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William Lupton, 23rd Company, 8th Battalion, Duke of Lancaster’s Own Regiment

Since I have been pestering the medal-men on this site for the past year with scribbled documents in Dutch and pro-Boer rantings, I felt I needed to post something QSA-ish to get back into their good books. I hope this gives them some hooks for research.

In an old scrap album that belonged to the Lupton family from Ashton-under-Lyne, I came upon a nice photograph of William (“Billy”) Lupton with some men from the 23rd Co, 8th Batn somewhere in the field in South Africa.



The photograph was annotated with surnames and with the help of the unit information provided on this site I was able to identify the men: (from left to right)
Corporal George Lewis REYNOLDS, 2778
Private Montague ELPHINGSTONE, 2768
Private/Trooper David REW, 2788 (Killed in Action May 30, 1900 at Fabers put) (Fabers'Spruit, refer article below)
Corporal William LUPTON, 2765
Private Charles Stuart MATTHEWS, 2770 (there are two other Matthews in the 23rd Company but their numbers are not matching those of the men in the photograph)
Private William MacLeod RADFORD, 2767
Private George Hamilton RICHARDS, 2773

Lupton returned home in 1901 and gave an interview to a reporter from the Ashton Herald, published on May 25, 1901.

Stunning photograph, Everhard.
One for Tinus?

Everhard - stunning photo indeed! You have been very generous with the info supplied on the men and as all are members of the IY their full service papers should be findable on Ancestry, even the one killed in action.

William Lupton attested in Blackpool in January 1900 and was 24 years 6 months old at the time. He was of average height for the time at 5ft 6 and a half inches, weighed just under 10 stone and had a dark complexion, hazel eyes & black hair. He also had a "gold crowned tooth in upper left jaw".

He was a typical first contingent IY recruit as he was the son of The Cashier (in 1881) of an Iron Works who had become The Company Secretary by 1891. In 1891 his father could afford to employ 2 domestic servants to help his wife look after their 7 children - 3 girls followed by 4 boys. William's QSA had 3 clasps - CC, OFS & SA1901. On 2nd September 1905 he married a Florence Emily Robinson whose father was an Accountant. By 1911 they had had 3 children and William was a clerk at a Calico Printers. Before the 1921 Census occurred tragedy struck as shown below. He actually died on 5th May 1917 and left an estate worth £952 13s 6d. His grave can be found on Find-a-Grave and it shows Florence died 34 years later in 1951. I have checked on the CWGC website to ensure that his death was not war related - five William Lupton's died during 1917 but they are all commemorated on War Memorials in France & Flanders.



Finally note the man on the left wearing a wristlet watch possibly purchased from Mappin & Webb's - the advert below dates from February 1901, as far as I can tell they first came on the market about a year earlier.

Smethwick many thanks for the additional information. From the scrap album I gathered that Lupton's parents were quite well to do. To get an idea, herewith a snapshot of some Lupton women attached to a Swiss guide on a Gletcher.



The photograph of Lupton in the field must have been taken either at Maitland or Piquetberg sometime between mid-March 1900 when they arrived at camp Maitland and May 30, the day David Rew was killed. What strikes me about the photograph is that, perhaps aside from the attire, it could have been taken yesterday. Also, when you have read the interview with Lupton you probably would have chosen the man in the centre as the most likely man to give it. Attached a close-up of Lupton and Rew, the latter blissfully unaware that he had less than 10 weeks to live.

David Rew was a social class above William Lupton as his father was a Liverpool Cotton Broker. The family lived in a mansion called "Heathlands", in the Sefton Park area of Liverpool, which required 5 domestic servants to keep it running. His father died in 1885 but he left his mother so well off she did not need to sell "Heathlands" or get rid of any of the servants. David attested in Blackpool on 3rd February 1900 and gave his age as 23 years 10 months, he was 5 ft 10 inches tall and weighed at just over 10 stone. He gave his occupation as "Engineer". Not surprisingly his posthumous QSA only had a single clasp, CC.

This August 1900 syndicated article gives his rank as Gunner and tells us he was "killed stone dead by a bullet through the temple". His rank on the July 1901 Medal Roll is given as Private.




He can also be found on Find-a-Grave with photos of the memorial cross over his grave in SA and two UK memorials bearing his name - unfortunately the photographer does not tell us where the two UK Memorials are located.

I would say the Lupton Ladies were traversing the glacier after the Boer War based on the length of their skirts - is any further info given on the back of the photo?

Montague Elphingstone

airwar19141918.wordpress.com/category/western-front/page/30/

and George Hamilton Richards who was awarded the MC in the Great War::



and the very comprehensive Boer War Memorial for the 23rd company IY is to be found in the foyer of the TA Centre in Wigan:

www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/56087