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View Full Version : Edgar Jenkins Boer War (1899-1902)



mags54
10-06-2011, 12:12 PM
I wonder if anyone can help?
I have found my grandfather Edgar Jenkins,a coalminer, up until the 1891 census,aged14yrs, but by 1910 there is no trace of him.He married my grandmother in 1904 in Pontypool,Wales and in the following few years he and the family moved to South Africa. .I don't know if Edgar was back and forth to Africa during this time but my mother was born in 1913 in Pontypool and was taken to Africa at 6 weeks old.
I have checked ship passenger lists and have found possible matches for my grandparents at various times and a definite for my grandmother in 1926 when she returned to Wales whe her mother died.
You're probably wondering what this had to do with the Boer War ,but I would like to know what made him decide to move to South Africa in the first place.Was it possible he joined as a volunteer in the 2nd Boer War,liked the country ,then decided to return with his young family?
Where do I go from here to find out if this was the case?

Richard1955
10-06-2011, 12:45 PM
Hi Mags
There are several Edgar Jenkins records on Find My Past including Boar War and medals etc.
Also a birth 1910 of an Edgar Jenkins. Indian sub-continent.
Well worth a look.

Peter Goodey
10-06-2011, 1:20 PM
This Research Guide (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/british-army-soldiers-discharge-and-pension-records.htm) explains the basics about searching for soldiers' records. Series WO 97 is online at FindmyPast.

However, it may be that he was in the Imperial Yeomanry in which case you would have to look elsewhere. This Guide (http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/army-auxiliary-1769-1945.htm#19766) includes background on the Imperial Yeomanry.

Kevin Asplin's site does indeed list an E Jenkins in the Imperial Yeomanry so this is a possible avenue to explore if you have no luck on FindMyPast.

Another possibility is that he was in a unit that was raised locally. The WO 100 campaign medal rolls available on Ancestry list an Edgar Jenkins in the Commander in Chief's Bodyguard. I believe this was raised in South Africa. See TNA WO 127.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=-566916&CATLN=7&accessmethod=5