TOPIC:

Hi everyone,
I am trying to do some research on my partners family and they don’t have much information on Pte Francis Chubb. They know he was killed on 13th October 1900 but that’s about it. If anyone could help with more information and if he was awarded any medals that would be great.

Dupres
My useful "Cavalry" CD tells us that "4413 Pte. F. Chubb of 8H was Killed n Action at Geluk, 13/10/1900. His NoK would have been sent his QSA medal bearing the clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Belfast. 8H suffered quite a few casualties at Geluk on that day. If you access the main menu Unit Information (at left), and trawl through to 8th Hussars, you should see an account of the action where your distant relative was Killed. It was a very creditable action; 8H was hard pressed by a determined enamy but "held on well". From Stirling's Our Regiments in South Africa.
Regards
IL.

Dupres
I had to have a look in Stirling for another matter - so here is the entry for 8H


Regards
IL.

Dupres

The problem with soldiers who died in wars is that their paperwork (attestation papers & service record) died with them. This generally was the case with soldiers who died in the South African (Boer) War 1899-1902 unless they were members of the Imperial Yeomanry. Why this is I do not know – some think it was done at the time out of respect to the soldier but I don’t really go along with that especially as IY records have survived. I wonder if they became separated from the bulk of the paperwork because they needed special processing and then were destroyed in the WWII fire that destroyed 60% of the personal records of WW1 soldiers who survived.

Be that as it may, we should not give up on 4413 Francis Chubb of the 8th Hussars because Ancestry turns up trumps with his record in the UK Army’s Register of Dead Soldier’s Effects and here is his entry:



This confirms his date and place of death but also tells us when he first enlisted in the 8th Hussars i.e. 11 March 1899 and where he enlisted and what his civilian occupation was at the time. We also learn how much the army owed him when he died which included a standard war gratuity of £5. Sadly it does not tell us how the money was distributed, as it does for the man above him, as this would have given us the given-names of one or more of his NoK.

I can go further as one of my 200+ Smethwickians served in the 8th Hussars and survived so I have his paperwork, thanks to Find My Past. He was 4244 Private Percy George Payne and with a regimental number 69 less than Francis it is no surprise he enlisted/attested four months earlier than Francis on 10 November 1898, he signed the dotted line in Birmingham.

Now the accounts IL has posted quite rightly state that the 8th Hussars went out to SA in February 1900 but my Smethwickian did not set sail for SA until 16 May 1900 which means he went out as a draft and thus unlike many members of the 8th Hussars missed out on the Johannesburg & Diamond Hill clasps – to qualify for the first you had to be in the right place in SA on 29th May 1900 (when he would still have been at sea) and for the second on either 11 or 12 June 1900 (when presumably he was still catching up with his unit).

Now is the time to look at the 8th Hussars medal roll page on which 4413 Francis Chubb appears:



You can see him at the bottom of the page also lacking the Johannesburg & Diamond Hill clasps – so it looks as though he went out as a draft. I hear a cough or two amongst the readers – quite right he could have gone out in February 1900 and been sick/hospitalised in May & June 1900.

It also shows he was posthumously awarded the Queen's South Africa with 3 clasps (Belfast, Cape colony & Orange Free State).

Returning to Ancestry one can find a baptism record:

Name Francis Henry Chubb
Birth Date 15 May 1880
Baptism Date 21 Jul 1880
Baptism Place Ironbridge, Shropshire, England
Religion Anglican
Father Frederick Chubb
Mother Agnes Sarah Chubb

It is now really annoying that the Soldier’s Effects Register did not show how his money was distributed.

The 1881 Census found Frederick & Agnes living in Ironbridge with two daughters (3 & 4) and 10 month Francis H bringing up the rear. The return shows Frederick was a Coal Merchant of some standing as he was able to employ a live-in nursemaid and general domestic servant.

The 1891 Census showed they had moved to the edge of Shrewsbury and were living in Battlefield Road, Atcham (the road name commemorated the 1403 Battle of Shrewsbury). They now had four daughters and Frederick was able to employ a live-in Governess and two general domestic servants. Francis was not listed and I suspect was being made a man of at a boarding school.

Have I the right Francis? This newspaper article from the Wellington Journal of 3 November 1900 would suggest I am spot on:



Have you completed your Christmas shopping? - if not:

www.battlefield1403.com/

I hope this all fits with the info you already have about Francis and, if so, brings your partner's relation "more alive".