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Dear members - courtesy of Owen Coetzer's Road to Infamy (page 38) I find that my 1906 Bambatha casualty who served with the Colonial Scouts was one of this band of men.

Would I be correct in assuming that he would have gone through the entire Colenso, Spioenkop, Vaalkrantz, Pieters saga with Warren culminating in the relief of Ladysmith? The dates tally quite nicely but I would like your opinions.

I append below the (interesting) story to a man who came from an old Colonial family and who died in the service of his country albeit not during the Boer War.

Herbert Munro Stainbank

Trooper, Nottingham Road Rifle Association and
Colonial Scouts – Anglo Boer War

-Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Tugela Heights and Relief of Ladysmith

Herbert Munro Stainbank was born in Durban, Natal in about 1876 the son of Henry Ellerton Stainbank and his wife, Eliza Stainbank (born Munro)



From 1887 to 1889 he attended Durban High School before applying for a position with the Colonial Civil Service on 9 January 1890 from his residence in Pietermaritzburg. His letter included the statement, “I may mention that for some months I have been learning shorthand, and shall still proceed with it until competent to do ordinary reporting”.

His application having been successful he commenced employment on June 23, 1890 as an extra clerical assistant.

On 24 May 1891 at 11.30 p.m. his father, Mr. H.E. Stainbank, wrote to his son’s Manager as follows, “I have just sent the Doctor down to see my son Herbert who has been taken suddenly ill. No time for more.” Dr. Ward’s sick note was duly forwarded which certified that, “Mr. H.M. Stainbank is suffering from Congestion of the Liver and will not be fit for duty for a few days.”

The next day his father wrote again saying, “My dear Sir, I had not time to explain much yesterday. The day before my son was complaining and not thinking much of it I merely told him to see the Doctor on his return to Durban. Yesterday evening at 11 p.m. I had risen from table to see him off at the station but when he was saying good bye to his mother I noticed him stagger slightly. He still said it was nothing but his head began to swim soon after and we put him to bed”.

In 1892 he became a fourth class clerk at the General Post Office and was transferred to the Post Office in Durban in 1894.

Stainbank, two months after the Anglo Boer War broke out in October 1899, enlisted with the Colonial Scouts on 22 December 1899, being assigned to No. 1 Troop, “B” Squadron. The Colonial Scouts had been raised by the Natal Government in December 1899 and were five squadrons strong, commanded by Colonel F. Addison, MLA. They were, during part of 1900, chiefly employed in Zululand, and on the border with the Transvaal. The corps did not see much fighting, but their presence in this district was very valuable. The Scouts provided a bodyguard of about 30 men to General Warren. They were disbanded in April 1900.

On 3 March (9 days before his discharge) he wrote home to his parents. According to page 38 of Owen Coetzer's Road to Infamy, Stainbank was one of the 30 members of Warren's personal escort. His letter read, in part, as follows:

"Today was appointed for the great triumphal entry into the town. The Ladysmith garrison lined the street as far as the road leading to Tin Town, the permanent military camp.

They looked very white and thin beside the Relief of bronzed and dirty looking fellows, all stout and in splendid condition. The garrison had smiling faces, but some of the men could hardly stand up they were so weak. They cheered as hard as they could, but what a miserable sound it was from so many men.

They had hardly the strength to cheer. One poor Lieutenant of the Gordons could only lean on his sword. General Buller led the way with his escort and General Warren with his. Warren was soon recognised and spoken of as the "fighting" general, and it seemed to me that the cheers for him were more hearty...."

This proves beyond doubt that he was one of a select band of Colonial Scouts who were with Warren at the height of the conflict around Colenso, Spioenkop, Vaalkrantz and Pieters.

Stainbank was discharged on 12 March 1900 whereafter he joined the Nottingham Road Rifle Association – a small band of men whose primary task was to protect their immediate surroundings from any Boer incursions.

Having seen service with the Scouts, he was rewarded with the Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Relief of Ladysmith and Tugela Heights.

With war a thing of the past (his involvement in it) Stainbank returned to the Civil Service. No longer finding the Post Office work to his liking he ventured into the legal field and was rewarded for his diligence with his first Magistracy at Ingwavuma to which he was promoted in 1904. This was followed by his elevation to the Magistracy of Mahlabatini on 6 February 1905 on a salary of £546 per annum.

It was whilst employed in this capacity that he was to meet with his untimely end. Stainbank was to become a civilian casualty of the Bambatha Rebellion; let the story, carried in various newspapers of the time be told by them.

“Maritzburg, May 4th, 1906 (Special) – The tragic death of Mr. Stainbank has caused a painful impression in the City (Pietermaritzburg), where the late Magistrate was well known. The news of this occurrence has been the means of arousing fresh apprehensions relative to the situation in Zululand.

On receipt of the intelligence, which came in a telegram from the Chief Native Commissioner, a meeting of the Cabinet was instantly called. The measures to be taken in connection with the incident were earnestly discussed. There is no information at present to show the identity of the assailants, but it is pointed out that it was improbable that they were Bambatha’s rebels, as it is so far from the conjectured stronghold of Nkandhla.

The spot at which the tragedy occurred is some 30 miles from Nkandhla, near the main trunk road from Melmoth and Eshowe.

It appears that Mr. Stainbank, who was accompanied by his wife and Miss Ethel Dreweatt, was collecting hut tax, not poll tax, and had been away from the Mahlabatini Magistracy for two days travelling with companions, probably on a mule wagon, and escorted by either one or two Natal Police Troopers.

Everything, apparently, was quiet in the district, and only yesterday a letter was received by the Hon. Mr. H.D. Winter, Secretary for Native Affairs, from Mrs. Stainbank – for the wife of the deceased Magistrate is a daughter of the Minister – saying that there was not the slightest sign of unrest among the local natives.

Mr. Stainbank, as is customary with Magistrates when travelling about the country, carried with him a portable telephone set, with which to tap the wires that run alongside the main road, in order to get communication with Eshowe.

Last evening he reported at about 7.30 after having selected a camping ground on the south bank of the river Umfolosi, for it was with this object probably that he had crossed the river. He had attached the instrument to the overhead lines, and was in the act of speaking to Eshowe, reporting that the hut tax collection had been successfully completed, when a number of sharp reports rang out from the shallow donga, a short distance away. From the sound of the reports they seemed to be revolver shots. It was bright moonlight but the dim, pallid radiance was insufficient to reveal the whereabouts of the treacherous assailants.

Mr. Stainbank was seen to stagger and drop the telephone instrument which he held in his hand, and was heard to make an ejaculation of sudden pain. One of the Police, while endeavouring to discover whence the shots proceeded, was also shot.

Whether Mr. Stainbank received more than one wound is uncertain, but, as the official messages indicate that the fatal wound was received in the knee, it is conjectured that the bullet must have divided an artery, and that the wounded man bled to death, owing to the lack of skilled assistance to succour him.

Beyond these bare details the facts available go no further. Mrs. Stainbank who is reported to be bearing her bereavement with most courageous fortitude, and her companion, Miss Dreweatt, are making their way in a trap to Nongoma, where they will be in safety.

There is an official tendency to believe that the native assailants do not belong to Bambatha’s band of rebels, but that the accident marks the creation of a new centre of rebellion.

It is not likely that any troops will be detached from the garrison at Eshowe or Nkandhla in connection with the episode. It seems more probable that the chief in the locality, Nqode, who is said to be loyal, will be called upon to produce the murderers.

Mr. Stainbank was the youngest son of the ex Speaker of the Legislative Assembly, and was about 35 years of age. He had been married about four years, and leaves, besides his widow an infant daughter.

The spot where the tragedy occurred is in the vicinity of the battlefield of Ulundi, the scene of the last encounter with the natives in the Zulu War of 1879.”

In another newspaper account entitled “Mrs. Stainbank Goes to Nongoma” the following was written,

Nkandhla, 4th May 1906 – I have to record a mysterious and regrettable affair which has occurred, and which resulted in loss of life yesterday.

After a successful day collecting the hut and dog taxes, Mr. H.M. Stainbank, magistrate at Mahlabatini , with his acting clerk named Sellers, and another clerk, proceeded to the telegraph line, and fixed his telephonic instrument, for the purposes of communicating with another station. Whilst so engaged, a volley of four or five shots was fired at the party, and Mr. Stainbank was hit in the right knee and Sellers in the arm and ribs.

The surprised party then had their mule cart inspanned and Mrs. Stainbank, companion and child, who had accompanied the magistrate, were thereupon conveyed with the wounded, to the Magistracy without being in any way further molested by their unknown assailants.

They arrived at the Magistracy about 10 o’ clock shortly after which time Mr. Stainbank died, as a result of his wound. The bullets used were .303, but one of the shots was that of a revolver.
Judging from the foregoing and other indications, there is good reason to think that this is deliberate murder planned on the spot. The unhappy affair took place on the south side of the White Umfolosi River and in very thorny district.

Mr. Stainbank is a son-in-law of the Minister of Native Affairs, and a brother-in-law of Colonel Mackay, who is now in charge of the military here.”

The next day, 6th May 1906 the following article appeared in the Natal Mercury:

“Shortly before noon today, we received the following message for publication from the Secretary of the Prime Minister:

News has been received this morning that Mr. H.M. Stainbank, magistrate at Mahlabatini and one of the Natal Police named F (s) ellers, were shot at 7.30 last evening, on the south bank of the White Umfolosi River.

The attack was made suddenly, without any warning – a volley of some four or five shots, one of which appeared to be a revolver shot – being fired at Mr. Stainbank and Fellers who was nearby.”

The same day it was also reported that, “The Secretary to the Prime Minister wired us last night that the two native constables sent from Mahlabatini Magistracy to investigate and inspect the scene of last night’s occurrence have just returned to the Magistracy and report that they found Mr. Stainbank’s camp, which, of course, was left very hurriedly, untouched. Apparently no one had gone into it, and the safe, with the hut tax collection, was perfectly intact. During their hurried visit they were unable to discover any indication as to who the murderers might be.

Chief Ngobozana, in whose district the murder was committed, has been instructed to have the whole of the effects, including the Government money, conveyed to Mahlabatini Magistracy this afternoon.

All the chiefs belonging to that district are now at the Magistracy. They are most indignant, and express the greatest grief at what has happened, saying they are determined to trace the murderers, and bring the whole thing to light.

“Dinizulu, to whom I caused the matter to be reported last night, has sent his chief induna, Mankulumana – whom I allowed to return to Dinizulu a few days ago, to report the result of his mission to Signanda – to the Magistrate at Nongoma, with expressions of the greatest indignation and grief, and begs to be allowed to assist in bringing the criminals to justice.

Dinizulu asks permission to send Mankulumana to proceed at once to the scene of the murder with the men stated, and to leave no stone unturned in his efforts to trace and capture the murderers.”

So much for the contemporary newspapers accounts of the incident. In his seminal work on the Bambatha Rebellion of 1906, widely regarded as an official history, Mr. C.T. Binns wrote on pages 213 and 214:

A couple of nights before this skirmish there occurred a tragedy which startled the whole of Zululand. About 8 p.m. on 3rd May the Native Commissioner of Mahlabatini (H.M. Stainbank) while telephoning his chief at Nkandhla from his camp on the banks of the White Umfolosi was shot dead in cold blood.

During the day Mr. Stainbank and his attendants had been collecting taxes from the natives of that area, in which there were no signs of rebellion; in fact, the murder was such a shock to the surrounding chiefs that on the following day of their own accord all of them arrived at the magistrate’s office to express their regret and horror at the deed and one of their number, Ngodi, volunteered to turn out his men and guard the magistracy till such time as a new Commissioner arrived to take over.

An extensive search was made of the surrounding area and four empty .303 cartridge cases were found about fifteen paces from the spot where Stainbank fell mortally wounded, but no trace of his assailant was discovered.

When the news of the murder was sent to Dinizulu by the Chief Commissioner he was extremely angry and asked permission to send Mankulumana with twenty or thirty picked men to assist in bringing the guilty party to justice. His offer was accepted and as a result several arrests were made but as the evidence against them was inconclusive all had to be acquitted; it was not until six years later that the case was finally disposed of by the Government on the arrest of a man named Matayana* who was brought to trial and convicted.

*Matayana was the son of one of Cetshwayo’s principal messengers, well known to Dinizulu and had in collaboration with Cakijana shot and killed a man called Gence for having committed adultery with one of Dinizulu’s wives.

The Zulus have an entirely different version from that generally accepted by the Europeans. According to them Stainbank was shot dead by a European farmer living near the White Umfolosi. This man was well known to many of them as one who had been warned repeatedly by the Commissioner for illegally grazing his cattle in the Zulu Reserve and eventually had been heavily fined for stealing Zulu cattle. This infuriated him to such a degree that as he walked away from the court he was overheard by some Zulus to say that he would have his revenge on the Magistrate “for fining him for stealing cattle belonging to a bloody Kaffir”. This story was rigidly adhered to by Cakijana who died only recently (1963) and has been emphatically confirmed to me from various sources.”

Walter Bosman writing in 1907 in his account “The Natal Rebellion of 1906” stated in Chapter IV – The Bobe Fight – that,

“On the 2nd May Colonel Mackay’s force had a skirmish with the enemy at Nkandhla, four of the latter being killed by Captain Park Grey’s squadron, Natal Carbineers.

On the 3rd May whilst attention was riveted on the rebellion in the Nkandhla forest, the murder by someone unknown of Mr. H. M. Stainbank, Magistrate of Mahlabatini, on the south bank of the White Umfolozi River, five miles south of Ulundi; came as a great shock to the Colonists and darkened the war cloud already hanging over the land. Mr. Stainbank was camped with his party which consisted of his wife, child and governess, two troopers of the Natal Police and three native constables, just east of the main road from Melmoth to Mahlabatini. There were also a few natives of the Tshanibezwe tribe in attendance. He had been collecting taxes from the Chief Ngozane during the day, whose people evinced reluctance in paying the tax. In order to avail himself of the telegraph line he crossed the White Umfolozi River for the purpose of establishing telephonic communication with Mr. Saunders, the Commissioner of Native Affairs at Eshowe.

After his evening meal, he proceeded to the wire escorted by the two Natal policemen. He connected his field telephone with the line and was in the act of putting the receiver to his ear when a shot rang out from the direction of the thorn bush close by. Mr. Stainbank fell back exclaiming that he was shot. Three other shots followed, two of which wounded one of the policemen in the arm and side, but not seriously. The bullet which struck Mr. Stainbank fractured the knee bone and unfortunately severed the main artery. He was at once placed in the trolley with the wounded policeman, and, accompanied by his family and party, taken with all speed back to Mahlabatini.

He succumbed to his wound before reaching the seat of Magistracy. The hut tax collections and camp equipment were left behind and were found intact on the following morning. Fifteen paces from where Mr. Stainbank was hit were four empty.303 cartridge cases, and their discovery led to the belief that more than one rifle was fired on the night of the tragedy.

By the death of Mr. Stainbank the service lost a conscientious and promising Magistrate who was barely 30 years of age. The sympathy for the bereaved widow, who is a daughter of the Hon. H.D. Winter, Minister for Native Affairs, was widely felt throughout the Colony.

On the 3rd May the Zululand Field Force left Dundee with twenty days’ supplies.

Whilst the above is all very interesting and serves to provide context to Stainbank’s death as well as the mood during the Bambatha Rebellion of 1906 there is nothing to substitute an eyewitness account. This was provided, and related below, by Stainbank’s wife Clarice Winter Stainbank in a letter to her daughter when in her 88th year. It is a previously unpublished account and it serves to refute the version intoned by Binns.

“Dear Joy

Please do not believe a word written by Mr. Binns, it is just fabrication from start to finish!!! I asked Dr. Stevenson where he got all his information and he told me that a native from Zululand told an interpreter all that and interpreted it for Binns in English and he took it all as true, the native from Zululand, one of Dinizulu’s tribe!!

The sad facts are, I and my companion and Daphne (a baby of 3 months old), two white policemen and three or four native police were camped on the White Umfolozi River, hut tax collection had gone peacefully all day and the chiefs were very respectful, so were the natives, we had supper that night sitting outside our tents with a hurricane lantern for light.

After supper Herbert and one of the young European policemen took the lantern and went to the telephone about 50 yards away to speak to Sir Charles Saunders. He was ringing Eshowe when Herbert was shot in the leg, severed the main artery and he bled to death in a few minutes. I heard the shots, the second shot hit the policeman in the arm, I told the native police to go at once and see what the shooting was about. At first they just stood and would not go until I said that the Government would blame them if they did not go if anything was wrong and they went and eventually brought Herbert’s body back to camp. I at once told them to inspan the trolley we had gone down in and even then the native police were terrified and I had to repeat my orders.

In the first place there were no European farmers in the district, it was all native location, only one white man had a store and Herbert always held Branch Court there and he and his wife were very kind to him and no trouble.

At Dinizulu’s trial a native witness told George Armstrong and William Hedges while they were taking notes from witnesses that the shooting was at a chief’s instructions, and there were three men there, and they had been told to kill out the whole camp, and after firing 3 shots and noticing that they had killed the Magistrate they got frightened and ran away. He said Dinizulu was the chief that had given the veiled instructions. He also had Bambatha’s wife and children at his kraal, so he must have been implicated but the native that told George about the shooting, denied every word next morning, when it was read out to him, you see the crown witnesses had to give information (the) day before, then next morning read over to them before going to Court to give evidence, before the two judges. Dinizulu was in the prisoner’s box and could hear all the evidence and they were terrified of him, quite a number denied all they had said the day before.

Cakijana was one of Dinizulu’s most trusted men and a very bad man. The Mahlabatini chief Nqodi sent a regiment of men to guard the Magistracy and not Dinizulu as in Binns’ book.
Cetewayo was Dinizulu’s father or grandfather I forget which. So hard to remember all now and this letter seems rather mixed up after reading all I have written and I even hate talking about it but all the Mahlabatini chiefs were loyal, only one bad one and he was Dinizulu’s uncle.”
Other than the supposition that Stainbank’s murder was engineered by a European, His widow’s account corresponds largely with that of the historians. Suffice it to say that Dinizulu was the main instigator.

In conclusion, Herbert Munro Stainbank, son of one of Natal’s most prominent families and having served in the Anglo Boer War, was never to fulfil his potential. He became a victim of the times when Zulu and Colonists were still very much at loggerheads

Hello Rory,
A really superb medal, all Colonial Scouts are nice and worth having, but, thats a super one.
To answer your question though is altogether another matter, my own thoughts would have to be, yes, all most certainly, but, I have never given any thoughts to Warren's escort, other than that we know he had one, I also think that somewhere, there with be a written list/nominal roll of members of it.
Have you looked at WO126/30, to be quite honest, I would be very surprised if it was mentioned in there, but, there might just be a little note on the paper, if it still exists today.
To be 100% sure I would hope that one day such a ducument may be found.
Kind regards Frank

Excellent medal and story Rory

While reading through this, I realised that I have in my collection the Natal 1902 Coronation Medal that belongs to Chief Mankulumana.


Regards
Anthony

Thank you Anthony.

What is the diameter of your Chief's medal? I have one of the "large" ones which was issued to a Minister in the Colonial Govt. at the time of the Bambatha Rebellion.

Would the name have been self-engraved or was this done officially?

Regards

Rory

Hi Rory

The medallion is the large one 51.4mm. Only the large ones were issued to Native Chiefs. About the naming, I am not sure whether this was done privately or officially. Will need to compare it with other named medallions.

Regards
Anthony

Yes - I think they were privately engraved/named.

My Minister's medal is not engraved.

Regards

Rory