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Mauser rifle owned by G Scheepers and leg of the chair used in his execution 18th January 1902

trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/32966893

Fascinating items. Where did these come from? The accompanying article was intriguing but unlikely to be based in truth. At 11.45 pm on the night of the 17th of January 1902 , the CSO of General French sent a urgent, clear the line Telegram to Colonel Henniker at Graaf Reinet to postpone the execution of Scheepers which reads as follows: 17 Jan 1239 (code) Your G.R. (Graaf Reinet) 136 today (Stop) Everything Postponed (Stop) Explanation Follows. This was followed up the next morning with a telegram ordering to carry out the sentence and report back. The first telegram is in my collection and attached FYI. On the subject of how Scheepers fell into the hands of the British, I can recommend the booklet by Rodney Constantine "The Poisoning of Gideon Scheepers"

Hi
The rifle and chair legs are in the Anglo-Boer war museum in Bloomfonteiein, Scheepers is 3rd one down
Thanks for posting telegram , fantastic
I am looking into his body being removed by Coldstream Guards after his execution and never recovered . I have come across NZ article 1935 Harrison was there and exposed a fake claiming to be Scheepers, he said the searchers did not dig deep enough.
Do you have any thought on the matter?

A good account here: samilitaryhistory.org/jnl2/vol185gs.html

"On 18 January 1902 an ambulance wagon transported Scheepers outside Graaff-Reinet to a spot beyond the Sundays River on the road to Murraysburg. He was blindfolded and tied to a chair; an empty hole dug nearby. He was shot by a firing party at 15:00. His body was lowered into the grave and covered with soil. That night, the body was exhumed and then removed to another location. According to Shearing (1999, p151) the grave is now under the waters of the Van Ryneveld dam, although the exact spot is unknown."

Very interesting , but why would the Coldstream Guards dig up his body and rebury it ? , there are 8 other Boers shot by firing squad , none of their bodies were re moved by the British. Why has no one come forward to say he was re-buried , Harrison who was there , and exposed a hoaxer, said in 1935 his body was not moved and the searchers did not dig deep enough ? with modern technology and DNA they could re-examine the site of execution ?

"Lizelle Botha says:
29 March, 2018 at 10:25 am
My mother’s grandfather was the only Boer to witness his buriel in the Sondags river. My great grandfather was also accussed by Scheepers of helping the English. His black farmworker executed after they found English possesions on their farm in the Eastern Cape. He was so disgusted by Scheepers’s conduct that he never dpike a wird of Afrikaans agsin."

I came across this interesting posting