TOPIC:

Thank you for adding me to this group. I am anxious to see if we can track down my husband’S great Grandfather.

I am searching for James Rayner. According to some records (and the Canadian military's records), he was born 26 MAY 1880 in Wellington, NZ. There is a different record showing he was born on 2 DEC 1875, in Wellington, NZ. On his Canadian marriage certificate, he indicated his father was William Rayner, born in England. A Canadian census record also shows his father as being born in England, his mother in India. There is no mother listed on his marriage certificate.

James served with Canada in WWI. He immigrated to Canada in 1910. Prior to that, he indicated on his attestation papers he served with the Colonial Light Horse. His obituary states this also, and that he served under General Birdwood also served in the Boer War. I can not verify these details.

James is proving to be very elusive and I am hoping I can find his service records for the Boer War which will indicate where he lived, and confirm his parents and his birthdate and place. His name could perhaps be spelled Raynor, or Reyner, or possibly even a different variation. Perhaps he was born in New Zealand but moved somewhere else prior to coming to Canada? I feel I have exhausted all efforts to find him and others who have been helping me have as well. There is no James Rayner that I can find who had a father named William, born in England, who married someone who was born in India. I have seen a few J Rayners in the Boer War listings but what I can see isn’t enough information to verify that is it my James Rayner.

I'm hoping his service records for the Boer War will be the missing link. If you can help me, please let me know.

Thank you in advance for your time.

Sincerely,
Kim Rayner

Hello Kimmer
Welcome to the forum.
A little information for you regarding the Boer War connection. If there are details on James Rayner you are in the right place for information if available.

Medal Rolls for J Rayner.

J Rayner
Duke of Edinburgh's Own Volunteer Rifles South Africa - Second Boer War
J Rayner
2nd D E O V Rifles South Africa - Second Boer War
J Raynor
Colonial Light Horse South Africa - Second Boer War
J Raynor
2nd DEOV Rifles South Africa - Second Boer War

All the above are under 1 regimental number 1033 Private J Rayner / Raynor

Queens South Africa Medal awarded with what looks to be 2 clasps. Although there is a tick next to Natal this may be for marking the register only.
Cape Colony, and 1901 date clasps were awarded. If your relation states he served in the Colonial Horse as per his attestation papers, this could be your man.

With regard to finding out more detail did James have a middle name?

I can see he served with the 202nd Battalion Canadian Expeditionary Force Regimental number 231767 in WW1 and his wife was Eva and they resided at Hardisty Alberta.....Have I got the right James Rayner?

I did find a shipping list which has a James Rayner sailing on the Laurentic on the 30th July 1910 to Quebec from England. Profession Farm Labourer.

P.S General Birdwood did serve during the Anglo Boer War as a brigade major with mounted troops in Natal then as a Deputy Assistant Adjutant-General on Lord Kitchener's staff. During WW1 Birdwood was instructed by Kitchener to form an army corps from Australian and New Zealand troops.

best wishes
Dave

I have a QSA to A.A. Rayer, 5th QIB.
Jim

Kimmer,

There is no attestation paper for the DEOVR for him sadly, That might well have helped.

As luck would have it, the nominal roll for the DEOVR is also one of the least detailed of all the nominal roll.

Site member Author commented that 'The CLH was formed on 7 January 1901 as the second battalion of the Duke of Edinburgh's Own Volunteer Rifles (a Cape Town regiment). It was converted to light horse, and renamed 'Colonial Light Horse', on 1 October 1901, after Boer forces under Gen Jan Smuts had invaded Cape Colony. At that time, the unit was commanded by an Australian, Major Arthur Baker DSO. The CLH initially had three squadrons, and formed a fourth in December 1901.

The unit was disbanded on 30 June 1902. It was deployed in the western districts of Cape Colony, and saw quite a bit of action, the last one being on 3 June 1902, a few days after the war had officially ended.'

I would imagine the records for the DEOVR are in the Cape Archives so a possible next step is to engage a local researcher.

Best wishes
David

Thank you for this wealth of knowledge. It is unfortunate that there is not more personal information available on James, but I have learned a lot and I will proceed as you have suggested.

Sincerely,
Kim

Hi Dave.

Me again, still at it trying to track down James. I was wondering where you found the information about James above. I would like to link it to his profile on my ancestry.com account but I am coming up empty. Unfortunately, he is not included in the list of men of the DEOVR/Colonial Light Horse in WO 126/44 at the National Archives.

Thank you.
Kim