Colonial officers service record

[stickymone]

One of our South African members is trying to research an ancestor who emigrated from the UK to SA in 1880.

Very little is known about him other than he served with the Natal Carbineers reaching the rank of Major

For your info his name is William Thomas GAGE born around 1861

He's listed on Kevin Asplins site which confirms that he was with the Natal Carb and was at the siege of Ladysmith

The Anglo Boer war site also shows that he reached the rank of Major

My question is this;

Are the service records of officers of colonial forces held at the TNA I've had a look at the research guides but they're rather unclear.

If the records are held, would they contain any d.o.b place of birth etc?

Stickymone

[Geoffers]

There is a nominal roll for the Natal Carbineers (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=-566963&CATLN=7&Highlight=,NATAL,CARBINEERS&FullDetails=False) at The National Archives. I cannot help with the extent of detail recorded as it isn't a record I've used.

If he was a Major, is there any record of an appointment as such in the London Gazette?

[stickymone]

Hi Geoffers,

I'm going to TNA soon so I'll try and have a look at that roll. I've checked the Gazette no trace I'm afraid, have you any knowledge whether colonial officers promotions were posted?

It's a bit of a puzzle trying to locate his service record I've checked the SA Archives site and it states records of colonial officers are held at Kew.
So I check the TNA and get no trace. Any thoughts?

Stickymone

[Geoffers]

I'm going to TNA soon so I'll try and have a look at that roll. I've checked the Gazette no trace I'm afraid, have you any knowledge whether colonial officers promotions were posted?

Sorry - I don't know; it was just a guess that there may be some record in the London Gazette - from experience a variety of searches may be needed to locate entries as there is some variability in the way entries are recorded.


It's a bit of a puzzle trying to locate his service record I've checked the SA Archives site and it states records of colonial officers are held at Kew. So I check the TNA and get no trace. Any thoughts?

I tried two the two most obvious searches in the department or series code 'WO':

Word or Phrase: Natal Caribineers - brings up WO127

and

Word or Phrase: Local Forces, year range 1899-1902 - brings up WO126 (enrolment forms for local forces) It may be worth using the 'browse from here' facility to see if anything useful appears in these files.

which are the best I could think of on the spur of the moment. Does Kevin Asplin's site give a source document for the indexed record that you have found?

[stickymone]

Does Kevin Asplin's site give a source document for the indexed record that you have found?

Hi Geoffers,

Yes it quotes WO 127 as its source Gives his rank name attestation date and date of discharge

The other point that interests me about this man is that having only joined up in Sep 1899 he's a Lieut by 1900. How does that system work? Surely you coudn't still buy a commission so would he have been a man of some standing?
or was he just lucky?

[Geoffers]

Yes it quotes WO 127 as its source Gives his rank name attestation date and date of discharge

That would seem to confirm that this is the nominal roll.


The other point that interests me about this man is that having only joined up in Sep 1899 he's a Lieut by 1900. How does that system work? Surely you coudn't still buy a commission so would he have been a man of some standing?

You could not purchase commissions in 1900 but some people of standing would be considered as officers and others without standing would not; promotion could be fairly rapid with losses during conflict.

[kaigs]

One of our South African members is trying to research an ancestor who emigrated from the UK to SA in 1880.

Very little is known about him other than he served with the Natal Carbineers reaching the rank of Major

For your info his name is William Thomas GAGE born around 1861

He's listed on Kevin Asplins site which confirms that he was with the Natal Carb and was at the siege of Ladysmith

The Anglo Boer war site also shows that he reached the rank of Major

My question is this;

Are the service records of officers of colonial forces held at the TNA I've had a look at the research guides but they're rather unclear.

If the records are held, would they contain any d.o.b place of birth etc?

Stickymone

Try contacing the Natal Carbineers curator Izabel gerhardt on [email protected]
Regards
Brian Kaighin

[stickymone]

Thanks Kaigs, Ive passed that on