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Hi there,

Thanks for accepting me as a member. I looked at the ABW website to find my great grandfather because i was told he may have fought in the Boer war. I haven't found anything on here about him.

His name is Richard Goulding, born December 1885 in Liverpool. He seems a bit young to have fought in this war but i have evidence (from his WW1 Attestation record) to indicate that he served with Prince Alfred's Volunteer Guard prior to trying to enlist in 1914 in the 5th battalion King's Liverpool Regiment - in this attestation record he was declared unfit to serve, so i don't think he saw service in WW1. From elsewhere I have located a 1901 roll of individuals in Prince Alfred's Guards Infantry entitled to the South Africa Medal honour that includes a Richard Goulding, (service record 1687) but there's no other information with it to confirm this person is my GGF.

On his daughter's birth certificate in 1915 it records his occupation as a private in the Duke of Lancaster's Yeomanry (butcher's assistant).

Anyhow, I'm totally confused and wondered if anyone here can shed any light on any of this? Is there any chance my GGF could've fought in the Boar war at such a young age, and is there anyway of verifying the Richard Goulding in the roll of honour is 'my' Richard Goulding?

Thanks for your patience in reading this, and thanks in anticipation of any advice anyone has.

kind regards

Karen

Welcome to the forum, Karen.

As you say, there is an entry on the medal roll for someone called R Goulding in the PAG Mounted Infantry.



He received the Cape Colony clasp.

He is not listed on the nominal roll: www.angloboerwar.com/unit-information/so...ted-infantry?start=1

Fourteen is very young to have enlisted in an established unit such as PAG.

Could this be a relative or someone else altogether?

There are no attestation papers for the PAGMI in the National Archives. Any records may be in Cape Town or in the PAG museum in Port Elizabeth.

Best wishes
David

Welcome to the forum, Karen.

Although your GGF was only 14 when the war began, and 16 and a half when it ended, it's theoretically possible that he may have served towards the end of the war if his parents were willing to let him travel to South Africa (or he ran away from home), and he was prepared to lie about his age and could persuade Prince Alfred's Volunteer Guard that he was 18. But how likely is it?

PAVG (now called 'Chief Maqoma Regiment') is a volunteer regiment in Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape. It's possible that your GGF may have travelled to SA after the war, lived in PE for a while, and joined PAVG while he was there.

If you can post an image of the WWI attestation paper, forum members may be able to interpret the information on it in greater detail.

Many thanks for the response. Yes, the snip you attached is the one i found. As for the possibility of it being someone else it is definitely possible - I have come across another Richard Goulding in the WW1 records who did see service and was awarded medals, but I'm pretty sure he is not my GGF because he seems to come from Wigan, not Liverpool. Richard's father was also Richard, so I did wonder whether he fought in the Boer War, but he, my GGGF, was born in 1855 so I assumed too old, and in any case there are no indications from all my research that he saw any active service anywhere. But I guess i can't rule him out.

I have attached my GGF's WW1 attestation paper in case it provides any further help to a more trained eye than mine.

thanks, again!
Karen

Thanks for your response! Appreciate the help.

My GGF appears in all the censuses, and for all but one of them he is a butcher (following in the footsteps of his father, also Richard Goulding, b 1855). The only oddity is that in the 1901 census, as a 15 year old his occupation is recorded as a Sailor - not impossible i suppose since he is in Liverpool, but no previous history in the family of anyone being in this line of work.

I have uploaded his attestation record as requested - hopefully it may shed further light. Thanks!

The WWI attestation paper doesn't seem to have loaded properly, as it isn't showing up.