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Hi, How do I go about looking for my Great Grandfather's Boer war records/medals? Don't have much information except that He was in the British forces in Boer war then World war 1. Then he immigrated to New.Zealand. His name was William Henry Farrar.

Hello Kimmywah68

Welcome to the forum.
Do you know where your G Grandfather was born? Any information you may have and are willing to share,may help the forum in your quest for answers regarding William.

Kind regards

Dave........

PS...If you didn't want to share any details and would rather research your Great Grandfather independently. A good starting point is to use a family research site. Ancestry, Find My Past, My Heritage and Family Research are available . There are military sections within the sites.
The more information you have at your disposal will be beneficial in most cases to help you build a backstory for your Great Grandfather.
A date of birth, where he was born, his parents names could be useful in helping with identifying your relation.

Hi...I actually had wrong name. His name was William Henry Harris born in Staffordshire 23 August 1877. There is a number 278215 on some old papers. I think he was a gunner that was to control and manage a horse for his commanding officer in Spain. I have attached a photo of the papers. We believe he was in South Africa as well. Thanks Kim

Was he born in St Peter's Walsall Staffordshire ?
A Miner by trade ?
Also, could his regimental number be 35215 ?

Dave...

Yes that is him!

William Henry Harris
35215 Gunner Royal Artillery, attested for the regiment aged 21 in May 1899.
He was of fair complexion, blue eyes, fair haired and stood at 5 feet and 7 & 3/4 inches tall.

He was considered fit for duty at Lichfield Staffordshire on the 25th May 1899. He joined his unit at Seaforth Merseyside Liverpool 2 days later. Between 1882 and 1958 Seaforth was the home of the Royal Garrison Artillery, Royal Field Artillery and HQ of the Kings Liverpool regiment barracks.

As you previously mentioned, he was a Gunner. Firstly in the Royal Field Artillery and then he transferred to the Royal Garrison Artillery.
As you can see from his attestation papers his service covered 5 years and 75 days. However, his military history sheet only records him serving at home and Gibraltar. There is a date entry recording he was posted in 1902 to Gibraltar but he may have been sent earlier? It is possible he served all his time in Gibraltar with the R G A (That may tie in with your Spanish connection?) . As for him serving in South Africa? That could also be a possibility, as the Royal Garrison Artillery were certainly active during the Anglo Boer War.
Alas, there is no record on his papers to substantiate he was there.
On 1st trawl of the medal rolls for 35215 Gunner W H Harris no relevant details are forthcoming. More research to be done, or a fellow forum member may be able to help?

Can I ask what led you to believe he did go South Africa?
And what information do you have reference his supposed service in WW1?

Additional information, England Census 1911.
William is aged 35, working as a Hewer in the coal mine Derbyshire.
He is living at 88 Wellbech Street, Cresswell which in 1911 was on the Nottinghamshire / Derbyshire's county border.
He resided with his wife Charlotte aged 25, and his 2 daughters Edith May aged 4 and Dorothy Evelyn aged 1.

For your records.










Dave.......

PS......He lived to a good age considering his time down the mines. His decision to move to New Zealand certainly payed off as he reached the age of 89 and passed away in 1965.