Pte W Handcock 4345 - 12 Lancers

[RMP EX RN]

Hi, my wife's great, great granddad Pte W Handcock 4345 - served with the 12th Lancers in South Africa and was awarded the South Africa and Kings medal with clasps. What I would like to do is locate his service records to give the medals some providence or is it prominence, I can never remember which one it is. How do I obtain his service records, we have no idea what happened to him and would like to know. Any help would be highly appreciated, my email address is robertpreston333AThotmailDOTcom many thanks in advance

[christanel]

Hello Robert and welcome to the British-Genealogy forums

some providence or is it prominence, I can never remember which one it is.

I think it is provenance

We are talking the Boer war for your wife's great grandfather's service in South Africa? Do you know when and where he was born? His parent's names? any little details that will help identify him.

Wikipedia has this to say about the Kings Medal "
The King's South Africa Medal (KSA) was awarded to all troops who served in the Boer War in South Africa on or after 1 January 1902, and completed 18 months service before 1 June 1902. The medal was not issued alone but always with the Queen's South Africa Medal or QSA; and was never issued without a bar, except to nearly 600 nursing sisters.
The KSA was awarded only to those troops who fought in 1902, and who had served for 18 months. Service did not have to be continuous, but even with continuous service the recipient would have had to serve from December 1900 to have 18 months service before the war ended in May 1902 (and commencing before the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901). Hence the majority of participants qualified for the QSA only."

I can't see anything for a man with this service number on ancestry and Findmypast is playing up at the moment.
Service records for this period are very basic but when FMP stops playing up I will see what is to be found. Unless someone else finds it first.
If you came to us from FWR reading This will explain how you came to the Brit-Gen forums.

Christina

[gasser]

A quick search .....FMP shows he was awarded:
The Queen's South Africa (QSA) Medal Clasps: Johannesburg, Diamond Hill, Wittebergen, Cape Colony
The King's South Africa (QSA) Medal Clasps: South Africa 1901, South Africa 1902

Also mentioned here:
https://www.northeastmedals.co.uk/bri...al_lancers.htm

[Peter Goodey]

You should also be able to find details of the clasps in the original medal roll, National Archives series WO100 (online via Ancestry)

[RMP EX RN]

Hi Christina

Thank you for your reply and help, yes my wife's great grandfather had both medals and we obtained his details from the outside edge of the medal, so the service number is correct. I will try and find out more details on him, but my wife's father just passed away and he would probably be the only one who could have given them to us, but I will try and contact other members of the family to see if they know them. Having served in the Royal Navy for 24 years, I find this fascinating & fulfilling.

Many thanks again

Robbie

[gortonboy]

hi,,his service record is also on findmypast

[geneius]

Western Daily Press 11 December 1943

Mr WA HANDCOCK

The funeral service of Mr William Alexander HANDCOCK of Fenswood Long Ashton, took place at All Saints Church Long Ashton yesterday, the service being conducted by the vicar the Rev KNAPMAN.

The coffin draped with a Union Jack was borne by members of the British Legion and Home Guard. Deceased who served in the 12th Royal Lancers during the Boer War joined the service of The Bristol Gas Company where he served for 37 years until the time of his death

The family was represented by: Mrs WA HANDCOCK ( widow) Alec & Horace ( sons) Janet, Florence, Patricia, Kathleen ( daughters), Mrs WEBB, Mrs DECROIX and Mrs KERTON ( sisters), Mr Douglas HANDCOCK ( brother) and L GASPER (son in law), …………………….list then appears to be representatives

Western Daily Press 20 December 1930

Long Ashton WI

Members elected to the committee Mrs WA HANDCOCK

[geneius]

In case you wish to research this family yourself see entries on this free site

https://familysearch.org/search/coll...ion_id=1718965

another useful free site is freebmd.org.uk

[RMP EX RN]

Thanks everyone for your help, I now have a lot more to go on and will endeavour to pull his service records and present them with his medals.

Thank you all again

Robbie

[gortonboy]

check your email