TOPIC:

Alfred Hazell

Troop Sergeant Major , South African Constabulary

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, South Africa 1901 and 1902

Alfred Hazell was born in Finchley, Middlesex, England the son of James Hazell and Georgiana Ann (born Berkley) on 8 January 1872.

According to the 1881 England census the family was living at 7 Wellington Road, Lambeth. The head of the house was his 35 year old widowed mother, Georgeena (the spelling of her name tended to differ causing confusion from a research point of view). Siblings Louisa (14), William (10) and Henry (6) made up the numbers with 21 year old Charles Allen, a Telegraph Operator boarding with the family as well. Mrs Hazell was a Dressmaker by trade and had to make ends meet on her own.

By the time of the 1891 census Georgina had remarried and was now a Mrs. William Davies. Of Alfred there was no sign. Two years later, on 28 August 1893 Alfred resurfaced joining the ranks of the Metropolitan Police as a PC – Police Constable – in R Division (Greenwich)

On the Examination of a Candidate for the Situation of a Police Constable form, completed by Hazell on 25 July 1893, he was described as being 21 years old, 5 feet 9 inches tall with a pale complexion, Grey eyes and light brown hair. He weighed 11 stone and had a scar on the top and left side of his head by way of distinguishing marks. His calling was give as Clerk and he was single living at 28 Turret Grove, Clapham.

In terms of previous public service he claimed to have had 325 days service with the 9th Lancers at Newbridge being discharged on 5 June 1893.

Hazell was duly appointed on 28 August 1893 with Warrant Number 79010 and attached to R Division (Greenwich). On 8 February 1896 he was transferred to A Division (Whitehall) where he served until his last transfer, to S Division (Hampstead) on 12 August 1898. He earned the 1897 Jubilee Medal (Police Issue) whilst serving with the Metropolitan Police.

On 18 May 1899 he was permitted to resign after almost 6 years service. This was five months before the first shot was fired in anger in what was to be termed the Anglo Boer War.

Quite what decided Hazell to resign is unknown but it enabled him to be free of obligation and able to enlist in the service of the South African Constabulary. On 14 December 1900 he completed the S.A.C. Application by Candidates form at Westminster in London. His address was now 657 Wandsworth Road, Clapham (his mother’s address) and he was all of 28 years and 10 months old. The names of Mr. Wilson of Old Square in Birmingham and Mr. Palmer Manager of Sundow’s School in Birmingham were provided as his character references.

Hazell had moved from being a Policeman to becoming an Instructor of Physical Culture. Having signed his Articles of Agreement on 2 January 1901 he was ready for his new challenge as a Third Class Trooper, no. 811, with the South African Constabulary.

On 10 February 1901 at Modderfontein in the Transvaal he underwent a medical examination which pronounced him as fit for service. Possibly as a result of his previous police service Hazell’s abilities were soon recognised. On 1 April 1901, scarcely two months after arriving in South Africa, he was promoted to the rank of Corporal. On 10 June of the same year he was made a 2nd Class Sergeant followed by a transfer from the Reserve Division to B Division 1 October 1901.

What Hazell’s duties would have entailed during the course of the Boer War would be difficult to establish. The S.A.C. by its very nature was a Police Force with a difference. It was required to ensure that law and order in the now subjugated Boer Republics prevailed whilst at the same time conducting para-military operations (at least until the war was over on 31 May 1902) alongside the regular and colonial army units that were chasing the Boers.

At their Zenith the S.A.C. numbered some 10 000 men and conscripts (like Hazell) came from all over the Empire, in many cases being a good stamp of man.

For his services in the war he was awarded the Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal and South Africa 1901 and 1902.

Promotion to Troop Sergeant Major with effect from 15 September 1902 having passed the N.C.O. examination at Pretoria on 28 August thereby qualifying him to hold that rank. This was followed by special course which he passed at Proclamation Hill, Pretoria on 17 October 1903 which qualified him to instruct in the following subjects:

Riding, Drill – Mounted and Dismounted, Musketry – Practical and Theoretical, Horse management – Practical, Fitting Saddlery, and Maxim Gun Drill.

Invariably the odd injury occurred and Hazell was not to escape his turn which came at Pretoria on 6 February 1903 when he spent 15 days in hospital with contusion to his ribs as a result of a horse falling on him. Bed rest and a flannel bandage were recommended.

Hazell’s initial three year engagement period was now coming to and end and he applied, from Belfast in the Transvaal, on 1 February 1904 to re-engage for a further period of two years with the S.A.C. with the rank of Sergeant. Captain McLoughlin of “D” Mobile Troop recommended his re-engagement. This request was acceded to and he commenced a further period of service with the rank of 2nd Class Sergeant on 10 February 1904.

On 1 June of that year he was transferred to the Zoutpansberg District (Louis Trichardt area in the North of the country) Remarks on his Conduct and Efficiency around this time were flattering, “Very Good, Has given satisfaction – Very smart, well educated. Well up to all branches of work required in Mobile Column service. Good horsemanship” Added to this was, “Well educated, Good N.C.O., Good at drill and good with horses.”

On 9 February 1906 he was required to apply for a further period of re-engagement. This was for another two years and his number had, in the meanwhile, changed to H855.

Inevitably there was a run-in with the authorities. In Hazell’s case this took place at Pretoria on 11 December 1906 and resulted in a Reprimand. What was the nature of the offence? Hazell was Absent from the stables without leave on the morning and evening of the 11th instant and the morning of the 12th instant. No explanation was given as to his whereabouts at the time.

On 22 January 1907 he was transferred to Marico in the Western Transvaal and it was here that he was to make his mark. Nine days after his arrival in the district the S.A.C. District Commandant, Zeerust wrote to the Resident Magistrate at Zeerust as follows,

“Sergeant Muirhead who is at present Public Prosecutor at Ottoshoop will take his discharge from the Force on 7/2/07, and Constable Edward Frederick Bailey, who up to a few days ago has been Clerk of the Court and Messenger at Ottoshoop, has now obtained his discharge.

I would suggest that H855 2nd Class Sergeant Alfred Hazell be gazetted to replace Sergeant Muirhead as Public Prosecutor at Ottoshoop.”

This prompted the Resident Magistrate to pen a memorandum to the Secretary of the Law Department, Pretoria on the same day raising no objections to the proposal.

On 8 February 1907 Herbert Francis Blaine, Acting Attorney General of the Transvaal, appointed Hazell to the post of Public Prosecutor for Ottoshoop in the district of Marico “without additional emoluments”

Whilst undertaking his duties he suffered from a poisoned arm on 1 October 1907 – it was sapped but refilled whereafter a radical cure was then performed. After healing he was given dismounted duty for 14 days.

Owing to the reduction of establishment Hazell’s career came to an end on 31 December 1907. His character was described as Exemplary and he was credited with 6 years 325 days service. His forwarding address was 4 Rider Haggard Street, Pretoria. In a “To whom it may concern” dated 11 January 1908 the Inspector General of the S.A.C. wrote,

“This non-commissioned officer has always performed his various duties satisfactorily, having been well reported upon by his immediate Commanding Officers, and I can recommend him for an appointment in any Police Force.”

What became of Alfred Hazell post 1908 is unknown.

Hi Rory,
That was an interesting read and very well documented.
Also gave me a little more knowledge of the S.A.C.which I need to explore more.
Alfred seems to have had an interesting career, its a shame it ends in 1908
Do you think you will be able to add any more research or like some of my quests this is a full stop.

Cheers
Paul

Thanks Paul

Sadly you've hit the nail on the head Hazell is now a dead-end unless somrthing else crops up.

Regards

Rory

The joy or pain of research, depending how you look at it, is that it's never over until the fat lady sings and she seldom does!

Hazell, for example, was elected a Fellow of the Royal Colonial Institute in 1908, so would have F.R.C.I. as post-nominal letters. See below.

Next avenue of research may be Transvaal death records?

All the best,

Justin

ROYAL COLONIAL INSTITUTE.



SESSION 1908-1909.



FIRST ORDINARY GENERAL MEETING.

THE First Ordinary General Meeting of the Session was held at
the Whitehall Rooms, Hotel Metropole, on Tuesday, November 10,
1908, when a Paper on " Penny-a-Word Telegrams throughout
the Empire " was read by Mr. J. Henniker Heaton, M.P. The
Right Hon. the Earl of Jersey, G.C.B., G.C.M.G., a Vice-President
of the Institute, presided.

The Minutes of the last Ordinary General Meeting were read
and confirmed, and it was announced that since that Meeting 99
Fellows had been elected, viz. 16 Resident and 83 Non-Resident.

Resident Fellows :

Richard E. Brounger (Agent-General for the Orange River Colony), Bight
Rev. Bishop Charles J. Corfe, D.D., Fred Dunn, Percival J. Ferguson,
W. Horace Friend, J. Murray Gibbon, Edward Halse, A.R.S.M., M.I.M.M.,
Admiral Wm. Hannam Henderson, John Mackie, Halford J. Mackinder, M.A.,
Oscar Paterson, James Henry Scott, John Obed Smith, Samuel E. Tench,
Ven. Archdeacon Thomas E. Usherwood, A. G. Edwin Wood.

Non-Resident Fellows :

Roger D. Acton (Straits Settlements), Vivian Allen (Western Australia),
Montague K. Bamber, F.I.C., F.C.S. (Ceylon), William A. Beecroft (New Zea-
land), Henry FitzGerald Bell (British East Africa), Charles E. Bernays
(Queensland), George Cecil Bliss (Ceylon), Hon. Edward T. Born, M.E.C.,
M.B. (Falkland Islands), Wm. Guise Brittan (New Zealand), Hon. Mr.
Justice William Broome (Natal), Major Hon. Herbert Bryan, C.M.G. (Gold
Coast Colony), St. John McLean Buckley (New Zealand), Horace A. Byatt
(Somaliland), Sidney R. Cargill (Jamaica), Roger J. Cholmeley (Cape Colony),
Joseph H. Clarke (Canada), Robert L. H. Clarke (India), Gerald H. Pomeroy
Colley (Transvaal), Hon. Samuel W. Cooke, M.A. (Victoria), James C. Craven
(Southern Nigeria), Douglas E. Darbyshire, M.B., M.R.C.S. (Western
Australia), L. C. Daunt (India), William De Lemos, J.P. (Ceylon), Right
Hon. Sir J. Henry de Villiers, K.C.M.G. (Cape Colony), Capt. J. Quayle
Dickson, D.S.O. (Orange River Colony), J. F. Kenny Dillon, J.P. (North-
Western Rhodesia), James Douglas (U.S.A.), Lieut. Bertram G. Drake, R.N.R.
(Costa Rica), John B. Ellard (British East Africa), James B. Ernst (Costa
Rica), John Skirving Ewart, K.C. (Canada), John Farrington, M.R.C.S.,
L.R.C.P. (Fiji), Wm. Melville Foster, M.A., B.C.L. (Jamaica), Hugh Moreton
Frewen (Southern Nigeria), William J. Gilchrist (British Guiana), William H.
Gilfillan (Transvaal), G. Grant-Gordon (India), Hugh T. Guerrier (Rhodesia),
Alfred Hazell (Transvaal), James A. Henderson (Ceylon), Samuel Hesketh
etc.

Rory,

Very interesting. I hope you can further his biography beyond his SAC days.

Best wishes
David