QSA three bars: Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Johannesburg
“7005 L. Serjt. W.B.E. Murphy, Loch’s Horse”
Officially re-impressed. Issued 8 July 1904.
Note: A comparatively late issue. As is probably known, the various remarks which are sometimes recorded on the reverse side of the single printed side of the QSA medal rolls have not been copied and made available to collectors by Ancestry. In the case of Ross’s Machine Gun Battery it is fortunate that these remarks were recorded in dark ink with the result that they reflect through the document page and with a small amount of effort can be more or less deciphered. These “Reverse” images indicate that Murphy’s qualification for the bar: Diamond Hill was queried. In the end it was reaffirmed that his medal was to be fitted with just the three bars:, Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Johannesburg. One might deduce that this later issue was no doubt the reason why his medal was “officially re-impressed”. Secondly, these later notes written in dark ink surely correspond to the later addition of the wording “Loch’s Horse” inserted above the unit heading “Ross Mach. Gun. Battery” and is the reason why the unit detail on Murphy’s medal was impressed as “Loch’s Horse” rather than the unit naming “Ross’s M.G. Bty” as more usually found on QSA medals.
William Bernard Edward Murphy was born in Athlone, Westmeath, Ireland on 2 December 1852. He enlisted for service with Ross’s Machine Gun Section on 4 April 1900 and served with this small unit which was seemingly attached to Loch’s Horse as a Lance Sergeant. His service record reflects that he was discharged after 175 days of service on 25 September 1900 as his services were no longer required.
A marginal note on the QSA medal roll states that he was reportedly in Ladysmith with the Imperial Light Horse during the Siege. A careful examination of I.L.H. records indicate that he attested for service before the outbreak of hostilities at Pietermaritzburg on 29 September 1899 but that he was discharged just four weeks later on 24 October 1899 due to drunkenness. As might be expected his name does not appear to be listed on any medal roll for the Imperial Light Horse and it is not known whether or not he actually took part in any action in Natal during those early days of the war. It was almost six months later that he was recorded as enlisting in Ross’s Machine Gunn Battery. His discharge from the Gun Battery in September 1900 was however not the termination of his involvement in the War as he later served as a civilian with the Field Intelligence Department and is recorded as having been wounded at Wolmaransstad on 24 July 1901. He died of wounds a month later in the Wanderers Hospital in Johannesburg on 20 August 1901.
Loch’s Horse was raised by Lord Loch in February/March 1900. After the occupation of Bloemfontein the unit with a strength of about 220, was stationed in the line of outposts beyond Glen Siding. They shared in the advance from Bloemfontein to the Transvaal as part of the 8th Corps of Mounted Infantry commanded by Colonel Ross of the Durham Light Infantry, the Brigadier being Colonel Henry. The 8th Corps were part of the advance guard or screen to the centre of Lord Roberts’ army, and undertook a lot of scouting and skirmishing during the northwards march. Colonel Henry’s men, including the 1st and 2nd Victorian Mounted Rifles, South Australians, Tasmanians, Lumsden's Horse, Loch's Horse, and the 4th Mounted Infantry Regulars, were among the first to cross the Vaal river. It is recorded that they had very stiff fighting before the infantry got up, particularly at the mines in the neighbourhood of Vereeniging, about Elandsfontein, and outside Pretoria. Their work was highly praised by the Generals and war correspondents.
Lord Loch had succeeded Sir Hercules Robinson as Governor of Cape Colony and as High Commissioner for Southern Africa in June 1889. He resigned these positions at the end of March 1895, a few months before the expiry of his term of office. In the same year he was raised to the Peerage as Baron Loch, of Drylaw in the County of Midlothian. He died in London on 20 June 1900.
Walter Charteris Ross had been appointed as Staff Officer to Brigadier General Hector MacDonald. He was severely wounded shortly after the Machine Gun Battery was disbanded following the fall of Pretoria. It is probable however that the Ross Machine Gun Battery owes its name to the use of rifles which were invented by the Canadian Sir Charles Henry Augustus Frederick Lockhart Ross.
William Murphy was an old soldier and his single QSA medal does not tell his full story of military service. He was of Irish extraction and although some of his earlier service may seem somewhat exaggerated sufficient details of this earlier service are corroborated. It is recorded that William attested as No 18 into the Rhodesian Pioneer Corps on 15 March 1890. He was promoted Corporal on 19 March and to Sergeant three months later on 17 June 1890, this even before the Column moved northwards into the disputed territory. He reverted to the rank of Trooper at his own request on 4 August shortly after having crossed the Lundi River and was discharged being medically unfit on 19 August 1890 some three and a half weeks before the Union Jack was first hoisted in Cecil Square. The Cape Almanac of 1891 records that his wife was then living at No 3, Glynn Street in Cape Town.
His personal biographical records which were gathered many years later by the historians of the Mashonaland Pioneer Column confirm that he was the same individual who joined Sir Charles Ross’ Maxim Guns and who subsequently died on 20 August 1901. These biographical details also record further earlier military service as follows:
“Joined the British Army, and came to South Africa with the 14th Hussars. Took part in the Battles of Isandhlwana and Ulundi, Zulu War 1879. Served in Warren Expedition, 1885. Served with Victoria Rangers, 1893 War. Was with Imperial Light Horse at the Siege of Ladysmith. ……...”
William married the widow Sarah Philida Van Dyk at Pretoria on 1 December 1883 and together they had one son and a daughter but they were later divorced during the mid-1890’s.
Unfortunately I have not as yet been able to corroborate his military service before his enlistment with the Rhodesian Pioneer Column. Surprisingly he is not listed on any medal roll for the BSA Company medal. Nominal rolls for those who served on the Warren Expedition to Bechuanaland have not been found in either the Cape Town or British Archives while the story of his earlier service in the Zulu War most likely resulted from a generous addition of Irish story telling. His early appointment as a Corporal with the Pioneer Column however certainly suggests that he had seen earlier military service and was known to Major Frank Johnson who had also accompanied the Warren Expedition in 1885.
It is recorded that the 14th Hussars left Ireland in 1862 and moved around Britain, from Lancashire, to Aldershot, then Hounslow and finally to Edinburgh before returning to Ireland in 1868. After six years, in 1874 they went to Aldershot and then Colchester. In 1876 they were posted to Poona, and later Bangalore, in India. They prepared for active service in Afghanistan but were sent instead to South Africa at the end of February 1881. This was just after the disaster at Majuba but the British government responded quickly by granting independence to the Boers and the 14th Hussars had little to do and saw no fighting. At the end of 1881 they returned to India, disembarking at Bombay, and marched to Secunderabad, a journey that took six weeks.
If the story of Murphy’s involvement with the 14th Hussars is correct it is probably true that he travelled with his unit to the Transvaal soon after the First Boer War. It is quite possible that his term of service expired in 1881 whilst he was in South Africa and that he subsequently took his discharge in the Transvaal and that all the details of his military service after his marriage in 1883 are correct. To confirm this I would have to obtain a copy of either his service and discharge papers or to examine the Regimental pay records for the relevant period.
So much of the fun in medal collecting today rests on the wider story of the old soldier and I no longer apologise for expanding a recipient’s story through limited genealogical research.
William’s only son was Edward Stanley Murphy. He was born at Klipriver in the Transvaal on 9 January 1885 where his father worked as a prospector. After leaving school his first job was working for a Cape Town shipping firm for the paltry amount of £2-00 per month. Hereafter he took a job at a Messina Copper Mine and in 1914 he went to Zululand to try his hand at sugar. He arrived at Mtubatuba with 18 donkeys and a scrap kit, only to find that the land allotted to him was covered by bush. He joined forces with other farmers and eventually became immensely successful as one of the pioneer sugar farmers in Natal. He developed a reputation as a highly respected philanthropist and even today, when one Google’s his name; one notes that his generosity is still regularly acknowledged by innumerable charities for continuing contributions from the Edward Stanley Murphy Will Trust.
In particular Edward was a generous benefactor to Sport and today he is especially remembered for his donation which funded the scoreboard at Kingsmead cricket ground in Durban. After the disastrous South African cricket tour to England in 1960 it was he who persuaded Roy Maclean to select a team of young cricketers to tour England. He personally accepted the responsibility to finance the full cost of the tour and provided all the money necessary. He aptly named the team fezela the Zulu word for the water scorpion which was well known for the sting in its tail and encouraged the youngsters selected to play aggressive positive cricket. His fezela team played 21 matches in June and July 1901, winning 12 and drawing all the rest … what followed is history. This team of unknown youngsters included Peter Pollock, Colin Bland, Eddie Barlow, Kim Elgie, Denis Lindsay, Peter Van der Merwe and others. Emboldened to play positive attacking cricket they went on to establish that golden era of South African cricket a few years later. Incidentally Trevor Goddard was considered too old and Graeme Pollock too young for the tour.
Looking back to my days as a schoolboy during the 1960’s, it was this group of cricketers who initiated my interest in the great game! Enjoy the cricket.
