I came across a newspaper report of part of the court martial of Captain George Spence Scaife, in February 1901. A brief reference to the ABW in it, and he also comes up in the ABW Forum name search. Does anyone know what the verdict was?
DESERTION FROM THE WESTMORLAND MILITIA. - The trial by Court martial, at Devonport, of Captain George Spencer Scaife, D.S.O., 4th Border Regiment (Westmorland Militia), on charges of desertion at Youghal, and disobedience of orders at Plymouth, ended on Saturday. Colonel Turnbull, Commanding the Cornwall Regimental District, presided. After further considering their finding in private, the court was opened. The decision of the court was not made known, but, as the prisoner was called upon for particulars of his service, it was assumed that he had been found guilty. The prisoner stated that he joined the army as Second Lieutenant of the 4th West Yorkshire Regiment in 1887, was promoted Lieutenant in the following year, and Captain in 1893. He resigned four years later. He did duty at various periods from 1891 at the depot of the West Yorkshire Regiment and was recommended by his Colonel and by the Colonel Commanding the Regimental District at York for a Commission in the Regular Army. He served in the Border Regiment for nearly a year. The court was then cleared, and Captain Scaife marched back to his quarters in Raglan Barracks as a prisoner under close arrest, his escort being Captain Burgess, of the 3rd Gloucestershire Regiment. The sentence of the court will not be promulgated until its proceedings have been reviewed by the Judge Advocate General, Sir F. Jeune, and the sentence has been confirmed by the Lieut.-General Sir W. Butler, commanding the Western District. In his summing-up Colonel Smith contended that the prisoner's plea of justification on the ground that he had not received his pay was bad, and he asked the court to consider what would be the effect if a soldier in the field refused to obey orders, or deserted if his pay was a month in arrears in consequence of the negligence of his superior officer of the War Office. Such a plea could only be used in the way of extenuation. As to prisoner's offer to go to South Africa as a private with the Plymouth Volunteers contingent without pay, it should be remembered that it was made after the alleged offences were committed. The promulgation of the sentence is not expected for at least a fortnight.
Westmorland Gazette, 2 March 1901
