TOPIC:

POW NUMBER: 3129
SURNAME: CLEAVER
FORENAME: FERRAR, REGINALD MOSTYN
AGE: 29 YEARS
ADDRESS: YEOVILLE, JOHANNESBURG
RANK: FIELD-CORNET
CAPTURED: 1900/06/12, PRETORIA
POW CAMP: DIYATALAWA, CEYLON
DIED: 1900/11/18
CAUSE: MENINGITIS
BURIED: DIYATALAWA

Tracing the antecedents of this man might prove interesting!

Brett

Brett, his parents were British but he was born and brought up in the Free State. I have tried and failed to upload a photo of the cover page of the memoir assembled by his mother, A Young South African, published in 1913. Best wishes, Justin

Justin
Many thanks for following up on my comment. I had hoped that someone with the right resources would do so. I was surprised to learn that he was born in the Free State, so he was a true Burger, and not a recent arrival caught out by the war with loyalties that were still more British than Boer.
Regards
Brett

Hello Brett, Justin and Elmarie
Firstly tkx for putting this photograph of Reg Cleaver on the Forum.
The Cleaver family farmed in the Bethlehem district in the Free State.
The book you are referring to is "The War Letters of an English Burgher" 2 nd edition 2000, published by Protea Book House .
email addr. [email protected]

Reg Cleaver was in fact a son of the Free State, matriculated at St Andrew's College in Bloemfontein, Alma mater and
read law at Cambridge U. in England.
Jan Smuts employed him in the Justice office in ZAR and during the War Reg acted as the legal adviser to Ladybrand Commando under Gen Naas Ferreira.
His memoirs are wonderfully interesting; he and many other Free State Patriots could have made a huge contribution to South African reconstruction after the Boer war had they survived.,
Hoping this info is useful?
Were his medals ever issued?
regards
Evyn

Here are a couple of images sourced from Bidorbuy.