Boer War Memorial, 1899-1902

Additional Research:

The men below are listed on a tablet in Guiseley’s Memorial Garden, commemorating the services rendered by them during the South African War, 1899 – 1902. Records for this period are sparse and invariably the names are preceded by an initial and not a full Christian name, so identification has been difficult. Where possible I have given both military and civilian information and in some cases one or the other (or neither!) Any corrections or additions would be gratefully received.

Helen M.
14 September 2023

Regulars:

Geo. Stanhope. b. 1877 – March 17th 1905. 2nd West Riding Regiment, 5736. George Henry enlisted in Halifax on 14th December 1897 when he was a bootmaker. He served first in Malta, then in South Africa from December 1899 for over two years, becoming a Lance Corporal in the same year and a Corporal in 1900. He then left for India where he accidentally drowned in March 1905. He is buried at Dum Dum, West Bengal. His mother, Mary Ann Winterburn (nee Watmough) was from Menston and was his next of kin on attestation papers. George appears on two census returns: in 1881 when at his grandparents’ home and aged three and in 1891, when thirteen and working as a boot riveter. By this time he had four younger step-siblings.

Wm. C. Nicholls. Still searching for military records. A Guiseley connection appears in the 1891 census, when a William C. Nicholls is living in Carlton Lane with his mother Mary Ann who has married a man called John W. Whildbore/Wildbore. They and William hail from Whittlesey in Cambridgeshire.

Thomas Booth. b. 1877 1st Bn. West Yorkshire Regiment, King’s Royal Rifle Corps, 9547. Thomas signed his papers in Leeds on 8th September 1896 looking to join the Rifle Corps having stated he was initially with the West Yorkshires. He was sent to Mauritius in April 1898 and had two forays to South Africa, the first from March 1899 to June 1900. It was during this service that he was wounded (January 1900) in his left forearm and leg during the defence of Ladysmith. Thomas returned in August 1901 until February 1902. He was discharged in September 1908, having completed twelve years in the service. His parents were Margaret and Richard (a yeast dealer) living in Town Street and later, Otley Road.

Henry Boulton. b. 1871 Gloucester Regiment, South Wales Borderers, 3245. Henry attested in May 1890, in Cirencester – he was a shoemaker. He was sent to Egypt in January 1893, then Gibraltar two years later. Having been “at Home” for four years and with the Army Reserve he was recalled and sent to South Africa in January 1900, staying there for two years until his twelve years’ service was completed. Before his recall he had married Ellen Fisk in 1899 and she was registered with her parents in Otley Road when Henry was abroad. In civilian life Henry became a porter with the Midland Railway, living at 18 New Row, Guiseley.

Joseph Clapham. Unable to pin down the appropriate Joseph Clapham amongst quite a few names.

George Long. b. 1879. West Riding Regiment, Sapper 5651 Royal Engineers. George joined the Engineers in April 1900 at Burley and less than a year later was in South Africa. He was there for nearly two years before leaving for Mauritius. Four years later he was back in England (1906) and was transferred to the Army Reserve. His discharge came on 29th April 1912. Although born in Rawdon – to parents Samuel and Sabina – much of his life was centred round Briggate in Windhill, although 1891 found them in Essex. He married Florrie Graham in 1907 at Calverley and became a carpenter (as was his father) for the Midland Railway. In the 30’s he was still in Windhill.

Joseph Sunderland. b. 1880. Northumberland Fusiliers, 6107. A mason, Joseph signed for the Fusiliers on 30th October 1899 in Leeds. In March 1901 he was registered at the Bradford Moor Barracks and eight months later had left for South Africa. In keeping with many others, he served for nearly two years and became a Lance Corporal during his time there. Thereafter, stints in Mauritius and India led to his transfer to the Reserve in 1907. He was discharged in October 1911 and returned to the family home at 25 Otley Road. A year later he married Jane Ann Myers. Not a happy ending however, as he took part in World War 1 (18/385, West Yorkshire Regiment) and died on 11th October 1916 at No.8 Stationary Hospital near Wimereux. His grave is in Wimereux Communal Cemetery. Thomas and Eleanor were his parents and by 1891 they were living in Guiseley (Belle Vue Terrace). Whilst Joseph was at the barracks in Bradford the family had moved to Otley Road, still to be found there in 1911 when Eleanor was widowed and Joseph was working as a colour dyer.

Matt Triffitt. Probably John Matthew Triffitt b.1870. From his attestation record after the Great War in 1919, joining the Labour Corps, it was recorded that he had been Private 4420 in the 18th Hussars, his time having expired in 1903 after twelve years, but as yet no further records to prove this have been found. John Matthew was one of eleven born to Henry and Mary who spent many years in Leeds. He married Frances Robinson in 1892. Census records show him as Matt on occasion and living in Menston and Yeadon.

Daniel Wibdin. 1876 – 1943. Also Wibden, Webden … Very little can be found. He was married at the age of fifty to widow Ethel Maud Myers on 12th December 1925 at Allerton, St. Peter. His earliest electoral record, 1919, shows him in Otley Road, Guiseley and the latest Bondgate, Otley in 1939.

Samuel Whitehead. b. 1875. West Riding Regiment, Yorkshire Light Infantry, 4979. Samuel joined the Army at Pontefract on 13th June 1895 having attested the day before in Leeds. He stated his occupation as a boot riveter. He first served in India at the Punjab Frontier and was in Mauritius for eight months. South Africa followed (October 1899) and a month later Samuel suffered severe thigh wounds at the Modder River. (The Battle of the Modder River – British soldiers attempted to relieve the besieged town of Kimberley). Still in South Africa a bout of drunkenness whilst on duty led to a General Court Martial. He then served in Malta for six months, returning home in April 1903 and aligning to the Army Reserve. His next of kin were his mother Annie (his father Richard had died in 1895) and older brother Jack (both in Well Lane, but also Low Fold and The Green). He married Lizzie Marshall in 1904.

Yeomanry

David Bland. b. 15.10.1882 – 12.12.1901. Wharfedale Imperial Yeomanry, 19973. Laundryman David attested on 11th March 1901 in Otley and twelve days later was sent to South Africa. His service lasted 227 days as he succumbed to either enteritis or enteric fever (difficult to transcribe on records) in East London. He was serving with the 15th Battalion within the South African Field Force. Next of kin were his parents Wilson and Thirza who lived at 87 Otley Road, although when he was born the family address was Park Road, in Guiseley.

Edward Redman. b. 1869. Imperial Yeomanry, 42087. Edward attested in January 1902 at the age of thirty-one, when he was living near Leicester. He was a secretary and manager of “The Bakers Arms” but had been an apprentice at Nunroyd Mill earlier in his career. He left for South Africa in May 1902 but was back in England by November. A month later he received his discharge (December 3rd) as he was medically unfit. His service lasted less than a year. Mary and Eli (a police constable) were his parents, living in Baildon when he was born. At the next census they were in Yeadon and in 1889 he married Lizzie Whitehead (sister of Samuel Whitehead above), moving to South View in Guiseley. He became a licensed victualler and lived in Rochdale before returning to Burley-in-Wharfedale with his four children.

Harry Reeman. b. 1877. 3rd. Battalion Imperial Yeomanry, 26137. Harry attested (February 1901) at the age of twenty-four in Doncaster when he was working as a groom. He left for South Africa in March of the same year, remaining there until August 1902 when his service came to an end. He returned to 86 Otley Road, Guiseley, although later electoral rolls found him in Netherfield Terrace. A son of George and Emma, he first worked as a spinner before becoming a groom – as were his father and another brother.

Robert R. Ridout. b. 1882. 15th Battalion Imperial Yeomanry, 10465. Robert Russell attested in February 1900 and left for South Africa a month later. His records show him as a casualty in Frobisher Bay, though this does not always suggest a death, as WW1 records do. Service complete, he was discharged in July 1901. Barely two months later he had left England for Canada – by now a farrier – and married Mary Blair in Toronto in 1902. They then travelled and made a life in California, where Robert died in 1963. His parents were Robert, a farmer and Annie. Robert senior died aged forty a year after his son’s death and Annie lived in Ilkley thereafter, dying in 1896. Robert’s Yeomanry records record his birth in Guiseley (with all others identifying the Pickering area) and his next of kin was sister Annie – who lived in Oxford Villas.

Michael Stewart. b.1870. Possibly – 57th Company, Imperial Yeomanry, 19992. The records give only the information above, that he had a clasp entitlement to his medal and that he was discharged “about” May 1902. In terms of the Aireborough locality, he was baptised in Otley and lived there until the 1890’s (Green’s Yard and Boroughgate). He is missing on a 1901 census return in common with the rest of the soldiers, and next appears on a marriage record in 1903 when he married Ida Hardy in Rawdon. He was the son of John and Martha Stewart.

Volunteers

Geo. Reg. Moon. b.1869. No military information to hand, but George Reginald Moon, born in 1869 was the son of well-known Abraham and Jane Moon. The family lived on Guiseley’s Town Street and Carlton Lane until he married in 1891 when his address was in Manningham.

Isaac Brown. b.1881. This is probably Isaac Hartley Brown. His attestation papers for WW1 show that previously he had served in the Voluntary Battalion of the West Riding Regiment – so this may well be our soldier. Further military information regarding South Africa is yet to be found. This Isaac’s parents were George and Isabel/la and he was born in Guiseley in 1881. They lived at Shaw Lane and after Isaac’s marriage (to Louise Dennison in 1905) in Copt Royd Street, Swaine Hill. He died in October 1917 having been discharged from the West Riding Regiment in April 1917, due to illness.

T. H. Crowther. b. 1876. West Riding Regiment, 6153. Thomas Henry probably enlisted with David Verity (see below) as shown by the close service numbers and the similar dates. He attested on 15th January 1900 and left for South Africa in February 1900. He returned home in July the same year and gave Victoria Terrace as his mother’s address. Further Imperial Yeomanry records (no. 28806) show he had previously served in the Volunteer Battalion of the West Riding Regiment and another service, leaving for South Africa on 16th March 1901, returning on 23rd August 1902 when he was discharged. His parents were William and Jane and their children were all Bingley born.

David Verity. b. 1872. West Riding Regiment, 6158. Stonemason David enlisted when he was twenty-seven, in Halifax, on 15th January 1900. A month later he was in South Africa, serving for eighty-eight days until May 16th. The termination of his engagement was eight days later. He had been born in Meanwood in 1872 to James and Julia with his baptism showing the full name of Prince David Verity, which also appeared on census and probate records. The family lived in Back Lane, Guiseley and after his 1909 marriage to Maria Waddington, David lived in The Birks, Otley Road. He died at the age of eighty.

Austin Watson. b. 1880. 3rd. Volunteer Battalion, West Riding Regiment, 7091. Austin was twenty and a mason when he joined at Halifax in February 1901. His next of kin was his father, living at Carrington Terrace, Guiseley. Nearly three weeks later he was in South Africa and served there for fifteen months. He subsequently joined the Royal Engineers (Sapper 107935) when living at Hutton Rudby and was discharged in December 1917. He was the third child of seven born to Walter and Kate and they first lived in Horton. Moor Grange in Yeadon followed and in 1907 he married Sarah Jane Garbutt. They lived in Hutton Rudby where he was buried in 1940.