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Good morning Sturgy - I never even thought of looking in FaG. The contributor was a PeterH who I have come across many times on FaG making a contribution about somebody who died in the ABW.

Although newspapers can be unreliable sources it is noticeable that his death is reported in a block who all died between the 2nd & 5th March with one exception, an officer who died on the 9th - as ever an officer getting preferential treatment? I guess the jury has to still be out but if I was a member of the jury I would be trying to persuade the other members that the 2nd was the correct version.

Regards David (of Smethwick & Pembrokeshire).

Thanks Smethwick (Dave),

On a few occasions I have come across PeterH's contributions on FaG and always found them to be insightful and comprehensive; it's a great contribution for these soldiers.

I'm not sure of the date either; Dave F set us quite a challenge as I could not locate his military records which made cross referencing to Census data challenging; when I a chance I'll have another crack.

Regards,
Sturgy

Sturgy & Smethwick

Thank you for taking valuable time out to research Private Cunningham.
It is very much appreciated. We now have a first name and family members which is certainly a bonus. Some deceased soldiers records are still available but many more were destroyed. However, thanks to your detective work we have a few clues to investigate. If nothing is forthcoming, so be it, we gave it go. Sometimes a soldiers backstory can be a very short one.

3544 Private James Cunningham 1st Battalion Devonshire Regiment
Engaged at Elandsglatte and the Defence of Ladysmith. Died of disease between the 2nd & 11th of March 1900.



Regards

Dave.......

Dave F,

All is not lost - I have now found a much better PFT on Ancestry which appears to have been created by a great-granddaughter of Ellen's sister Jane. She has found both Jane and Ellen on the 1911 Census and they have both named one of their sons James. Ellen died in 1936 and Jane in 1940 so Nicola (who created the FT) would not have known them but Jane might have told Nicola's grandparents that she had a younger brother who died in the Boer War and they might have passed this knowledge on etc etc. You can message people on Ancestry.

David.