Dave – I did not answer your question “if his KSA only had one clasp I presume that would be 1902, does that mean his QSA medal would be 1901?”. To qualify for the KSA they had to serve in SA in 1902 whilst the war was still in motion i.e. between 01/01/1902 & 31/05/1902. So if his KSA bore only one clasp it would have to have been “South Africa 1902”. At the same time his QSA could not have borne the “South Africa 1901” clasp.
You also state he was born in 1879 – this does not accord with him being 41 when he died on 3 July 1923 or being 20 on the 31 March 1901 Census. I cannot find the registration of his birth but the most accurate estimate of his age can be made from the 3 April 1881 Census when his age was given as 2 months – from this I think we can say he was almost certainly born in January 1881 and definitely not in 1879.
In looking for the registration of his birth I now realise he spent more time in HMP Wakefield. For a start it is obvious that he did not pay the fine for his use of obscene language in January 1907 and was not released until 5 April 1907 following his 6 February 1907 trial (i.e. spent 2 months in prison). I have found another 5 spells in prison between February 1909 and September 1913, the offences involving resisting police arrest (1), disorderly conduct & obscene language (1) and disorderly conduct (3) with the sentences ranging from 7 days to 1 month. In each case the arrest took place in Halifax and the personal info given was: born in Halifax, occupation plasterer, height 5 ft 5 inches and religion Roman Catholic. His height was given as 5 ft 5 inches in his WW1 paperwork.
Regards, David.
