TOPIC:

I am researching my family tree and came upon John Thomas in the Boer War.
My grand uncle was born in Lancashire England in 1874.
He migrated from England arriving in Durban 1 September 1900 on the Kinfauns Castle.
My next contact with him was 16 May 1904 back in Durban.
Could this be the same man? Any help would be appreciated.

Haslam,

Your great uncle served in the Bechuanaland Rifles between 28 March 1899 and 30 September 1900. Ge served during the siege of Mafeking and earned the Queen's Medal with two clasps, Defence of Mafeking and Transvaal.

I have not recorded his medal as being extant.

An envelope addressed to Mrs Haslam, 4 Ash Street, Hailsworth, Manchester, sent from Crocodile Pools 28 April 1900 is known to exist.

This is all I have on him so any more information would be welcomed.

I can see there were two men of this name born in Lancashire in 1874, one in Bolton and one in Manchester.

You can read about the Bechuanaland Rifles here: www.angloboerwar.com/unit-information/so...and-rifle-volunteers

Best wishes
David

A John Thomas Haslam who was born in Lancashire in January 1874 and spent 18 years in S Africa from 1895 to 1913 appears on a Public Family Tree on Ancestry. He qualified as a Mechanical Engineer and the attachment is from the annals of the Institute for Mech Engineers in 1919 when he was accepted as a Member of the Institute - it gives a very good rundown on his working life up to 1919 by when he was in India. It does not say he served in the Boer War but it would possibly only do that if the nature of his involvement was to do with his civilian job. After India he went to Australia where he died in Queensland in 1961.

Quote :- He migrated from England arriving in Durban 1 September 1900 on the Kinfauns Castle.

My question is, could this Mr Haslam be a recipient of a Defence of Mafeking clasp regarding the above date information?
Siege lasted 217 days from October 1899 to May 1900. Am I missing something?

David - that is a vey detailed account of his life. If he was in Beira in 1899 it is very possible he joined the Bechuanaland Rifles, but if so I would thought his participation would have been mentioned. Do you know if any other entries mention the South African War?

Dave - it would be possible to sail back to South Africa from England in August 1900 but I appreciate it is tight. It does seem that some people from the siege returned to England immediately afterwards, no doubt ready for a change after 7 months inside

David - you asked "Do you know if any other entries mention the South African War?" - the simple answer is "No" but the Public Family Tree (PFT) has very few other entries against him and they have not even found him on the 1881 & 1891 Census Returns - if they had they would have discovered he his father was Charles Henry Haslam and in 1891 he was working as an "Engine Cleaner" which fits with what he told the I.M.E. He is what I call a peripheral person on the Family Tree and I don't think the creator has looked too hard for further info for him. When I find my Smethwickians & Pembrokeites on PFTs nearly half of the creators have not sussed they served in the ABW partly because the associated ABW paperwork is only on FindMyPast.

Anyway I thought I would look for army paperwork for John Haslam on FMyP and came up with this:



An engine cleaner born in Failsworth but apparently two years too soon - I have little faith in ages being correct on attestation papers - often you see understandable reasons for them being incorrect but nearly as often they are incorrect for no apparent reason.

5155 John Haslam gave this for his next of kin.......drum roll........:



I don't think I need to refer you to your previous comment.

I cannot prove it 100% but I am 95% certain this 5155 John Haslam is the Mechanical Engineer.

5155 John Haslam of the West Riding Regt attested on 18th February 1896 and DESERTED during November 1896. As far as I can see they never caught up with him and there is a lot of paperwork regarding the kit they issued him with, which they seem more interested in recovering than the man himself.

This brings me back to the lack of mention of military service on his application to the IME - I would suggest he would only put military service on his application if he felt it would help with his acceptance for membership - perhaps he did serve in the ABW and was not too proud of his performance for the second time. The application before him mentions military service in WW1 and the award of an MC which I suspect guaranteed acceptance - also if you read the notes at the bottom his war service did involve engineering.

I rest my case.

I doubt if my submissions on this matter will help Haslam with his endeavours for which I profusely apologise.