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Wilkes_ml
21-08-2009, 7:49 PM
Hi,

I am trying to trace a soldier (surname unconfirmed) who was supposedly an Aide de comp in the Boar war, who died sometime after September 1901 - supposedly buried in South Africa War cemetery.

Could anyone give me an idea what an aide de comp was, and what likely rank the soldier would have been?

Also, I plan to purchase the 1901 & 1902 Army lists on CD. Does anyone have these, and if so, how easy are they to search if you do not know the regiment/rank of the soldier. Are they indexed by surname, or just grouped by regiment?

many thanks,

neil1821
21-08-2009, 8:16 PM
Aide-de-camp
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aide-de-camp

Also, Boer War please, not Boar!!

If you don't know the man's rank, regiment or surname I can't see how you proceed.
Tell us more, what DO you know?
I'm guessing you have some possible surnames?

Jan1954
21-08-2009, 8:40 PM
Also, I plan to purchase the 1901 & 1902 Army lists on CD. Does anyone have these, and if so, how easy are they to search if you do not know the regiment/rank of the soldier. Are they indexed by surname, or just grouped by regiment?The Army Lists to which you refer (http://www.parishchest.com/shop/index.php?cmd=listlinkeditems&cat=D10945&breadcrumb=Military+Matters:1900+-+1937+Army+Lists+by+Product), available from Parish Chest, are supplied by Your Old Books and Maps. In their supplier information (http://www.parishchest.com/shop/index.php?cmd=listlinkeditems&cat=D10955&supplier=&breadcrumb=Military+Matters%3A1900+-+1937+Army+Lists+by+Supplier:Your+Old+Books+%26+Ma ps), it explains that theyare scanned from originals - facsimile reproduced in PDF format. Therefore, they should be fully searchable.

Wilkes_ml
21-08-2009, 8:48 PM
Thanks for the link. For some reason it didn't come up when I tried searching wikipedia!.

I am trying to help trace the biological father of an adopted child who was born in 1902. She named her father as Edward James Slater, a soldier on her marriage certificate. However she was born illegitimately and her mother's surname was Slater. So either it is a coincidence that her biological mother and father both had the surname Slater, or the father's name was not Slater, but she just stated his name as Slater to avoid the stigma of being born illegitimately when she married.

The child kept her birth name throughout life, and she was supposedly told that her biological father was an officer, probably based at Woolwich, Kent (so I suspect Royal Artillery). He was also said to be an Aide de comp and supposedly died in South Africa and buried in "Boer War Cemetery Equerry "

The child was born in June 1902, so would have been conceived about September 1901.

Adoptive father had been discharged from the Rifle Brigade of the 10th Hussars to Woolwich in 1897, so it is possible that biological father could have been with the 10th Hussars and knew the adoptive father (but unlikely as he was only a Private)

I know it is a long shot, but I'm hoping to find the Aide de comps listed on the Army lists.

Peter Goodey
21-08-2009, 8:48 PM
Perhaps those products are searchable but unfortunately just being a PDF does not automatically mean that it's searchable.

If memory serves me correctly Army Lists of that vintage are indexed.

Also check the London Gazette.

http://www.gazettes-online.co.uk/

Jan1954
21-08-2009, 8:55 PM
Perhaps those products are searchable but unfortunately just being a PDF does not automatically mean that it's searchable.Thank you, Peter - I did not realise that. :)

However, the first item (http://www.parishchest.com/shop/index.php?cmd=viewproduct&cat=&id=P16199&pageOffset=0) does say that it is a searchable PDF.

Peter Goodey
21-08-2009, 8:55 PM
Aide de comps

Aides-de-camp.

Mentioned purely in the interests of effective searching.

neil1821
21-08-2009, 9:05 PM
Rather than search Army Lists, I have Boer War casualty lists.

Taking the criteria: Deaths from Sept 1901 - May 1902, Officers, Royal Artillery, we have:

Lt Julian, O-Bty RHA died 6 Nov 1901
Lt Otter-Barry, U-Bty RHA, killed 19 Sept 1901
2nd Lt Hill, 4th Bty RFA, killed 24 Oct 1901
Capt Jeffcoat, 39th Bty RFA, killed 20 Dec 1901
Major Guinness, RFA, killed 30 Oct 1901
Lt Hardwick, RFA, killed 25 Dec 1901
Capt Morrison, 36th Coy RGA, died 7 Oct 1901
Lt Venning, 4th Bty RFA, killed 7 Mar 1902
Lt Nesham, 38th Bty RFA, killed 7 Mar 1902
Capt Clarke, 87th Bty RFA, killed 8 Apr 1902
Major Young, RFA, died 26 Feb 1902
Capt Begbie, PomPom RGA, killed 24 Feb 1902

And that's it.

neil1821
21-08-2009, 9:07 PM
Also, no officer deaths from 10th Hussars in that time frame.

neil1821
21-08-2009, 9:36 PM
The only Boer War officer death of a man named Slater is Lt Sydney Arthur Slater, 15th Bn IY, died 29th Jan 1901. So that possibility is a non-starter I'm afraid.

MarkJ
21-08-2009, 11:14 PM
Thread moved to the Boer War forum section :)

Mark

Wilkes_ml
22-08-2009, 6:27 AM
Thanks Neil.

The wrong spellings were passed on to me by someone else - which is probably why I wasn't getting any matches in my searches. |oopsredfa Fortunately I managed to interpret Woolage for Woowich - as I have loads of ancestors from Woolwich!

I am guessing that it was only the Royal Artillery at Woolwich because of research I had done on my own RA ancestors.

Am I correct in thinking that after 1902, the soldiers would have moved out of South Africa, maybe back to barracks in England? Would it be possible for a soldier to have remained in South Africa and died there later?

Thanks for the list of those that did die there - at least I can try to identify if any of them were called Edward William and maybe find out more about them.

I'm hoping that the child was baptised and a father's name was listed on her baptism - but I know that is really unlikely.

Wilkes_ml
22-08-2009, 6:42 AM
I just found a list of Royal Artillery Officers on Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Category:Royal_Artillery_officers&until=Hadow%2C+Frederick

although I'm not sure how comprehensive the list is - but again, no Slater. I'm pretty sure his name wasn't Slater now.

Edited to say that none of those who died in South Africa (from your list Neil) are listed on the wikipedia list of RA Officers - so not comprehensive!

Wilkes_ml
22-08-2009, 7:22 AM
From your list Neil, I have eliminated all of them except Major Guiness. By checking the GRO Natal & S. African Forces death registers, only Major Guiness has the initial E.

I have a gut feeling that the father was probably not an officer at all, but probably just a private based at Woolwich barracks. I know that with illegitimate children ( and often legitimate children as well) , parent's status can often be elavated!

Wilkes_ml
22-08-2009, 8:37 AM
Oh well - I can now eliminate Major E. Guinness as from Harts list of 1888, it would appear that his name was Eustace!

I can see that without any documentation that gives Edward James' true surname, I am not going to get anywhere with this - unless I can find a list of all non-officers that were buried in South Africa!