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Cleminson Early Marriott

Cyclist, Kimberley Mine Ambulance Corps, Kimberley Town Guard – Anglo Boer War

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasp Defence of Kimberley to Pte. C.E. Marriott, Kimberley T.G.

Clem Marriott was born on 31 May 1878 in Kimberley in the Cape Colony the second youngest child of John Marriott and his wife Sarah Ann, born Cleminson. It is not hard to see where his first name came from. The family was a reasonably large one with Clem having four brothers and two sisters in the shape of William Cleminson Marriott, John Whitely Marriott, Elizabeth Mary Marriott, Lydia Blanche Marriott, Robert Cleminson Marriott, and Theodore Charles Bradfield Marriott.

Life in Kimberley from the start of the 1870’s was one of hustle and bustle – as a result of the discovery of diamonds in the area there had been an unceasing influx of humankind to “try their luck” and “seek their fortune”. It was a rough and ready place with elements of sophisticated society in the form of the members of the Kimberley Club combined with, and sometimes mingling with, those from the wrong side of the tracks. Of prospectors there were many and, with them, came the flotsam and jetsam of life as well.

All told it must have been a fascinating place to grow up in. What would have made it even more enticing for the adventurous was the outbreak of the Anglo Boer War in October 1899. Long simmering tensions between the two Dutch-speaking Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal and Great Britain erupted in that month and, war having been declared, Kimberley was one of the jewels in the crown that the Boers set their sights on. An added attraction was the fact that Cecil John Rhodes, arch imperialist and sworn enemy of the Boers, was known to be holed-up in the Sanatorium in town.

The Boers lost no time in investing Kimberley - the Boer Forces under General Cronje commenced, officially, on 14th October 1899 to cut off communications – Kimberley was under siege! At its commencement there were in existence and stationed at Kimberley the following volunteers:—

• Diamond Fields Horse, strength 178
• Diamond Fields Artillery, strength 97 and 6 guns
• Kimberley Regiment, strength 352
• Kimberley Town Guard, strength 1303

The only other regular troops in the garrison were the 23rd Company, 93 all ranks, Royal Garrison Artillery, with six 7-pounder RML guns; 1 section, 1 officer, and 50 men of the 7th Field Company Royal Engineers; 5 non-commissioned officers and men of the Army Service Corps; and 1 officer and 5 non-commissioned officers and men of the Royal Army Medical Corps. By 26th November the strength of the Town Guard, which was to perform valuable service, had been increased to 130 officers and 2520 non-commissioned officers and men and it was to this body of men that Marriott gravitated – as the only Cyclist with “B” section of the Kimberley Mine Ambulance Corps. (There were three sections each with their own Cyclist.) The remainder of “B” section was comprised of Sergt. Smith, Corpl. Coxwell and Privates Bodley, Dacres, Dave, Dixon, Eatonlowe, Geyer, Hauptfleisch, Mellet, Quayle, Spooner and Wilkins – 14 men in total



There were, from almost the outset, two big mines in Kimberley - The De Beers Mine, discovered in May 1871, and the Kimberley Mine in July of the same year. The latter, initially known as New Rush (then Kimberley Mine, and now the Big Hole), would become the world’s richest mine for nearly a century and it was here that Marriott was employed as an Overseer – both had their own Ambulance Corps.

The Kimberley Town Guard, in all its various guises, were to form the mainstay of any defence undertaken should the Boers be so bold as to try a direct attack on Kimberley. As it so happened the Boers, in the main, contented themselves with a bombardment of Kimberley from afar – although the K.T.G. had to remain vigilant throughout but the Kimberley Mine Ambulance Company was called upon to do more than just defend - Stirling work was done by these men during the siege including taking part in the first attack on Carter's Ridge on the 25 November 1899 as well as the second on 28 November – three days later. Special mention was made in the report regarding this unit during this skirmish. It read as follows:

"The De Beers and Kimberley Mine Ambulance Corps went out with the column, and were in the thick of the fighting. All agreed they did well in bringing off the wounded under fire-both British and Boers”

The fighting for the return bout on the 28th saw the death of Scott-Turner and was almost a rout for the Imperial forces engaged. As one correspondent put it (at the end of days fighting):

“An eerie column of Ambulance Corps wagons meandered back from the darkened (Carter’s) Ridge, followed by riderless horses under fire from Boer snipers. Mangled bodies were stacked three high under the rickety Kimberley Mine Ambulance Corps wagons. A rumour was spreading that the Boers had finished off the wounded lying on the veldt whilst another rumour was that the seriously wounded were piling up outside the Carnarvon Hospital causing wives and mothers to rush there. Those that lingered were sent home by the Town Guard after 9.30 p.m. in accordance with the prevailing curfew.” It had been a dark day for Kimberley and Marriott and his Ambulance comrades had seen the worst of it.

Kimberley was finally relieved on 15 February 1900 and Marriott, his part in the war over, returned to his civilian employment on the Kimberley Mine. For his efforts he was awarded the Queens Medal with the sought after and, in his case, well-earned Defence of Kimberley medal; along with the highly-prized Kimberley Star, a medal struck at the request of the Mayor to thank those who helped fend off the aggressors.

The siege lifted and the mines having been reopened after being shut for 124 days Marriott wed his paramour, Amy Blackmore, in the Magistrate’s Office on 20 May 1901.

The Kimberley Directory records that he was resident at 25 Station Road in 1914 and, 4 years later, he was still in Kimberley where he was a witness to the wedding of his daughter Edna Florence Cleminson Marriott who, at the age of 24, wed a Boiler Maker by the name of Jenkin.

Cleminson Early Marriott passed away in Nigel, Transvaal on 11 July 1943 at the age of 87. His wife, Amy, passed away at the age of 88 on 27 June 1971.

Hi Rory...…

Your research is always great and always very appreciated...… Thank You...…

Mike