South Wales Borderers - Boer War

[rogerb]

Does anyone know of any service records on line for this regiment for this period?

The person I am researching is Samuel Isaac Boulton who seems to have signed up in Jan 1894.  But I don't know how long he served for and if he took part in the Boer War.

He got married back in Wales in 1903 as a collier so he had obviously left the army by then.

Roger

[ShaunJ]

I can see that there was a Samuel Boulton from Bedwelty who signed up for the militia battalion of the SWB in January 1894, and then joined the regular army on 1 March 1894. We don't know which regiment he joined.

There is only one S Boulton on the medal roll for the 2nd Boer War - 9323 KRRC - but that was Sidney George Boulton from Rotherhithe.

[Andy J2022]

I think Shaun is on the right track. If he joined the Regulars from the Militia then it would be most likely that he joined the 2nd Battalion of the South Wales Borderers. However another possibility is that after the 2nd Battalion went to South Africa in February 1900, it was later reinforced by a company (known as I Company) formed of volunteers from the Regiment's 10 Volunteer Rifle Battalions.

Additionally the 3rd (Militia) Battalion was embodied in January 1900, and the following month embarked for service in South Africa along with the 2nd Battalion, arriving in Cape Town on the SS Cheshire in early March 1900. However the absence of a South Africa Medal for him does cast doubt on whether he actually fought in the Second Boer War. It may be that he was part of the 4th (Militia) Battalion which was embodied in the UK for garrison duties during the war, and that this story has become corrupted to imply he served in South Africa.

If you can find a copy in you local library, this book should provide some more details, although it is highly unlikely your man will be mentioned:
Bryn Owen, History of the Welsh Militia and Volunteer Corps 1757–1908: Montgomeryshire Regiments of Militia, Volunteers and Yeomanry Cavalry, Wrexham: Bridge Books, 2000, ISBN 1-872424-85-6. Be aware that Bryn Owen produced a series of books with the main title 'History of the Welsh Militia and Volunteer Corps'. You need Volume 1 which covers Montgomeryshire (cover shown below).

[Andy J2022]

There is a Private S Boulton 12534, b. 1874 with the 4th Battalion (that is to say Territiorial Force) Royal Fusiliers who was admitted to 4th Stationary Hospital in France on 16 Jun 1915. He was suffering from defective vision. The hospital record says that he had enlisted in October 1914, but this must be wrong - see below.
He was readmitted to the same hospital in late November or December 1915 for some other reason which I can't decipher. This time his age was recorded as 46, although it must be the same person because his unit and regimental number are the same. A soldier named Private Samuel Boulter number 12534 Royal Fusiliers later transferred to the Labour Corps with the new number 151200. There is a medal index card for him. This says he was awarded the 1915 Star, Victory and War medals. He first arrived in France on 6 September 1915 and was discharged from the Army on 29 January 1917.  Of course, apart from the name and date of birth, there's nothing to prove this is the correct person. There are 4 other Samuel Boultons on the smae group of MICs from TNA for example.

[rogerb]

Thanks for the ideas everyone.  Regarding the Boer war, there is no evidence that he took part, I agree.  Its just that I could not identify him on the 1901 census so I suppose that I assumed that he may have still been in the army.

And as for WW1, I hadn't really considered it at all, due to his age (b.1871).  Also he is on the Gwent electoral registers for 1915 and 1918.  But I will investigate - just to satisfy myself.

Roger

[ShaunJ]

It's possible that he was with 1st Battalion SWB in India in 1901.

[Andy J2022]

I suggest you ignore the WW1 soldier I found; I think he's red herring.

I assume your man is Samuel Issac Boulton born 3 August 1871 (according to the 1939 Register) who married Susannah Brooks Vinnicombe on 30 Mar 1903.  The census for 1911 confirms 1871 as his year of birth, as I expect does the 1921 census although I haven't checked it (£).

This is slightly at odds with the militia attestation which Shaun found, dated 15 January 1894, where his age was stated to be 21 years and 5 months, resulting in a birth date in August 1872, not 1871. I don't think we should read too much into this discrepancy as all the other factors support this being your Samuel.

So on that assumption, if he joined the South Wales Borderers Militia battalion then he will have done his basic training at the SWB depot at Brecon,  alongside the Regular recruits. And since he joined the Regulars 1½ months later on 1st March 1894 I think it’s fair too assume he was strongly encouraged to do this during his time in the depot, and therefore he will have joined either the 1st or 2nd battalion SWB.

At the time the 1st battalion was in Egypt and they moved from there to Gibraltar in 1895 and to India in 1897. They remained in India until 1910. The 2nd Battalion was in Aden in early 1894, but returned to Portsmouth in November of that year.  In September 1895 they moved to Aldershot where they spent two years, followed by two years in Pembroke Dock, and then to Dublin in 1899. Their Ireland tour of duty was cut short in early 1900 when they went to South Africa.

If you are able to get to the National Archives at Kew, you can resolve the issue of which battalion he joined by checking the muster rolls for 1894, which are in WO 16/2997. Unfortunately these rolls haven’t been digitised.

Incidentally if, as I strongly suspect, he did join either the 1st or 2nd battalion SWB, his new regimental number is likely to have been around 4130-4149, as number 4150 was issued to a soldier who joined on 13 March 1894.

[rogerb]

Thanks again - now I have something to go on.  I've been interested in genealogy for may years and have researched a number of families, but for some reason I have hardly ever come across anyone in the military other than WW1 and WW2 so its good to get a couple of leads.

Roger