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Robert Walter Bentley

2nd Class Sergeant, Natal Police – Anglo Boer War

Queens South Africa Medal (Talana/Defence of Ladysmith/Orange Free State) to 1513 2ND CL: SERJT: R.W. BENTLEY. NATAL POLICE.

While Bentley led an unassuming life, his wife’s shenanigans, after his death, threatened to overshadow his memory.

Walter Bentley, this being the name he seemed to prefer, was born in Cantley, near Doncaster in Yorkshire in about 1870. The son of Lizzie Bentley (Elizabeth Alderson) and her husband Robert Charles Bentley, a successful Wine Merchant and esteemed Member of the Town Council who served five times as Mayor of Doncaster, he was a babe of 9 months when the 1871 England census was enumerated. The family were living at 57 French Gate in Doncaster and, aside from Walter, others in the house were his older brother Edward (aged 2) and servants Sarah Swallow, the Cook, and Annie Greaves the Housemaid.



Ten years later, at the time of the 1881 England census, the family had moved to 6 Hall Cross, Doncaster and Mr Bentley had now added the post-nominals “J.P” to his name. Walter was now 10 years old and didn’t want for playmates. Of new additions to the family there were plenty in the forms of Herbert (7), Edith Hilda (6) and Stanley Alderson (3). Mr Bentley’s business had continued to prosper and he had been able to employ a Governess to tend to the children’s early education. This indomitable soul was Ellen Bickers and she was joined in the servant ranks by Mary Ada Jackson, Cook; Maria Johnson, Housemaid and Elizabeth Ramsden, Housemaid.

The 1891 England census revealed that Bentley was a Medical Student living at home – 2 South Parade, Doncaster. He received his, ultimately incomplete, early training at Rossall College near Fleetwood in Lancashire although it is not known why he elected to study medicine in the first instance. Aged 20, he was at home with his parents and younger brother Herbert (18). The, by now, usual coterie of servants were on hand to minister to the family’s needs.

At some point Bentley abandoned his medical studies and headed for the unknown landscape of South Africa where, on 31 May 1895, at the age of 25, he attested for service with the Natal Police at their Headquarters in Alexandria Road, Pietermaritzburg. Providing his father, of Sandholme, Doncaster as his next of kin, he was assigned no. 1513 and the rank of Trooper. By way of references he provided Messrs. Sellar Brothers of Cape Town; Mr Neilson Esq. of the Mount Nelson Hotel in Sea Point, Cape Town and G. Ransome Esq. of St. George’s Street, Cape Town – no doubt these worthies were business acquaintances of his father’s.

Without further ado Bentley settled down to the daily grind of training and drills, requirements of the job, before being posted out to the districts where proper police work was to be done. As the 19th century drew to a close the clamour for war began to be heard with ever increasing volume and frequency. Long simmering tensions between the two Boer Republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State and Great Britain reached boiling point, resulting in a declaration of war on 11 October 1899. Mounted Boer Commandos streamed over the Transvaal border into Natal – hell-bent on reaching the sea at Durban and turfing the despised British out of the Colony.

The British military presence in South Africa at this time was woefully inadequate to stem the Boer tide and the first pitched battle of the war in Natal took place at Dundee in Northern Natal where Penn-Symons, with 4000 men, was attempting to provide a bulwark against the Boer insurgency.

The Natal Police took a very active part in the Boer War and were, from the very beginning, split up into small detachments. Some remained at Headquarters in Pietermaritzburg; others formed part of the Natal Field Force for the Relief of Ladysmith operations while still others were scattered around the Colony, manning isolated stations. It was into this latter category that Bentley was sorted. He was part of a very small detachment based at Normandien just outside Newcastle.

It wasn’t long before orders were issued to all police in the Newcastle and Dundee districts to hold themselves in readiness to retire on Dundee, and this mobilization took place on the 14th October, although the detachment at De Jager's Drift was left to watch the movements of the enemy on the opposite side of the Buffalo. Bentley and his comrades in Normandien were some of the men to retire on Dundee and was part of the “dead march” to reach Ladysmith a few days later.

When the battle of Talana was fought on 20th October the Police joined the 67th Battery and the Leicestershire Regiment who were being held in reserve and were in charge of the camp. General Yule, who had succeeded to the command when General Penn-Symons was mortally wounded, feared that an attack would be made by the Boer commando at Impati Mountain. Reports having come in that the enemy were there in strong force, tents were struck, it being decided to form another camp and make a stand on one of the spurs of the Indumeni, where trenches were dug, only to be filled by rain-water as it pelted down from the heavens.

Shells from the Boer positions fell unpleasantly near. The British batteries attempted to reply, but were out of range, and General Yule received the disconcerting news that reinforcements could not be sent to him because the troops at Ladysmith were engaged. The rain continued to fall, causing the greatest discomfort to the men, who had no tents or blankets, and were short of food.

When the news of the Boer defeat at nearby Elandslaagte reached General Yule on the 22nd he made a move in the direction of Glencoe to intercept the retreat of the enemy, but the Boers were too strong, and the General had to retire. That night he decided to make for Ladysmith, travelling via the Helpmakaar road, and the march began at 9 p.m. It was pitch dark and orders were given for strict silence. Without a break, the troops marched all night, and at dawn had five hours' much-needed rest and a good meal. At midday the General decided to wait at the head of Van Tonder's Pass for darkness, before making a further move, and that night the column was guided down the path to the Waschbank River. Again the column marched all night, and when the Waschbank was reached, soon after daylight, many of the troops were thoroughly worn out. They slept there for some hours, but a heavy thunderstorm caused much misery in the afternoon, the river rising twelve feet and turning the countryside into a quagmire.



The retirement was continued at 4 a.m. the following day, and as there was no sign of pursuit the march was conducted in a more leisurely fashion. At Sunday's River another halt was made. Some of the men on this occasion were able to strip and clean themselves for the first time for five days. That evening troops arrived from Ladysmith to assist the column over the last stage of the journey, and as Boers were reported to be in the vicinity, General Yule decided to undertake another night march, again in pouring rain. Mules, horses, and men were knocked up in what was a painful and arduous night. Once the wagons stuck fast for two hours, and the advance guard, knowing nothing of this, went right away leaving them behind. All were overjoyed when Ladysmith was reached at breakfast-time.

The members of the Natal Police in Ladysmith, who numbered at this time about seventy, consisted of the detachment from Newcastle (excepting Sub Inspector Petley and the escort for the prisoners), and the men from the Dundee and Ladysmith districts.

Bentley and his comrades had their first experience of being under fire on the morning of the 30th October "Mournful Monday." They paraded at two o'clock, and were ordered to join the volunteers near Lombard's Kop. They moved on to the ridges running north-east from Gun Hill, and had no sooner linked their horses under cover and reached the top of the ridge than they found themselves under a heavy fire. Three cavalry regiments under General French halted near the place where the Natal Police were, and as they offered a good target for the "Long Tom" on Pepworth Hill, the troopers had a good deal of the shell-fire drawn in their direction. There were plenty of stones along the ridge behind with which they could obtain cover from the enemy's rifle fire. They were armed with carbines, which, being nearly worn out, were practically useless, and were exchanged in the evening on the return to camp for long rifles.

The firing slackened somewhat near midday, and a Staff officer who was passing gave the Police and volunteers the order to retire. They returned to their horses, and were just in the act of mounting, when another Staff officer galloped up and countermanded the order, the men returning to their position.

When the retirement began, the regiments became badly mixed up, and in some instances there was no attempt at formation. Soldiers left their rifles and ammunition on the hills, and Maxim guns were abandoned. The men, after marching all night, had been fighting all day, and suffered badly for want of water. The mounted troopers, whose experiences had not been so trying, retired in good order, being detained for a little while to act as escort to the 53rd Battery. This time the Police were subjected to a heavy shell-fire, and one shot cut a trooper's horse in half without injuring its rider.

While this column was engaged outside the town, news was received that the enemy were advancing from the west, and that Ladysmith was being bombarded. The men who were retiring realized that the town was about to be besieged. The Naval Brigade had arrived with their 4*7 guns, and it was stated optimistically that before twenty-four hours had elapsed not one of the Boer guns would be within range of Ladysmith.

When the siege of Ladysmith began on 3 November 1899 there were 60 members of the Natal Police at Nongoma, 10 at Nqutu, 84 at Ladysmith, 40 at Tugela Ferry, 40 at Estcourt, and 120 at Pietermaritzburg. The Ladysmith force formed a unit in the Volunteer Brigade under Colonel Royston, Commandant of Volunteers, but were placed under canvas in the centre of the town instead of joining the camp of the volunteers.



In the early days of the siege the Police provided pickets on the banks of the river at night, returning to camp at 5 a.m. Just as the Police in Ladysmith reached camp from their night picket on the morning of the 7th November, a very heavy bombardment of the town began, and until nightfall the troopers remained in the bed of the river, keeping their horses well under cover. When the firing was resumed two days later, the police were told off to watch the racecourse side of the town, and the horses were kept ready saddled under cover.

Just after that the pickets were changed, the Police and volunteers guarding the line from the point of Caesar's Camp to Platelayer's Cottage, and this continued until the end of the siege, the two officers of the Police going on duty on alternate nights. As a rule the pickets were formed by about equal numbers of Police and volunteers, the sentries being pushed well forward at night, and withdrawn at daytime to the cover of the thorn trees.

The shell fire from the Boers' guns on the surrounding heights was kept up fairly regularly, and the losses from it were surprisingly few. Things became somewhat monotonous when the garrison had grown accustomed to being under fire. Towards the end of November rations were reduced, the stores being denuded of jam, milk, and butter.

On the night of 7 December 1899 a strong force, consisting of the Imperial Light Horse, Volunteers, and the Police, moved out at 10 p.m. to destroy the enemy's guns on Gun Hill. It was very dark, and the force made slow progress. The order had been given that strict silence was to be preserved, but as there were over 600 men clambering over stony ground the noise they made must have been heard at a considerable distance. It was long after midnight when they reached the base of Gun Hill. The Imperial Light Horse and Carbineers went off to make an attack on the right, the Police being sent to the left to prevent the enemy's reinforcements joining their comrades on the top. The movement was entirely successful, but the Police heard no orders to retire, and only began to move back when it was found that the rest of the troops were on their way to Ladysmith. It was afterwards discovered that a bugle had sounded the " retire," which had not been heard owing to a hill that intervened.

Another shell came into the Police camp on the 29th December, striking the ground between two bell tents, but fortunately caused no damage, and on the 4th January a shell wrecked Colonel Dartnell's tent, outside which Inspectors Dorehill and Lyttle and Sub-Inspector Clarke were standing. Everything in the tent was smashed, but nobody was hurt.

On the night of the 5th January, 45 of the Natal Police, with 24 of the Carbineers, went out on picket, the Police being stationed up the line to the foot of Caesar's Camp, and bullets began to fall in the neighbourhood of their bivouac soon after midnight. These shots came from the direction of Wagon Hill. Thinking the Manchester Regiment were firing on them, some of the Police went up the hill to remonstrate, but when they got near the summit they heard words of command in Dutch, and came down the slope at the double. As the day dawned the horses were seen by the enemy, and before they could be removed the Boers killed or wounded everyone; though not one man was touched.

The Police advanced on foot through the bush under a heavy fire, Sergeant Woon, Trooper Pinto Leite, and Trooper Rivett being wounded before they reached the base of Caesar's Camp, within two hundred yards of the enemy. Here they were joined by the Natal Mounted Rifles, and the 53rd Battery, which came out from Ladysmith with their big guns, fired shots over their heads, the rattle of musketry at the same time being deafening. The Boers directed a " Long Tom " towards the 53rd Battery, and the bombardment was kept up by both sides all day until 5 p.m., when a heavy thunderstorm came up. The ground on which the Police were lying was flooded, and they were relieved by a picket of Carbineers at 6.30, getting back to camp by a circuitous route, the river being flooded.

The men were now beginning to suffer badly through lack of food; rations were cut to half a pound of horse flesh and two biscuits per day per man. All units except the Police were supplied with canvas troughs and blankets for filtering boiled water, but as there were insufficient to go round, the increase in the number of sick men may be attributed to that. As the Police comprised the smallest unit of the Volunteer Brigade they always came in last for the rations, and only too frequently their supply of biscuits consisted of broken fragments and crumbs.

As the days wore on, more of the Police became ill, their whole available strength had to be sent out on picket every night, and at times they could only muster 2 officers, 6 non-commissioned officers, and 16 men. Almost the sole topic of conversation was the lack of food, and on the 27th February rations were reduced to a quarter of pound of biscuits and three ounces of bad mealie meal per man.

The siege of Ladysmith ended on 28 February 1900. On the following day 43 of the Police formed the advance-guard, when a reconnaissance was made towards Modder Spruit, where a few Boers opened fire. The police worked round the flank, extending in skirmishing order on foot and leading their horses. As they cleared a ridge they came into the line of their own shrapnel fire, which cost them two horses. From the top of a hill they could see the Boers loading guns on to some trains, and a message was sent back to Colonel Knox for a fifteen-pounder to shell the first engine, which would have resulted in the line being blocked. The message came back that the Gordon Highlanders were too exhausted to act as escort for the gun. The mounted men moved on in the direction of the trains, and were met by a few shots, three of the Natal Police Inspector Lyttle, Sub-Inspector Clarke, and Trooper Smith being wounded. Orders came to retire, as the infantry of the Ladysmith garrison were too exhausted to overtake them.

When the orders to march to Pietermaritzburg were given, the Police were addressed by Colonel Royston, who thanked them for their services. He said they had always done their work cheerfully, and without criticism; his only regret was that “he had not had a thousand of the police under his command, because in that case he would have been able to make a name for them and for himself”.
When they arrived at Colenso they expected to find railway trucks awaiting them, but were disappointed, and completed the journey to Pietermaritzburg by road.

Bentley, having weathered the privations of the siege and, no doubt, enjoyed a spot of recuperative leave, was soon back on duty. The NP orders of 31 March 1900 included his name among those required to assemble at Headquarters for duty at the Umgeni Court in Pietermaritzburg. This order was countermanded the very next day with an entry appearing in Orders to the effect that, “…will parade at 4 p.m. this day for the purposes of entraining their horses and baggage at the Railway Station, and proceeding by train at 6 p.m. to Durban en route to Eshowe for duty in the province of Zululand.”

On 7 August 1900 Bentley was promoted to the rank of 2nd Class Sergeant. The remainder of his career without incident, he continued on beyond the cessation of hostilities, taking his discharge from the Natal Police, at his own request, on 15 January 1904. He was given a conduct rating of “Exemplary” and was awarded the Queens medal with clasps Talana, Defence of Ladysmith and Orange Free State – being one of only 36 Natal Police men to earn the Talana clasp.

Returning home to England, Bentley’s next appearance was in the 1911 England census where, 40 and unmarried, he was living with his aging parents at the family pile at Hall Cross, Doncaster. Inexplicably his employment status is provided as “Retired Lieutenant” – a rank he certainly didn’t earn with the Natal Police. The number of servants matched the number of family resident there.

Bentley’s bachelor days were numbered. At Christ Church, Doncaster on 9 September 1918 he wed Christobel Florence Catchpole, a 35 year old spinster living at 31 Waterdale, Doncaster. He was 48 years old at the time and had joined his elderly father in the still thriving Wine Merchant business.

A year later Robert Walter Bentley was dead. His probate revealing that he had passed away on 26 June 1919 – less than a year after entering the marital estate. He bequeathed the sum of £385 to his wife. A newspaper article in the Yorkshire Post of 27 June 1919 read as follows:

“Mr. Walter Bentley, son of Alderman R.C. Bentley of Doncaster, died at St. George’s Nursing Home, yesterday, after an operation. He was 48 years of age. For some years he resided in South Africa, and served in the Cape Mounted Police.” (This was factually incorrect)

An obituary which appeared in the Sheffield Telegraph of the same day was more fulsome, although somewhat misleading. Under the heading “Ladysmith Heroes’ Death” it read,

“The death took place at St. George’s Nursing Home, Doncaster, yesterday, of Mr Walter Bentley, son of Alderman R.C. Bentley. Deceased, who was aged 49, assisted in the management of his father’s wine and spirit business, but was educated for the medical profession, receiving his early training at Rossall College. Many years ago he went to South Africa, and during the Boer War joined the British Army, being wounded at Ladysmith. He leaves a widow. Alderman Bentley, who filled the office of Mayor of Doncaster from 1876 until 1879 and again in 1900, is seriously ill. His only surviving son is now in Canada.”



Bentley’s name does not appear on any casualty roll as being wounded.

With Bentley dead, his widow continued to live in the house they had both occupied - Lyndhurst, Thorne Road, Doncaster - which was owned by his father. Despite only being married into the family for very short time, when her extremely wealthy former father-in-law died on 1 May 1922, she was left a substantial sum of money and the house (his estate amounted to £65 769). Robert Bentley's sister, Edith, contested a 1921 Codicil of the Will claiming that when her father signed this 'he was not sound of mind and the signature had been obtained by fraud’.

He had died of senile dementia. At the Inquiry, Mr Somerville, the family solicitor, and the local Squire, Robert Cecil Battie-Wrightson, attested to the veracity of the testator's signature and, perhaps unsurprisingly, his sister lost her case.


Christabel is to the left of Battie-Wrightson, with her arms leaning on the bench in this photo

It is here that the story takes an interesting turn. Louie Evelyn Bunting, married to RC Battie-Wrightson, was, in 1921 living with her sister and her husband at the family home of Cusworth Hall in Doncaster. By the end of that year her marriage was in a shambles as Robert Cecil was having an affair with Bentley's widow Christabel - the same man who helped secure Christabel's fortune. Louie attempted to divorce Battie-Wrightson but the divorce laws didn't allow for the change at the time. The judge described it as a 'wretched story' but could only grant her a financial separation. Neither of them could remarry.

Christabel Bentley moved into Cusworth Hall where she was documented as the 'housekeeper'. They continued to live together until RC died in 1952 and he left Christabel his personal estate.

Acknowledgements:
-Holt's Natal Mounted Police
-A distant relative/interested party
- NMP Register in Natal Archives
- Ancestry
- Newspapers acknowledged in article

As always, a very detailed and interesting article. Thank you for sharing.

Talana to the Natal Police. Fantastic!

A thoroughly enjoyable and informative biography.
Bentley's father must have been frustrated at his son abandoning his medical studies and clearing off for adventure in SA, as Rossall School was known as the 'Eton of the North' back in the day.
And the scandal of his widow and benefactor was an intriguing twist to end in!
Cheers Steve