TOPIC:

Hello,

I am currently tracing my family tree and came across my great grandfather (Samuel Beckford) and his brother William, who both fought in the Boer War. I remember my father having a medal from the Relief of Ladysmith with the name S. Beckford inscribed on the side, unfortunately this medal was stolen during a house burglary in the 1980's. I have since realised that both Samuel and William were stationed in military barracks in Lanarkshire in 1891 as part of the 2nd battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers. Sadly William died during the battle of Spion Kop in January 1900. I wondered if anyone had any information on either of these men or any pictures or where I may be able to get further information? It would be great if there was a group shot of the battalion or something like that, just so I could see what they looked like. I wasn't aware until I checked the records here that William was a Lance Corporal as I had originally thought he was a Private, like his brother Samuel. It must have been very sad for Samuel to realise his brother had died on the battlefield. Samuel however, returned after the Boer War and settled in London with his family (my grandmother) before dying in 1914. If anyone could shed any more light on either or both of these men, I would be really grateful.

Thanks

Keith Lowe

Hello Keith,
A warm welcome to the forum.
I have looked on both Find My Past and Ancestry for your relatives.
Samuel is listed as 3432 Pte S.Beckford 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers.On the medal rolls he was awarded the QSA with clasps Tugela Heights and Relief of Ladysmith, sadly there are no service records there.
William is listed as 3431 Lance Corporal W.Beckford 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusilers there are two listings on Ancestry showing William firstly wounded and then killed at Spion Kop on 24th Jan 1900. With casualties there are no service records shown, I will have another look at the medal rolls for William and post again.
Respect for your G.Grandfather and G.Uncle R.I.P.

Paul

Keith,
Unable to find William listed on the South Africa medal rolls on Ancestry but he is there under the Sudan campaign 1896-1899
Another strange thing is I am unable to find Samuel there but he is listed on a different section with his entitlement, Ancestry can sometimes be very hard to understand and navigate!

Paul

Hello Paul,

Thanks very much for taking the time to look them up. Pity there is nothing more but i appreciate you looking into it for me. As I said my father did have Samuel's medal but it was stolen years ago and even though i was quite young then it did upset me and will be irreplaceable. One other thing that confused me when i looked at the records listed on this website, it listed william as both pvt and lance corporal and also listed him wounded and then killed on the same date. i can only assume that he died from his wounds on the same day, but could you possibly tell me how he went from pvt to lance corporal? i wasn't aware that he also involved in the sudan campaign or that samuel is listed in a different section with his entitlement. is this something i can also look at and if so, could you tell me how i would go about it? sorry to bombard you with questions, but i am just very interested (and proud) that my great grandfather and great great uncle were involved in these military campaigns.

thanks very much

keith lowe

Hello Kieth.....

There is a William (S/N 3431) listed as both a Private and L/Cpl. in the casualty list..... L/Cpl. he is listed as wounded and Private he is listed as KIA both for Spion Kop.....

Mike

Hi Mike,

Thanks very much for getting in touch. I'm still confused why he is listed as Lance Corporal when he was wounded and then Private when pronounced dead. Is this the same W. Beckford or were there two different people with the same name. Even that wouldn't make sense though as the serial number (3431) is the same for both the Lance Corporal and Private. I am assuming 3431 was William's personal number?

Regards

Keith Lowe