TOPIC:

I am interested in what happened after the Boer War ended as I believe my great-uncle George Thompson remained in Pretoria as a caretaker of the area which had been the Army headquarters there. George was born in 1862 in Buckinghamshire, England and does not appear to have returned there after the Boer War. In fact his family might have joined him in Pretoria. Can anyone put me on the right road to trace him?

So are you saying that your great uncle was employed at Melrose House in some capacity?
Well, I can certainly think of worse places to have actually been, clearly a lucky man.

Thank you Frank for your quick response. I am an absolute novice regarding the Boer War and have only recently become interested when I discovered that my grandfather's brother was involved. I know that George Thompson (born 1861 Wycombe) was initially a Drummerboy in the Bucks Militia (because his father was involved in training the local recruits). George became a Col.Sgt. in the Militia and when it was disbanded in 1898 he joined the 3rd Oxford Lt. Infantry. I imagine this was due to the imminent Boer War, and recruitment being carried out in the area.
George was married and had 10 children, all of whom were on the 1901 census with his wife, but not George himself, so my guess is that he was in South Africa. The only information I have is a note on one of his daughter's marriage certificate in 1905 regarding her father's profession "Care-taker Army Head Quarters, Pretoria". Additionally one of the witnesses to this marriage was George's sister Elizabeth (not one of the other children or the bride's mother).
I have been unable to trace George's wife or other children after the 1901 census so I am beginning to think they may have joined George in Pretoria.
Has anyone any further identification possibilities?

Welcome. Have you tried the Name Search located in the upper left of the Home page? There are dozens of G., Geo., and George Thompsons. If you have a middle name it would be a help to reduce the numbers. There is always Google. Here is an interesting site I found: www.forces-war-records.co.uk/units/279/o...hire-light-infantry/

and members.pcug.org.au/~croe/sotq/sotq_abw.cgi

Good luck, cc

Far better to try for service papers first on FindmyPast.co.uk - the only internet site to have them. If you can't find any papers then try the medal rolls on Ancestry, but the medal roll will only give names not biographical information so it may not be possible to differentiate between multiple "G Thompsons".

Also try SA sites like eggsa.org and www.national.archives.gov.za/

Good luck.
Meurig