Hello Toni, Smelly and John
Thank you for your help - however, it would seem that he didn't fight in the Boer War, I should have noticed that the dates didn't really fit

- So it would seem that he probably died from a weak heart, although of course I'll probably never know what brought it on...... He might have been in S. Africa at some time, as, when he died, his widow went to live there with some of the children and he could have been bitten by a rat anywhere - so maybe it's a case of a different stories getting muddled up and romanticized( ???spelling)...............
thank you again
Tilly
(Have posted this reply once, but something went wrong and it disappeared - so sorry if you get it twice!!)