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Roger Edward Roe

Conductor, Army Service Corps

- Queens South Africa Medal to 977 Condr. R.E. Roe, A.S.C.

Roger Roe was born in the Grahamstown area of the Eastern Cape on 15 June 1877 the son of John Roe and Ellie Jacoba (Elsie Jacoba Ferreira), his wife. Roe senior was a Farmer by occupation in the Nezaar are of Grahamstown which, at the time of Roger’s birth, was a wild and isolated spot preyed on by marauding Pondo tribes hell-bent on depriving the white frontier settlers of their livestock, their livelihood and, very often, their very lives.

Life was tough for these intrepid settlers and bringing a child into the world would have been a daunting prospect for most. On 8 November 1877 Roe was baptised in St. George’s Cathedral and would most likely have been exposed to a rudimentary education as he got older designed, in the main, to furnish him with skills suited to assisting his father on the farm.

When 23 years of age the Anglo Boer War broke out in South Africa and, as things progressed, the need for Conductors, Drivers and others to assist with the transportation of goods and ammunition for the Imperial forces became more pressing. Whole swathes of men were recruited for the Imperial cause many of them falling under the auspices of companies specially created among the Army Service Corps – one such company was the 42nd and one such man was Roger Roe.

Quite where he was deployed is difficult to determine as the records in respect of the A.S.C. volunteer companies are almost non-existent. One has to turn to the respective medal rolls to gain insight into their movements. In the case of Roe his medal was issued off the roll dated 6 December 1901 at Pietersburg. The insinuation would then be that he was operational in the far north of the Transvaal – this is borne out by a number of his colleagues receiving the Transvaal clasp to their Queens Medal. Roe wasn’t among this number and was awarded the medal without clasp after he had applied for it only in 1907.

But despite being part of an essential support structure to the British troops Roe would be remembered for other reasons best described in the transcripts of court papers on 19 October 1916. On that day the matter between Roger Edward Roe, Plaintiff and Florence Roe (born Robinson) was heard in the Supreme Court in the Wits Local Division. The Plaintiffs Declaration stated that:

- He was a Miner residing at No. 4 Luttig Street, Fordsburg (Johannesburg)
- He was married to the Defendant on 22 September 1915 at Johannesburg which marriage still subsists.
- On the day of the marriage and immediately after the ceremony defendant left for Beaufort West, Cape Province, where she stayed until 8 October 1915.
- On her return to Johannesburg she stayed with her mother in Johannesburg and did not live with the Plaintiff
- Plaintiff has never had connection with the Defendant notwithstanding which fact defendant is pregnant and expects shortly to be delivered of a child of which Plaintiff is not the father.

On the basis of the above Roe was, not unreasonably it has to be said, asking for a decree of divorce by reason of adultery with some person to the Plaintiff unknown.

In a full statement Roe stated that,

“After my marriage I sent my wife away to Beaufort West for a honeymoon. (Odd honeymoon with him not there). I remained behind working. She came back to her mother’s house. (Here it must be remembered that she was only 16 years old). She never lived with me and I have never had connection with her. She came to my house last month three days from the 14th to the 17th. She did not sleep in the main room with me. She is to be confined at any moment. She is still with her mother.

I have not offered to take her back. When she returned from Beaufort West I asked her to return. She refused to come home. The three days she was in the house I said “What has happened now?” She said another man. On the 14th she sent word she was coming up. I was in the bedroom. I saw her when I came out. She slept in my room and I slept in the parlour.”

Mrs Roe’s mother also made a statement, “I am Florence’s mother. I saw her on the 16th of last month. She went out of the house. She was then expecting at any time. She is living with me in a Railway Cottage.”

Roe, duped no doubt into a marriage with a girl many years his junior and pregnant by another man was granted his wish and the marriage was brought to an end. Whether or not this hastened his demise or he was of a sickly disposition we will never know but not long after the divorce – on 21 August 1917 – he passed away at the age of 40.

Survived by a host of siblings in the form of William Thompson Roe; Annie Roe, Clarace Georgina Richardson; Agnes Elizabeth Logie; Gladys Emma Cawood and Albert John Roe.

One almost gets the feeling that Roger Edward Roe never had the chance to enjoy life.

Rory
Thank you for an interesting story. It is possible that Roe was a victim of silicosis (miner;s phthisis), which had reached epidemic proportions on the Witwatersrand at that time. If he was indeed a sufferer, he would not have made a very active husband, so his wife may simply have wanted his name for her child, and the payout from phthisis fund that existed at the time.
Regards
Brett