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Hi David. Thanks for your response and the information. Not having military knowledge, could you guide me on what the duties of a batman at that time would have been. I gather from your information that he would not normally have been part of the front line fighting. Regarding Captain Heathcote Amory, my understanding is that William Garnett had worked for him in private life and that was the reason he signed up. I am working with Garnett's great grandson in the UK on this research and I believe that he has more information on this which I will post when I get it. Stewart Gibson

Stewart,

A batman was a serving soldier who acted as a servant (using the language of the time) for an officer. The batman would have looked after the officer during the campaign.

There is a Captain on the roll of the Coldstream Guards who may be linked to William Garnett, partly because he has similar clasp entitlement (but including Belmont). As a 'Hon', his father was an earl, viscount or baron, so probably someone who might be in need of the services provided by a batman.

From ThePeerage.com:


Children of Gilbert Henry Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 1st Earl of Ancaster and Lady Evelyn Elizabeth Gordon

Gilbert Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 2nd Earl of Ancaster b. 20 Jul 1867, d. 19 Sep 1951
Brig.-Gen. Hon. Charles Strathavon Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby b. 18 May 1870, d. 15 Dec 1949
Lt.-Col. Hon. Claud Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby b. 15 Oct 1872, d. 24 Feb 1950
Lady Mary Adelaide Heathcote-Drummond b. 25 Apr 1878, d. 23 May 1960
Lt.-Cdr. Hon. Peter Robert Willoughby b. 2 Nov 1885, d. 1 Nov 1914

The person on the medal roll is possible son 2 or 3? The initial does look to be E to me though.

Claude H-D-W was wounded at Belmont so that looks like the man on the medal roll.

Hi David. Coming at it from an ancestral research point of view I think that the person we are looking for is the following:
Lt.-Col. Harry William Ludovic Heathcoat-Amory was born on 7 June 1870. He was the son of Sir John Heathcoat-Amory, 1st Bt. and Henrietta Mary Unwin. He married, firstly, Evelyn Mary Stanley, daughter of Edward James Stanley and Hon. Mary Dorothy Labouchere, on 1 November 1898. He married, secondly, Marjorie Una Milne, daughter of Reverend Edgar Astley Milne, on 9 April 1931. He died on 22 December 1945 at age 75.
He gained the rank of Captain in the Coldstream Guards. He gained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the 4th Battalion, Somerset Light Infantry (TF). He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) of Somerset. He held the office of Justice of the Peace (J.P.) for Somerset. He lived at Hele Manor, Dulverton, Somerset, England.

I have also found him in the 1901 England census where he gives his occupation as Captain, Coldstream Guards

My clue was that William's wife worked at a house in Tiverton, Devon (far away from her roots in Lancashire) which turned out to be the family home of the Heathcoat-Amory family.

Stewart,

That sounds plausible. I cannot find any medal roll records for him in the Coldstream Guards nor is there any war service in the 1905 Army List. He may not have been serving in the army by 1905 though. He is listed in the 1902 Army List but there is no war service listed for him. The 1902 Army list records him serving with the 2nd Volunteer Battalion. Somerset Light Infantry, from 3 July 1899.

2d Lt 5 Dec 1891. Lt 27 Jan 1897. Capt 10 July 1900.

He was in England in 1901 for the census. Have you evidence that he was in South Africa? The 1902 Army lists has a '1', '2' or '3' for officers of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions. 1st and 2nd GC served in South Africa. 3rd Battalion were at Chelsea. He is unusual in having no battalion number again his name.



He has no obituary in The Times of 1945/6.