Hello folks,

Now that you've got me thinking about the Morant incident, I find that I am unable to find anything much at all about the officer whose death apparently triggered Morant's prisoner shootings.

After checking all the books on my bookshelf and doing a trawl around the net, the best I can manage is that he had arrived in South Africa as a Lieutenant with the 10th Hussars (in Witton's book, 'Scapegoats of the Empire'), that his name was either Percy Hunt, Frederick Hunt, or both, and that he became a Captain with the Bushveldt Carbineers.

He was killed on 6 August 1901 at Dalviel's Kloof, Spelonken, according to: "The Last Post: Roll of Officers Who Fell in South Africa 1899-1902" by Mildred G Dooner reprinted by Naval & Military Press.


And that's about it. It is said that he met up with Morant in England while Morant was hunting in Devon (but was he from Devon?), and he was said to have been from a "wealthy English family", but I'm afraid I can't work out which.

His age would help a bit, then maybe he could be sifted out of some censuses. Would anyone have access to Hart's Army List, or whatever the appropriate volume is, that would give information like date and place of birth, etc? Not to mention check on the service with the 10th Hussars to see if that is correct? Nick Bleszynski says "French's Scouts", and that Hunt was seven years Morant's junior (thus born circa 1871), but he doesn't give a source for those statements. He does quote another author, Arthur Davey, saying that he thought Hunt served with the 13th Hussars. Carnegie and Shields add Kitchener's Scouts.

Any information gratefully recieved.

Best wishes,

Lenore