TOPIC:

HI,

I recently opened a Victorian safe that was in my garden when I bought a house and in it I found a rose gold chain with a pocket watch and on the end of the watch chain was a tribute medal with the words,

Presented to trooper J.Kay by his ashton friends in recognition of his services in the boer war 1901-2
There is also a number stamped on it Rd 382289 and a makers mark that I think is WHJ

It is a very lovely piece and I am wondering if anyone would have any information on the soldier in question?

Scotts
Welcome to the Forum. Over the years I have had a number of "lucky finds"; nothing however, like the one you describe. To commence your quest, it might be a good idea to do a title search on previous owners of the property. That might give you a bit of a start. Now, a bit of a guess here - but there is a chance that your "Tpr. J.Kay" served in the Imperial Yeomanry. On that chance, I had a look in my useful Imperial Yeomanry CD and there are five men named "J.Kay" - three with the rank "Trooper" and two as "Private". In reality, no distinction.
Their names are = J.F.Kay, James Kay, Jervis Dore Kay, John Kay and John Roland Kay. I would suggest you do a name search through one of the commercial sites and see if any of them came from the area of your house. A long shot - but they sometimes hit the mark.
As a matter of interest, there are a number of men named "J.Kay" in the Regular Cavalry.
Please let us know of your success or otherwise. Even if you draw a blank, you are extremely fortunate in chancing on such a personal item; something that the recipient clearly treasured.
Regards
IL.

Thanks for getting back to me,
I have included some photos of what I found.

I will look through the deeds and try to return it to the family of the trooper.

I very much appreciate your assistance and I shall keep you updated.

Scotts,

Welcome to the Forum.

Certainly a very unusual and interesting find with something of a quest to discover who this man was.

I would agree with IL that this is possibly someone in the Imperial Yeomanry rather than the regular army and there are a few J Kays as possibilities.

Can you upload a picture of the other side of the 'Ashton' medallion please? Also, what is the inscription on the circular medal please?

Thanks for getting back to me,

The large medal is an award for a flower competition in 1910 sponsored by dobbies seed company. The smaller medals are St. Helens bowling club medals from 1927 and 1928

Regards

Scott

I would put my money on this chap.