3 Hazzard brothers from Woodford.

[George Robins]

My interest in the Boer war comes from the story that my Uncle Ren was named after a place in South Africa called Rensburg where grandfather fought.
Now I have found that Grandfather Isaac Hazzard was there and so were his two brothers John and Meshac and from a diary from John from 1898/9 a mention of Rensburg Junction so that explains uncle Ren's name (Isaac Rensburg)
The brothers all came from the village of Woodford near Salisbury Wilts and I would presume that they joined up together, they all three came back and lived to old age. I have some family contacts but no one seems to know any details of their service except for the diary from John and this gives no clue as to his unit or whether his brothers were with him. Both the 2nd Wiltshire Regiment and the Wiltshire Yeomanry were involved in the campaign at that time and I would ask if there is anywhere that could confirm which was theirs. I have looked at both regimental sites and can find details of Officers and those killed or awarded gallantry medals but have drawn a blank as far as enlisted men.
Regards, George

[Geoffers]

I think the best place to begin would be The National Archives at Kew. Have a look at their research guides - click on the links prefixed British Army (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/researchguidesindex.asp?WT.lp=gs-researchguides&j=1#b) - you should be able to locate service records and medal rolls.

[George Robins]

Thanks Geoffers, I have tried National archives previously but without any succes. Sinse posting [I] have found two of the brothers, that is, if my grandfather is the J H Hazzard 5231 from 2nd Wilts who was a POW at Rensburg which ties in. His name was Isaac Henry but I could easily be read as J in hand written records. Still some digging to do.

[Peter Goodey]

I have tried National archives previously but without any succes.

What do you mean exactly? You need to go there in person (or get someone to search on your behalf). The best place to start searching is the soldiers' papers in series WO 97.

This series is being digitised but I suspect it will be a long long time before anything appears on line.

[George Robins]

Exactly Peter. I tried to find this information some time ago but found that I would need to make a personal visit. Maybe I will do that sometime but in the meantime I am at least getting somewhere. Thanks for your comments.

[Geoffers]

Exactly Peter. I tried to find this information some time ago but found that I would need to make a personal visit.

Only a tiny fraction of records are available online, for most research you do still need to visit a record office. As Peter has mentioned, the records in WO96 and WO97 are being digitally scanned to be made available on a pay-per-view-site.

Using 'The Catalogue' it should be possible to narrow down the search for the files containing the records of the people you mention. There is a stcky thread on the military army forum giving some directions on how to go about this and so make best use of your time at TNA.

[George Robins]

I did find this from a link on another site
British Newspapers Online.
It allows for the reading of thousands of newspaper reports from 1800 to 1900 and I found lots of reports from Rensburg Sidings. It is a subscription site but if one is a member of a library you can use their subscription. I booked in using my Surrey Library number from my library card and it worked just fine, even finding the release of JH or Ih Hazzard fro POW camp

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[kaigs]

Hello George, I have a database of all known British dead for the Boer war and there is a T HAZZARD there, not the one you are looking for, but as it is an unusual name, I just wondered whether he would have been related.
Regards
Brian Kaighin

[George Robins]

Thanks for info re. T Hazzard died in Boer war. I have looked through my list of Hazzards and only find one T (Thomas) who was a bit too old for service at that time. However I have heard from a distant cousin that he found details of a Hazzard on a war memorial in Winchester and obtained details from a Regimental Museum there but gave me no details. The three brothers, my Grandfather and two Great uncles all came back despite one having been injured and Granddad being taken prisoner for a while. The story is gradually taking shape and I will do more research soon.
George

[John Croxford]

Hi George and Brian
Just read the message from Brian to you about the Thomas Hazzard who died in the Boar war and that I did not give you his details. As he is not connected to our family to our knowledge I did not write them down, but from what we remember he died from Enteric fever in 1901 or 02. He is listed on the Boar War rememberence plaque in Winchester Cathedral. I am almost certain it listed him as being in the Hampshire regiment and as the regimential musuem is in Winchester we made a visit there. His death is recorded in their records and it is from those records we found out cause of death. The curator also showed us the medels that he was awarded for service in the war and also the unform that he would have worn. I have no other information of age or where he came from.
Regards John Croxford

[George Robins]

An update as it is some while since I did any more research on this. I was contacted by Ian Smith who is doing research on 2nd Wiltshire Regt. in the Boer war as he had seen my original posting. After some considerable correspondence and matching up records we have established with a fair bit of confidence that three Hazzard brothers were in the 2nd Witshire Regiment at that time in the 2nd Boer War. They were privates John Hale Hazzard, Sydney Hazzard and Meshach Hazzard but can find no trace of my aforesaid Grandfather Isaac Henry Hazzard.
My feeling now is that he was in the Wiltshire Yeomanry, a territorial unit of mounted infantry which arrived in South Africa at about the time of the retreat from Rensburg. His brother John was one of the men taken prisoner at Rensburg and Grandfather named his son Rensburg; was this as a sign off gratitude that his brother had survived.
More research needed on the yeomanry to see if he was one of them.
George

[ladysmith]

George - The nearest name to your grandfather's on the Imperial Yeomanry roll is 8037 Shoeing Smith Harry Hazard 40th (Oxford) Company, 10th Battalion IY.

David

[kaigs]

Hello George John, usual story in those days, officers were on a different plain with other ranks as "canon fodder". Quite often their "deeds" were taken as a matter of course. Where to get info??? There really are only two places, the regiment and the National Archives at Kew in London. Good records were kept by most regiments which are usually held by the regiments that they were amalgamated with.
3584 T Hazzard with the Hampshire regiment died of malaria & dysentery at Komatipoort on 18 June 1901. He is buried at Barbeton where his name appears on the memorial. His death was recored in the Daily Express 21 June 1901