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Lieut. Herbert C. W. Berthon, 2nd Black Watch - died of wounds, 15.12.1899 1 year 11 months ago #82446

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He was fatally wounded at Magersfontein, and died at Wynberg; the body was later exhumed, brought back to England, and his final resting place is at Cleeve, Somerset.
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The west side of Holy Trinity Church. To the left is his father's grave.
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At the foot of the statue, above the base, is inscribed "Till He came."


TO THE LOVED MEMORY OF
HERBERT CECIL WILLOUGHBY BERTHON
LIEUTENANT THE BLACK WATCH
WHO DIED ON DECEMBER 15
TH 1899,
OF WOUNDS RECEIVED AT THE BATTLE OF
MAGERSFONTEIN,
IN HIS 35
TH YEAR.
R.I.P.
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Below the above inscription are four lines of verse, or scripture. Tiny letters, some missing, and I'm still trying to transcribe it fully.
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DEATHS.
BERTHON.—On 15th December, at Wynberg, of wounds received in action at Magersfontein, Herbert Cecil Willoughby Berthon, of Cleeve Court, Somersetshire, Lieutenant 2nd Battalion Royal Highlanders (the Black Watch), son of Major-General T. P. Berthon, of Westmont, Ryde, I.W., in his thirty-fifth year.
The Bristol Mercury, Saturday 23rd December 1899
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....Lieut. Herbert Cecil Willoughby Berthon, of the 2nd Battalion Royal Highlanders (the Black Watch), who was wounded at Magersfontein, and who died from his wounds at Wynberg, was thirty-four years of age, having been born on June 10, 1865. He served in the ranks for seven years all but ten days, and received his Commission as Second-Lieutenant in the East York Regiment on January 31, 1891, and that of Lieutenant on October 1, 1896. On the 13th October in the following year he was transferred to the Royal Highlanders. He was a near relative of Capt. Willoughby Berthon, of Kingsholme.
The Cheltenham Looker-On, Saturday 23rd December 1899
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.... . . . great sympathy is locally felt for General Berthon in the loss of his second son, Lieutenant Herbert Berthon, whose wound has terminated fatally.
Isle of Wight Observer, Saturday 23rd December 1899
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....Lieut. Herbert Cecil Willoughby Berthon, of the Black Watch, who has died of the wounds he received in the battle of Modder river, was one of those oficers who have risen from the ranks. He was born in June, 1865, and entered the East Yorkshire regiment in 1887 as a private, and in two years was made sergeant, his promotion to second-lieutenant came five years later—namely, in January, 1894. He was transferred to the Royal Highlanders in 1897, the present campaign being his first experience of active service. Lieut. Berthon was related to the Rev. Edward Lyon Berthon, the well-known inventor of collapsible boats, the new equatorial telescope, and several dividing machines. He died in October last, at the age of 86.
Lloyd's Illustrated Newspaper, Sunday 24th December 1899
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....The wife of Lieutenant H. C. W. Berthon, of the Black Watch, who was killed at Magersfontein, gave birth to a daughter this week.
Yorkshire Evening Post, Friday 9th February 1900
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....The funeral of Lieutenant H. C. Berthon, Black Watch, who fell at Magersfontein, and whose body has been exhumed, took place on Monday, at Cleeve, Yatton.
The Bath Chronicle, Thursday 31st May 1900
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FUNERAL OF LIEUT. BERTHON.
....Peculiarly melancholy interest was attached to the funeral which took place at Cleeve (Somerset) Church, as it was that of a young soldier—Lieut. Berthon, of the 2nd Black Watch, cousin of Capt. Willoughby Berthon, of Cheltenham—who, when his country called, hurried away from his newly-made home at Cleeve Court, and was mortally wounded at Magersfontein—where so many of his gallant comrades fell—very soon after his arrival in South Africa. He died on December 15th, and his body was embalmed and brought to England for interment. The hearse containing the coffin, covered with the Union Jack, did not reach Cleeve till Monday morning, and, despite the uncertainty as to when the funeral would take place, there was a large number of residents in the district present, in addition to many members of the deceased soldier’s relatives, including his widow and his father (General Berthon). A Union Jack, held by the four corners, was carried as a canopy over the coffin by four bearers. The service, which was very impressive, was conducted by the Rev. John Gale, of Cleeve. The choir attended, and their singing was most reverent. Psalm 97 and the hymn, “When our hearts are bowed with woe," were sung in the church, and the hymn. “Now the labourer's task is o'er,” at the graveside. A very large number of wreaths and crosses and other floral tributes of affection and sympathy were sent. The deceased's officer’s father placed on the coffin a chaplet of laurel, and one wreath was inscribed, “In Memory of Dear Daddie”—from his children. Lieut. Berthon was 30 years of age.
The Cheltenham Chronicle, Saturday 2nd June 1900
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Lieut. Herbert C. W. Berthon, 2nd Black Watch - died of wounds, 15.12.1899 1 year 11 months ago #82476

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Black Watch Memorial, Magersfontein

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Lieut. Herbert C. W. Berthon, 2nd Black Watch - died of wounds, 15.12.1899 1 year 11 months ago #82478

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Black Watch memorial, Edinburgh.
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