TOPIC:

James William Hunter

Trooper, Kaffrarian Rifles
Trooper, Uitenhage Volunteer Rifles
Trooper, Marshall’s Horse – Anglo Boer War
Corporal, Pom Section, Natal Field Artillery – Bambatha Rebellion

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State & Transvaal to 1339 Pte. J.W. Hunter, Kaffrn. Rifles
- Natal Rebellion Medal with 1906 clasp to Cpl. J.W. Hunter, Pom Sect. N.F. Art.

James Hunter was born in Salford, Lancashire in about 1857 the son of John Joseph Hunter and his wife Martha Ann born Whipp. At the time of the 1861 census the Hunter family lived at 46 Ellor Street in Salford. Mr Hunter was a Master Grocer by occupation and, aside from a 3 year old James, the household also contained younger siblings Louis (2) and Augustine (1 month). Mrs Hunter’s mother, Martha Whipp brought up the rear along with Mr Hunter’s 24 year old sister Jane who was a Domestic Servant.

Ten years later, at the time of the 1871 England census the family was somewhat changed – they still resided in Salford but had moved to 16 Morpeth Terrace. Mrs Hunter (now called Mary Ann as opposed to Martha Ann) was now the head of the household although still married which leads one to the conclusion that Mr Hunter was away from home when the enumerator called round. James was now a 14 year old Errand Boy whilst brother Louis was 13. Mrs Hunter had taken in a number of Boarders to make ends meet.

Of the family in 1881 there was no sign but we pick up the trail in 1887 when, on the 3rd September of that year, James William Hunter, adjudged to be 30 years of age, wed 24 year old Ann Marston in the Parish Church of Eccles in Lancaster. Both were ostensibly residing in Sedley at the time with James a Coach Builder by trade.

Four years later, at the time of the 1891 England census a 34 year old James, listed as a Coach Body Maker, was a Boarder in the house of Ann Dixon in Captain’s Row, Lancaster. Quite why he was separated from his wife and family we don’t know – the very same 1891 census shows that his wife Annie, was a Visitor at 37 Indigo Road, Salford along with her two daughters, Eliza (3) and Clara (9 months) – this was in the house of one Ester Marston, a Beer Retailer, who must have been a relative of hers. Hunter’s father, John along with his mother Martha now lived alone at 16 Douglas Street in Salford.


Given the complicated living arrangements it was no wonder that Hunter seized the opportunity to leave England. The opportunity that presented itself was the Anglo Boer War which broke out in far-away South Africa on 11 October 1899 between the might of Great Britain on the one hand and two obscure Boer Republics, the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, on the other.

By all accounts Hunter had settled in or around East London, the home of the Kaffrarian Rifles, and it was to this regiment that he betook himself enlisting as a Trooper with no. 1339. An established unit the Kaffrarian Rifles took part in the other work of the Colonial Division, including patrol work in the eastern part of the country around Molteno and other small settlements. They were several times sharply engaged in the Orange River Colony and Transvaal in 1900, particularly on the march from Zeerust to Krugersdorp in the latter half of August 1900. At Quaggafontein, on 31st August, the Kaffrarian Rifles lost 6 non-commissioned officers and men killed in a sharp action.

Having probably only joined for an initial six months (which was the norm) Hunter took his discharge at Port Elizabeth on 22 October 1900 and, after a break of two months, he next put pen to paper completing the Attestation Forms for service with the Uitenhage Volunteer Rifles at Uitenhage on 17 December 1900. Perhaps Hunter, who as we know was a Coach Builder, had sought and obtained pre-war employment with the Railways in Uitenhage which was, at that time, a very important train depot and workshop for the Cape Government Railways. His forms were signed at the recruiting office in Flanagan Street and confirmed that he was married and that the address of his wife, Ann Hunter, was 16 Douglas Street, Church Street, Pendleton, Manchester, England which, as the reader will recognise, is the address of Hunter’s parents.

Providing the name of a W Barraclough as the person other than his wife to be informed in case of casualty, he was taken on strength and assigned no. 21593 and the rank of Trooper. For some reason he claimed to be 34 years old but we know that he was closer to the age of 43.

Marshall's Horse was mainly composed of the mounted portions of the Grahamstown and Uitenhage Volunteers. In October, November, and December 1900 they were with Barton in the Frederickstad district which is likely where Hunter joined them.

When at the end of 1900 and beginning of 1901 the enemy reinvaded Cape Colony, the greater part of Marshall's Horse, like most of the Cape raised corps, were brought south to protect their own colony and rendered good service in the columns of Colonel Crabbe and other leaders. They were constantly in action and often had casualties. Lieutenant Cliff Turpin was killed and 6 men were wounded on 24th March 1901 in the Zuurberg Mountains when on patrol duty. In July and August they assisted to drive Kritzinger from the Colony. On 9th September Colonel Crabbe completely defeated the commando of Van Der Merwe, that leader being killed and 37 of his men captured. Marshall's Horse, under Major Corbett, and Prince Alfred's Guards did a great part of the fighting, and did it well. Marshall's Horse had 3 men killed and Lieutenant Tyler and 1 man wounded.

Part of the corps remained throughout most of 1901 in the Transvaal; about 30 were in the column of Brigadier General Cunningham, afterwards of Brigadier General Dixon, which operated about the Gatsrand and Magaliesberg. A portion of the corps were also in the Kroonstad district in April, May, and June 1901 by which time Hunter appears to have taken his discharge. For his efforts he was awarded the Queens Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal off the Kaffrarian Rifles medal roll.

James Hunter remained in South Africa after the cessation of hostilities on 31 May 1902. Perhaps his domestic arrangements were unsatisfactory? Whatever the reason the 1901 England census shows that his wife Annie along with her (their) children Thomas (6) and Bessie (4) had moved in with his father at 16 Douglas Road, Pendleton. Hunter’s mother had, in the interim, passed away.

Making his way to the Colony of Natal he was on hand when the Bambatha Rebellion broke out in early 1906.

Discontent amongst the natives in Natal had long been welling up. Extensive White and Indian immigration had resulted in the traditional way of life of the Blacks being drastically changed. Allocation of farms in Zululand to Whites for sugar farming was met with dissatisfaction and had resulted in squatting and, in some cases, exorbitant rentals in the form of hut tax on those farms. Registration of births and deaths, made compulsory by the Natal government, was foreign to the Blacks, and the 1904 census was viewed with great suspicion.

In May 1905, the Natal government under the premiership of Sir George Sutton, had collapsed due to the state of the economy after an expensive Boer War and the government's inability to have various tax bills passed through Parliament.

The bubble of discontent burst with the imposition by the Smythe government of a poll-tax of GBP 1 per head on all White, Coloured, Indian and Black residents in Natal and Zululand, of the age of 18 and upwards. Blacks who paid a hut tax were exempted. Once it became law, the Blacks objected strongly to its imposition, because of the huge difference between their own wages and those of Whites. The date for the introduction of the tax was set for 20 January 1906, although Blacks would be given until 31 May to pay before action would be taken against them for non-compliance.



By the beginning of 1906, it was clear that there was so much opposition to the new law that outbreaks of violence were inevitable.

On 7 February, the Umgeni divisional magistrate, Mr T R Bennett, was threatened by 27 armed Blacks whilst collecting taxes at Henley. The following day, 14 white Natal policemen under Sub-Inspector Hunt rode out to arrest the culprits. The police were surrounded and Inspector Hunt and Trooper Armstrong were killed.

That was enough for the Governor, Sir Henry McCallum; the next day, 9 February, he proclaimed martial law. On that day, the left and right wings of the Natal Carbineers (NC), 2 squadrons of the Border Mounted Rifles (BMR), 1 squadron of the Natal Royal Regiment (NRR), 2 sections of 'C' Battery Natal Field Artillery (NFA), and detachments of the Natal Medical, Telegraph and Service Corps - some 1 000 men in total - were mobilized. These units were commanded by Col Duncan McKenzie.

Whilst the crisis was in progress, the Natal Militia continued with demonstrations in southern Natal and the North Coast/Mapumulo/Greytown area. By the end of March, the situation seemed to have stabilized sufficiently for Col McKenzie's force to be demobilised.

Then, a minor chief in the Mpanza Valley between Greytown and Keate's Drift called Bambatha added fuel to the fire, precipitating an uprising which later spread into the heart of the colony. He openly went about inciting other Chiefs and their followers to defy the payment of the tax and to take up arms against the white man.

The local Militia were mobilised once more with troops positioned at Dundee and other towns. This is where Hunter who had joined the Natal Field Artillery POM section was situated along with men from the Transvaal Mounted Rifles, Royston's Horse (RH) (550), half a company of DLI (55), and detachments of the Medical, Veterinary, Signalling and Service Corps. The NFA section comprised 25 men with two pom-poms.



All these units, with the exception of the TMR and Royston's Horse, were established Natal military units. The general plan of action was to converge with the aforementioned troops (with a detachment of the NC) upon the Nkandla Forest whence Bambatha and his followers had fled.

The first skirmish in the Nkandla area during the Rebellion of 1906 occurred on 2 May, when a squadron of NC under Captain W Park Grey killed four rebels. On the following day, the magistrate of Mahlabatini, Mr H M Stainbank, was murdered on the south bank of the White Mfolozi River whilst collecting taxes. Mr Stainbank, a member of a prominent Natal family, was camped there with his wife and child, and members of the NP. (I have the medals to both the aforementioned men).

On 3 May, the Dundee-based troops left the town and proceeded to Nkandla. For the next ten days, Col McKenzie drove the Nkandla Forest, surrounding a different section of it every day. Then, on 1 June, two guns and two pom-poms of the NFA were deployed on what has since become known as Gun Hill. From 06h30 they poured continuous shell-fire into the Mome Gorge, concentrating on the area around the 'Stronghold'.

Several shells burst beyond the 'Stronghold' amongst the troops, and one of the levies was struck on the leg by a shell fragment. Those observing the movement were amazed how, only 20 minutes after entering the forest, the troops disappeared from both sight and sound. Amazingly, only three rebels were killed, but 24 surrendered. Interestingly, women poured out of the bush and made their way to Gun Hill, only to return to the bush after the action!

Although there was still no sign of Sigananda, his Enhlweni kraal was destroyed. A gun and a pom-pom remained on Gun Hill the following day, keeping up a continuous fire until 19h00 in order to prevent the rebels from returning to the area of the 'Stronghold'.

The Nkandla bush drives continued relentlessly, with little success. It was as though the rebels had simply vanished. Then, on 9 June, Col McKenzie received the breakthrough he so desperately needed. A spy had been captured and “turned” giving away vital information which would lead to the spot where Bambatha and his ally Sigananda would be. This led to an order being despatched to Colonel Barker which read as follows:-

“On receipt of this despatch, you will please move AT ONCE with all available men (leaving sufficient for the defence of your camp) to the mouth of the Mome Valley. I have information that an impi is coming from Qudeni to enter the Mome Valley between this and tomorrow morning. Please try to waylay this impi and prevent them from entering the Mome, and at daylight block the mouth of the Mome at once. It is anticipated that they will not enter the Mome till daylight. I have reliable information as to almost the exact spot Sigananda is in and I am moving down to surround him. He is supposed to be just below the Mome stronghold, a little lower down than where we burnt his kraal. I will cut off this position at daylight and drive down towards you, so please do all you can to prevent his escape, and co-operate with me generally.”

At 03h00 on 10 June 140 men of the DLI under Lt Col J S Wylie marched along the Nomangci ridge towards London Kop, a prominent hill overlooking the plain just before it drops into the Nsuze River Valley. Half an hour later came 'C' Squadron, NC under Captain G R Richards, as Col Mckenzie's bodyguard, followed by 100 NDMR under Maj Abraham, 100 ZMR under Maj Vanderplank, one 15-pr and two pom-poms, NFA, a Maxim detachment and RH, under Lt Col Royston himself.

Colonel Barker's orders were that no shots were to be fired until daybreak, when a round from one of the 15-prs on the koppie at the entrance to the gorge was to be taken as a signal for a general fusillade. Col Barker decided to remain at the gun position, from which, despite the misty conditions, he had a good view of the rebels' camp site and his own troops dispositions.

At 06h50 as it was growing light, Captain H McKay of 'D' Squadron, TMR, only some 200 metres from the rebels, observed them forming up into companies and, fearing that he had been observed and that the rebels were about to slip through his grasp, consulted with Lt R G Forbes on his left, and agreed to let Forbes open fire with his Maxim.

At virtually the same time, Col Barker observed the rebels forming up into their umkumbi unaware of its relevance. As the Maxim opened fire, virtually simultaneous volleys were fired by all the troops, both east and west, including the Colt gun. At this time too, Col Barker was about to order his guns to commence firing, when he heard the opening shots of battle. He immediately ordered the section commander to open fire.

Once again, it is necessary to return to Col McKenzie, who was about to deploy his troops in a sweep through the Mvalasango Forest, where he thought Sigananda to be hidden.

The ZMR, DLI and some levies were about to advance when firing was heard from the valley below. Col Royston suggested that the firing was coming from the direction of the Nsuze River, and that Col Barker had surprised the rebels before they had entered the Mome. Col McKenzie recalled the troops and started to gallop towards the Gcongco spur. However, as he was galloping along the ridge near Gun Hill, he observed the flash from one of Col Barker's guns through a slight clearing in the mist. He ordered 'fours about' and the force galloped up to Gun Hill, where the gun and pom-poms were deployed. Col McKenzie led his men in a gallop down the almost precipitous slope from Gun Hill to the upper edge of the Dobo Forest. They arrived not a moment too soon, because the rebels were starting to retreat up the Mome and into the Dobo Forest. Col Barker moved his guns at about 08h00 to the neck above the rebels' camp site, and searched the Dobo from top to bottom with heavy shell fire, whilst the gun and pom-poms on Gun Hill raked the valley in the vicinity of the 'Stronghold' with fire.



The rebellion collapsed and Bambatha’s head was severed from his body as proof that he was no more, the decapitation led to an uproar both in Natal and overseas, but it certainly had the effect of causing nearly 1 000 rebels to surrender to the authorities. The conflict over Hunter was awarded the Natal Rebellion medal – one of only 25 issued to the pom section of the Natal Field Artillery.

At some point Hunter decided to return to England but it wasn’t to be a happy time for him. The 1911 England census reveals that he was an inmate of the Poor Law Workhouse. Still married there is no sign of his wife. His occupation was provided as Iron Turner. The same census shows that his father, John Hunter, now a 78 year old retired House Painter, had living with him some of Hunter’s children in the form of Clara (20), Thomas (16) and Bessie (14).

James William Hunter, a man who had seen and done so much in earlier years in South Africa, passed away in Salford in September 1935 at the age of 78.

Thank You Rory......

I would not like to meet the man holding the head...... Just the look on his face.......

Thanks again.....

Mike