TOPIC:

Sorry, David. I am one of the uninitiated. What does the acronym 'FMP' stand for? Grant

Hello again, Mark

Grendon was in Uitenhage at the end of June 1899. He was somewhere near Bergendal the morning after the battle, 28 August 1900. Around October 1900, he took up the post of headmaster of the Native Training Institution (Wesleyan) at Edendale, outside Pietermaritzburg. I know no more than this about his movements around this time. He had an elder brother, William, living in Pietermaritzburg during the AB War.

He is an elusive fellow.

If you can help me track him down, I will be greatly in your debt.

Grant

Grant, how interesting to hear he took up the post of headmaster of the Native Training Institution at Edendale. The Wesleyan community at Edendale has a long history of military service. Men from Edendale served during the Langalibalele Rebellion of 1873. Their leader, Elijah Kambula had served as respected personal interpreter to Major A W Durnford, RE, during the Langalibalele Rebellion, and had been killed in the ambush on the Bushmans River Pass in the Drakensberg on 4 November 1873.

During the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 the men of Edendale formed the Edendale Troop of the Natal Native Horse and fought at Isandlwana and Khambula. Elijah Kambula's son, Troop Sergeant Major Simeon Kambula won the Distinguished Conduct Medal [second only to the VC which non whites weren't eligible for in 1879] for gallantry at Mfolozi River. He and Troop Sergeant Major Learda being the first black Africans to win the medal. Learda, also an Edendale man, won his DCM at Khambula. The only other black recipients of the DCM previous to this had been to some members of the West India Regiment during the 1872 British Honduras campaign and the 1874 Ashanti War.

Men from Edendale saw service in the Anglo Boer War, the 1906 Natal Rebellion and both WWI and WWII.

Cheers,

Mark

PS: FMP = Find My Past
www.findmypast.co.uk/welcome.jsp
Their records would be under 'British Army Service Records 1760-1915'.

Hi All

Was anything more ever uncovered about the poet?