TOPIC:

Named on the Netherthong war memorial, Netherthong being a small village near Holmfirth, south of Huddersfield. Although he appears on the memorial as J. Walker, the online History of Netherthong gives his first name as James. historyofnetherthong.co.uk/?p=111









The Netherthong website has a small section on the ABW, but no mention of James Walker. So far, I've been through the Holmfirth Express newspaper, from 6th January to 5th May 1900, and not found a mention of him, so I assume he must have been a regular soldier, or possibly a reservist.
historyofnetherthong.co.uk/?p=1132

Berenice,

There is a J E Walker on the casualty roll, he served as Trooper in the New South Wales Contingent so that is, I think, unlikely to be him.

9 J Walkers did not return from South Africa. Their regiments were:

Gordon Highlanders
HLI
Railway Pioneer Regiment
South Lancashire Regiment
North Staffordshire Regiment
KRRC
Lancashire Fusiliers
Manchester Regiment
East Kent Regiment

The would accord with your thoughts too.

I tried to find his birth registration; in the late 1800s Netherthong and Holmfirth were in the Huddersfield Registration District, and I could find only one possible -- James Edward Walker, birth registered in the June Quarter of 1863, whose mother's maiden name was Gledhill, which, if that was the Netherthong man, would have him in his late 30s when he died.

There's a Gledhill named on the Netherthong memorial, and the village history site has this on him - "George Richard Gledhill, 2nd. LT. 1/5 Battalion, Duke of Wellington;s regiment. He was a family member of the firm Walter Gledhill & Sons, Bridge Mills." historyofnetherthong.co.uk/?p=1138

So, possibly, he was James Edward Walker, born in 1863.

I found last week that J. E. Walker is named on the County of York memorial as being a Private in the New South Wales Citizens' Bushmen's Contingent, so from that he must be 75 Trooper J. E. Walker, who was killed in action at Elands River, 6th August 1900.


So I searched in Trove for reports of his death, concentrating on NSW papers, hoping to find where he was from in Australia. I found the cause of death - "bullet wound, left thigh and stomach" - and that he was "specially enrolled" in the Bushmen's Contingent, but no mention of where he lived.

Next I searched for anything on his enlisting, and found that he was in A Squadron, and had Nagambie, Victoria, as his home town. Then I found a photo of him together with his full name - James Edwin Walker.


I still couldn't find anything on his personal history, either in N.S.W. or Victoria newspapers, but then I found him on the Australian Virtual War Memorial.
vwma.org.au/explore/people/654125

And, best of all, a biography of him, confirming that Trooper Walker was from Yorkshire.
familyhistoryact.org.au/boer_war/biography/walker.php

Would "specially enrolled" be because when he joined the New South Wales Bushmen he was living in the colony of Victoria?

Berenice his grave at Swartruggens Cemetery

Berenice
Nice bit of searching re James E. Walker of the NSW Citizen's Bushmen Contingent. My opinion is that "specially enrolled" would indicate something else than being a resident of the (then) Colony of Victoria. A glance through an available publication indicates that quite a number of Victorians served with the NSWCB; along with New Zealanders, Queenslanders and others. I don't think "specially enrolled" indicates that NSWCB were short of enlistees, either - as potential enlistees in that Contingent were more than sufficient. Indeed, as I mentioned in another matter, the surplus of volunteers was sufficient to form another Contingent; the NSW Imperial Bushmen.
Regards
IL.