TOPIC:

There are a selection of Railwaymen QSAs in the next Spink sale:

QSA (0). A Bogle, I.M.R.
QSA (0). J. McDonald. C.G.R.
QSA (0). Mr. J. Aitken. Imp: Mil: Rly:
QSA (1) CC. Mr. J. Glen. Imp: Mil: Rly:
QSA (1) CC. Mr. R.J. Mace. Imp: Mil: Rly:

FIREMAN. MR. F. KNEALE. IMPERIAL MILITARY RAILWAYS.

QUEEN'S SOUTH AFRICA MEDAL
CLASPS: TRANSVAAL
CONDITION :NEF. ORIGINAL RIBBON. DARK TONED.

Mr. F. Kneale was a Fireman for the IMR. His clasp for Transvaal is confirmed on the medal roll and signed off as usual at Pretoria by Major Twiss.
Interestingly, no other clasps crossed through on the medal roll as with many other IMR personnel.

MR. J. R. EAGLES. IMPERIAL MILITARY RAILWAYS

QUEEN'S SOUTH AFRICA MEDAL.
CLASPS :NONE.
CONDITION:EF.

James Robert Eagles, a man with a very impressive surname, was plying his trade as a Turner for the IMR during the Boer War. His skillset would involve working lathes to produce and repair machine parts etc.
The medal roll shows clasps for Cape Colony, Orange Free State and Transvaal crossed through hence the absence of clasps to his QSA.
James was born around 1863 in Simonstown, South Africa. In 1886,aged 23 he married Ellen Nielson at Salt River, Cape Town. They had at least one child, a daughter Edith.
James was an active Freemason, being a member of the Premiere Diamond Lodge of the Transvaal (located in Gullinan, Transvaal) when he was aged 57 in November 1919. This record also shows his trade as Turner.
James Robert Eagles died at Pretoria in November 1940 having reached the age of 77.

MR. C. ROBLOW. IMPERIAL MILITARY RAILWAYS

QUEEN'S SOUTH AFRICA
CONDITION :GVF. ORIGINAL RIBBON
CLASP:CAPE COLONY

Charles Roblow is recorded in the trade of Fitter on the medal roll of the IMR WO100/252. His clasp for CC is confirmed thereon with OFS crossed through and signed off by Major Twiss, RE at Pretoria August 1902.
There are no entries to the Remarks column to specify any particular incident for entitlement to the clasp CC. But the skills of a Fitter would have been constantly required throughout.

An uncommon surname made for reasonable results from the essential FMP and Ancestry searches.
UK Census 1881 shows a Charles Roblow,a scholar, living at Gregory Street, North Side, Hanover Square, London and Middlesex.
His age given is 14 and date of birth around 1867 in Pimlico.
He came from a working class background, his father's trade being a Gasfitter.

I found the next reference to Charles in Passenger Lists Leaving the UK 1890-1960, when on the 9th June 1897 he is listed as single and a Carpenter sailing on the New Zealand bound "Gothic" of the Shaw, Saville and Albion Line carrying 179 passengers. Charles disembarked at the Cape.

The following years were presumably largely spent working for the railway companies during the conflict and peacetime until 14th June 1913 when we see him as a 48 year old Brass Finisher accompanied by his 43 year old wife listed as "British Possessions" on the passenger list of the "Edinburgh Castle" of the Union-Castle Mail Steamship Co. Ltd. There are no children of the couple listed.
Their Port of Departure was Durban and destination Southampton.
Whether they were returning to England to stay or just visit I can only guess as the trail runs cold from here.

Hi Moranthorse1,

I guess you haven’t as yet found the best trick for researching South African medal recipients.

You need to get onto the well-known genealogical Web site “familysearch.org” to search your man (or men or women). It is often useful to look on this site before you look anywhere else. Better still, this resource is FREE! Look specifically for South African documents but remember it is a worldwide resource holding and the site includes documents for innumerable countries.

The second trick is that once you have searched the name (and initials etc) as a first shot always check to see what the site will reveal when you use the “*” button (Star button) added to the first 3 or 4 letters of the surname or whatever “mix” might seem reasonable.

Follow this for your man Charles Rublow and will find a number of hits (his surname is found with several different spellings) – he was married twice, his death certificate, parents names, at least one daughter ….. I will leave it for you to follow up.

The depth of the site is incredible. Previously I have found details of wounds received, confirmation of the presence of an individual at a particular action by noting that my recipient was a witness of a colleagues death etc. etc.

Good luck and enjoy.

RobM

Hi Rob,
Many thanks for your advice. This will open up a new world of research for me and will probably lead to a few edits on existing posts!
A great tip on variation of spelling of surnames and using *.
I will begin with Mr. Roblow........
Indebted to you.
Cheers Steve