TOPIC:

I have a medal for an officer (Lt R Anderson) from the Lancs and Yorks Contingent who fought in the Natal War in 1906. The medal is confirmed on the roll but does anyone know if there are any service records/paper for this unit which would enable me to find out more about Lt Anderson?

Wyatt,

I am not aware of any records that would help you here in the UK. Hopefully there will be more available from Natal.

Best wishes
David

There is a file in the Pietermaritzburg Repository of the South African National Archives which is identified as follows:

SOURCE: NDR
VOLUME No: 5/1
REFERENCE: V 8208(A)/1906
DESCRIPTION: LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE CONTINGENT CORRESPONDENCE. JUNE
TO DECEMBER 1906
START/END: 1906

Another file records that the unit was on duty up to and including 7 September 1906. A third file concerns a claim on behalf of a soldier with an injured hand.

The 'Correspondence' file might contain relevant information, but the services of a local researcher will have to be engaged.

I will check later to see if there are any files specific to R Anderson.

Regards
Brett

Brett

Many thanks for this - any information you are able to find would be appreciated.

Wyatt

The Pietermaritzburg Archives has ten files on 'R Anderson', which have the following basic facts about the man, or men with this name:

1897 - 3rd Class Clerk, Telegraph Department.
1904 - Clerk of the Peace, Newcastle.
1905 - Concerning the subdivision of a farm.
1906 - One of eight men employed by the Principal Veterinary Surgeon to assist in dealing with an outbreak of East Coast Fever - probably to enforce a quarantine.
1907 - Of Ladysmith, concerning survey of farm.
1907 - Survey of farm.
1908 - Of Chaka's Kraal, insurance claim on horse. (Chaka's Kraal is near the coast north of Durban, and so is not a Ladysmith address.)
1911 - Registration as a Medical Practitioner in Vryheid, Natal.
1912 - Honorary Secretary, Chaka's Kraal and Umhlali Farmer's Association.
1913 - As above.

I think that at least the Vryheid doctor must be another individual, but perhaps all the other files refer to the same man working his way up Natal's employment and social ladder. He could well have been an immigrant with Lancs/Yorks connections and with some military experience, hence his employment as an officer when the 1906 unit of that name was raised.

Please let me know if you want the search information for any of the files referred to above.

Regards
Brett

Brett

Thank you - yes I would appreciate the search information.

Wyatt