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Drummerboy,

Thank you for a great first post and welcome to the forum.

I always think it is wonderful when connections such as these are made.

Many thanks
David

Hello George,
Welcome to this forum, like David I was both interested and indeed fascinated to read your first post here.

drummerboy wrote: Hello Pat, My name is George Shaw and I live in Johannesburg. William Crosson was my great uncle. He was the younger and only brother of my grandmother, Mary Crosson --- there were 3 other sisters, Wilhelmina, never married, Catherine Ellen, married Gert Saunders, and Sarah Ann, future unknown. I have copies of all their baptismal entries in the KWT Catholic church. I have researched this family in considerable detail which I would be happy to share my findings with you. Their father, also William Crosson came out in 1844 with the 45th and fought in the 7th and 8th Frontier Wars as well as at Boomplaats --- 1853 SA Medal. I have his detailed muster papers as well as a copy of his will. In 1859 he decided to stay behind when his Regt was finally repatriated and settled in KWT where he opened up a butchery business. He married Mary Collins who was a Kennaway Girl, if you know that whole Border episode. Mary died in 1876 and William a year later. I have visited their unmarked graves in the KWT cemetery --- I was at Dale. William Jnr served in the CMR at the same time as my grandfather Robert John Shaw which is probably how he met his future wife, my grandmother, Mary Crosson. There was a much later family connection with Ft. Frere in the Transkei involving William Jr., but I was never able to quite get to the bottom of it. You are free to contact me via e-mail at [email protected]. Regards, George Shaw

Hello George,
Welcome to this forum, like David I was both interested and indeed fascinated to read your first post here.
I became very interested in the 45th and there time in the Cape and the Colony of Natal last year, they had a rather unique place in the annals of the British Army.
William Crosson was a most interesting character and very typical of the old 45th, with over 21 years service, of which 12 years 8 months were spent in the "Cape of Good Hope" far from home, little wonder he was unable to continue, I wonder what might have been had he not been discharged, notwithstanding, his rank was achieved the hard way.
Again welcome here,
Regards Frank

drummerboy wrote: Hello Pat, My name is George Shaw and I live in Johannesburg. William Crosson was my great uncle. He was the younger and only brother of my grandmother, Mary Crosson --- there were 3 other sisters, Wilhelmina, never married, Catherine Ellen, married Gert Saunders, and Sarah Ann, future unknown. I have copies of all their baptismal entries in the KWT Catholic church. I have researched this family in considerable detail which I would be happy to share my findings with you. Their father, also William Crosson came out in 1844 with the 45th and fought in the 7th and 8th Frontier Wars as well as at Boomplaats --- 1853 SA Medal. I have his detailed muster papers as well as a copy of his will. In 1859 he decided to stay behind when his Regt was finally repatriated and settled in KWT where he opened up a butchery business. He married Mary Collins who was a Kennaway Girl, if you know that whole Border episode. Mary died in 1876 and William a year later. I have visited their unmarked graves in the KWT cemetery --- I was at Dale. William Jnr served in the CMR at the same time as my grandfather Robert John Shaw which is probably how he met his future wife, my grandmother, Mary Crosson. There was a much later family connection with Ft. Frere in the Transkei involving William Jr., but I was never able to quite get to the bottom of it. You are free to contact me via e-mail at [email protected]. Regards, George Shaw

Thanks David and Frank for your kind comments. I have always had a keen interest in military history particularly as it applies to my family. My Great X 7 grandfather, William Shaw, 1652-1734, fought on the Boyne in 1690 as a Capt. in Sir Henry Ponsonby's Regt. of Foot. I have been researching my Shaw family roots most my adult life (I'm now 75) and have come up with a wealth of info. I recently wrote it all up (268,000 words) which I personally printed and bound in 12 sets of 3 leather bound books for my immediate family. Quite a few served in the Boer War the most notable of whom was Sir Frederick Shaw, 1858-1927 5th Bt of Bushy Park, Dublin. My great grandfather was Maj-Gen George Shaw 1822-1892 CB RA who participated in all the major artillery bombardments at Savastopol. One distant relative, Thomas B Hackett 1838-1880 (his mother was a Shaw) won the VC during Indian Mutiny. Eight of my Shaws or other relatives were killed in WWI. I have their full details and individual photos. My father, Jocelyn George Shaw, 1892-1952, served with the Kaffrarian Rifles (5th Infantry) in GSWA, 1914/15. Their train crashed in the Hex River Mts on the way to Cape Town when 12 were killed and over 100 wounded. I am going down for the 100 year commemoration at the site on 10 Sept. He kept a diary that I have transcribed, copy of which has been lodged with the Imperial war Museum. He later served with the 9th SA Horse in GEA where they dropped like files from tropical disease. He was eventually invalided out but never regained his health. The most recent, Geoffrey Clarke 1947-1975 was a SAAF Alouette helicopter pilot who was killed in Angola. My two sons attended West Point and the US Naval Academy at Annapolis resp. although both now out of the military. Barry did his time as an OOD on the carrier, USS Kitty Hawk out of Yokosuka, Japan. I am a very keen American Civil War enthusiast. I have done a lot of work on that subject and visited many of the major battlefields. And so it goes. If anyone is interested in any of the above details I would gladly share my info with them. It just seems to go on and on as there are so many other Shaws with a military and or naval connection. To mention just one more, Capt. Robert John Shaw 1900-1995, (Osborne and Dartmouth) was on a main gun turret of HMS Hercules at Jutland and later in 1941 when in Command of HMS Dragon escaped Singapore and the Battles of Java Sea and Sunda Strait by the skin of his teeth. The crew included many Saffers and were unbeaten in inter-ship rugby matches. Never a dull moment. At least it keeps the grey cells active and me out of trouble!

Frank, Thanks for the info on the 45th. Have you read Col. PH Dalbiac's book (Swan Sonnenschein, 1902). I photo-copied pages 152 to 207 which deals with their SA service. Terrific detail. William Crosson was attested 1 Dec 1837 in Glasgow. He was with the Reserve Bn. that first went to Montevideo. From his muster papers it is easy to follow him around. He did two fairly brief stints at Ft. Napier (PMB) but was for the most part stationed in the E.Cape. In this way I was able to tie him directly to the ORS and Boomplaats. He was also very likely involved in the hair-raising events at Fts. Cox, Hare and White in Dec. 1850 when Sir Harry Smith made his escape. I can also tie him directly to Ft Pato which as you probably know was on the trail from EL to KWT at the exact same time that the wagon train carrying the Kenneway Girls came through in late Nov. 1857 and where they stopped for "breakfast". By then William Crosson had probably already decided that he was going to resign from the 45th and settle in KWT and saw in all these lovely Irish lasses passing by a heaven sent opportunity to snag one (Mary Collins) for himself. They were as you will know ostensibly ear-marked for members of the British German Legion. As previously mentioned he opened up a butchery business in KWT, probably as a result of having participated over the years in the slaughter and disection of meat for the Regt. I have a copy of a lovely and quaint advert he ran in the local "Kaffrarian Watchman" newspaper dated 19 Feb 1866. He continued to take an active interest in military affairs and as late as Aug 1870 aged 51, against strong competition, is recorded as being appointed 2nd Lieut of a local volunteer force.

David, I'm going to have to start slowing down but while it is still fresh in my mind, with you apparently focussing most of your energies on the Boer War I wanted to mention that my great aunt, Flora Shaw, 1852-1929, played a prominent role in the events leading up to the Jameson Raid, the precursor to the war itself. She was an older sister of my grandfather, Robert John Shaw, who had come out in 1881 to join the CMR. You may be familiar with her involvement as Colonial Editor of The Times and her association with Joseph Chamberlain and Cecil Rhodes and all their various interactions. Suffice to say there is a photo of her in Elizabeth Packenham's book on the raid as well as a chapter devoted exclusively to her headed "Lady into Fox". I have written a 30 page essay on her close relationship with CJR. It was while she was in SA in 1892 that she set up a meeting for my grandfather, who after 11 years was tiring of a military lifestyle, with Sir James Sivewright, a close confidant and Minister for Railways in Rhodes Cape Colony government, with a view to finding work in "Charterland". He duly took up a position with the Beatrice Gold Mine some 50 kms SE of then Salisbury but was killed, aged 30, in a mining accident shortly after his arrival leaving his wife Mary Crosson Shaw virtually destitute back in KWT when my father was only 2 years old. I recently dug up all the details and by an amazing stroke of good fortune located his unmarked in the Pioneer cemetery. Between my two sisters and myself we had a grave surround and headstone made and went up there a few years ago to have a graveside consecration service conducted. Flora Shaw married Lord Lugard (2-term governor of both Hong Kong and Nigeria) in 1902 and went on to be made DBE for her Belgium war refugee efforts during WWI. On a trivia matter she is also officially recognized as having named the country of Nigeria (quite apart from the involvement of her husband) or to be more precise she proposed the name in one of her editorials in The Times which found general favour and was shortly thereafter accepted and implemented. Its all on the Internet for anyone who wants to look it up.