TOPIC:

In 2005, I discovered who my mother's father's father really was. Then I discovered he had a sister, and then I discovered she had a son.

In 2006, I discovered that the son was in the IY in the Anglo-Boer War.

In 2009, I discovered his medal at an auction house's internet site.

Unfortunately, the web page was a record of a sale made in 2004. A year before I knew he existed.

Also unfortunately, I didn't save the picture that was on the site, and it has since been taken down. I had written to the auction house and asked them to pass my query and contact info on to the buyer, which they did, but I received no reply. The only info they gave me was that the previous owner was a collector (i.e. not a family member, which was what I had hoped for at the time).

This is the description:

Description: [ Militaria ] 7th Coy Imperial Yeomanry four clasp Queenis South Africa Medal.
with clasps Cape Colony, Rhodesia, Orange Free State, Transvaal.
GC E60- 100 Clasp entitlement is not confirmed on Roll.

Well, I might not be surprised that the clasp entitlement was not confirmed, since from reading some info about clasps in this forum, I would think it rather unlikely that someone had all four of those clasps.

Would that be a reasonable suspicion? -- maybe that the collector to whom it belonged had just stuck his collection of clasps onto that medal?

Thanks!

And looking around for myself -- I googled

"7th * 4th * Imperial Yeomanry"

[just to clarify -- I knew he was in the 7th company 4th batallion but wasn't sure how it might be abbreviated at any given site]

and got brought right back to this site, where a post a mere few below the one I had first come here for refers to someone in the same unit:

www.angloboerwar.com/forum/7-genealogy-and-family-research

which led me to this page (where my man is found on a surname search):

www.angloboerwar.com/unit-information/im...ompany-4th-battalion

and the information here:

www.angloboerwar.com/unit-information/im...mpany-17th-battalion

So my man was in this group:

Later, a second group of 65th Company soldiers was recruited when the War Office decided in early 1901 to send a second contingent of Imperial Yeomanry to South Africa to replace the first contingent. This second group of 65th Company was commanded by Captain H. P. Moulton-Barrett . Troopers in this second group of 65th Company generally have service numbers beginning 21xxx to 32xxx, with the “standard” clasp entitlement being Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 and South Africa 1902. Again, entitlements could vary. It is not clear exactly when the second group departed for South Africa (roughly sometime in Q2-1901), but they returned to Southampton aboard the ship Victorian in July 1902.

So the odd one out in the list at the auction site is Rhodesia, which does seem odd.

Googling brings me back here again.

www.angloboerwar.com/medals-and-awards/b...s-south-africa-medal

A clasp inscribed "Rhodesia" will be granted to all troops under the command of Lieutenant-General Sir F. Carrington and Colonel Plumer in Rhodesia, between October 11th, 1899 and May 17th, 1900, both dates inclusive, who received no clasp for the Relief of Mafeking.

I've stupidly misplaced his papers that a kind researcher copied for me at Kew several years ago, so I'm not sure of the date he enrolled (and I don't have a FMP sub for downloading them now that they're there). But it doesn't seem to me that someone in a unit that went to SA in 1901 would have a clasp for service in 1899-1900. ?

Hi Janey......

There were only 2 Battalions, the 17th and 18th that were entitled to the Rhodesia bar as units, there were some odd men from other units though.....

Mike

Thank you Mike; so it doesn't really make sense.

It was pretty cheesy of the person who bought the medal not to contact me when asked, I thought. Oh well.

Read of you being out of the flood zone, but it's still a troublesome situation of course -- and now with price gougers (may they be prosecuted) -- and as if things couldn't get worse, a pack of Conservatives about to descend on you! (I know, the city needs the boost to morale and the economy, so hopefully they won't have to cancel.)

Stay dry!

But speaking of weather and the A-B War -- I just ran across this when trying to figure out how one does pronounce Mafeking, and it may be good for a chuckle:

www.troymedia.com/2012/11/18/when-the-sn...y-heads-out-to-play/

When the snow falls in Mafeking, MB everybody heads out to play

WINNIPEG, MB, Nov. 18, 2012/ Troy Media/ – A little place called Mafeking surprised everyone recently when it suddenly became the ‘snow capital’ of Manitoba. It got hammered on the Remembrance Day weekend, receiving a whopping 65 centimetres of snow over two days.

... According to Wyatt, it’s pronounced MAfeking. As in – one online scribe wrote plaintively — ‘Mafeking driveway is full of snow.’

Hi Janey......

There has not been any price gouging or looting yet and some stores are giving credit for food and supplies.....

The Conservative meeting has been postponed as they said they do not want to take resources away from the flooding.....

Mike

Ah -- Newsworld was reporting gouging this morning (people posting receipts on Twitter showing they had paid things like $50 for a flat of water) -- but it seems to have been rare and hopefully short-lived.

www.google.ca/search?hl=en&gl=ca&tbm=nws&q=alberta+gouging

(I'm an effete Central Canadian -- spent a couple of days in Calgary once!)

Too bad about the convention; they do bring in money.

One thing you can be glad of: at least your mayor isn't Rob Ford!