TOPIC:

The following items were from the personal effects of Ernest King, a Natal Guide
1. Certificate issued in Durban to confirm that King was a Natal citizen. I guess that it served as a passport in the ZAR before the Boer War
2. NMR discharge
3. Pic of White's scouts
4. Ladysmith postcard to King's wife
5. Rail permit for trip from Joburg to Volksrust in 1902

The stuff is still out there !
Regards
Mike

Hello Mike,
A super group I like the postcard in particular, as you would expect, his "defence" QSA and four clasps are on two folios in WO100/301, which was quite normal for members of this very special organisation.
Regards Frank

Well done for finding that! It is great when the papers survive. I think it takes a special kind of pack rat to keep papers for all these years, and I am glad you have got them.

I know of someone in Australia who has a trunk with all of the papers of one of the DMT's, in his shed! So stuff is out there!

Was your guide a local Natal man who became a specialist guide because the war came along or did he serve beforehand, do you know?

Hello Mike,
I forgot to ask you about Charles James, did you get his discharge certificate with King's items, they are just so scarce, he was one of Robert Evans boys, Evans went on the command the VCR, I wonder if James was a relation of King, perhaps not.
Regards again Frank

How this came in is rather a sad story. All the paperwork was displayed in a biggish cabinet and labelled as a family's military history. The centrepice of the display was a first type 1888 patt bayonet and Ernest King's medals and some Natal Guides badges. The display was mounted at a semi-private museum and someone jimmied the lock and stole the medals and the bayonet. The medals havent surfaced on the local market. They could be anywhere.
The owner was naturally rather disillusioned and decided to get what he could for what was left.
Charles James was a relative and the King family is a rather well known old Natal family.
Regards
Mike

Hello Mike,
I'm sorry to hear that, but, at least you have managed to save these items.
Regards Frank