TOPIC:

Hi, good morning. I'm doing my first genealogy research, so I'm looking for some information about the Father of my Great-Grand-Mother, who fought in the second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). I could find some information about him, thanks to this website, and some others, but I don't understand the codes very much:

Name and surname: Henry Theirs (on the military records: Theirs, H.)
Birth: 1881 (approx.)
No. 3226
Rank: Sapper
Unit: Royal Engineers, Fortress Company, 31st

Notes:

To G Company 30 Jul 1901.
QSA (4) CC OFS Tr SA01
TNA ref 157/78; 157/81

I think that notes mean he won a medal during the war. I would really like to know a bit more about him, for example: ¿What happened to him during the war?., ¿What does "To G Company 30 Jul 1901." mean?. Searching in other websites, I also found this:

Series: Wo 97 - Chelsea Pensioners British Army Service Records 1760-1913

So I tried, to find more about him in the War Office (97), but I couldn't find him there.
¿Is there any chance to find a photo of him, from the military registers? , I would love to have something about him.

I would appreciate your help very much. I'm a beginner, so I'm a bit lost, but I really want to "discover" this man.
Thank you,

Martina

Hello Martina
Welcome to the forum.
Do you have any information on Henry's place of birth?
Could he have been born in Herefordshire? Also what was your Great Grand Mothers name?

Sapper Henry Theirs (Thairs) 3226. Royal Engineers.
The regimental number 3226 suggests he joined the Corps sometime in January 1899.
Aged 19. He served in the 31st Fortress Company.
His Queens South Africa medal QSA was awarded with clasps for Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal and his 1901 date clasp. His move to another company was not uncommon and it's possible he could have moved on from G company to the 10th company in 1902.
As for images of Henry, this can sometimes prove difficult. The newspaper archives sometimes record photographs of soldiers who served.

If you could provide any more details it may help the forum track down additional information on Henry.

Regards

Dave.

Thank you very much for answering! Yes, I think Henry Theirs was born in Herefordshire, because when I was looking for him at Family Search, I found only one Henry Theirs that was born in 1881. I'm sure that then he moved to Argentina, and married Henson Ida Elena (or a similar name) in 1910. She was also from the UK, but they got married at the St. Andrew’s Scots Presbyterian Church, at Buenos Aires.
The name of their daughter, my Great-Grandmother, was: Flora Mable Theirs.

Hello Martina,

Henry Theirs birth was registered in Ross-on-Wye Registration District, Herefordshire in the last quarter of 1880.

He appears on the 1881 Census 5 months old, living with his parents & siblings in St Weonards, Herefordshire where he was born. They are still living in St Weonards at the time of the 1891 Census. His father was called Edwin & his mother Emma.

His attestation papers and service records can be found on find My Past and he spent the best part of 2 years in South Africa. He was not discharged from the Royal Engineers until 1905.

Nothing more is evident suggesting he died before the 1911 Census or he left the country. The latter is the more likely as there is no death record for him.

Somebody has him on a Public Family Tree on Ancestry but they have not got any further with him than the registration of his birth and the 1881 & 1891 Census. They have got a lot further with his parents and some of his many siblings.

Happy to download the 7 documents involved - I would have to dumb them down to post them on this site but happy to email them if you send me your email address via the message service on this site.

My advice would be to join Ancestry and look at the Public Family Tree mentioned and use the Ancestry messaging service to contact the creator and then work with them if they respond. You can join Ancestry on a free 14 day trial.

Regards, David.

Thank you very much! I'm glad to know more about him. I'll give you my email address via the message service on this site, so you can send me the 7 documents involved. So happy, thank you! I'll continue my investigation.

Henry's shipping records from Southampton to Argentina

1905 & 1909





The occupation of Engineman may refer to the Rail industry or the Mining Industry.
It records on his medal roll that he was transferred to the 10th company Royal Engineers in November 1902. I think the 10th Company were attached to railways during the conflict.