queens boer war medal to Liverpool Regiment

[histseek]

hello all. I have an interest in all aspects of local history and, to that end, have acquired a queen's boer war medal named to 5733 Private J. Caulfield, Liverpool Regiment. I do not know much about medals but it would seem that the clasps on this one are not quite what they should be. They are (from the one nearest to the medal suspender upwards..) Cape Colony, Natal, Tugela Height, Relief of Ladysmith. ?As I've mentioned, I don't know too much about medals but this does seem to be genuine and the clasps appear to be riveted properly and have age, even to the extent of the wear to the ribbon between the clasps (due to movement I suppose...)
Can anyone please comment on this for me at all. thanks in anticipation, Jim

[christanel]

Welcome to the British-Genealogy forums
If you came to us from Forces War records this will tell you a little about us and what we do.
I can't answer your question about the ribbons but is the initial J very clear or could it be an E? I ask because I searched on Findmypast for a Caulfield with initial J and service number 5733 with no result. I removed the initial J, kept the service number and got a result for an Edward Caulfield born 1881. The record is for 1900, place Liverpool. I can't access it as I no longer have a sub but the site is pay per view if you want to take a look or your local library may have the free Findmypast library version.

Christina

[christanel]

Having done a little reading there were 26 clasps awarded including
Relief of Ladysmith (15 December 1899)
Natal (11 October 1899 to 11 June 1900)
Tugela Heights (14 February 1900)
Cape Colony (11 October 1899 to 31 May 1902)

This page shows the correct order of wear and the incorrect order
Christina

[Peter Goodey]

Christina has already pointed you towards that little known site, Wikipedia. It is worth noting the comment in the article to the effect that "Clasps were often presented to recipients loose with the medal, or separately at a later date. As a result, such clasps were often lost over time or attached in the wrong order of wear, since the recipients either knew no better or did not care."

The campaign medal rolls (WO100) are available on Ancestry and list 5733 J. Caulfield 3rd Bn Kings Liverpool. The records may not be complete.

[histseek]

thanks to both persons who have replied. I do know a little about the various clasps available after having done a bit of research on web, but I have also seen from same/similar sources, that two which are on this medal are never supposed to be issued to same recipient (unless I've misunderstood what I've read, which is entirely possible). that is the Natal and Cape Colony ones... And this was my main reason for posting my question as it seemed strange that they should be (apparently) genuine and mounted correctly... Thanks especially to Peter for the info that J.Caulfield was in 3rd Bn . I should be very interested to find out about this chap and where he lived etc (as I also have a pair of WW1 medals to another J.Caulfield, who may be a relation to the chap from Boer War, who was a member of Liverpool Pals and was unfortunately KIA)

[histseek]

thanks for that Christina. Yes, the initial is definitely a J. It is strange that the same service number brought up a E. Caulfield though. I will take your good advice and see if our local library has access to the files you mention.