TOPIC:

Lindsay Kirby Richards Brunette

Lieutenant, Paarl District Mounted Troop – Anglo Boer War

- Queens South Africa Medal (no clasp) to Lieut. L.K. Brunette, Paarl Dist. M.T.

Lindsay Brunette was born in the Durban Road area of the Cape Colony on 26 September 1875, the son of Sandford Richards Brunette, a one-time Indian Civil Servant, and his wife Margaret Sarah, born Donaldson. At the time of Lindsay’s baptism on 29 March 1876 the family were living in Kimberley, Griqualand West where Mr Brunette was a Diamond Miner.

At some stage the family moved to Paarl in the western part of the Cape. Little is known of Brunette’s early years with our first glimpse of him as an adult coming courtesy of a Mortgage Bond he entered into on 15 May 1900 for £120 Sterling for a property named “Aubacht’s Valley in the Klein Drakenstein division of Paarl, purchased from Isaac Jacob De Villiers. Perhaps interestingly the Power of Attorney was drawn up at both “Paarl and Kimberley” signifying that he still had interests in Kimberley.

Whilst this was being transacted the world around Brunette was fast changing – the Anglo Boer War which had been raging since October of 1899 had finally extended its tentacles into the far reaches of the Cape – close by to Paarl where he found himself. The Boers had, in a desperate attempt to try and recruit sympathetic Cape Dutch men to their cause, infiltrated the area leading to the creation of Town Guards and their rural equivalent – District Mounted Troops – in order to counter any potential threat.

That the British authorities were taken the potential threat seriously was apparent from an article in The Nottingham Daily Express of 12 January 1901. Under the heading “Martial Law in the Paarl District” the article stated that: -

“Major Capper of the Royal Engineers was this morning introduced to a large meeting of the public here as commandant under martial law. He delivered an address in very forcible language, saying that every man must do his duty, and that there could be no such thing as remaining neutral. Every man, he remarked, must be either for or against the enemy. Raiders and rebels must be kept from the district, and it must be borne in mind that the Government’s proclamation were not issued for pleasure but to be obeyed, and he added, they shall be obeyed, and those disobeying them will be punished rigorously.”

The Paarl District Mounted Troop was one such entity that thus came into being and it was to their ranks that Brunette gravitated, spurred on no doubt by Capper’s words. By now a man of substance in the town, he was appointed as a Lieutenant and set about his duties patrolling the surrounds with his men. But first there was the matter of marriage – on 6 August 1901 at the Holy Trinity Church, he married Johanna Maria Wilhelmina De Villiers. Aged 26 he was recorded as being a Clerk by profession.

Brunette had married well (I suspect that the mortgage lender mentioned above was his father-in-law) – according to the publication “Paarl Valley 1687 – 1987” by A.G. Oberholster some of South Africa’s biggest grain mills were built in Paarl. One of the earliest mills had passed into the ownership of the De Villier’s family in the early 1800’s and was run by them for three generations. In 1900 a second mill was begun near the Lady Grey bridge.

“Under the guidance of the firm’s manager, L.K Brunette, the mill underwent large scale extensions and experienced rapid growth. A huge building in which the milling activities took place was built while numerous silos for the storing of approximately 35 000 bags of wheat were built. This firm did business under the trade name Paarl Roller Flour Mills.”

The book “In the Valley of the Berg” published by The Gymnasium Senior Matriculation Class of 1924 confirmed that “The Paarl Roller Flour Mills operating under the trade name “White Star” was founded in 1892 by Mr Thesen. His first manager was Mr Brunnet (sic), who in 1906 was succeeded by Mr Wallem, the present manager.”

1906 was a busy year for Brunette. On 11 July the Commandant General’s Office wrote to the Colonial Secretary in Cape Town forwarding the commission of, among others, Second Lieutenant L.K. Brunette, The Paarl Volunteers, for signature. Brunette had obviously continued with his military career. The commissions were duly returned, signed, on 23 July 1906. What happened next was unexpected – on 30 August, a month after receiving his commission the Colonial Secretary was advised that Brunette had resigned his commission with effect from 6 June 1906. Writing from Huguenot Street in Paarl to his Officer Commanding he stated that: -

“As the elected Captain of the Paarl Volunteers, I herewith submit my resignation as Lieutenant. Since allowing myself to be elected I have come to realise that my business duties will not allow of my fulfilling the duties devolving upon the commission as I would wish to.”

Parting with the military didn’t signal the last of Brunette’s civic duties. The Resident Magistrate of Paarl, on 29 September 1908 had the honour to recommend that he be appointed as a Justice of the Peace for the District of Paarl. The completed form provided the most cogent reason yet as to why he was pressed for time. At the age of 33 he had become the Managing Director (no longer the Manager) of the Paarl Roller Mills Ltd. It was confirmed that he could speak and write English and speak Dutch (this last was no surprise given the fact that he had married a Dutchwoman.

Further motivation for the appointment was provided with mention made that Brunette was Chairman of the Village Management Board, Huguenot of which place there was no J.P. resident.

Brunette was to live a long and productive life before passing away in the Princess Nursing Home in Johannesburg on 26 July 1958 at the age of 82 years 10 months. His wife was still alive as were his two children – Lindsay Sandford Carew Brunette and Hebe Eliza Green.

Thank You Rory..... Another great read...… Here is most likely a friend of Brunetts's from my collection...…

Mike

1563 MYBURGH, P.A.

RANK: LIEUTENANT
REGT: PAARL DISTRICT MOUNTED TROOPS
BARS: NO BARS AS ISSUED

REMARKS / HISTORY:
1. ALSO SERVED IN WESTERN PROVINCE MOUNTED RIFLES AND “L” SECTION – CAPE COLONIAL FORCES

A really interesting story, Rory. Thanks for posting it.

By the way, the Durban Road area is now part of Bellville, in the Cape Town metro.

Another brilliant biography!

Thanks Roy

Hello All

With reference to Mr Chamberlain, Secretary of State for the Colonies, after the war visit to South Africa - 17th of February 1903

The special train left the Beaufort West Station at a few minutes past 2 p.m. That afternoon and all night it crossed the lofty solitudes of the Karoo Plateaux, until on Tuesday morning, in brilliant sunshine, it ran down the fine pass of the Hex River range to Worcester, and thence to the Paarl, the chief centre of Afrikander sentiment in the Western Province — the second of the two places which Mr Chamberlain had placed first among the towns to be visited.

The party, which still included Sir W. Hely- Hutchinson and Mr Douglass, reached the Paarl at 11.30. At the station the Secretary of State was received by the Mayor and a small gathering of residents, who greeted him with
cheers, and the whole party then drove to the Recreation Grounds some three miles distant, where a considerable crowd had assembled. Here addresses of welcome from the Municipalities of the Paarl and Wellington, from the men of the District Mounted Troops of both towns, and from the German inhabitants of the Paarl, were presented, and Mr Chamberlain made a short speech. Subsequently he
received deputations from the loyalists and from the farmers of the district, and in the afternoon both he and Mrs Chamberlain attended a garden-party, given in their honour, which was a purely social gathering, and as
such attracted the presence of some members of the Bond who had abstained from taking any part in the proceedings of the morning.

It is noticeable that Mr Chamberlain's reception at the Paarl was less friendly than any that he had met with elsewhere in the Cape Colony. There was little or no attempt to decorate the town ; the streets, as the party
drove through them to the Recreation Ground, were empty and silent, and only three addresses were presented. In reference to this coldness, Mr Chamberlain remarked in his reply that " if he had previously had the opportunity of seeing these deputations and individuals, who were good enough to promise to wait on him, he might have known how to classify the people of the Paarl. But at present," he said, " I do not know whether I am to say to the Paarl that it is loyal and contented under the British flag, enjoying the privileges conferred upon it, and rejoicing to work with all its fellow subjects for the common good, or whether I
will not put the alternative."
His speech was otherwise noticeable for allusions relating respectively to the refusal of the Boer Generals to accept seats in the Transvaal Legislative Council,^ and to the recent disarmament of the loyalists in the Cape Colony.*

The party left the Paarl at 7 o'clock the same evening, and the train without entering Cape Town Station ran through to the suburb of Newlands, where Mr and Mrs Chamberlain were to be the guests of Sir Walter and Lady Hely- Hutchinson at Government Cottage.

*In respect of the former he first repeated the warning which he had uttered at Graaf Reinet. The danger to the Cape Constitution did not come from the Imperial Government, nor from the advocates of Suspension, but from those who had " fought against the Constitution, who had shown themselves unworthy of the liberties which were conceded to them." The large minority of the population which signed the Petition for the Suspension of the Constitution, did so "for reasons that appeared to be very similar to those which have recently been given by the Boer Generals as an argument against the concession of even a moderately representative institution — that is to say, Generals De la Rey, Botha and Smuts have shown themselves to be of the opinion that what this country wants is peace and time for recuperation ; also freedom from political agitation : and that
in the meantime it might be well for the people at large to trust the Government,who have shown that they can be sympathetic as well as just." The allusion to the disarmament grievance occurred in connection with Mr Chamberlain's acknowledgment of the address presented by the men of the District Mounted Troops. It was an address, which, as he said, came from " those who had taken their part and done their duty in defending, not merely the country, but the Government of their own choosing against lawless men and foreign invaders."

' I recognise," he continued, "that this district sent a very large number of men for this purpose into the field, and I am delighted to know that, as Mr Mybergh has said, two-thirds at least of them belonged to the Dutch race.
Sir [the Mayor of the Paarl], I wish to say that the Government— the Imperial Government— and I know that in this I may also speak for the Colonial Government — appreciate what these men have done, and I say it with the more emphasis to-day, because I know that there has existed some misunderstanding in respect of the recent disarmament. That disarmament, I have authority for saying, is merely a precautionary and temporary measure, and all those who have borne arms on behalf of their country will have those arms returned to them, with a license, as early as possible, and I believe that arrangements have been made to hasten a transaction, which, I admit, seems to have been unduly delayed."

From pages 219 - 220 Reconstruction of the New Colonies Under Lord Milner by W. Basil Worsfold Vol 1