TOPIC:

I recently discovered my Grandfather served in the Boer War, as I was left his medal (with Bars)and photographs and a postcard from this time. This is all fascinating to me and he seems to have had an interesting life from what I have discovered so far. I have his death cert from 1954 (before I was born!)and history from WW1 but I am trying to find out as much as I can from his early Boer War era history and before. His name was Kenneth Victor John Cray which is on his WW1 medals, on his Boer War Medal it just say's J Cray. I initially searched for Jack Cray as his letters and postcards are signed 'Jack.' Officially though, on some paperwork from the Canadian source (see below) he was enlisted as Private John Cray. His Boer war medal has his army number as 24498 and he was in the 26th Company Imperial Yeomanry. The 5 bars on the medal are 'Transvaal,' 'Cape Colony,' 'Orange Free State,' 'South Africa 1901' & 'South Africa 1902.' I believe it is a service medal. After the Boer War he emigrated to Canada and joined the Canadian Army Service Corps (CASC army No 3311) and from the Canadian records I was informed he served three years with 'The South African Light Horse' prior to his one year with the 'Imperial Yeomanry.' His next of kin was a Mrs Lizzie Cray who was an aunt in London, but I cannot trace anywhere his parentage or exact date of birth, so perhaps he lied about his age to enlist as he was too young. One document states his DOB was 1885. His death cert says he died aged 71 in 1954, which would put his birth circa 1883. On his wedding cert it states his father as being Henry John Cray but I have failed to find him either. He could also have been illegitimate which was taboo back then! He also claimed on his application to enlist in Canada that he was born in Cork, Ireland. This I think was unlikely as I have pursued this link and found no evidence there is any Irish link to my family, who are all English. I am trying to find out any record of the South African Light Horse connection as this is new information to me. Also what that involved, what he might have done and any documents that might exist about him from the Boer War period. I don't really have much information except one postcard (to an unknown person) from St Helena 1901 with a picture on it of the 4th Gloucester Regt escorting Boer prisoners on the island through Jamestown. All it says on it was that he had arrived safely here (St Helena) and he again signed it 'Jack.' Any help would be much appreciated. I have only two photos (attached) of him from this period in uniform, one a typical portrait of the time and a better one in uniform standing outside a building dated 1902.

Welcome to the forum Chris and thank you for an interesting and intriguing first post.

Looking at the medal rolls 24498 J Cray is listed on the 26th Co (Dorsetshire) IY for the QSA with clasp Transvaal (WO100/123p55). The Supplementary Roll (WO100/123p63) shows additional entitlement to the SA01 and SA02 clasps. A note says 'Discharged from 27th Co. This man never joined the 26th Co.' This is odd given the roll is for the 26th Co.

If you find any information about the 26th Co service, I would happily add it to the unit's page; angloboerwar.com/unit-information/imperi...ompany-7th-battalion

There is no mention of prior service in the SALH. I think this is unlikely as the IY were mostly recruited from home. There is no one with the surname Cray on the SALH roll.

The papers for the men of the IY are held by the National Archives in WO128. These papers are available online through FindMyPast where his entry is: Cray, John.

Best wishes
David

Thanks David for your informative reply.

I'm not sure why his history from this era is so sketchy but I double checked his medal and it definitely states 26th Coy Imperial Yeomanry. I believe he may have 'padded his CV' to join the Canadian military, as if the SALH was created in Nov 1899 then he hardly had time to serve 3 yrs. in it as he claims there. He was born around 1883-1885 so was not that old then either. I have pictures of him on horses in Canada post Boer War era and he seems an accomplished horseman.
I don't understand the bits you have put in brackets after (eg) clasp Transvaal (WO100/123p55)? What do those mean? Can I type those numbers in a box somewhere to find out more, is that W0100 a government reference as I have seen those kind of numbers in my searching but not sure exactly what they mean. Is it 'War Online?'
You also said that 'The Supplementary Roll (WO100/123p63) shows additional entitlement to the SA01 and SA02 clasps.' What does additional entitlement mean in this instance? Should I be investigating the 27th Coy too? Thanks and sorry for my ignorance in this matter, I am new to all this.
Regards, Chris

Chris,

The references such as WO100/123p55 relate to the source documents that hold the information. The War Office information held by the National Archives is prefixed with WO. 100 relates to medal rolls and 123 is the roll containing some IT awards. On this roll, page 55 shows the Transvaal clasp for your grandfather. You can see this page at the National Atchives for free at on FindMyPast for a cost.

There were three different page layouts used for the medal for the Boer War, commonly called the QSA page, the Supplementary page and the KSA page. The first two listed clasps that were attached to the QSA and the last one the clasps on the KSA.

I checked the 27th roll and he is not listed so I think you can restrict your research to the 27th.

Best wishes
David

Thanks David,

I have just subscribed to 'Find My Past' and I will post anything relevant to the Boer War if I can find it!

Chris

Great! Good luck!