TOPIC:

THE SINGLE CLASPERS

All the written accounts of the doings of the first contingent of the Pembrokeshire Imperial Yeomanry claim their activities were limited to the Cape & Orange Free State. I suspect this is incorrect and one of the four sections the Company was split into strayed into the Transvaal as, according to the QSA medal roll, 17 of their number also earned the Transvaal clasp. Four others stand out as being single claspers only earning the Cape Colony clasp. One might expect they all returned home early suffering from the results of wounding or an illness but this was not the case for one of them. Here are their stories in order of regimental number – the ranks given are the rank they held when they boarded the S.S Montrose on 14th March 1900.

4091 Private Valentine Gibby.

Val, as he was known by his family & friends, was amongst the first of the local men to volunteer for overseas service and the eleventh to attest for service in the newly formed Pembrokeshire Imperial Yeomanry, so he was keen to be “up and at them”. He was born in the town of Pembroke Dock on St Valentine’s Day 1878, explaining his given name. In those days Pembroke Dock was still a bustling naval port although by the end of the 19th Century it had lost its former pre-eminence to Portsmouth. (Historical fact – 263 Royal Navy vessels and 5 Royal Yachts were built at Pembroke Dock.) By the start of the Boer War Val was married and a Handsome “Cab proprietor”. He married a local girl, Mary Matilda Jane Nicholas, on 12th February 1899 but he had to wait until he returned from South Africa to become a father.

Although Val would have known one end of a horse from the other he had no previous military experience as he was not a member of the local militia. At 22 years of age, he was the youngest of the handful of married men who went out to South Africa as part of the first contingent.

The Montrose docked at Cape Town on 6th April which allowed those on board to commit missives written on board to the postal system. As a result this report appeared in The Cardiff Times of 5th May 1900

THIRSTY YEOMAN

A Quaint Post Card.

It is not a matter for surprise that some of the Pembrokeshire Yeomanry should have found some difficulty in quenching their thirst whilst on board the Montrose during the journey to Cape Town. But the following copy of a post-card sent by four of them to a friend at Haverfordwest will be read with amusement. It is addressed to Mr James Keith Sime, Swan Hotel, Haverfordwest, and bears the Cape Town postmark of April 6th. The message is as follows:- “Atlantic Ocean, Tuesday, April 3rd 1900 – Please forward daily until further orders two dozen large Bass (screw stoppers), addressed Section 4, 30th Company 9th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry, South Africa. – Colonel, Kipper, Val Gib., Chris.” There is an interesting P.S., viz., “Carriage forward.” Corporal W. D. Edwards; “Kipper” means Trooper Fred Lewis; “Val. Gib.” Is short for Trooper Valentine Gibby, Pembroke Dock; and “Chris” is Trooper Chris Jones, of Hill Farm, near Haverfordwest.

“Colonel” because he was of venerable age (between you and me he was 9 years over age, a deviation from the truth he was to carry through to his enlistment for service in WW1), “Kipper” because he was a fisherman. If you want to see the outside of Norchard House near Manorbier and especially its garden, keep an eye on forthcoming gardens open under the National Garden Scheme.

Like most other Imperial Yeomanry Companies the Pembrokeshires initially went to Maitland Camp to be knocked into shape and this is where the next published missive bearing Val’s name was posted. I found it in the Carmarthen Weekly Reporter of 18th May 1900.

A PEMBROKE DOCK MAN WITH THE IMPERIAL YEOMANRY.

Trooper Valentine Gibby, of the Pembrokeshire Imperial Yeomanry, who is serving with the field force in South Africa, writing to a friend in Pembroke Dock from Maitland Camp, Cape Town, on April 16th, says:- “We had a splendid passage out, and spent a fine time on board the transport, but when we landed work started. Reveille sounds at 5 a.m., after which we feed and clean our horses, then saddle up, and off to drill, which lasts until half-past 9 or 10. Then we have breakfast, and after that clean out the lines, which are called ‘stables’, and groom our horses again. Following this we have fatigues or pass the time in the canteen – generally the former – until dinner time. After dinner we have more drill and cleaning till tea time. That we have about half-past 5, after which we go down to the baths or lounge about till the bugle sounds for bed at 9. All lights have to be out half an hour later. This is the daily routine.
“I have met a lot of Pembrokeshire men out here, and they have been very kind to all of us. Cape Town is a fine place, and it has at the present time the appearance of a very flourishing port, there being 800 or more ships lying there. Fruit is very cheap out here, but as it is getting near the end of the season it is becoming more scarce. Vegetables are very dear – onions 1d each, cabbage 1s a lb and so on. The canteen prices are also high. A small bottle of beer costs 6d. Cheese is 2s a lb, potatoes £10 a ton, butter 2s per ib. The weather is just like our hottest summer at home, but there are nice breezes blowing, which keeps us cool. I cannot give you any war news which you will not have heard through the newspapers before you get this.”



His next letter was written in Stollensbosch Camp and I found it in the Abergavenny Chronicle 25th May 1900:-

A YEOMAN’S EXPERIENCE

Trooper Valentine Gibby, of the 30th (Pembroke) Company of the Imperial Yeomanry, who is serving with the field force in South Africa writing to his parents from Stollenbosch Camp on April 28th, 1900, says:- “We arrived here all right. I am in the best of health and spirits, and I do not wish you to send anything out, as I have already more than I can carry. I have taken over a fine job now – that of company transport driver. The excellent character of the job will be apparent to you when I state that there were between 15 and 20 men competing for it. I have four very good horses, but the captain told me last night I should have a team of 10 mules, as horses are no good higher up country. We are encamped now on a grand but rugged height. There is nothing growing; everything is dry and scorched by the sun, but the mountains around look beautiful, and it is a fine sight to see the sun go down over the tops. We left Maitland Camp on Tuesday, and got here on Thursday night, stopping one night on the Durban road to guard the bridge, which the rebels had tried to blow up four times. We are lying here alongside the Royal Horse Artillery, the Bengal Lancers, all Indians (?), the 35th, 31st and 45th Companies Imperial Yeomanry, and about a dozen other regiments. We have to go two miles to water our horses, and there is another big camp there. We have a large ostrich farm of about 800 heards within two miles of us, and there are therefore plenty of ostriches knocking about our camp. Last night one of them ran through our lines – an enormous bird – and stampeded our horses, keeping us a couple of hours in getting them to rights again. I have just finished barbering the colonel, who is going on alright . . . . The country we are now in is very barren. There is no vegetation about, but they say that in the Transvaal the country is a paradise. I shall, however, want a big inducement to stay if the country is no better higher up than it is here. We go from here to Bloemfontein. We have another sergeant-major from the 31st Company – a special man, who knows his drill like a book. I had leave to go to Cape Town, and spent a pleasant evening there. I had a square meal, but stuff is very dear out here. The Regular men that are lying alongside us say that if they were treated as badly as the Yeomanry there would be mutiny in the camp; but since we have had our new sergeant-major things are improving. Edwards (Haverfordwest) has been made standing orderly to the colonel, which is a pretty soft job. Chris Jones, Fred Lewis and Forbes are all well. There is nothing of interest to write about, as we get absolutely no news here, and you get it home almost as soon as it transpires. The postman is just going to Stollenbosch, four miles away, with the letters, so I must close.”


So on 28th April 1900 Val was hail & hearty. His letters are well written implying a good education and his appreciation of sunsets shows he had a soul.

Sadly on 22nd May 1900 the South Wales Daily News reported that Trooper Valentine Gibby of the “Imperial Yeomanry (Pembroke Squadron)” was lying seriously ill in Cape Town. The more local and weekly Haverfordwest & Milford Haven Telegraph reported the same the following day but said he was in Naauport rather than Cape Town.

I think the latter location must be a misreport as today I can only find a Naaupoort to the east of Bloemfontein in what would have been Orange Free State at the time. If anybody can throw any other light on this I would be grateful.

On 6th August 1900 the Western Mail reported he had been invalided home. A surprisingly late report as his service records show he had arrived in England on 25th June 1900 and the QSA medal roll agrees with this, the right hand column comment reading “Invalided June 1900”. His service records show it was a further 5 months before he was discharged. Presumably he was receiving further medical treatment during this 5 months but his service records say he was discharged on 19th November 1900 at his own request.

At the time of the 1901 Census he and Mary Jane (she obviously did not like Matilda) were living at 44 Front Street, Pembroke Dock and Val was working on a local farm but in what capacity is illegible. A boarder appears to be helping ends meet. The 1911 Census shows them still living at the same address which only had 3 rooms. They now had two daughters, Dorothy aged 9 and Mary aged 6 but no lodger. Val is working on his own account as a “Government Contractor” at the Dockyard but he does not tell us the nature of his business. By 1921 the family had grown by three boys and moved to a larger (6 rooms) abode in Cardiff where Val had found employment in the city as the “Stable Foreman” for Spillers & Bakers, Collingdon Road, Cardiff – at the time they were one of the largest producers of flour in the British Isles. The largest of their mills, which still bears the company name in the brickwork, has been converted into luxury apartments. His remuneration must have made bringing up a family of 5 difficult because they had two lodgers. By the time of the 1939 Register the children had apparently left home, the youngest would have been 20 by then, and Val & Mary Jane have moved back to Pembrokeshire and are living in the rather more genteel town of Pembroke neighbouring Pembroke Dock. We don’t know what state of health Val was in at the time of the 29th September 1939 Register but his death was registered before the end of the year – he was aged 61 at the time.

One gets the feeling Val Gibby had a soul (admiring sunsets) and sense of humour (the postcard) and his involvement in the Boer War rather set him back and possibly made his subsequent life more difficult. I hope he retained his sense of humour and continued to admire sunsets.

The man to follow was a rather different kettle of fish.


4126 Corporal Cyril Roderic Roch

Cyril was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. His father was the owner of Llethyr Colliery. A seam of high quality coal runs through the southern half of Pembrokeshire and it was highly exploited in the 18th & 19th centuries. About the time of the Boer War much of it had been worked out but several collieries were still in operation, including LLethyr, and the last one closed in the 1940’s. Queen Victoria insisted on Pembrokeshire coal being used to power the Royal Yacht.

The Roch family had two homes, one in London where Cyril, apparently an only child, was born and the other a large and unprepossessing mansion near the colliery and known simply as Llethyr, or its anglicised version of Llether. He was born after the 1881 Census but can be found on the 1891

Census as a 10 year old pupil at a leading preparatory school near Reading, called Twyford School. No doubt this was followed by one of the leading public schools but I cannot tell you which one.

His father was also second in command of the local militia, Pembroke Yeomanry, and was the Major Roch who addressed the 3rd January 1900 recruiting meeting along with Sir Charles Picton. You might have expected Cyril to be the first to attest, thereby setting an example to other local young men, but he was actually 47th. There may have been an issue with his age – on his attestation papers his age is given as 20 years 8 months but he was actually 19 years 8 months and his admittance was against War Office regulations which required members of the Imperial Yeomanry to be at least 20 years of age. I suspect by 2nd February 1900 when recruitment was not going too well his father, blood vessels bulging, declared “bother the regulations”. At 19 years of age Cyril also declared, somewhat pretentiously, he was an “Engineer”.

Anyway Cyril set sail with the rest on 14th March 1900 and in the meantime, without even having been a member of his father’s militia, he had been promoted to Corporal – a case of nepotism? It now becomes the curious case of Corporal Cyril – his service records show he was discharged on 11th June 1900 whilst apparently still in South Africa and then he was commissioned to 2nd Lieutenant the following day. The Medal Roll tells us he was invalided home during May 1900 as Corporal Cyril. The Western Mail of 4th July 1900 confirms he was commissioned on 12th June 1900 as a 2nd Lieutenant, but the notice is amongst a list of Militia appointments and “gentleman” Cyril is to serve in the Pembroke Yeomanry Cavalry. The 31st March 1901 Census found Cyril at home in Pembrokeshire with parents, a cook and a housemaid. He now admitted to his correct age of 20 and an occupation of, assuming I have read the abbreviations correctly, 2nd Lieutenant Pembroke Yeomanry Cavalry and this role he was able to fulfil “at home”. Finally the London Times of 21 December 1902 reported that a Lieutenant C R Roch had set sail from South Africa to England on 13th December 1902 aboard the Orotova with other officers and men of the 34th (Middlesex) Company of the imperial Yeomanry. My interpretation is that somebody caused a hoohah about underage Cyril and he was quietly shipped home and trained up to serve as an officer in the third contingent of the Imperial Yeomanry who arrived in South Africa when the war was all but over.

Some time after the Boer War Cyril moved to Australia where in 1907 he married an Australian lady. They had a son born in 1909 in Mexico City!

By the start of WW1 he was back in the UK and served in three regiments – Welsh Horse, Lincoln Yeomanry & Royal Welsh Fusiliers. He attained the rank of Captain and first entered a theatre of war during September 1915 at Gallipoli. He applied for his 3 campaign medals in September 1921 and the address they were to be sent to was Boodles Club, St James St, SW1.

He is not findable on the 1921 Census but as he appears on more than one ship’s manifest going to exotic places I am sure he was enjoying himself at the time it was held.

He made the papers in 1937 regarding the “Birdham Creek Dispute”. Although he resided at the time in the King’s Road, Chelsea, he had purchased some land bordering Birdham Creek near Chichester and moored a 70 ft houseboat alongside it. This rather upset Lt-Colonel (retired) D’Arcy Willoughby Osborne of Rivermead Court, Hurlingham when he discovered he could not get his newly acquired boat past the aforesaid houseboat to moor it alongside land he owned. The latter gent took the matter to court where the judge opened proceedings by declaring “It is a thousand pities that this action ever had to be bought“. The King Solomon like judge ordered Cyril to act like a gentleman and not obstruct the creek but ruled that Cyril needed to pay only £2 of the plaintiff’s legal costs.

Cyril was still alive at the time of the 1939 Register which found him residing at Park Cottage, Wantage, Oxfordshire. He was of “Private Means” and his wife, who died in Portugal in 1957, was not amongst the three ladies living there. I think two of them were relations of Cyril’s mother as they all had “Nest” as their second given name.

His death was registered in Haverfordwest in 1951. Llethyr still stands (see photo below), although I must admit it has escaped my attention during the decade I have lived in Pembrokeshire. It is a Grade II listed building and photos show it still has a roof but probably not for long. When somebody, who likes photographing ruinous buildings (no worse than writing at length about strangers who served in the Boer War), went to photograph it in 2011, he was surprised to find somebody living in the bottom floor who told him, in no uncertain terms, to be off.




4170 Private Odo Chapman

Amongst the 115 rank and file of the first contingent of the Pembrokeshire Imperial Yeomanry there were 4 sets of brothers – the Clarkes of Cardiff, the Strouds of Surrey, the Gosses of Glamorgan and, destroying the alliterative theme, the Chapmans of Swansea.

Henry Alfred Chapman, the father of the Chapman brothers, was a portrait artist who had moved with the times and developed an extremely successful photography business located on Swansea’s High Street. He took an interest in local politics and served as a Conservative Mayor of Swansea and was a Justice of the Peace.

When 22 year old Odo attested he gave his occupation as “Clerk” and declared he was a member of the 1st Glamorgan Artillery Volunteers, one of the several Glamorgan militia units designed to provide home defence. At 5 feet 7½ inches tall and a healthy 9 stone in weight, with his military experience and affluent upbringing he was just what the War Office were after to man their newly created Imperial Yeomanry. However, his war was to be an undistinguished one as show by this article which appeared in the South Wales Daily Post of Friday 27th July 1900.

TROOPER ODO CHAPMAN.

RETURNED FROM SOUTH AFRICA.

Trooper Odo Chapman, of the Pembrokeshire Yeomanry, returned to his home at Swansea on Thursday evening, his parents did not know that he had left South Africa. and were accordingly surprised beyond measure when, about seven p.m., they received a telegram from Bath, announcing that their son Odo was travelling down from London. Trooper Chapman told a "Post" reporter that immediately after arriving in South Africa he was laid up, and that he subsequently suffered from two attacks of dysentery and one of enteric fever. Most of the time was spent at Maitland, where the doctors were overworked and the hospital arrangements bad. The postal system was infinitely worse, and parcels of tobacco, underclothing, etc., sent out to the troops had little chance of reaching the intended recipients. A few days before he came away he visited the post office, and there found the "Daily Post" tobacco which had been sent out to the Pembrokeshires. Fortunately, Sergt. Mann came down to Cape Town for some new saddlery and was able to take the tobacco back with him. Trooper Chapman voyaged to England in the Pindari, which carried about 220 invalids and convalescents, and arrived in the Thames last Monday afternoon. After a few days spent at Woolwich, Trooper Chapman came on to Swansea on a month’s furlough. There is a possibility that at the end of that time he may have to return to South Africa. Despite his unhappy experiences of the diseases soldiers are liable to contract in South Africa, Mr. Chapman looks particularly healthy just now.

His service records confirm he was invalided home on the Pindari during July 1900. The medal roll appears to put it a month earlier but this is probably based on the date he left South Africa and the service record on the date he arrived back in England. He was not discharged until 13th October 1900, according to his service records at his own request. The more I read this phrase with accompanying identical wording the more I wonder if it was a euphemism designed to protect the Army from later claims by soldier’s claiming they had been prepared to continue their service and were owed some back pay.

Odo’s personal life after the Boer War was rather complicated. Not long after he returned home he married a Harriet Sophie Waring and the 1901 census shows them living with Odo’s parents while he was working as a photographer for his father. There is evidence of Odo fathering five children but Harriet definitely was not the mother of the eldest, Eileen Margaret Chapman born in December 1901 but not baptised until 1906, the baptism record shows her mother was called Doris. The last of his children was born in 1909. At the time of the 1911 Census Odo and his two eldest children were living in a boarding house with the landlady’s unmarried daughter of similar age. The middle two children were living with Odo’s parents and the youngest with his mother who was a lady of independent means sharing a big house with her unmarried brother and sister. By 1911 Odo had had a change of career and was the proprietor of a “motor car taxi” business.

In May 1911 a short, syndicated article appeared in newspapers across the land. It reported a remarkable accident which had occurred near Swansea when the steering mechanism of a car had failed and the unnamed occupants had managed to jump out just before the car went over a cliff. The article reported the car was owned by Mr Odo Chapman.

In July 1912 Odo was taken to court over an unpaid debt but paid the debt to the court rather than face 14 days in prison.

During WW1 he served in the Royal Navy but remained land based and in this country throughout the war. His rank was given as C.M.M. which stands for Chief Motor Mechanic.

The 1921 Census found Odo listed as the only person on a return for Streatham House in Southend. He gave his status as “boarder” and his occupation as “nil”. Somebody, presumably the enumerator, has written in red ink “Retired Motor Garage Proprietor”, Odo was 43 years of age at this stage. Meanwhile the two eldest of his children were living with their Aunt Daisy who along with his brother Bert, who also sailed on the Montrose, was running the photographic business following the death of the 1915 death of their father. The three youngest of Odo’s children were boarding with three spinster sisters in neighbouring Oystermouth, the middle one of them was working for Daisy & Bert.

The 1939 Register finds Odo sharing 1 Promenade Crescent, Oystermouth with an Alice Thomas, four years his junior. Bert reported he was a retired motor engineer and Alice was a retired assistant school mistress.

Odo died on Boxing Day 1943 whilst still living at 1 Promenade Crescent. On the 1911 & 1921 Census returns he gave his marital status as “Married” and he is shown as married on the 1939 Register. His 1944 probate named “Harriet Sophie Chapman widow” as executor of his will. I cannot find Harriet on the 1921 Census or the 1939 Register and neither can I find a record of her death.

Odo was also acknowledged as a high class chess player – the photo below from the Western Mail of 20th October 1926 shows him studying the board following winning a top flight tournament in London. The photo is obviously posed and the credit shows it was taken by a member of the family business. Alongside is another product of the family business, date unknown but possibly taken about the time of the Boer War – I feel there must have been H A Chapman studio photos of Odo & Bert in IY uniform – anybody out there possess one?



I should point out that his elder brother, 4169 “Bert” Chapman, appears to have been very different in character. He stayed the course in South Africa and at one time was Acting Quartermaster Sergeant although he was discharged with the rank of Corporal. He was much more considered in his approach to marriage leaving it until he was 42, some 15 years after he returned from South Africa.
Regarding Odo the word feckless comes to mind and I do wonder if he was quite as ill in South Africa as he made out, and you get the impression the interviewing reporter was thinking the same. Regarding the name Odo – Odo was the given name of William the Conqueror’s half brother and, although historians consider him to have been scandalously immoral, William made him Bishop of Bayeux. When I got to Odo Champman’s probate I realised his full name was Odo Augustus Knight Chapman – something he did not admit to when he attested – were his initials intended to spell OAK?


4192 Private Alec Robert Walters

Nearly the last to attest on 14th February 1900. He gave his place of birth as Moose Jaw, North West Territories, Canada and his occupation as “Rancher”. He was 21 years and 3 months old, 5 feet 8½ inches tall and weighed in at 11 stone. His complexion was fair, his eyes were blue and he had fair hair.

He was definitely the right sort of chap for the Imperial Yeomanry as shown by an article in the South Wales Daily News of 14th March 1900 which briefly reviewed several members of Pembrokeshire Imperial Yeomanry just as they were boarding the S.S. Montrose. He was described thus “One of the most interesting members of the squadron is Trooper A. R. Walters, who is a Canadian formerly in the North-West Police. He is one of the crack riders of the squadron and can lean over and pluck up a handkerchief from the ground at full gallop.”

On 11th April 1900, six days after the Company disembarked in South Africa and whilst they were still at Maitland Camp, 4192 Alec Robert Walters deserted!

That is all I can tell you about him except for the red ink added to his service records – “Died – S Africa 22.1.01.” The Medal Roll, dated July 8th 1901, shows him being awarded the QSA with a single clasp but comments he deserted during May 1900.

Thus the shattering of a childhood illusion – an unreliable “Mountie”! I wonder if he realised it would be a long time, if ever, before the Pembrokeshires would see action and, impatient to be “up and at them”, he absconded to a more “exciting” unit who asked few questions and his January 1901 death was war related. In doing this he may have changed his name making him untraceable. Can anybody help?



The recorded temperature range in Moose Jaw is from -47.8 centigrade to +43.3 centigrade![/size]

Here is a pair of tribute medals presented to 4191 Trooper Richard GORDON-ROBERTS, 30th (Pembrokeshire) Company, 9th Bn. Imperial Yeomanry, the former owner of the two Fauresmith photographs posted at the beginning of this thread:

CARNARVON TRIBUTE MEDAL
INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY TRIBUTE MEDAL

Purchased with 4 clasp QSA: Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 (4191 Pte. R.G. Roberts, 30th. Coy. 9th. Imp. Yeo.)






North Wales Express, 19th July 1901

RETURN HOME OF COUNCILLOR GORDON ROBERTS.

ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION.

PRESENTATION OF A GOLD MEDAL.

The people of Carnarvon, usually phlegmatic, displayed a great deal of enthusiasm on Friday night on the occasion of the return home of Mr R. Gordon Roberts (of the firm of Messrs Nee and Gordon Roberts), and a member of the Carnarvon Town Council, who had served with the Pembrokeshire Yeomanry in South Africa. Mr Roberts was received at the railway station by the Mayor (Mr R. O. Roberts) and members of the Town Council, and his subsequent appearance in the station yard was greeted with great cheering by the immense crowd that had congregated to welcome the hero of the hour. A procession, consisting of the Rifle and Artillery Volunteers (in command of Captains J. Williams, W. Lloyd Griffith, and W. C. Whiskin), and the Mayor and Corporation, having been formed, the bands of the two corps struck up a well-known air, and a start was made towards the Guild Hall, where the presentation of a gold medal was to be made to Councillor Roberts, in recognition of his services to the Empire. The streets leading from the station were lined with people who cheered vociferously, and waved handkerchiefs and bannerettes as the procession, with Mr Gordon Roberts in its midst, went by. No sooner had the hall been reached than it was filled to overflowing, Mr Gordon Roberts being carried shoulder high to the platform by two Volunteers in khaki, who recently returned from South Africa. The proceedings were presided over by the Mayor, who was supported on the platform by members of the Town Council and others.

The Mayor said that they had gathered together to extend to their fellow-townsman, Trooper-Councillor R. Gordon Roberts, a welcome home (cheers). They were all pleased to see him amongst them once again looking so well after the hard work he must have had to do in South Africa. It was his duty that night, on behalf of the people of Carnarvon, who had given Councillor Roberts a most hearty reception, to present the latter with a gold medal similar to the one presented to other Carnarvon Volunteers who had returned from the war. On one side were the arms of the borough, and on the other was the following inscription —"Presented to Trooper-Councillor R. Gordon Roberts on his return from active service in South Africa".

The medal was then handed by the Mayor to Councillor Gordon Roberts amid great and continued cheering, followed by the singing of "He's a jolly good fellow”.

Councillor Roberts, in returning thanks, said that he never expected to receive a presentation from his fellow-townspeople, whose enthusiastic reception he highly appreciated. He felt that there was very little left of him after what he had just gone through – (laughter) – and he thought that though he had escaped the shots of the Boers, he was going to be crushed to death on his native heath (laughter). He was pleased to know that the Carnarvon people appreciated the work done by the soldiers, and especially the Volunteers, in South Africa.



..

Neville - once again very many thanks for this.

I am still processing all the information I have found about him. Here is a press clipping regarding his 1908 wedding which provides a photo of him, albeit not very good quality.



I have a problem with the information you have supplied as based on the first contingent medal rolls & his service records he was not one of the 17 (mentioned in previous post) members of the first contingent who received the Transvaal clasp and I have him in my database as a 3 clasper.

He was 29 years and 7 months when he attested making him 5 years above average for the first contingent. He was also one of the last two to attest - so I suspect he left it to the last minute for the first contingent and Pembrokeshire had the only vacancies left amongst the various Welsh IY Companies.

He & Edith Mary had two daughters. He died in 1957 with his death being registered in Liverpool, whether he had moved there or died there whilst visiting or in hospital I have yet to discover.

His father died when he was 3 in 1874 and was a Maltser according to his probate but a "Hop, Ale & Porter Merchant" according to the 1871 Census. His mother, who was one of the Williams of Glandwr, in widowhood shortened it to "Ale Merchant". His upbringing benefitted from the help of at least one servant and I am sure he went to a school of note but have no idea which one. So definitely of the right class for first contingent IY.

I am still correcting the messy transcription of the article you quote as delivered by "Welsh Newspapers Online". The version I have is considerably longer and is followed by a second covering the same event. When the great & good of Caernarvon allow him to respond he appears to have some rather interesting things to say about his motivation for serving and the war itself. I will eventually deliver a full write-up on him and your contribution will add much value to it.

Regards, David.

PS Gordon started out as a second given name and he seems to become R Gordon Roberts some time before he attested. I have 4 examples of his signature and he never attempts to hyphenate the Gordon & Roberts.

PPS I also have a description of his bride's dress if you are interested in such matters.

David,

The Transvaal clasp is a tailor's copy. I also failed to mention that the group came with a re-named KSA, with SA01 & SA02 clasps, which Gordon Roberts definitely wasn't entitled to. It seems he had no qualms about wearing medals and bars that he had not earned..!

Perhaps the changing of his name to a doubled-barrelled version was part of the same attempt at self-aggrandisement.

I also have a silver spirit flask, which was presented to Gordon Roberts on his departure for South Africa. It is engraved: "PRESENTED / BY THE / Carnarvon Conservative / Working Men's Club / TO / its Secretary / R. GORDON ROBERTS ESQ. / (SOLICITOR) / In recognition of his gallantry / in going to the front / with the / Imperial Yeomanry / during the / SOUTH AFRICAN CAMPAIGN / February 1900." Also with monogram "RGR". Hallmarked: "MN & WB" [for Mappin & Webb Ltd], London 1899. Base stamped "MAPPIN & WEBB / 2 QUEEN VICTORIA ST. / LONDON".



Other places that presented tribute medals to 30th Company men were:

St Just in Penwith, Cornwall
4109 Squadron-Sergeant-Major Edwin Richard C. MILLETT

Swansea
4149 Trooper David Alexander SUTHERLAND

Ogmore Valley & Nantymoel, Glamorganshire
4123 Trooper Thomas WARLOW

Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorganshire
20570 Trooper Patrick Cuthbert KIVILIN [Kivelin]

Chepstow, Monmouthshire
4195 Trooper Albert Veysey LANG


Neville

Neville,

Just found the probate for the now hyphenated Richard Gordon-Roberts - he died in Loudres Hospital, Liverpool but was living on Anglesey at the time. Exact date of death 10th December 1957 meaning he was 87 years of age when he died. His medal wearing habits do rather devalue his fine words delivered to the "great & good" of Caernarvon in July 1901.

I had been meaning to contact you re Thomas Warlow. In your piece regarding the Ogmore Valley & Nantymoel Tribute Medal you name him as a potential recipient. He was considered an Ogmoreite by the Rhondda Leader of 27th July 1901 which had the following para in the "odds & sods" section:

"Another Ogmoreite has returned from the South African war, looking bronzed and 'fit'. We refer to Mr Thomas Warlow who volunteered for service, and joined the Pembroke Yeomanry. Mr Warlow returned to Nantymoel on Saturday last. His arrival being sooner than expected, there was no demonstration. The gallant yeoman leaves early next month to take up his duties in the Pembroke Police force."

He was born in a hamlet to the west of Haverfordwest, Penbrokeshire where his father was a policeman. By 1891 he was living with his aunt & uncle in Nantymoel although his parents will still alive and living in Pembrokeshire. On the census return his occupation is "labourer" as is his uncle's. When he attests in 1900 he gives his occupation as "Policeman" and his father, now living in Milford Haven, Pembrokeshire, as his NoK.

So he was only an Ogmoreite by residence and if he did qualify for the Tribute Medal on those grounds his police duties in Pembrokeshire may have prevented him attending the award ceremony.

By 1911 he was married with 3 children and still a Police Constable. By 1921 the family had moved to Haverfordwest and grown by 1 and Thomas's remuneration had increased to cope with the extra mouth to feed as he was now a Police Sergeant. He died whilst living at Grosvenor House, Saundersfoot, Pembrokeshire in 1960 aged 86 and was buried in St Mary's in Tenby - I avoid Tenby during the tourist season but will have a look for his grave in the autumn.

Kivilin/Kivelin - his regimental number makes him second contingent and somebody for investigation at a future date, if ever.

Off the top of my head - Millett - north Welsh parents who emigrated to NZ where he was born. The family returned to UK before the start of the ABW and settled in St Just, Cornwall. He lasted the course in SA and when discharged went back to St Just. Married there but then emigrated to SA where he died.

Sutherland - just had a quick look at the 18 items in his folder - born & raised in Swansea, he lasted the course in SA, came home and then went back out with the third contingent and asked to be discharged in SA in July 1902 so he could join the Jo'burg Mounted Police. But back in Swansea by 1911 and at the time of the census he had been married for a year and they had a babe in arms. He died in Swansea in November 1912 aged 36. He could not speak Welsh but in a letter home by a comrade he was referred to as "Dai".

BY MY RECKONING 11 SHOULD HAVE BEEN ELIGIBLE FOR THE SWANSEA TRIBUTE MEDAL ON BIRTH ALONE, RESIDENCE WOULD ALMOST DOUBLE THE NUMBER & THAT IS WITHOUT CONSIDERING SECOND & THIRD CONTINGENT.

The dinner gong has just sounded so Lang will have to wait.

David.

I have gone through all the material I had gathered regarding Albert Vesey Lang and this is the outcome:

Albert Vesey Lang

Date of birth – a very good question: 14th November 1878 according to his baptism record which agrees with the registration of his birth in the last quarter of 1878 and his claimed 21 years and 3 months when he attested in Tenby on 16th February 1900. However, by the time he gets married in June 1915 and attests for the second time in March 1917 he gave his date of birth as 14th November 1879.

Place of birth: Newport, Monmouthshire.

Parents: William Shaxson Lang & Mary Vesey.

Baptism: 3rd March 1894 in Monmouth – yes he was 15 at the time, it was a batch baptism with his 17 and 13 year old brothers, the last was called Everest. I presume an earlier batch baptism had covered the eldest four children – all girls. Perhaps the arrival of boys had put the parents into a state of shock and they overlooked ensuring their pathway to heaven.

Father’s occupation: 1881 Census = Ship & Boat Builder employing 120 men; 1894 Baptism Records = Engineer & Dockowner.

Alberts occupations: 1900 (first attestation) = Gentleman; 1903 (emigration to Canada) = Miner; 1915 (wedding) = Builder; 1917 (second attestation) = Builder, 1921 Census = difficult to read but could be Corporal; 1931 Census = Poultry Farmer.

Residences: 1881 = Newport; 1900 = Shirenewton nr Chepstow; 1915 = Vancouver, British Columbia; 1921 & 1931 = South Saanich, BC. (The Saanich Peninsula is immediately north of Victoria, BC and I think South Saanich is a suburb of Victoria).

Boer War – He had no previous military experience when he attested. He returned home a couple of months early but the QSA medal roll or his service records do not indicate he was invalided home. He was discharged “at his own request” on 18th June 1901 having completed 1 year and 123 days of military service of which 1 year and 37 days counted as overseas service. Thus he was not discharged until 6 days after the Chepstow Tribute Medals were presented which might account for his absence.

Emigration to Canada: Set sail on 22nd April 1903 aboard the Canada bound for Quebec & Montreal. He was accompanied by his older brother (Harold Shaxson) and they both gave their occupations as miner.

Marriage – June 1915 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to Gertrude Mary Burridge born in Bristol, England. Both were 36 years of age at the time. By the time of the 1921 Census they had two children and no additions by the time of the 1931 Census.

Great War: He attested on 3rd March 1917 in Victoria, British Columbia where he was living at the time. and appears to have served in the British Columbia Cyclist Platoon. I know no more about his Great War except he survived it. If I have read the 1921 Census correctly it looks as though his second bout of military service extended beyond the conflict.

According to a Find-a-Grave entry he died on 4th July 1940 in Victoria, BC. They give his age as 60 at death but that is based on him being born on 14th November 1879. The photo below, which appears to say he was born in 1878, was taken in the Hatley Memorial Gardens, Colwood, BC. I am unsure whether this is a grave marker or marking the spot where his ashes were scattered.

There appears to be a Canadian Newspaper Obituary but I cannot access it.



I also have a photo of him in uniform - a studio photo taken in Tenby - but want to try contacting the owner before posting it - now I have sorted his life out I will try making contact.