TOPIC:

My cousin and I are looking for any information on F.T. Allen, who we believe is her grandfather and my great uncle, Frederick Thomas Allen (1877-1951), born in Church Street, Runcorn. According to this website, F.T. enlisted as a trooper, No. 29918, in the 21st Company (Cheshire), 2nd Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry. Whether this was in January 1900, when most of the coy. was raised, we do not know. The first contingent of the 21st arrived in South Africa 25 February 1900.

FT was awarded The Queen’s South Africa (QSA) Medal with Clasps for Cape Colony, the Orange Free State, and the Transvaal, South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902. I guess this means he was involved in relieving Ladysmith, Kimberley and Mafeking - and presumably Johannesburg and Pretoria. Action in Cape Colony was between 11 October 1899 and 31 May 1902; in the Orange Free State between 28 February 1900 and 31 May 1902; and in the Transvaal, 24 May 1900-31 May 1902.

He was discharged as "medically unfit" on 4 April 1902, which likely means that he was also involved in the guerrilla war after the war "ended".

We are trying to fill in more detail of where the 21st went during the Boer War and in which actions the unit was involved. If anyone has some details, including any on FT, I would very much appreciate receiving them.

Many thanks

Best wishes

John

Good afternoon John,
Welcome to this forum, papers for the rank and file of the Imperial Yeomanry are to be found in WO128 at Kew, most, though not all, are available on line via FMP, so if you have not already looked, this should be your next port of call, again welcome here,
Kind regards Frank

Many thanks, Frank. Yes, we started with FMP.

In fact, my cousin has been to Kew and sought out the record for FT Allen, only to find an empty box enclosing a single piece of (recent) recycled paper (not a fragile older piece) with a handwritten note stating his name and number instead of any attestation papers.

The Kew staff determined there was nothing on the fragment that pointed to anywhere else to look. They believe it was a spacer for a removed document that could have meant it was to be refiled later, or that it was sent for inclusion in another set of records elsewhere for some reason, possibly related to FT being discharged as medically unfit in April 1902.

There is, however, a number reference 27077/C under remarks on the page listing FT's discharge, which might be a clue to where the original was sent. However, we may be clutching at straws here.

Any further suggestion would be most welcome.

Many thanks

Best

John

Hello John,
Thats not good, I always say to people with regards to digitized material, it is just so often incomplete and you really need to go over to Kew to look at the original files, moreover, that can often be very annoying indeed when items are not found where they should be, or as here, not found at all.
Do you happen know who your cousin actually spoke to, about this matter, whilst at Kew?
Regards Frank

Thanks again, Frank.

I do not have names. However, in her email, my cousin tells me she
received help from the reading room staff, who determined there was nothing on the fragment that pointed to anywhere else to look. They believe it was a spacer for a removed document that could have meant it was to be refiled later, or that it was sent for inclusion in another set of records. She was then referred to the research team where one person assisted as much as possible looking through the Chelsea pensioner records, but could find nothing more. She was then further referred to another researcher who specialized in war records. This person spent quite some time searching as well, even looking through other war records in case the document had been misfiled under WW1, without any results. Like the reading room staff, he concluded that the record was probably transferred elsewhere for some reason, possibly related to his medical condition - or possibly misfiled somewhere.

My cousin also took photos of the original documents found above. Looking at them after they left Kew , she noticed a number reference 27077/C under remarks on the page listing FT's discharge. Might this be a clue to where the original was sent?

We would greatly welcome any further advice.

Many thanks

Best

John

Hello John,
Did your cousin have the time look in all the other possible, perhaps rather unlikely, files or not?
I think I would now speak to William Spencer if I were you.
Regards Frank