3rd Kaffir War 1850 - 1853 - South Africa

[Ted]

Hi Folks

Need some help with a puzzle - one of my lot, William Troup Bn 1826 in Huntly, Aberdeenshire married Margaret Cheyne in Huntly in 1845 - at that time he was working as a Gentleman's Servant.

William joined the 74th Regiment of Foot (Highland Light Infantry) in Aberdeen in March 1851 - they were sent to South Africa later that month to fight in the above war.

His daughter Jane married John Smith in Aberdeen in 1869 - on the marriage certificate it states that William is deceased - but that his occupation was 'Cape Mounted Rifles'. There is no trace of William's death in Scotland - and his wife is shown on the 1871 census as a widow I know that some soldiers stayed on in South Africa and joined the Cape Mounted Rifles - so I suspect that this may have been the case with my William and that he died there.

My question is - how do I find out if he did actually join the CMR? Any suggestions gratefully received.

Ted

[Currie]

Hello Ted,

There’s a book called “Record of the Cape Mounted Riflemen (London 1909) by P. Williams that seems to contain a number of names. Unfortunately it doesn’t appear to be online but there’s an old lookup offer here http://archiver.rootsweb.ancestry.com/t ... 1117241106

There’s a very interesting article in the Timaru Herald (NZ) 1879 by a former Captain in the Cape Mounted Rifles. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bi ... 1----0-all He says that he joined in 1856 and “The white troopers were men who had volunteered from line regiments, men who had formed ties in South Africa, or in many ways became acclimatised.” and “In 1861 or 1862 recruitment for the regiment was started in England.”

The 74th Regiment of Foot and the Cape Mounted Rifles (Riflemen) were working very closely together in South Africa. Your fellow appears to have gone off the radar in 1851 and didn’t reappear until 1869 when he’s deceased. There’s a lot could have happened in between, but the family has obviously got the CMR info from somewhere and it’s probably correct.

I think that infantry enlistment then was ten years, presumably if he had stayed in the 74th it would have expired in 1861 when the regiment was in India. The 74th went from the Cape to India in 1854 and were back in the UK in 1864.

If you search the National Archives for Cape Mounted Rifles and Cape Mounted Riflemen and Cape Mounted Regiment you’ll find a variety of stuff there. http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/sear ... d=True&j=t

Have you been able to find his service record for his time in the 74th?

If you don’t get anywhere here the Victorian Wars forum may be worth a try. http://www.victorianwars.com/

All the best,
Alan

[Ted]

Alan

Thanks - you are a star as usual ! NA must surely have a record if he enlisted - and a discharge (or transfer) if he stayed in SA after 1861. Just discoverd thsi evening that he was still alive in 1861 - his wife is still at home in Aberdeen and she is shown as married - but widowed on the 1871 census. Taking account of the daughters marriage in 1869 - I probably conclude that he died between 1861 and 1869.

Any idea if the Cape Mounted Rifles have medal rolls anywhere?

You have given me lots of leads to work with.

Thanks

Ted

[Currie]

Hello Ted,

If he was still around in 1861 then he may well have served out his 10 years in the 74th and immediately enlisted in the CMR. He may have preferred SA to India, he may have preferred SA to Scotland if it comes to that. I’m not sure whether he could have enlisted in India or whether he would have travelled to SA to do so. Did time expired soldiers from the Regiments of Foot get a free trip home or wherever? I suppose they did, probably came home with the invalids etc.

The CMR seems to have been working fairly hard at that time to replace Native members whose enlistment had expired with Europeans although I don’t think there were any particular complaints about their performance in the field. The CMR started recruiting in England about 1861 so maybe they were fishing about in India as well. The 74th you would think would be a desirable target as they had had recent SA experience.

I suppose that it is not impossible that he made his way home after his ten years was up and decided he preferred army life in SA or for whatever reason and enlisted in the CMR at the English recruitment desk.

While rummaging around I did see something about a medal roll of some kind. I think it was a campaign medal issued in 1853 to members of the 74th and the CMR and all the other regiments involved. It was probably this book that I saw http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=eBSt ... brr=0&cd=1

Abe Books has some copies for sale with a range of prices from giveaway to ridiculous. http://www.abebooks.co.uk/servlet/Searc ... 1853+medal

There doesn’t appear to have been much chance of the CMR picking up another campaign medal before 1870 as they didn’t leave South Africa.

Here’s a wiki on the South Africa Medal. See the list of campaigns at the bottom and the links to the India General Service Medal and the Indian Mutiny Medal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Afri ... %281854%29

There may be something useful here in respect of the 74th http://www.victorianwars.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=451

All the best,
Alan

[Ted]

Hi Alan

I am truly in your debt for all of the information you have provided - much obliged. I'll post up on this thread if I eventually solve the mystery and find out what happened to him.

Ted

[Adam Brown]

In Volume II of 'Proud Heritage' That the 74th had an establishment of 1,083 all ranks in 1859 in Bellary just after the Indian Mutiny. Later on in the same year all time expired men were allowed discharge. I'm assuming there had been a backlog because of the Mutiny.
Nothing much is mentioned until 1864 when the regiment returned to the UK. 261 volunteers chose to remain in India with other regiments which was common at that time.

Going back to 1854 there is no mention of leaving anyone behind in South Africa to serve with other regiments. It does mention that the regiment received a draft in South Africa just before it left for India and another two just after they arrived in India so they must have been understrength which makes me think that they wouldn't have looked for volunteers to stay behind.

Going back to 1851 it states that before leaving Ireland for South Africa in March 1851 it sent a Depot Company to Aberdeen. According to the book at that time the regiment was composed almost entirely of Highlanders except for 80 Irishmen recruited during its stay there and a German bandmaster. I'm assuming this means the 74th were drumming up recruits in Aberdeenshire in 1851 and your relative didn't sail with the regiment in March 1851 but with a later draft.

As far as I can see the first draft arrived at the Cape in late April 1852 with two officers and 66 rank and file. Another draft of 71 men which sailed at the same time went down with the 'Birkenhead' and only 22 men of the 74th survived. This ship had sailed from Ireland so I don't know if you man had been on the 'Birkenhead'.

Here's a theory When the regiment sailed to India your man was sick and unable to travel. When he was well he wouldn't have sailed to India he would have served out his time in a regiment in South Africa and on discharge would then have returned to the UK.

I hope this helps and gives you some food for thought.

All the best

Adam

[Ted]

Adam

Thanks for this - much obliged. I fairly certain my guy did not die with the Birkenhead when it sank - if the census returns are correct he was still alive in 1861 - his wife is at home and still marked as married - but shown as a widow in 1871. His daughter was married in 1869 - and the marriage cert has him as deceased - occupation ' Cape Mounted Rifles' - based on this it is fair to assume that he served with that unit. There is no trace of his death in Scotland - so I assume he probably died in SA.

I'll keep searching to see if I can get hold of CMR records any where.

Thanks again

Ted

[Ted]

Hi Everyone

Just a wee update - and a result. Don't know why I hadn't looked before now - I was browsing on SP and looked into the Wills part - would you Adam and Eve it - I found one for my William Troup. Seems he was killed in action in August 1861 at Fish River, Cape of Good Hope, SA - he was a private in the Cape Mounted Rifles.

As he died intestate his widow back in Aberdeen went to court to get his worldy goods (£51) released to her.

All I need now is to find out why he was there.

Ask me who is chuffed to get a result

Ted

[SarahND]

=D> Great news, Ted!

All I need now is to find out why he was there.

It never ends, does it?


Sarah

[Ted]

You're right Sarah - one puzzle solved always leaves more puzzles in it's wake ! I suppose that's half the fun of it all and what keep us going in genealogy.

Regards

Ted