Herbert started out life in 1864 in Shropshire as plain Herbert Thomas Booker and from the evidence available his parents remained plain Bookers until their dying days. When he attested in 1884 for service in the 3rd Dragoon Guards he was still a Booker but by 1899 when he attested for service in the Worcestershire Imperial Yeomanry he had become H T Bowker Booker. Later on, including his probate record, the Bowker and Booker became joined by a hyphen. Where the Bowker came from is a mystery as his mother started out life as Anne Icke and none of Herbert’s siblings adopted the addition to their name.
When he attested in 1899 he gave “Mrs Booker, The Grange, Smethwick” as his next of kin, hence my interest in him. He did not get married until 1906 and thus Mrs Booker was his widowed mother. During the Boer War Herbert sent two letters home that were reproduced in the Birmingham Mail and received some robust responses from other members of the Imperial Yeomanry. In the letters he claimed he had been held prisoner by the Boers for 5 weeks.
Thanks to Neville, I know In November 1901 he was on the list to receive the Worcester Tribute Medal but was absent from the presentation.
In 1905 he wrote a letter to the Birmingham Mail giving his address as The Grange, Smethwick – this letter was nothing to do with the Boer War but again received a robust response.
At the start of WW1 he was in Nigeria and served for a time in the 3rd Battalion, Nigeria Regiment as a Temporary Lieutenant. On 31st May 1916 his Mention in Despatches was gazetted, this was not for his service in the Nigeria Regiment but his work in “Nigeria Posts and Telegraphs”. He died in Calabar in southern Nigeria on 17th January 1917, there is no evidence that his death at the age of 52 was related to the war. His widow, who started out life as Gertrude Maria Annie Doyle and came from a military family, outlived him by 42 years partly because she was 16 years his junior. They had no children.
Putting the Worcester Tribute Medal aside, Herbert was the recipient of 6 medals. In 1993 Noonan’s auctioned them for £580. They were back on the market in 2019 when they were auctioned by Warwick & Warwick. This is their description of them:
1854 India GSM 2 clasps Hazara 1891, Samana 1891 (this last a tailor's copy) to 2392 Pte H.T. Booker 3d Dn Gds, 1887 East & West Africa Medal 1896-98 clasp to H.T. Bowker-Booker W.A.F.F., 1899 QSA 4 clasps Cape Colony, OFS, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 to 7285 Pte H.T.B. Booker 16th Coy 5th Imp Yeo and 1915 Star trio with MID oakleaf to Lieut H.T. Bowker-Booker, some light fire damage to QSA clasps, trio possibly late issue, court mounted for display. With copied rolls and research, Herbert Thomas Bowker-Booker served in Hazara campaign with Chief Supt Telegraph Dept (1 of only 10 clasps to Regt), no rank on E&W Africa suggests civilian employment, he was the Provincial Telegraph Officer in Southern Nigeria at start of WWI, served with 3rd Bn Nigeria Regt, MID for Cameroons campaign in London Gazette dated 31st May 1916 listed with Nigeria Posts & Telegraphs, died 17/1/17 at Calabar, Southern Nigeria, also issued a Silver War Badge. Ex Sothebys 25/7/96. (See photo) (R) £800
Unfortunately the photo referred to is tiny and blowing it up results in a blur. I would like to obtain a good quality photograph of his medals if possible and am wondering if a Forum Member could assist in this quest as a present or past owner of Herbert’s medals.
Fuller write-up to follow as his letters and the responses they evoked do make interesting reading.
