durban
Brown, John - b. 1890 Johannesburg
Brown, Molly - b. 3 May 1912 Durban
Browne, Antony Henry Montagu - b. 1898
Browne, Henry Somerville - b. 30 Sept 1892 Cheshire, England
Bruchhausen, Peter Gustav - b. 24 June 1898 Qora, Transkei
Bryan, Hugh - b. 21 Aug 1871 Lyddington, Rutland County
Buchan, Cecil Henry - b. 25 March 1883 Hampshire
Buchan, Robert Milne - b. 11 Oct 1879 Perth, Scotland
Buchanan, Alexander - b. 21 July 1873 Glasgow
Buchanan, Barbara Isabella - b. 29 Aug 1854 Pietermaritzburg
Budgen, JW
Budge, Nellie Bruce - b. Dundee, Scotland
Bull, Geo - b. 5 Nov 1867 Torquay, Devon
Bull, Henry Walter - b. 22 Sept 1865
Bulley, Alexander Airth Rowe - b. 12 Nov 1901 Durban
Bulley, Marjorie (nee Harris) - b. 30 March 1906 East London
Bulman, Gerald - b. 19 June 1893 Sunerland, England
Burdon, Horace Vivian - b. 18 March 1890 Durban
Burger, Rev Adriaan Johann Victor - b. 23 Sept 1900 Middelburg, Transvaal
Burger, Floris Johannes Gerhardus - b. 1 March 1902 Klipplaat, Piquetberg, Cape
Burgess, Florence Edith - b. Pietermaritzburg
Burman, Charles Ernest Lewis - b. 18 March 1886 Belford, Northumberland
Burn, John Henry - b. 4 Aug 1860 Tynemouth, Northumberland
Burne, Gerland Ray - b. 22 Dec 1882 Durban
Burne, Newdigate Halford Marriott, Col - b. July 1872 Metoura, Queensland
Burns, Miss CNH - b. 15 Aug 1872 Madras
Burrows, Edward John - b. 12 Dec 1861 Cape Town
Burne, Ralph William - b. 27 April 1910 Durban
Burton, James - b. England
Bush, Sydney Frank - b. 24 Dec 1902 Pietermaritzburg
Buss, Wilfred Martin - b. 20 Aug 1882 St Helier, Jersey
Buss, Leonard Tafel - b. 7 Oct 1884 Melbourne, Derbyshire, England
Busschau, William John - b. 19 Nov 1908 Senekal, OFS
Butcher, Frederick George - b. 14 Nov 1858 Bispham, Lancashire
Butland, William Blamey - b. 3 Oct 1856 Gerrans, near Falmouth, Cornwall
Butler, Eileen Doris
Butler, Richard Henry - b. 19 Oct 1898 Kalgoorlie, W Australia
Butler, Frederick William Webb - b. 2 Sept 1904 Durban
Butler, Vivian Victor - b. 24 June 1883 Durban
Butler-Porter, James - b. 17 Feb 1897 Kirkham, Lancashire
Butterworth, Emmeline, Miss
Buzzard, Mrs EM - b. London
Buzzard, Herbert Leighton - b. 18 April 1873 Bristol
Byala, Max - b. 20 Feb 1898
Byrd, Kenneth Frederic - b. 31 Oct 1903 Durban
Byrne, Leo John - b. 27 June 1887 Durban
Byron, Lewis - b. 13 Nov 1882 London

Many of these biographies include a small photo.

Who's Who in Natal 1933 A

WHO'S WHO IN NATAL with which is incorporated WOMEN OF NATAL 1933
Published with the kind permission of Mr PN Knox of The Knox Printing & Publishing Company, Durban

BIOGRAPHIES

A
Abernethy, George Alexander - b. 16 Dec 1879 Bogmuir, Kincardineshire, Scotland
Abernethy, Leslie Alexander - b. 20 Dec 1910
Abraham, Henry Duncan - b. 25 Jan 1900 Durban
Abraham, Ralph Lee - b. 1 April 1884 Washington Co, Iowa, USA
Abrahams, Nathaniel Ellis - b. 8 Jan 1904 Durban
Abrahamson, Harold - b. Colesberg, Cape
Abrams, Neville Camden - b. 20 Nov 1892 Umzinto, Natal
Acton, Elmo Carman - b. 30 Aug 1901 Hundington Valley, Pennsylvania, USA
Acutt, Kenelm Horace - b. 11 Jan 1884 Durban
Acutt, Lincesal Robert Leslie - b. 1896 Durban
Adams, Lionel Leigh - b. 31 Oct 1894 Old Umtali, S. Rhodesia
Adamson, Robert Percival - b. 18 April 1892 Barnsley, Yorkshire
Adcock, Annette - b. 3 Aug 1902 Oudtshoorn, Cape
Adlam, Cecil Ernest - b. 29 May 1895
Adlam, Harold Sidney - b. 3 June 1877 Durban
Adrain, Alan Gordon - b. 12 Jan 1900 Durban
Agar, Sylvia Jessie - b. 22 May 1909 Durban
Agar, Victor Charles - b. 3 May 1904 Durban
Agg, Frank George - b. 11 Sept 1869 Glasgow
Ahrens, Karl Heinrich Ferdinand Wilhelm - b. 10 Nov 1880 Hermannsburg, Natal
Aitchison, Francis George - b. 16 March 1886 Queenstown, Cape
Aitchison, Rev Samuel
Aitchison, William - b. 16 Dec 1889 Durham, England
Akerman, Conrad - b. 8 Oct 1878 Pietermaritburg
Akers, Arthur - b. 16 Sept 1881 London
Albertyn, Christopher James - b. 28 Feb 1891 Graaff Reinet, Cape
Alborough, Gertrude A - b. Devonshire
Alder, William Douglas - b. 8 Jan 1907 Johannesburg
Alexander, James Arnot - b. 5 Aug 1888 Uddington, Lanarkshire, Scotland
Alexander, John Struan
Alexander, Maurice Jeffrey - b. 30 March 1891 Uddington near Glasgow
Alexander, Richard Pomeroy - b. 29 Oct 1894 Durban
Alexander, Ernest Richard - b. 5 April 1888 London
Alexander, William George, Lieut-Colonel - b. 13 March 1884 Port Elizabeth, Cape
Allan, Alan Vere - b. 5 April 1886 Pietermaritzburg
Allanson, Herbert Evelyn - b. 7 June 1882 Pietermaritzburg
Allaway, George Newton Pearman - b. 14 June 1899 Durban
Allen, Alan - b. 30 Oct 1881 Portsmouth, Hampshire
Allen, Charles Edwin - b. 16 Nov 1893 Paris, France
Allen, Richmond Robert - b. 19 Dec 1852
Allison, Albert Thurlow - b. 26 May 1893 Natal
Allison, Wilson Mayne - b. 28 Feb 1897 Ladysmith
Allkins, L Ambrose - b. 1841 Newport, Shropshire
Allsopp, Arthur Herbert - b. 24 July 1892 Ladysmith
Allsopp, Ernest Selby - b. 21 Oct 1866 Palmerton, Pondoland, Cape
Allsopp, John Geoffrey - b. 1 Dec 1900 Durban
Alston, Agnes Kirkland
Altmann, Hendrik - b. 2 Jan 1875 Holland
Alty, Arram Stanley - b. 2 May 1910 Cairo, Egypt
Amos, Sidney Thomas Arundell - b. 3 March 1876 Clevedon, Somerset
Andersen, Nils - b. 26 Sept 1897 Drammen, Norway
Andersen, Reidar - b. 20 June 1903 Norway
Anderson, Allan George - b. 26 Nov 1908 Durban
Anderson, David Smith Bruce - b. 14 March 1878 Dunfermline, Scotland
Anderson, Humphrey Evans Knight - b. 19 Oct 1869 Ladysmith
Anderson, Hugh Graham - b. 22 Jan 1876 Newton Hamilton, Co Armagh, Ireland
Anderson, Jean Elizabeth - b. 17 Sept 1908 Pietermaritzburg
Anderson, James Twizell - b. Charlestown, Natal
Anderson, Margaret - b. 31 May 1910 Durban
Anderson, Ralf William - b. 19 Nov 1876 London
Anderson, William King - b. 29 Aug 1861 Pinetown, Natal
Andrews, Dorthy Lucy - b. 1883 London
Andrew, Leslie Reginald - b. Pietermaritzburg
Anning, Charles Cllifford Paul - b. 4 Sept 1900 Leeds
Antrobus, Kathleen Frances - b. London
Arbuckle, Daphne - b. 13 July 1908 Pietermaritzburg
Arbuckle, Henry Ernest - b. 29 July 1877 Durban
Arbuthnot, Eric - b. 13 Sept 1889 Natal
Arbuthnot, Guy - b. 9 Jan 1882 Umzinto, Natal
Arbuthnot, Violet Adelaide Jane - b. 13 Jan 1893 Mount Frere, Cape
Argo, Alick George Airth - b. 27 Oct 1880 Durban
Armitage, Bernard Albert - b. Pietermaritzburg
Armitage, Cyril John - b. 24 July 1901
Armstrong, George Shearer - b. 10 Aug 1855 Victoria, Australia
Armstrong, John - b. 23 April 1870 Stirlingshire, Scotland
Ashburner, Edgar - b. 22 March 1877 Barrow-in-Furness, England
Ashort, Fred - b. 1909 Rossburg, Natal
Ashworth, Harold Gwyn - b. 2 Jan 1897 Leeds, England
Askew, Athelstan Wycliffe - b. April 1889 Durban
Askew, Oswald James - b. Jan 1865 Parkgate, Rawmarsh, Yorkshire
Astbury, Harold Stanley, Rev - b. 23 Oct 1889 Smethwick, Staffordshire
Astrup,Rt Rev Johannes - b. 3 Dec 1872
Atkinson, Sidney James Montfort - b. 14 March 1901 Durban
Attersoll, Charles Edgar - b. 31 Dec 1882 Durban
Attwood, Arthur James, Major - b. 13 June 1870 London
Aubrey, Sidney Ernes
Austin, William Reginald Hessett - b. Vryheid, Natal
Aylen, Charles Arthur William - b. 12 March 1882 Wick NB

Many of these biographies include a small photograph. 

Souvenir Saturday: letter from Ladysmith 1900

One of the best sources of information about an ancestor is original correspondence written by him, or, failing that, by his contemporaries. Sometimes more is gleaned from the people who knew him than from the ancestor's own letters, in which he may have been reticent about the details later to be of special interest to his descendants.

Fortunately for the Smith family, a number of letters written during the siege of Ladysmith by William Dixon Smith, Lieut Quartermaster of the Border Mounted Rifles, survived and were preserved. Among them was one of which Smith was not the author. This was written by Captain W Arnott of the BMR to his wife Betsy and took the form of a long essay to which he continued to add pages for the duration of the siege, as there was no way of sending any mail out of the beleaguered town.  

From Arnott's letter, we learn more about William Dixon Smith's final few days before he died at Intombi hospital camp on 13 January 1900.

Poor Smith of Umzinto died of fever last week. His was a very peculiar case. He felt poorly for a few days and was quite indignant when the Dr sent him to hospital. They kept him there for a fortnight and as [he] got neither better nor worse they sent him out to the Neutral camp at Ntombi spruit thinking that the change of air might improve him. It wasn't to be, poor fellow.

In fact, it's likely that the change of air, far  from doing William any good, may have worsened his condition as by that stage enteric and dysentery were rife at Intombi and men were dying like flies.

Ironically, William's own last communication with his family, who were awaiting  news anxiously in Umzinto, was a telegram sent by heliograph, intending to reassure his wife with the optimistic message 'All Well'.


For a group photo of the BMR officers, including Smith and Arnott, see
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/05/souvenir-saturday-natal-border-mounted.html

and of William Dixon Smith in his BMR uniform
molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2015/01/souvenir-saturday-william-dixon-smith.html


.

Intombi Cemetery Memorials, Ladysmith: Anglo-Boer War 1899 21

IN MEMORY OF THE BRITISH OFFICERS AND MEN
who died in the Intombi Camp between November 1899 and March 1900
Erected by the South African War Graves Board
'As in Adam all Die, so also in Christ all be made Alive'
1. Cor. 15: 22

Story of Alfred D Alborough

Dedicated to Alfred D Alborough born March 1872 and died at Intombi hospital outside Ladysmith on 14th March 1900 from enteric. Alfred was a Trooper with the Border Mounted Rifles.

Son of William Alborough b15th Dec 1835 Norfolk d13th April 1892. William is buried at Boston Natal. Mother was Anne Elizabeth Sleightholme b1846 Sleights York d19th August 1877. William and Anne met in Natal and married on the 9th June 1863. They had 6 children, Albert Parker, John, William, Henry, Alfred D, Walter and Charles.

Note William Alborough arrived in South Africa on the 20th May 1855 with his father William Alborough senior and a sister Jane. Jane married a Robert Bloy and the descendants of this family still live in Natal

Intombi Hospital, Ladysmith 14 March 1900. From the diary of HE Fernandez Medical Officer at the above hospital: 'To tell you the truth, this place with all its horrors and misery and worry is beginning to get on my nerves. Every one of our Staff of Doctors has gone except Buntine, who still keeps on. Ladysmith itself (4 and a half miles away) In my big marquee about the same time I lost a man named Alborough quite unexpectedly whose brother was sent away from here a few days ago with the most hopeful account of the patients condition.'

Anyone interested in the Alborough surname may contact Derek Austin for copy of scanned handwritten family tree:
dubbin_1@bigpond.com

Note: Alborough's name is among the Border Mounted Rifles on one of the large memorials shown above. As he was not buried at Intombi Cemetery there is no separate grave or Memorial Inscription for him there.

Intombi Cemetery Memorials, Ladysmith: Anglo-Boer War 1899 20

UHLMANN, W - Trooper, Border Mounted Rifles
d. 30th Jan 1900
(Note that the date of death is given as 20th January in the NMR Regimental History p 90)

VERN, P - Private, 1st Devonshire Regt.
d. 18th Feb 1900, aged 21

VYVYAN, Kenneth M - Border Mounted Rifles
d. Intombi (of enteric) March 10th 1900 aged 21 years
'Dearly Loved Son of Rev Thomas Grenfell and Edith May Vyvyan
Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori'

UNKNOWN SOLDIER - of 2nd Batt Rifle Brigade
who died at Intombi Camp on Feb 22nd 1900 of enteric fever
(Upper part of memorial, which would have given the name of the deceased,
is missing and, during renovating and restoring of the cemetery,  incorrectly replaced by Border Mounted Rifles cross. It is possible that this upper portion should be that attached to the memorial of William Dixon Smith.)

Photographs: Dixon-Smith

For more information on Intombi enter the word Intombi in this blog's search facility

Intombi Cemetery Memorials, Ladysmith: Anglo-Boer War 1899 19

STRAUSS, O - Trooper, Border Mounted Rifles
d. 17th December 1899 (of dysentery)

TAYLOR, JG - Trooper, Imperial Light Horse
d. 20 Dec 1899
(Plaque on ILH Wall of Remembrance)

TUPMAN, Kenneth Lyon - Captain, The King's Regt.
d. during the Siege of Ladysmith Feb 4th 1900, aged 30 years
'Blessed are the pure in heart'

TUPMAN, KL - Capt. The King's Regt.
d. 4 Feb 1900 during the Siege of Ladysmith aged 30 years
This stone has been erected by his brother officers
in affectionate remembrance

Photographs: Dixon-Smith

For more on Intombi enter that term in this blog's search facility

New book on wood and iron buildings of Natal

New book highlights Natal's wood and iron architecture

Durban's prolific professor is at it again. After the publication of two major works recently - a three-volume, detailed illustrated history of the port of Durban, and an in-depth look at Durban Light Infantry and its relationship with the city since 1854 - Brian Kearney has produced another fascinating book, Stern Utility - The wood and iron architecture of Natal.


A rather grand old house on Durban's Bay, at Island View.


When I first arrived in Durban from Kimberley in the late 1970s, I was no stranger to wood and iron houses as there were still plenty of them in my home town. And during the first few decades in my adopted city I was to live in three.
They were wonderful party years and the houses were ideal for communes as landlords did not much care what was done to the property; we even built a concrete ramp at one, the "Great, Grey Battleship" in Churchill Road, so that our gleaming motorcycles could safely be ridden into the large back area where they became "portable furniture".
Kearney, who is Emeritus Professor of Architecture at the University of Natal, has looked at corrugated iron - a key product of the 19th century and one which made the physical fabric of the British empire possible; the way in which it became an industrialised building system driven by entrepreneurial manufacturers, symbolic of many political issues and closely bound to the social and economic history of Natal. It also tells how it became an architecture of the poor.
In his words, this is a publication about a simple and economical building system which was home-grown and used extensively in Natal from 1870 to 1930.
The system used a timber frame covered with sheets of corrugated iron or steel and had light timber trusses with corrugated roof sheeting. It was economical in that most of the parts could be prefabricated in factories and either supplied in a complete kit form or built on site from the easily available components.
The publication describes the origins of the materials; galvanised corrugated iron and steel, timber framing and nails. Local wood and iron buildings had roots in 19th century prefabrication, and by 1860 British buildings were being imported into Natal. But within 10 years, a home-grown species had evolved. Through the entrepreneurship of building material and timber merchants with carpenter-builders, the system spread throughout the Colony and into the interior of South Africa, especially the mining areas of Kimberley, Barberton and the Witwatersrand.
This is the story of that evolution, about the sternness and the utility; about its use in many building types - houses, churches, temples, barracks, industries, railway stations, and others. It tells of the geographical distribution in Natal of its physical and social problems, about its official unpopularity and social rejection, and of how the sternness was disguised within the more socially acceptable domestic forms of masonry structures. Thus it is also the story of how it came to be an architecture of the poor.
Interestingly, the two bestknown wood and iron buildings in the country have strong links to extraordinary historical personalities of the 20th century - Field Marshall Jan Smuts and Mahatma Gandhi.
Smuts's house, Doornkloof at Irene, now a Smuts museum, was initially a portion of a military mess at Middleburg for British officers - the men against whom he fought during the Anglo-Boer War.
Gandhi was also an adversary of Smuts - and his house in Phoenix is the other.
Unfortunately, these relics of the past are on the brink of extinction. In Kearney's words rust, borer and white ants take their annual toll. But even more pressure, or perhaps a growing sense of unininterest, comes from most of those who owned and lived in them who naturally seek a less stern and more socially acceptable icon of home.
The soft-covered book has 100 pages and numerous photographs and drawings. Limited copies are available at R170 from rebt-AT-telkomsa-DOT-net or on 031 2011 471.
Trevor Bruce
The Independent on Saturday

Posted at 07:06AM Jan 19, 2015 by Editor in Durban  | 

Intombi Cemetery Memorials, Ladysmith: Anglo-Boer War 1899 18

SAUNDERS, WGB - Trooper, Imperial Light Horse
d. 10 Jan 1900 from wounds received at Wagon Hill
(Plaque on ILH Wall of Remembrance)

SHAW, Eustace Herbert - Natal Carbineers
of Talavera Umgeni County; rejoined on the outbreak of war;
one of the defenders of Ladysmith who died near this spot 19th February 1900, aged 36 years
'True Soldier: True Son: True Brother'

SMITH, David Guthrie - Trooper, ILH
died of wounds 12th Nov 1899, aged 23 years

Photographs: Dixon-Smith

For more on Intombi enter that term in this blog's search facility

Intombi Cemetery Memorials, Ladysmith: Anglo-Boer War 1899 17

RAW, SW - Trooper, Natal Carbineers
d. Intombi Jan 11th 1900 aged 23
'Not gone from memory, not gone from love, but gone to his father's home above'

1st & 2nd Battn. King's Royal Rifles
Obelisk in memory of N.C.O's and Riflemen who died of wounds or disease during the Siege of Ladysmith between 2nd November 1899 and 28th February 1900; this stone is erected as a token of affection and regard by their Comrades

Arm. Sgt, Cr. Sgt and Sergeants:

DELANEY, D
BOXALL, H
POCOCK, H
TURNER, W
LUCAS, C

Corporals:
HOPE, T
WHITE, H
STACEY, W
JACKSON, J
LITTLEBOY, C
YOUNG, W
PRIESTLEY, J

Lance Corporals:
AYRES, F
HARTE, T
HODSON, T
CHOUFFOTT, A
SCOTT, T
PEPPER, F
MASKELL, W
SOWDEN, T

Riflemen:
SPARSHOTT, H
ETHERINGTON, J
THOMAS, E
BUTLER, J
HULSE, W
BAXTER, C
SMITH, C
GOOCH, H
KIMPSON C
FENTON, R
CARNEY, J
SAUNDERS, E
SMITH, E
SMITH, T
SPENCER, A
THOMPSON, J
WALLIS, A
WHITEHEAD, J
WREAKS, W
BEEMAN, J
HERBERT, G
TAYLOR, C
BROGDEN, J
NEVILLE, H
BENNETT, R
AHERN, M
LONG, W
SILVEY, J
TAYLOR, E
MATTHEWSON, A
MUNN, A
CUNNINGHAM, W
ANDERSON, W
CONNOLLY, J
BARTON, FT
LEATHERBARROW, H
HALL, T
DOBBINS, A
BROWN, C
DONEGAN, T
NASON, W
KITCHING, T
ALLSOPP, H
O'HEARN, M
KNEE, W
CLARKE, F
WESTGATE, A
IGGLEDON, S

The Queen's South Africa Medal

(QSA) would have been awarded to all the

men mentioned in these memorials at Intombi.

Photographs: Dixon-Smith

For more on Intombi enter that tern in this blog's search facility

Intombi Cemetery Memorials, Ladysmith: Anglo-Boer War 1899 16

PRICE-DENT, PH (or F?) - Captain, Devonshire Regt.
d. of wounds received in action Jan 1st 1900
Siege of Ladysmith
Aged 30 years
'R.I.P.'

Royal Army Medical Corps, Natal Army
killed in action or died from wounds or disease
Boer War 1899-1902 'R.I.P.'

Majors:
WALKER, CP
MINNIEGE, J
GRAY, EW
HILLIARD, G (C.M.G.)

Captains:
HUGHES, MI
HOLT, RHE
WALKER, GS

Lieuts:
JONES, GWG
ONRAET, HB

WARING, W Major, Militia M.S.C.

HALL-OWEN, J, Capt. Vict. M.M.S.
HALL, AW, V.M.C. Lieut

STOKES, W, Consulting Surgeon

Civil Surgeons:
IRVINE, R
PRESTWICK, J
SMITH, E
WICKER, S

Nursing Sisters:
CALCLEIGH, J
CHOWN, SC
FATHERS, L
GARDINER, EM
TRERESA (?)

WATKEN, WH, Sgt Maj

2nd Class Staff Sergeants:
BARRY, R
BLACKFORD, J
JARVIS, CW
WILMOT, J

Sergeants:
BRIGHT, J
BRINGESS, H
MURRAY, R

Corporals:
BISHOP, A
GRAY, H
READ, A
SCARLETT, WA
UNDERWOOD, H

Privates:
AYRIS, S
BEESTON, AH
BINNS, H
CHEETHAM, S
COTTON, D
COWLAND, R
FISHER, I
FOSTER, J
FROST, H
GALE, EH
GIBSON, W
GREENOW, J
HAROLD, HW
HAYNES, M
HEWLETT, W
HORTON, ES
HORTON, J
LAMB, WF
MAPLEY, AH
MAPKLEY, W
MARSH, S
MOON, A
PHILLIPS, T
RODWELL, J
SIBERRY, J
SOUTHAM, A
SPENCE, A
SWAIN, WI
THRUSH, F
VANDRILL, H
WHARTON, T
WILLIAMSON, G
WILSON, D
WOOD, FG

Note: The Royal Army Medical Corps was formed in 1898 by amalgamating the Medical Staff (officers) and Medical Staff Corps (men). A surgeon, with a small staff, was attached to every unit. At his disposal were trained ambulance men (2 for each company). Every brigade of infantry or cavalry had a medical company, each in action being divided into an ambulance section, a collection station, the ambulances and a dressing station. Wounded were brought to the dressing stations by the ambulances and ambulance men, and after being treated were passed on, if necessary, to field hospitals. A field hospital was attached to every division, and to the corps troops. In all, an army corps had 10 field hospitals, each of which had room for 100 sick or wounded. The war was to highlight inadequacies of the medical corps.

Apart from caring for the wounded and sick, RAMC responsibilities included hygiene, sanitation, monitoring water supplies, etc. It was in this area that the army was found wanting. Sickness was to cause more deaths than military action in the Anglo-Boer War.

Photographs: Dixon-Smith

For more on Intombi enter that term in this blog's search facility

Souvenir Saturday: the barque Priscilla and Thomas Alfred Gadsden

The clipper barque Priscilla which brought my great great grandfather, Thomas Alfred  Gadsden, to Natal in June 1863. The Priscilla, one of the earliest of the White Cross clippers (others were the Silvery Wave, the Verulam, Isabella Hartley and Burton Stather) was a frequent visitor to the Colony during the 1860s and 70s.

Advertisements in The Natal Mercury reveal that the Priscilla in November 1863 made the fastest passage then on record from Natal to England, i.e. 52 days.

For more on her captain, Brown, see
http://molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/04/souvenir-saturday-captain-george-brown.html

.For more on Thomas Alfred Gadsden and Priscilla see Keeper of the Bluff Light:
http://molegenealogy.blogspot.com/2014/08/keeper-of-bluff-light-thomas-alfred.html


Acknowledgement: Tom Chivers