TOPIC:

Hallo
I found a possible relative of my wife Garrett Collins in the CMP who attested in 1903. The entry refers to the source CMP7. Perhaps someone can explain to me where this source is and how I can access it. I am really trying to establish whether he was from Ireland.

Hello MVD,

You cannot access this reference online anywhere. The CMP references are a series of registers and boxes of attestation papers these are found in the Cape Town Archive Repository.

CMP 1 -65 are the boxes of attestation papers and your man is in CMP 7 (I will be going into the archives in a few weeks when back from a business trip and will see if his papers are still extant. I last handled his pages in 2008, however, I can tell you that he was born in Co Clare, Ireland and this snippet was found in one of the
Registers CMP 122.

I have attached to this a grainy photo of his entry from CMP 122 which will confirm place of birth.



Thanks

Dear Rory
I am delighted to see that the address is absolutely correct. The family had said that he and his brother Stephen (my wife’s grandfather) had possibly joined the police in South Africa. In Stephen’s will it says he was a police pensioner. I had searched with the RIC and SAC to no avail. Then I found a passenger list from 1903 with a G and S Collins with ages similar to Garrett and Stephen and under Profession C.P.R. (I tought this might mean Cape Police Recruits?- there are others with C.M.R behind their name Cape Mounted Recruits?). Unfortunately I have not been able to find Stephen in your databases. Perhaps he has not been entered yet. I would be most grateful if you could check his information as well.

Thanks
Matthias

Hi,

Unfortunately, cannot add to what has already been shared, but in reference to the abbreviations you mentioned in your last post, the following:

C.P.R = Cape Peninsula Rifles (need to confirm if it is more relevant to WW I)
C.M.R = Cape Mounted Rifles

In the context of the Anglo-Boer War, CPR stood for 'Cape Peninsula Regiment', which was the collective name for the town guards in and around Cape Town (1901-02). The Cape Peninsula Rifles were their post-war reincarnation as a volunteer (later Active Citizen Force) regiment (1903-30s). However, neither was a regular unit, and it seems strange that either would have brought in recruits from the UK, particularly after the conflict had ended.

The Cape Police and the Cape Mounted Riflemen, being full-time forces, might well have recruited overseas. The use of the initials 'CPR' in connection with the Cape Police would certainly cause confusion, though.

The photo of the register entry shows that he enlisted in Cape Police District 3, which covered the greater Cape Town area, and comprised both mounted and dismounted police. In 1904, the mounted branch was amalgamated with CP districts 1 and 2 to form the Cape Mounted Police (CMP), while the dismounted branch became the Urban Police.