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Great was my surprise when, whilst trawling through a file of Pioneer Corps men who applied to be registered as Rhodesian Pioneers in 1940, I stumbled upon Frank Davenport - there had been no hint in all my prior research which indicated that he had even been in Rhodesia.

Frank Davenport

Corporal, “E” Troop, British South Africa Company Police –Pioneer Column 1890
Private, Ladysmith Town Guard – Anglo Boer War

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasp Defence of Ladysmith to Pte. T. Davenport, Ladysmith Town Gd.

Frank Davenport was born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England on 29 October 1865, the son of Charles Davenport a Surgeon and a prominent member of society, and his mother Eliza Sarah Margaretta Antoinette Edgell. The couple had married at St. Martins in the Field in 1852.

According to the 1871 England census, a 5 year old Frank was resident with his large and prosperous family in the High Street, Bromsgrove. Aside from his 42 year old father, described as a General Practitioner in Medicine and Surgery, were his 41 year old mother and no fewer than nine siblings – brothers Charles E. Davenport (18), Jerry Davenport (17), James Davenport (14), Arthur Davenport (11), Claude Davenport (9) and Herbert Davenport (7). There were also sisters Kate (13), Agnes (3) and baby Grace (3 months old) To round the household off there were two servants in attendance, Alice Duffell, a 19 year old General Servant (Domestic) and her sister, 13 year old Susan Ann Duffell, a Nurse Maid.

Ten years on, at the time of the 1881 census, Frank had disappeared from the scene, presumably to Boarding School (he attended King Edward VI Grammar School in Bromsgrove at one point), as he is not listed amongst the inhabitants of the household. His father had also passed away by this time leaving his mother a widow at the age of 51.

At some point Frank came to the decision that his future lay elsewhere and, turning his sights southwards, he set sail for South Africa. Those were exciting times in the southern tip of the Dark Continent. There were a plethora of adventurers of every shape and description, and coming from all four corners of the Empire, to ply their trade and prospect for their fortunes in hitherto undiscovered territories. The newly developing lands to the north of the Transvaal, populated by both the Matabele and Mashona tribes, were opening up and, under the masterful hand of that great Imperialist Cecil John Rhodes, a Pioneer Column with an accompanying body of British South Africa Company Police had been recruited to infiltrate the territory and claim it for the Empire.

Davenport, who attested for service with “D” Company of the B.S.A.P. on 20 May 1890 with No. 535, was thus one of the original members recruited for the expedition. The pay was 5/- per day and the period of enlistment was for one year, or two if required. Although dubbed as police the B.S.A.P. were utilised as soldiers. One account of them written by a Pioneer Column member stated that, “They undoubtedly were an extra fine lot of picked men from all over the world.”



From Macloutsie to Tuli, “A” Troop of the Police accompanied the Pioneer Corps as escort, the road all along this section having been cut and made by Khama’s Boys. From Tuli onwards Colonel Pennefather with his three Troops – “A”, “B” and “C” – took supreme command of the Expedition. “E” and “F” Troops he left at the then base, Macloutsie. “D” Troop he left at Fort Tuli. Fort Tuli was on the south side of the Tuli River, being just off the border of Mashonaland.

In 1940, fifty years after the event, the Rhodesian authorities placed adverts in all the major newspapers calling for Pioneers and those who were members of the ground breaking 1890 Expedition to come forward and request forms for completion which, once returned, would form part of an official register of Pioneers. Davenport, from his home in Ladysmith, responded and submitted his forms to the Government Archivist in Salisbury, Southern Rhodesia.

The forms, entitled “The 1890 Pioneer Corps and The British South Africa Company’s Police” contained much information completed in the man’s own hand. Davenport, in his form dated 18 June 1940, confirmed that he had attested for the Police on 20 May 1890 and had been posted to “D” Troop, initially, before being transferred to “E” Troop.

Having attained the rank of Corporal he confirmed that “I was at Macloutsie and Fort Tuli for about 2 years – never farther north.” This is a shame because, although a bona fide Pioneer, Davenport never ventured across the river into Mashonaland and it appears that only those who did so and went on with the Expedition, were eligible for the B.S.A.C. medal and Mashonaland Bar which the Pioneers were able to claim in 1927.

Quite when he took his discharge from the B.S.A.C. Police is unknown but he moved south at some point and, more particularly, to the Colony of Natal where he arrived to take up residence in 1899 – joining the employ of the Natal Bank in Ladysmith. The outbreak of the Anglo Boer War in October 1899 found him as a resident in the town. Without delay he joined Ward 3 of the Ladysmith Town Guard as a Private with no. 61.

In order to obtain a glimpse of what life was like and what the duties of the Town Guard were at the time it is useful to include the following information, taken from the Synopsis of proceedings of the Ladysmith Town Guard 1899 - 1900 which is held at the Ladysmith Siege Museum and included in David Biggin’s Anglo Boer War website.

Members for the LTG were enrolled from 19 Sep 1899, all members taking the Oath of Allegiance. The Klip River Rifle Association was affiliated for the defence of the borough, making the aggregate number of men 233. Mr. T R Bennett was appointed commandant of the combined town defence, acting under the orders of Col W G Know CB, commanding the defences.

Daily drills were inaugurated, whilst the members were allowed to practice at the rifle ranges of the Klip River Rifle Association. Nightly patrols were instituted in the town and guards posted on the Convent Hill to give the alarm of the approach of the enemy. On and after the 18th of October the Guard took duty at the Railway Bridge Defences.

On the night of 12th October, Col Know ordered the men to guard all the roads leading into the Borough, to prevent anyone from entering or leaving the town. In secret Divisional Orders dated the 23rd of October, the Guard was ordered to muster on the sound of the alarm at the New Supply Store and the Railway Bridge Head.

Regulations concerning the duties and conduct of the men were drawn up and approved of by Lieut-General Sir George White VC & c, commanding the Forces in Natal, on the 16th of October. On the 28th the entire guard mustered in the defences at 4.30 am and remained under arms till 7 am.

The men were on duty at the Bridge Head and adjacent defences during the engagement of Lombard's Kop on the 30th of October.

On November the 5th, the 3rd day of the siege, the Commandant was sent to the neutral zone at Ndoma Spruit to take charge of the New Camp.

From this date till the 12th of December the services of the Guard were not made use of. On the latter date, however, the men were again called out, and with the members of the Natal Government Rifle Association, placed under the command of Capt Young RE, Railway Staff Officer. The strength was now 157 men, exclusive of those on the sick list.

The duty assigned was to guard the river's bank on the South side of the town nightly.

Capt Molyneux, of the Natal Volunteer Staff, assumed command on the 23rd of December 1899, a system being arranged that each man should be one night on and two nights off. Free rations were issued on the 29th of December and each succeeding day throughout the siege.

During the Boer attack on the 6th of January 1900 the whole of the Guard lined the defences from daybreak till 10 am, being under fire early in the morning. On several subsequent occasions the men were roused in the night to help to repel an expected attack.

The Guard was disbanded for all Defence purposes on the 1st of March 1900. With the threat to the residents of Ladysmith having diminished Frank Davenport returned to full time service with the Natal Bank.

A brief insert in the 24 March 1900 edition of Berrow’s Worcester Journal, under the heading “Wichenford” read as follows:

“The bells rang in commemoration of the relief of Ladysmith, Mr Frank Davenport, the Vicar’s brother, was resident in Ladysmith, and joined the Town Guard as the beginning of the siege. A telegram has been received to the effect that he is all right.” For his efforts he was awarded the Queens South Africa Medal with the Defence of Ladysmith clasp for his role in the Siege. (The medal was erroneously impressed with the initial ‘T”)

With life returning to normal he, on 17 December 1904, preparatory to entering into the matrimonial state, signed an Anti-Nuptial Contract with Flora Caroline Van Zuilecom, a lass from the hamlet of Greytown in the Natal Midlands. They were married at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Pietermaritzburg later that month.

Frank Davenport had by now become a man of quite some importance - certainly his appearance in the 1906 Natal Who’s Who would seem to warrant this assumption. His address was provided as Natal Bank Ltd., where he was employed in the Inspection Department or, alternatively of the Wichenford Vicarage, Worcestershire, England.

The Burgess Roll of the Borough of Ladysmith for the year ending 31 July 1923 has Davenport as renting a property in Mayor’s Walk, Ladysmith. His occupation is reflected as that of an Accountant - he had pursued his studies in the interim and was now a qualified Chartered Accountant by profession.



As a further indication of his social prominence, his name appears as a member of the Commemoration Committee of the Ladysmith Siege Committee. This august body, under the patronage of General Sir Ian Hamilton, V.C., was responsible for arranging the Banquet to be hosted at the Ladysmith Town Hall on Saturday, 1st March 1930, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Relief of the Siege.

Frank Davenport was to remain in Ladysmith for the rest of his lifetime – he passed away at his residence at 27 Berea Road of that town on 22 December 1942 at the age of 77 years and 2 months and was survived by his wife and two sons, Henry Charles Davenport and David Ormus Davenport.