TOPIC:

Evening Cognito,

Besides the D Squadron of the Dorsetshire Imperial Yeomanry being based in Gillingham you also had a Gillingham Volunteer Company which formed part of the 1st Volunteer Battalion attached to the Dorsetshire Regiment. In this role they were also known as the L Company. 5 members of the Gillingham L Company went to South Africa as part of the 1st Volunteer Active Service Company attached to the Dorsetshire Regiment. They were:

6085 Private A E Adams
6082 Private Jukes
6033 Private E Macey
6032 Private F J Martin
6062 Private Smart

My source of information is the Western Gazette of 16 March 1900:



I have pursued 6032 further via Find My Past & Ancestry.

His Boer War attestation papers and service records can be found on Find My Past and they tell you he attested on15 January 1900 in Dorchester. His full name was Frederick Jasper Martin and he was born in East Stour just to the south of Gillingham. He gave his age as 20 years 9 months making him born in 1879 and his mother was called Jane. He sailed for South Africa on 3 April 1900 and set foot again on the soil of England on 7 June 1901.

Turning to Ancestry he can be found on 2 Medal Rolls which tell us he was awarded the Queen’s South Africa Medal with 5 clasps – Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Laing’s Nek & South Africa 1901.

Staying on Ancestry he can be found on 29 Public Family Trees. I have only looked at the first one listed which, as far as I can tell, looks to be excellently researched. Attached to his profile are his baptism record, an 1881 Census return, an 1891 Census return and a record of his confirmation when he was 14 and a half years old. He does not appear on the 1901 Census because he was in SA but he appears on the 1911 Census as a married man of six years with a one and half year old daughter, they are living in Frome where he found employment as a wheelwright. Finally his probate which shows he died on 31 July 1940 whilst still living in Frome. However it says he died at Blackdog Zeals in Wiltshire.

Back to Find My Past, my enhanced membership allows me to search newspapers and a search for Frederick Jasper Martin in 1940 reveals the following:



On Find My Past he can also be found on the 1921 Census and 1939 Register but they do not add anything to the above except that in 1939 his son (the youngest of his 3 children) was still living at home and besides being a “Cheese Factors’s Senior Clerk” was also a Special Constable.

I think you need to take a memory stick when you visit Gillingham Library!! Also you will need to spend as much time on Find My Past as Ancestry. My local library in Wales allows free access to both and they work just the same as my home versions except for the newspaper access.

Regards David (of Smethwick & Pembrokeshire, as different as chalk & cheese).

PS if you message me your email address I am happy to give some guidance on finding your way round Ancestry and Find My Past - to get the full picture you will definitely need to use both.

On 3 July 1901, the people of Gillingham presented inscribed silver watches to their returned yeomen and volunteers.

RECIPIENTS

Volunteer Active Service Company, 2nd Bn. Dorsetshire Regiment ["L" Company, V.B.D.R.] –
6085 Private A.E. ADAMS
6082 Private Edwin JUKES
6032 Private Frederick Jasper MARTIN
6083 Private George SMART

26th (Dorsetshire) Company, 7th Bn. Imperial Yeomanry –
5282 Sergeant-Major John Harry AYLES
5305 Trooper [Lance-Corporal] William HANN
5306 Trooper Allen HARRIS
5412 Trooper Joel HONEYFIELD
5350 Trooper Reginald Watson INKPEN
5382 Trooper William Lonsdale McKINNON
5383 Trooper Sidney NORRIS
5351 Trooper William ROGERS
5393 Trooper Alfred Ernest SHARPE
5387 Trooper Algernon Thompson WALTON

48th (North Somerset) Company, 7th Bn. Imperial Yeomanry –
2437 Sergeant Ernest FIELD

Presentation made by the Rev. W.A. Heygate, in the Market Hall, Gillingham.


Note: 6033 Private Albert Edward MACEY did not serve, having been discharged on 19 Jan 1900 "in consequence of his not being likely to become an efficient soldier".



Western Gazette, 05/07/1901
Western Chronicle, 05/07/1901
Salisbury Journal, 06/07/1901


..

I am so grateful for your efforts on this my town and I feel honoured that you and Dave have taken the trouble to dig into this.