TOPIC:

Hello all, and thank you for the add.

I have recently discovered that a great-great-uncle, Richard Mead, served in the Rhodesian army during the Boer War. Richard was born in Bolton, Lancashire, in 1869; he emigrated to South Africa when he was 24 years old, around 1893. He was a joiner/carpenter by trade and worked in the Belgian Congo constructing the railway.

Around 1899, he enlisted with the Rhodesian army and fought at the Siege of Mafeking. According to a newspaper report that I have, he stated that he was the only Lancashire man to gain the Siege of Mafeking medal. He returned to Bolton during the First World War in 1915 and lived to be 87 years old.

The only records I have seen of Richard are on Ancestry, but I am sure that someone here will point me in the right direction for finding more information about Richard's time during the war.

Thank you all

Pete Haslam.

Hello Pete,

I am sorry to have to disappoint you but Richard Mead was not in the siege of Mafeking. As a member of the Southern Rhodesia Volunteers he served in the relief of Mafeking.

The roll page is WO100/267p37



The exploits of the SRV are described here: www.angloboerwar.com/unit-information/so...rhodesian-volunteers

Best wishes
David

Thank you, David. I actually misread "siege" and "relief"; I thought they were the same thing. I'll have a look at the information about the relief of Mafeking.

Thank you once again,

Pete.