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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: Jack TT on Thursday 17 July 25 10:38 BST (UK)
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Nee help please!
I have quite a lot of information on James Coleman. No 4867 .2nd Batt. Hampshire Regt. Born 1878.
I am stuck on a court martial detail. According to his record on Ancestry . He was taken prisoner on 13th Dec 1900 at Nooitgedacht. South Africa. He was released the next day.
He was court martialed for cowardice and desertion and according to his record was given 2 years in Derby prison. It looks like he was released very shortly afterwards and according to Irish civil records , got married in Oct 1901 in Cork, Ireland.
Has anyone got any details or knowledge of this soldier and more to the point any details of the Court martial proceedings and why he was released so early? I have access to ancestry and FindMyPast, however cant access any details of the actual Court martial proceedings in Pretoria in Feb 1901.
Any knowledge or views appreciated
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For reference 1901 marriage-
9 October 1901 at St Luke's Parish Church, Cork city.
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/marriage_returns/marriages_1901/10331/5760972.pdf
Bride Honora Ryan.
Have you the birth record of the first child?
Florence - 20 July 1902
https://www.irishgenealogy.ie/files/civil/birth_returns/births_1902/01894/1735985.pdf
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Thanks, I got the marriage record, but not the child. :)
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I assume that you have his service record from FindMyPast.
The entries below the Field General Court Martial sentence dated 28 January 1901 indicate that he was released from Derby Prison on 26 September 1901 on the authority of the Adjutant General's letter reference 110/37/199 from the department AG4 (which I assume dealt with disciplinary matters). He then continued to serve until he was finally discharged on 12 Jun 1912 having completed 16 years service and was due for a pension based on 6 years and 160 days service.
It therefore looks as if his sentence was not confirmed, or that perhaps he successfully appealed against his conviction. The National Archives do not appear to hold any documents relating to his case, which is surprising, but only a percentage of the documents relating to Courts Martial were retained. For example registers of Courts Martial held in South Africa from April 1901 (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C1026648) exist, but I can't find the records for earlier trials.
There is an extremely small chance that a copy of the letter authorising his release still exists in the papers of the Adjutant General's Department, in series WO 162 (https://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C14369) but it would take a a very dedicated researcher to trawl through the 383 files of correspondence to see if it had been retained.
The Royal Hampshire Regiment Museum (https://www.royalhampshireregiment.org/) holds a number of records of service, regulations, order books, diaries, courts martial books, letter books for the period 1773-1956 which may just possibly include a reference to Pte Coleman's case.
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Thanks Andy, I wondered if him going missing then being released is in any way connected to the court martial??? On FindMyPast against his name, there is a summary of the battle where he went missing. Since posting I have seen an ancestry reference to his court martial in Pretoria, however this is on Fold 3 and I don't have a subscription for that site
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The charges at the court martial were desertion and cowardice, so yes the fact that he was missing probably provided the grounds for these charges, or at least the desertion part.
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The battle summary suggested that around 315 men were taken prisoners, so I'm wondering why it went so wrong for him?
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I have seen an ancestry reference to his court martial in Pretoria, however this is on Fold 3 and I don't have a subscription for that site
It doesn't say a lot more, but just in case it adds something:
Received from: GOC Pretoria district
Kind of CM: F Gen
Held at: Pretoria
Regiment: 2nd Hampshire Regiment (M.I.)
No, Rank & Name: 4867, Pte J Coleman
Offences: See 4 (7) Misbehaving before the enemy in such a manner as to show cowardice
Plea: NG
Finding: G
Sentence & Date: 2 Years IHL, 27-02-01
Confirmed by: M General Clements
Remarks: To IEG(?) 5-4-01 Home "Aurania" 29-3-01
NB The 'Remarks' column is written in red and directly under the first column the date '5th March' has also been written in red.
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Thanks for that information. It would be interesting to know how he got out of jail early. I'm surprised that he was taken back into the army after that charge.
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According to Paragraph 156 of Queens Regulations for the Army 1881 there were two principal reasons why a man might be removed from civil prison before completion of his sentence. The first is that his Regiment was proceeding overseas and he was required to join them, and secondly, that he was required to face a further court martial. However neither of these situations arose in James Coleman's case which leads to two other possibilities.
The first is that he has released early under instructions of the Home Office. While he was in a civil prison he was entirely subject to Home Office rules and procedures. However given that he had only served around 6 months of his 2 year sentence this seems unlikely.
The fourth possibility is that he was granted clemency by the Army. This is covered in paragraph 166 of QRs, and in my view I think this is the most likely explanation. In other words his original sentence was judged to have been too harsh, or that further information became available about the circumstances of his capture which pointed towards his innocence.
On a separate note, are you aware that he joined the Militia on 16 May 1896 before transferring to the Regular Army exactly one month later? Both sets of paperwork were completed by the same Recruiting Sergeant Charles Fletcher. This may have been some sort of ruse by which he received two bounties, and for which Sgt Fletcher would also have been paid extra. You will find the service record on FindMyPast using his militia number 4598.
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That's a really interesting reply, thanks Andy. I'll check his militia details.
The 4th possibility seems to fit, especially with him going back into service.
He also completed WW1 service under no: 430. I found the MIC, but no other information on this period.
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I saw that MIC but without corroboration I couldn't be sure that it referred to the same man.