TOPIC:

A recent find. QSA with TH and RoL clasps - Br: J. FOOT, Natal VOL: AMB: C. The nominal roll on this site, has one "J Foot" and the “J” is crossed out and Israel Abel is written in afterwards. The naming is correct and so as with some QSAs, there was a "Typo". He served as a bearer from 9 December 1899 to 12 March 1900.

Azyeoman,

That is a very nice medal. He would certainly have earned those clasps.

Best wishes
David

FindMyPast and this forum have been goldmines of information regarding Foot. He served as Bearer in NVAC and after it was disbanded he joined the Imperial Hospital Corps as a 53 orderly Israel Abel Foot. At Maritzburg, on 3 April 1900 (when he was 34) he enlisted as 2415 Pte. Israel Abel Foot in D Coy, 4th Bn. Railway Pioneer Regt, which may have helped in later as he worked for the London NW Railway after returning to the UK. He was discharged on 6 December 1901. His pre enlistments in the NVAC and the IHC are verified on his Railway Pioneer Attestation Form. Most importantly, on the NVAC roll, the “J” is crossed out and Israel Abel is written in afterwards.

Serving in three different units is an interesting aspect of Foot's military career. I wonder if there were men who served in more than three different units during the war. It appears that in the case of the NVAC, it wasn't uncommon for the men to serve in the IHC.

Israel Abel Foot was born in Horrabridge, Deven in 1866. His father, also Israel (1835-?) was a master/house carpenter and they lived at Cottage, Buckland-Monachorum, Tavistock, Devon, England. His mother was Eleanor (Ellana) Fuge (1836-?) (married 1859). He had six siblings: Bessy (1860); William (1861); Sidney (1862); Fredrick (1866); Esther (1869), and Isaac (1879). In the 1871 census, there were two apprentices living with them and working for his father’s business. In 1873 his father went bankrupt, but in1881, was a master carpenter employing three sons one of which was Israel.

By 1901, Foot had returned to the UK from S. Africa and married Hannah Smith (1873) and he was living with his father-in-law Charles, (1855 – Stepney, Middlesex) his wife Hannah and his wife’s visiting cousin Ruth Williams (1885). Foot was working as a carman for the London NW Railway. His father-in-law was a fish fryer They lived at Fish Fryer’s Shop; 96 Burdett Rd, Mile End Old Town, London & Middlesex, UK.

His brother Isaac, served in the Jewish Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers during WWI and was active in the Liberal Party.