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Naude was a Cape Dutchman, someone the Boers who came in search of new recruits would have courted. He chose to fight with the British which would have made him unpopular in an area where Cape Rebels abounded. Perhaps this is why attempts were made to remove his details from the rim of the medal before disposal? Medals to the Wodehouse Yeomanry seldom come to market.

Jan Nel Naude

Trooper, Wodehouse Yeomanry – Anglo Boer War

- Queens South Africa Medal to Tpr. J. Naude, Wodehouse Yeo.

Jan Naude was a bit of an anachronism, a man of Dutch descent, a subject of the Crown in that he was resident in the Cape Colony, and yet a man who chose to throw his lot in with the British forces in the Boer War – most likely to the chagrin of his family and fellow Afrikaners.

Born in the Cape Colony in about 1867, he farmed in the vicinity of Dordrecht in the Wodehouse region of the Eastern Cape. Wodehouse was next door to Stormberg junction – a hotbed of Boer activity and the place that the Boers won a decisive victory over a force led by General Gatacre.

The Anglo Boer War that erupted onto the world stage on 11 October 1899 was between the Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and Transvaal and Great Britain and the locals in the rural Eastern Cape could have been forgiven for thinking that their lives would remain untouched by a conflict that was raging far to the north of them. They were wrong – as the war entered its guerilla phase and the needs of the scattered bands of Boer Commandos became more pressing, they infiltrated south of the Orange Free State, deep into the Cape Colony, causing havoc wherever they went in search of supplies and fresh recruits from among sympathetic Cape Boers, to join their cause.

Naude was a loyalist – to the Crown that is – which probably didn’t go down well with some members of his family. He enlisted for service with the Wodehouse Yeomanry – a District Mounted Troops-type unit which would have been responsible for keeping the infiltrating Boers at bay, thereby preventing them from running amok in the area.



That the Wodehouse Yeomanry saw quite a bit of action can be deduced from the following reports which appeared in the popular press.

The first article that appeared was in the Morpeth Herald of 19 January 1901 – it read as follows: -

“Cape Invasion – Enemy Surprised Near Barkly East.

Dordrecht, January 11

Fifty men of the Dordrecht Volunteer Guard and the Wodehouse Yeomanry left on the 9th instant, amid much enthusiasm, for the scene of operations in this district. It is stated that Colonel Levey has made Montague Hill his headquarters.

The Boer Commando has dispersed, and no further engagement has been fought since the skirmish of the 6th instant, when there were no casualties on the British side, but the Boers lost 3 men killed and 30 horses killed and wounded. Colonel Levey returned here today.

From particulars which I have gathered of recent operations it appears that Christian Van der Merwe’s farm, on the border of the Barkly East and Wodehouse districts, was reached on the 8th instant. It was then ascertained that a commando, under general Stoppel Myburg, was laagered at a farm 1400 yards distant, and some natives were sent to Myburg with a letter suggesting that he should surrender.

While the letter was being read a small British force from Barkly East surprised the Boers, who were holding an impregnable position. On the 9th instant Myburg’s commando hid in inaccessible places, and during the night retired to Oramberg, between Aliwal North and Burghersdorp. The opinion is held that Myburg came to the district to get recruits, but only two rebels joined him. The Dordrecht Volunteer Guard is holding an evacuated position, while the Wodehouse Yeomanry and the Barkly East forces have returned to their homes.” The mention that Levey made Montague Hill his headquarters is interesting in that that was Naude’s farm.

The second article appeared in the Examiner (Launceston, Tasmania), 8 July 1901 edition and read as follows: -

“A GALLANT STAND

BY WODEHOUSE YEOMANRY
OUTNUMBERED AND SURROUNDED
THIRTY AGAINST SEVEN HUNDRED
SIX BRITISH CASUALTIES

(From the "Cape Times" Correspondent.)
DORDRECHT, June 1.

Captain Clark and the 30 Wodehouse Yeomanry liberated at Buffelsfontein arrived here last evening on foot. The entire community, headed by Major Hogsett, turned out to meet and welcome them.

The "Frontier Guardian" publishes the following:

On Wednesday last a very unfortunate occurrence happened to the Wodehouse Yeomanry at Buffelsfontein, the farm of Mr. H. H. Stretton, whereby they were outnumbered by a commando of Boers estimated at 700, under Commandant Fouche, and had ultimately to surrender.

The affair, as we know, throws no discredit on Captain Clark and his men, who acted with conspicuous bravery. Mr. H. Thackwray, of Snyman Kraal, one of the corps, brought the news into the town on the evening of Wednesday and the Information was received with the deepest regret. Hitherto in all their engagements the Yeomanry have shown themselves to be quite able to hold their own with the Boers, and no doubt was apprehended as to their success in this engagement. When they left town on Tuesday for the scene of action, it appears Captain Clark and his men made straight for Buffelsfontein, where the night before a party of Boers had looted the stores and taken all available horses.

This farm is situated in a hollow, with hills all around, and this in a measure accounts for the disaster.

Captain Clark, seemingly, was misinformed as to the extent of the Boer forces, and when called into action he and his men fought bravely, never thinking of surrender, until they found that the corner was too tight, and that seven were lying about wounded. There was only 32 of them against 700 so that the odds were terrible. The conditions of surrender were made by Captain Clark. namely, that he and his men surrender, hand over their horses. guns, and ammunition, and afterwards be allowed their freedom. This was agreed to by Fouche and hostilities then ceased. The wounded were conveyed to the house of Dr. Stretton, and there attended to until the arrival of Dr. Rowland.

In an Interview with Dr. Rowland. who went to Buffelsfontein to attend the wounded the following particulars were gleaned: - From his account, it appeared that the Yeomanry were surrounded on all sides, had no chance of escape, and they did the best thing possible in the circumstances. They were virtually caught in a trap, and had they continued fighting, would have in all likelihood been exterminated. So good were the positions of the enemy that they covered our men entirely. Dr. Rowland could not say the exact number of the enemy, but from the way they swarmed the hills, surrounded the house, and occupied the building, they were numerous. Their scouts could be seen for miles around, occupying all the prominent positions commanding the district.

Dr. Rowland was asked by Commandant Fouche to go to his laager and attend to some of their Boer wounded, which the doctor promptly did in the cause of humanity. From what he could see, the enemy were very comfortable and self-satisfied, evidently well pleased at the discomfiture they had caused to our men. Twenty of the enemy slept in Mr. J. R. Stretton's house at Freredale while others accommodated themselves in outbuildings.

The following are the killed and wounded: --Sergeant George Keith Jackson, Sen. killed, shot through the head. Extreme regret is felt at the death of this brave veteran, who was beloved and respected by all who had the pleasure of his acquaintance, and keen sympathy is felt for his widow and family. His body was brought into town last night, and the funeral took place this afternoon, with full Masonic honours.

Dangerously wounded – Cook, shot through the left lung: and A. Thornhill, shot through the right lung. Slightly wounded - Alan Haw, Clement Kidson and Walter Bentley Bradfield.”

There being so few members of the W.Y. it can be supposed that Naude was among the number involved in the action above. Were he to have been taken prisoner, albeit for a short while, he likely got short thrift from the Boers who would have perceived him to be a traitor to their cause.

The war over on 31 May 1902, Naude was awarded his Queens Medal off the roll signed by Captain Clark at Dordrecht. In what was an unusual twist, fully half of the medals awarded to the unit were returned to Woolwich, unclaimed.

Naude had been married before the war – to a Heila Magdalena Nel – this lady appears to have passed away in 1913 and, at the age of 47 Naude again tied the marital knot, with Maria Schuurman, on 24 April 1914 at the local Magistrate’s Office. She was 29 years of age and hailed from Aliwal North. Tragedy struck a few years later with the death of Naude’s son – Frans Johannes Naude. Other children born to Naude and his first wife were Dora Maria (11 February 1899), Edith May (30 July 1900), Ruby Irene (11 July 1902) and Charlie Jan (27 October 1907)

Jan Nel Naude passed away at his farm, Montague Hill, on 14 November 1936 at the age of 69 years 10 months. Cause of death was Heart Failure, the first attack of which he had 30 years previously.

Another excellent story and write-up Rory. Many thanks for giving Forum members so much to read! Takes effort - we appreciate it.

In your write-up you mention Charles Levey who was Civil Commissioner and resident Magistrate in Dordrecht. Several years ago when another well known Forum member decided to release his group of medals from his collection I was the lucky purchaser.

His group and story is as follows:

Four – Imperial Service Order (ISO)(Edw. VII) (gold, silver & enamel); CGHGS one bar: Transkei O.C. C. J. Levey Nat. Cont. Tembuland;
QSA bar: CC Lieut. Col. C. J. Levey Dordrecht D.V.G.; Union of SA Commemorative Medal 1910 unnamed as issued.
The correction of surname on the QSA from Lerey to Levey is officially noted on Seale & Armstrong Register (20.12.1906)

Magistrate and District Commandant Doordrecht. MLA for Tembuland 1908.

Charles Joseph Levey was born in Grahamstown in 1846. A member of the Jewish faith he was the eldest son of Richard Levey and Ann Edkins. Charles was educated at the Lovedale Seminary and was first appointed as a Clerk and Interpreter to Captain Cobbe, the British Resident in Fingoland by the Cape Colonial Government on 4 April 1868 purportedly being the first recorded Jew resident in the area. He was later employed on special service to the Kaffir Chiefs in connection with labour for the Railways in 1874 and acted as Political Agent for the Tembu Tribe in 1875. His paternal Grandparents were Joseph and Elizabeth and he was one of six siblings having three sisters and two brothers.

Charles married Sarah Randall in 1876, The King Williamstown newspaper The Watchman at that time recording:

"Matrimonial: On Friday last, C.J. Levey Esq., British Resident with the Emigrant Tambookies, was united in Holy Wedlock with Miss Randall, eldest daughter of our respected townsman, W. Randall Esq., late of Her Majesties Purveyors department. The bridesmaids were the Misses Levey, Miss Annie Randall and the Misses Savage.”

Charles Levey did much to further the role of agriculture amongst the native communities. He established the first agricultural organization and endevoured to develope a new class of “progressive native farmer”. Prior to 1876 Mankayi Renque, an influential member of this community, had been Chief Stokwe’s chief councillor and during the war of 1877-78, assisted by a force of his followers, he accompanied Levey to Stokwe’s Great Place and helped to successfully capture the rebel Gcaleka Chiefs Gonya (also known as Edmund by Europeans) and Matanzima Sandilli. Edmund and Matanzima were the two of the sons of the great Chief Sandile who was killed on 29 May 1878. The death of Sandile and the capture of his two rebel sons virtually ended the War of Ngcatecibi more commonly known as the Ninth Frontier War of 1877-1878.

In July 1878 Levey was appointed as Magistrate at Southeyville, later called Butterworth, which town and Residency he successfully fortified and defended against the rebels until relieved in 1879. He also assisted in defending the besieged at Lady Frère.
During the troubles in the Transkei the following year he commanded native volunteers in an excursion against chiefs Mfanta and Stockwe. Stokwe was the son of Ndela and was a minor Mqwathi Chief. He was married to Ngangelizwe the eldest daughter of the Gaika Chief Sandilli / Sandile and was the first woman to be educated at Lovedale. She had been brought up as a Christian and was well educated and the missionaries at that time had hoped that her education and training would have led to the establishment of an extended group of educated Xhosa priests and Christians however she reverted to her tribal ways and was the second woman to marry Stokwe. Due to her “royal status” she however became Stokwe’s nkosikasi (ie primary wife). Levey acted as a Political Agent to Colonel Wavell’s column during the Tembu War, this service later leading to the award of the Cape of Good Service medal with bar “Transkei”.
Levey was described as an indefatigable magistrate and it is evident that he removed various frontier farmers who later invaded the conquered territory in Tembuland. In 1883 he was appointed as Resident Magistrate at Xalanga near Elliot. At that time, it was reported that the agricultural society which he had fostered was flourishing. In 1883 the Society built its own hall with an attached library at a cost of £340 which was on occasions hired by white colonists for concerts and other purposes. Illustrating his involvement in encouraging progressive agriculture Levey is recorded as being the Society’s Chairman in 1883, his deputy being none other than Mankayi Renque who had been so influential in assisting with the capture of the rebel Gaecka Chiefs five years earlier. Members of the Agricultural Society totalled almost 70 in number, and included Solomon Kalipa, Pambani Figlan and Lot Mama.

Charles Levey served as Magistrate at Tsola in the late 1890’s and in 1900, soon after the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, was appointed as the Civil Commissioner and Resident Magistrate at Wodehouse. It was here once again where he was called to military duty. He was Commandant of the Dordrecht District and as Magistrate he served as Honorary Lieutenant Colonel in command of the Dordrecht District Volunteer Guard. It was here that he made Montague Hill his headquarters and in due course the Dordrecht District Volunteer Guard and the Wodhouse Yeomanry were amalgamated. The military services which these two allied small Colonial units are of interest. No doubt due to the Magistrate’s influence Dordrecht is one of the foremost locations where African troops were used during the war. For his servives during the Boer War he was Mentioned in Despatches (as Resident Magistrate, Dordrecht) in the London Gazette of 16 April 1901.

In late 1901 he succeeded Lord Cecil, as the Imperial Commissioner in the Western Transvaal. Soon thereafter he transferred to the Transvaal Civil Service and was appointed Resident Magistrate, for the Marico District in the Western Transvaal in 1902. While living at Zeerust, his eldest daughter met and married John G Gubbins, the man whose collection later formed the nucleus of the Africana Museum which is now called Museum Africa. It seems that Levey resigned from the Transvaal Civil Service in about July 1904 due to health problems (see copy of letter from Sir Alfred Milner). Levey was awarded the Imperial Service Order (a scarce award to South Africans) in 1907 and was elected as a Liberal Member of the Legislative Assembly for Tembuland in 1908. It was due to his position as the MLA for Tembuland that he was awarded 1910 Union Medal.

It is recorded that Charles’s father committed suicide in 1878. Charles and Sarah had four children namely Alice Mona Levey (d 1950), Millicent Ann Stapleton Levey (1877 – 1928), Nora Grace Levey (1878 – 1952) and Charles Walter Levey (1881 – 1968).

After his retirement from public life Charles moved to Cape Town taking up residence at Malmani in Kloof Road in Sea Point. Charles predeceased his wife Sarah and died in Matlock in Derbyshire during a visit to England on 9 October 1920. Sarah Levy died in 1928.

Note: It is evident that Charles Levey did not claim nor was he awarded the South African General Service to which he would surely have been entitled.

In this regard it is to be noted that military medal authors such as Don Forsyth in preparing his well-known medal roll for the South African General Service medal simply transcribed and copied recipient information from the surviving medal rolls for the SAGS medal held at the Public Records Office in London. These surviving medal rolls for Colonial recipients were recopied from earlier rolls and medal applications as they had seemingly deteriorated and were presumably later destroyed. Marginal notes in these rewritten medal rolls however make it clear that the various applications submitted for the Tembuland Division (five in number) were submitted as single applications and were later grouped together under the single heading. It will be appreciated that many of the Magistrates and their staff as well as perhaps many civilians who took part in putting down the rebellion were not grouped together in single organized units and that where medal applications were later submitted that these were submitted on an individual basis. It is quite understandable that many participants in the war, just as in other colonial wars in South Africa, did not submit applications for the award of campaign medals to which they were entitled. It is never the less clear that many of these miscellaneous individuals submitted medal claims in later years, long after medals were issued and named in England in the usual manner. Significant numbers of such medals were named on skimmed unclaimed previously named but unissued medals and are often summarily rejected as being “renamed” by collectors. Records for the issue of most of these medals do not seem to have survived and have not been located in either the Cape Colonial Archives in Cape Town or other depositories. It is reasonably well known however that the records of two firms recorded in the so-called Seale & Armstrong Register are to be found in the Cape Town Archives. Most of the entries in this Register relate to the correction of naming of QSA medals and the fitment of additional clasps as well as a very significant number of original issues of the Cape of Good Hope General Services medal. Official Royal Mint and Colonial Office records held in the UK archives record that many unnamed blank Cape of Good Hope General Service medals and quantities of clasps were sent out to the Cape Colony for naming and issue by colonial authorities. Details recorded in the Medal Issue Register for the Cape of Good Hope General Service medal indicate that many medals were named in Cape Town during periods both before and after the record period covered by the surviving Seale & Armstrong Register. What is less well known is that the Seale & Armstrong Register records the details of the naming and first issue of at least twenty South African General Service medals which were named in Cape Town between 1904 and 1908. From surviving medals, it is not surprising that these Cape issued medals were named on skimmed previously named medals. Quite clearly an unknown number of SAGS medals were also officially named on skimmed previously named but unissued medals during the years before 1904.

Hi Rob,

I read with interest your post about Levey. What particularly struck me was the section about the late issue/un-recorded SAGS's. I too have a "renamed" SAGS to a recipient in the Telegraph Department who was undoubtedly entitled to the SAGS. His Cape of Good Hope GSM is recorded on the roll and his application for the medal records service against the "Gaika, Gealeka and Pondomise" and I was wondering whether his SAGS was issued off the back of that application. Is there a searchable list of the Seale & Armstrong Register?

Regards,

Neil

What's his name Neil? There isn't a researchable list that I am aware of but I might be able to help with your query.

Hi Neil,

Nice to hear from you.

My good friend RR has got in a comment before me. I guess he has a "good woman" to attend to the responsibilities of grand children at this time of year.

I will send you a PM.

I want to hear news of "he who set you on this collecting path".

I guess perhaps time has taken it's toll..

RobM

Hi Rob, Rory,

The man in question in John Francis Smith - he appears on the Cape GSM roll under sundry recipients. Was involved in maintaining communications during the 9th Frontier War. He was OC Tembuland MRC during the Boer War and MID but sadly I don't have his QSA.

The SAGS is very neatly engraved and "back to front" as you see on the Cape named Cape GSM's.

Regards,

Neil