TOPIC:

Having recently moved to a village near Bideford North Devon, I joined the local family history society and attended my first meeting and to my surprise and delight this included talk by a descendant of private William Wilcox who fought at Rorkes Drift and lived until 1925, but was buried in an unmarked grave. The talk featured an article on the erection of a memorial headstone in the Dalton village church when a bugler from his regiment’s
successor, The Royal Regiment, commemorated the occasion.
No mention was made of his QSA medal entitlement, does anyone know of the whereabouts of his medal ? I realise this is not the ABW, but I would very much like to let his descendant know if his medal survives
Thanks
Clive
February 23

David
I tried to add photos, but too big and can send them separately
The article was featured in The Journal, a Barnstaple paper on 12 May 2011

Hello Clive

I found this little snippet on line which may explain the absence of a medal?

Wilcox , William . 25B / 1187 Private .
Enlisted 14 / 2 / 77 . Attested for 25th Bgde ; Afterwards posted to 2 / 24th 23 / 2 / 77 . Convicted of disgraceful conduct
and confined in prison at Pinetown , Natal , January 1880 . In confinement when the Btn embarked for Gibraltar . Date of
Discharge not found . Served in the Xhosa Wars 1878 , Served in the Zulu war 1879 , A Pvt of B Coy at the Defence Of R.D .
Reference ' Chard Roll ' ' Bourne Rolls ' Dunbar List . South Africa Medal with Clasp 77-78-79 ; Forfeited .

From FMP is possible your man, the closest I could find:

First name(s) W
Biography -
Last name Wilcox
Country Great Britain
Service number 7321
Notes QSA Clasps: CC,OFS,T KSA Clasps: SA01,SA02
Rank Private
Record set Anglo-Boer War Records 1899-1902
Regiment 3 Battalion The South Wales Borderers
Category Military, armed forces & conflict
Rolls WO100/181 page 426; WO100/181 page 435; WO100/328 page 155
Subcategory Boer Wars
Year 1899-1902
Collections from Great Britain, UK None

M.

"‘Disgraceful Conduct’ implies confirmed vice, and all unnatural propensities, indecent assaults, repeated thefts and dishonesty, ferocity in having maimed other soldiers or persons, selfmutilation, tampering with the eyes, and all cases of confirmed malingering where the conduct is proved to be so irreclaimably vicious, as to render the offender unworthy to remain in the army."

In 1878, a total of 1042 offences of disgraceful conduct were tried by the courts martial – 605 at home, and 437 abroad.
It is considered that, in these cases, homosexuality ( 'unnatural propensities') was a common reason for a verdict of Disgraceful Conduct,
See Paul Johnson, ‘Disgraceful Conduct: Parliamentary Regulation of Homosexuality in the British Army, 1829-1992’, British Journal for Military History, 8.3 (2022), pp. 79-107
bjmh.gold.ac.uk/article/view/1645/1759

Paperwork pertaining to Private Wilcox.
I believe the information provided is enough to ascertain the reason why his medal was never received. Perhaps David could move this thread and re post it under the correct section Frontier Wars 1779 -1879 ?

Hello Rob, Dave and Mike
Thank you all for your responses, very interesting information about Private Wilcox and looking forward to passing this on. A great pity whatever happened came after what could only have been a very traumatic experience.
I agree with moving this thread to the appropriate Frontiers Wars section
Thanks again
Clive