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Beginners => Family History Beginners Board => Topic started by: JodyK on Saturday 19 April 25 15:28 BST (UK)
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John Jackson was born in 1861 in Ballybay, County Monaghan, Ireland He went with his bride, Leah Telfer to Australia in 1885. They were on the Ship Roma from Glasgow, Scotland to Brisbane arriving on 20 December 1885. Their son John Wilton Jackson was born in Roma, Queensland, Australia in 1886. John died of disease-enteric (typhoid) fever at Ladysmith, South Africa during the Second Boer War-23 January 1900. He was a Corporal (Lance Corporal) in the 1st Battalion-King's Royal Rifle Corps-Natal Field Force. I know he was awarded the QSA Medal. He is buried at the Intombi Netural Camp Cemetery
Ladysmith, uThukela District Municipality, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Where do I look to find his military enrollment? Any additional information on him?
Thank you.
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You can read an account of the 1st Battalion KRRC's part in the defence of Ladysmith on 6 January 1900 here: Anglo_Boer War Archived website (https://web.archive.org/web/20160811064728/http://angloboerwar.com/?option=com_content&view=article&id=566)
I was very optimistic that John's service record had survived, but unfortunately I had found the wrong John Jackson. This John's regimental number was 991. and by the time of the First World War he (991) was a Colour Sergeant and held the appointment of Company Quartermaster Sergeant in the 4th Battalion KRRC. He was awarded the 1914-15 Star as well as the Victory Medal and the British War Medal in addition to his QSA.
Unfortunately this can't be your John because John 991 was born in October 1877 in St Pancras, London to John and Edith (Ida) Jackson. He married Francis Price in Ipswich in 1908 and had a son John Joseph born 23 Jan 1910.
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Thank you very much!
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According to FindMyPast there was a Private JW Jackson KRRC who died of disease at Ladysmith on 23 January 1900. No information on where he was buried. This information is taken from the book Natal Field Force (https://www.abebooks.co.uk/book-search/title/south-african-field-force-casualty/) which you cite.
However the Boer War Roll of Honour website (https://www.roll-of-honour.com/cgi-bin/boerwardetail.cgi) database has no entries for a J Jackson of the KRRC (plenty of other J Jacksons listed).
It might be a good idea to remove the #991 bit of the title of this thread as we now know that 991 was the wrong person. What collateral information do have to believe that your John Jackson fought in the 2nd Boer War with the KRRC?
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This man-#7487 was actually who I thought was the man I was searching for. His brothers and sisters said he died in the Second Boer War in this unit. I also have his burial location. I updated the initial post. Thank you.
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Pte JW Jackson 7487 would have joined the KRRC in about the Autumn of 1892. This is based on when his number was issued. #7056 was issued in Feb 1892 and #7954 in Mar 1893. Because he died while still serving his record will have neen destroyed since there was no need to retain it for pension purposes.
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Does his # have any bearing on where exactly he entered the service from? Thank you.
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No, his number would have been issued at the depot at Peninsular Barracks, Winchester where he did his initial training. All four battalions of the KRRC used the same pool of numbers because they were either Regular (1st and 2nd Battalions) or Regular Reseve (3rd and 4th Battalions) and so soldiers might move between battalions as required. However he might have been attested anywhere where the Regiment was recruiting at the time. For example, J Jackson 991 joined at Gosport in 1898.
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So he could have been recruited in Australia then, but since he died there will be no way to find that out I assume. Would there be no regimental records that might have this? Thank you.
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So he could have been recruited in Australia then, but since he died there will be no way to find that out I assume.
I think it is unlikely that he was recruited in Australia. Although once the war started large numbers of Australians did fight alongside (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_in_the_Second_Boer_War) the British, they arrived mostly as formed Australian units. However it seems that JW joined the KRRC in 1892, well before any hostilities had broken out in South Africa. The British Army didn't actively recruit in Australia at that time, and neither of the KRRC regular battalions had been stationed in Australia - in fact the 1st Battalion was in India through the 1890s, and the 2nd Battalion was in Gibraltar then Malta in the first part of the decade, and then in Natal from 1897.
So I think it much more likely that he made his own way to Britain, either with the intention of joining up, or he joined once he arrived because he couldn't find other work and needed to provide for his family.
Would there be no regimental records that might have this?
Regimental Records tend not to have survived. Any that do will probably be in the Regimental museum (https://riflemansmuseum.co.uk/) or the Hampshire Record Office. However a quick check of the Hampshire RO holdings doesn't show up anything promising although there are certainly items relating to the KRRC from the relevant period.
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Thank you!
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So who exactly are we looking for please?
John Wilton Jackson was born, according to OP, in 1886 so far too young to be fighting in the Boer War
Presume it is John Jackson, his father who emigrated to Australia, that we are searching for?
Or have I missed something..got brain fog from a heavy cold...
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There are several entries for him on the AngloBoerWar web site