TOPIC:

QSAMike
Your man is indeed shown in The History of Lumsden's Horse as A Coy., No.4 Section. There is no listing as to his occupation and address. Nor is there a portrait, unfortunately. Tpr. Mercer is recorded in the book's text as holding the horses whilst the Maxim gun under the command of Capt. Holmes was involved in what is best described as a fighting withdrawal on 30041900 at Houtnek. LH suffered some casualties including it's 2i.c. As a matter of interest, my other QSA to LH (part of a group previously described) was the Sgt in charge of the Maxim on that day and was subsequently MiD'd. Small world! Mercer's clasp combination may well be a little unusual - as the couple of LH QSA's noted have had C/O/J - not C/O/T.
Hope the above helps a bit.
LUMSDEN'S HORSE motto: "PLAY THE GAME".

Thanks Linney.....

That confirms the information that I rec'd with the medal.....

Happy Collecting.....

Mike

Forum members
An update on Tpr.A.E.Consterdine of Lumsden's Horse. A descendant of this Gentleman has contacted me on this site and supplied extra information about his ancestor. T/Capt. Arthur Edward Consterdine of the 9/West Yorkshires was killed-in-action on 26/12/1916 and is buried in grave 11.A.3 of Hamel Military Cemetery, Beaumont Hamel. He was the son of the Reverend James W. Consterdine and Mrs. M.S. Consterdine of Alderley Lane, Cheshire. He is commemorated at Alderley Edge St. Philip's Church. The named plaques on its site are marked "copyright" for some reason.
IL.

Hello Ian.
I just caught the end of what very little light we have here in Cheshire, some four and a half hours ago, moreover, my photographs are free of any such "copyright" please do feel free to use them.
His father, James Whitworth Consterdine was incumbent here for a number of years and even today, it would certainly be very familiar to his children including Arthur, who would have spent much of his time here with his siblings.
Regards Frank

Frank
Thank you very much for taking the time to take the pic and post it. It is a book-end to the service career of a man who stepped forward from a good job in 1900 to answer the call - and stepped forward again in 1914 to do much more than his bit. Lest we forget.
Thanks again, Frank
Best Regards
IL.

Hello Ian,
No, very definitely not, your man was a consummate professional before both events!
Given time, I certainly could write a book on this man, sadly, I have not had the time to look at him since I did, very briefly, for thirty minutes or so the other day.

He was born on the 17th of March 1870, the youngest son of James Whitworth and Mary Sophia Consterdine, his father was an MA from Trinity College Cambridge and spent five decades as the incumbent vicar of St Philips, up here in Cheshire.
To be quite honest, I really do suspect he was the "black sheep" of the family, for example, one of his brothers, Reginald, followed in his father's footsteps, born in 1862, he also went to Trinity and gained his BA in 1885 and his MA in 1902.
Arthur spent his early childhood, I would think a very happy one indeed, at home, here in Alderley, then a small village proper, before attending Repton School in 1884.
He joined the ranks of the Army, the East Yorkshire Regiment on the 5th of June 1889, he was nineteen at that point, appointed to the rank of Lance Corporal on the 29th of July whilst still at their Depot, he was subsequently posted to their 2nd Battalion on the 20th of October 1889, he transferred to their 1st Battalion on the 21st of July in 1890.
He was promoted to the rank of Corporal on the 24th of October 1890 and appointed to Lance Sergeant on the 10th of November 1892, promoted again to Sergeant that same year, the actual date given in WO97 appears to be incorrect and actually predates his earlier appointment.
He was subsequently reduced to the rank of Corporal on the 22nd of April 1898 after being the subject of a trial, he transferred to the Army Reserve on the 1st of September 1899, this despite having actually chosen to extend his service to twelve years with the colours on the 9th of February 1892..

At this point in time, he had already served in the British Garrison in South Africa for almost three years between 1890 and 1893, moreover, he had spent almost another four out in India, though, not actually on campaign, between 1895 and 1899, he was certainly an "old sweat" and a very typical son of empire!

Now then, this is where it becomes an interesting issue, he was actually recalled to the Colours, rather late in the day, on the 6th of May 1901, so not earlier than that, one assumes, simply because he was out, on the veldt, with Lumsden and his lads.
He was "reverted" to the rank of Private on the 15th of February 1902 and almost immediately discharged the following month on the 29th of March 1902.

After a brief look at the RG series, he had returned home from the Anglo Boer War and was certainly here, actually in Alderley, in 1901 with his family, moreover, I believe he bought a property in Sandbach, but, I would need to pop over to our County Records Office in Chester to confirm that.
I checked WO372 and WO329, now then,because he was granted a commission during the Great War, there are no papers in WO363, notwithstanding, I believe he was a serving member of the Army well before the Great War, I checked the Reptonian and he appears to be an Non Commissioned Officer before the war in 1913, in actual fact, WO372, gives the rank of Sergeant, number 7520 3rd West Yorkshire Regiment.
It also gives a date of the 15th of September 1916 and confirms entry into "theatre 3" as well as the BWM/AVM pair, nothing to suggest these were not actually issued, a date of the 21st of February 1922 is shown, as is his eldest brother Cecil Consterdine with his address at Middlewich, again, here in Cheshire.
WO329 from which the medals are issued gives a date of the 21st of June 1923, moreover, his commission is clearly shown in three editions of the London Gazette.
All of this is at odds with the Reptonian, which suggests he may have well been "short changed" by the War Office, certainly as far as medals were concerned, he appears to have served in Gallipoli and attachment to "my" very own well beloved Manchester Regiment is muted (Very clearly the bloody finest soldiers that ever existed! ever! )
As I said, because of his commission, anything from WO363 is missing, however, I checked the index of WO339 and fantastic, he is there in WO339/14124, I would therefore expect to find his rank and file papers in addition to his long officers papers, you should, at the very least check, the other obvious thing you need to do is check the West Yorkshire Regiments War Diary in WO95, this will, I hope, give you the exact circumstances of his death in France.
I checked the published index of Wills and Administrations for him and again he is clearly shown there, he appears to have left his probate in Chester to two of his siblings, Agnes and Elisabeth Consterdine on the 26th of February 1917, Agnes was his eldest sister.
The sum of One Thousand and Three Pounds, Eight Shillings and Seven Pence was left by him.

Look Ian, it really is a bloody cracking medal you have, to a very local hero, here, to me, at least, moreover, I certainly will make time on Wednesday to place a poppy next to his name, here in Cheshire, on your behalf.

I should not worry too much with regards to his missing BWM/AVM pair, he never had them, or indeed, sadly, the opportunity to ever wear them, brave boy, oh well, never mind, the fortune of war I'm afraid.

Kind regards Frank