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Long shot. I’m researching the military history of one Douglas Henry Fraser born April 15, 1858 in Ipswich. He moved to Basutoland in 1880 following his brothers footsteps. They owned a chain of Fraser Stores throughout Lesotho famous for introducing Basuto Blankets.
In a number of Scottish newspapers he is referred to as Captain Fraser who was involved in Boer War. I’ve checked ancestry but his military records aren’t there. I’ve checked your great site but no luck. Any kind person out there to assist me please? It could also g be his elder brother Donald

Welcome to the Forum Dennis.

I cannot find any Military records for him on Find My Past. There is a 5162 Private D H Fraser on a medal roll for the 8th (Derbyshire) Company of the Imperial Yeomanry but his military records on Find My Past show he was Denis Hall Fraser born in Leeds.

Have found a report of his funeral in the Banbury Guardian of 24th January 1925 - the last para below is in in effect a mini obituary and whilst mentioning his time in South Africa does not mention any service in the Boer Wars.



Personally I doubt very much if he got involved in the Second Boer War and he would have been 41 when it started.

Have also found a report of his 1904 marriage in the Gentlewoman which includes individual photos of the happy couple but they are of very poor quality on line and not worth reproducing here. There is also a 1922 article in the Banbury Guardian reporting they are about to leave for SA on a business trip and how much they will be missed - Evelyn comes in for a lot of praise as she was noted for her interest in & kindness towards locals both ill and down on their luck.

The Fraser brothers saw themselves as 'Scotch' but were a number of generations away from their Scottish roots - which is another reason to think the Captain Fraser in the Scottish newspapers is someone different. Douglas Fraser's older brother Donald had been in Lesotho but had come back to England and married. He was living at Tickford Park (Buchinghamshire) from 1890or before. There is information on the Frasers in Timothy Keegan, ‘Trade, Accumulation and Impoverishment: Mercantile Capital and the Economic Transformation of Lesotho and the Conquered Territory, 1870–1920’ in Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol. 12:2 (1986), 196–216

The Fraser brothers are recorded as being caught up defending their stores in Basutoland during the Gun War of 1880.

Several of their fellow merchants such as Edward Hancock (at one stage a partner of theirs) and Hobson were later awarded the Cape of Good Hope General Service medal with clasp Basutoland which was approved nearly 20 years later in 1900.