TOPIC:

In St. Andrew's Church.






3989 Sergeant John William Haigh, 1st Durham Light Infantry. Died of wounds at Fourth Field Division Hospital, Mount Alice, on 5th February 1900, aged 25
3294 Sergeant Thomas William Cadmore, (Duke of Wellington's) West Riding Regiment. Died of disease at Bloemfontein on 18th June 1900
Corporal William Liddemore, (Duke of Wellington's) West Riding Regiment. Died at Wynberg Hospital on 10th March 1900, from a gunshot wound received at Paaredeberg on 18th February 1900
Corporal James Byrnes, 1st King's Royal Rifle Corps. Died of enteric fever at Ladysmith, on 7th February 1900
Lance Corporal John Haran, Lancashire Fusiliers. 2.6.1900
Private William Leonard Emmott, (Duke of Wellington's) West Riding Regiment. Died of enteric fever at Wynberg on 28th June 1900
Trooper James Heseltine Dinsdale, South African Constabulary. 27.11.1901
Private Henry Coleman
Private Samuel Holt
Trooper Tom Oxley, 12th (South Nottingham) Company Imperial Yeomanry. 10.5.1901
Private John Oates
Private Walter Coates
Private William Bramma, Coldstream Guards. 20.5.1900
Drummer George Brown
Private Frank Blezard, Yorkshire Regiment. 24.5.1901
Private Alfred Thomas



I was able to have a couple of hours in the local library, and managed to go through The Keighley News, from January to April 1900. The very first issue I looked at reported another Keighley man who died, but presumably left off the memorial as he wasn't a resident at the time of his death.


...."Mr. E. J. Footman, of Spencer street, Keighley, has received intelligence that his eldest son, Trooper William Jackson Footman, of the Bechuanaland Protectorate Regiment, has been killed in action near Mafeking. The deceased, who was forty-two years old, had a very adventurous career. In 1869, or early in 1870, when he was about thirteen, he shipped in the Earl of Percy, 1500 tons, for Australia, New Zealand, &c."

(Parts of the report are missing, due to the first issue in the bound copy of the paper being damaged before it was microfilmed - Footman spent some years at sea, going to South America, Australia, Java, before reaching South Africa in 1878, at which point he remained there. He volunteered several times for active service in the Irregular Horse, serving in the Basuto and Matabele wars.)

...."Just prior to the outbreak of the present hostilities he joined Colonel Hoare's Bechuanaland Protectorate Regiment at Ramathlahama as a trooper, and he has been killed, probably in a sortie from Mafeking. Some months ago a letter was received from him stating that he had joined the force, but before the replies of his friends could reach him the Boers had cut the railway, and so he never got the letters. He was a thorough Englishman, and always stuck up for his old country. He used to say it was no use people going out to the colonies unless they could turn their hands to anything, as they would often have to go to bed supperless."
Keighley News, Saturday 6th January 1900


....News came on Wednesday morning that Sergeant J. W. Haigh, of the Durham Light Infantry, has been wounded in the fighting at Potgieter's Drift, on the 7th February. Sergeant Haigh is a Reservist, who was called to the colours last October. His home is at 140, Westgate, Keighley. He is a married man, but has no children.
The Keighley News, Saturday 17th February 1900


....Mrs. Byrnes, widow, of Nelson Street, Keighley, has received an intimation from the War Office that her eldest son, James Byrnes, a lance-corporal in the King's Royal Rifles, died in Ladysmith from enteric fever on February 7th. He was aged twenty-three, and the eldest of seven children. He had had three years' service in the army, and was home on furlough twelve months ago.
The Keighley News, Saturday 17th February 1900


....There appears to be some doubt as to the fate of Sergeant J. W. Haigh, of the H Company, Durham Light Infantry. A letter posted to him on the 19thJanuary, addressed to Frere Camp, has been returned from Pietermaritzburg to his wife, in Beck Street, Keighley, endorse, "Killed in action." Mrs. Haigh, who received the missive on Thursday, communicated with Mr. Alfred Lister, the hon. secretary of the Keighley Patriotic Fund, who telegraphed an inquiry to the War Office. The following reply has been received : - "Wounded about 5th ultimo. Nature and degree wounds not known. War Office." The last letter which reached Keighley from Haigh was on February 26th.
The Keighley News, Saturday 24th March 1900


....Private Richard Cordingley, of Bramley, a Reservist of the Durham Light Infantry, has written from Elandslaagte to Mr. J. W. Inman, of Bradford Street, Keighley, under date March 18. He says : -
....You will have seen in the papers that I was wounded at the battle of Vaalkrantz. I went through the first day's fight, and was in the thick of the bayonet charge. We then made a wall on the top, and lay there all night, and there was continual sniping at us all night. Next morning they started shelling us with a hundred-pounder, but, strange to say, never hit a man in my company. We had to endure a terrible cross-fire from rifles and pom-poms. My mate, Isaac Roman, of Armley, was lying behind a wall, enjoying a smoke, and a bit of bully beef and biscuit. Mick says to me, "Give us a light, Dick," and lifted up his head. A shot came, and went through his neck, and then through my thigh. He never spoke again. He was dead. I had to leave him there, and I was carried to the hospital. I believe he was buried with two West Yorkshires, where he fell. I shall never forget it. Fancy, two chums, who enlisted together, hit with the same bullet.
....Sergeant Haigh (of Keighley) was shot through the head, and died in the Fourth Field Division Hospital, at Mount Alice, the same night.
....[A similar intimation with regard to Sergeant Haigh was contained in a letter sent by a Keighley private some weeks ago. The war Office have had no official report, and thus Mrs. Haigh is kept in a state of suspense. At our request "the Absent-minded Beggar Corps" of the "Daily Mail" have cabled to Natal instructing their agent to make inquiries. - Ed. "K.N."]
The Keighley News, Saturday 21st April 1900


....The death of Sergeant J. W. Haigh, of the 1st Durham Light Infantry, from wounds received at Vaalkrantz, on February 5th, seems now to be established beyond all doubt. One of our representatives received on Wednesday the following message from the manager of the "Absent-minded Beggar Corps" of the "Daily Mail" -
....Response our inquiry General Commanding Ladysmith cables - - - Sergeant J. W. Haigh, No. 3785, 1st Durham Light Infantry, died from wounds February 8th. You will notice name and regiment is as given by you, but number different - Manager Relief Corps.
....The death has also been notified by the War Office. Sergeant Haigh's number was 3989, as his letters and war medals show. Sergeant Haigh, who was twenty-five years of age, had been married four months when he was called to go to South Africa, and that four months was the only time he had spent at home since he joined the army. His service was chiefly in India, and he held the medal for the Tirah campaign. He really belonged to the 2nd Battalion of the Regiment, in which he rose to be colour-sergeant. His old battalion are still in India, but when the war broke out he was ordered to join the 1st Battalion. It had been his intention to remain with the 2nd Battalion for a further period, but changed his mind in consequence of what he regarded as a breach of faith towards him. Sergeant Haigh was an abstainer, and a man of a religious turn of mind. His widow resides in Beckside, Keighley.
The Keighley News, Saturday 28th April 1900

I have just been searching for William Footman who was killed in Mafeking and re-discovered your excellent information, Berenice.

djb wrote: I have just been searching for William Footman who was killed in Mafeking and re-discovered your excellent information, Berenice.

A shame the article was damaged and partly unreadable. But better than nothing.

Yes, definitely.

I knew he had travelled when he was young but the article was able to say just just how young he was (and the name of the vessel he departed in).

Have you seen this? www.findagrave.com/memorial/156900833/william-jackson-footman

I have thank you, Berenice. But only about 2 hours ago as I was searching for him.