TOPIC:

This is another of the pick ups from the last Noble’s auction.
I have been on the lookout for this medal for some years afterI saw it on a UK dealer’s list. When I emailed the dealer it had already been sold.

I had been reading the book ‘Southern Cross Scots’ by Price and it is a very good reference for anyone with an interest in Australian Involvement in the Boer War.

Why I was keen to find it.
Richard Harris Tellam had his address as Charters Towers,about 9 hours drive east from where I live.
He served in the 1st Scottish Horse and was recommended for a DCM, hr was eventually awarded an MID. LG 27/07/1902.

He was part of the 1902 Coronation Contingent and served continuously from 21/12/1900 to 15/10/1902. He is entitled to the C.C., OFS, Trans, SA 01, SA 02 clasps. I don’t know why he didn’t receive a KSA as there wasn’t a break in service. Maybe he wasn’t ‘in the field at the sharp end’ his entire time in SA.

I have tracked down a Coronation Medal and now to find the other clasps.

‘Time spent in research is seldom wasted’

Cheers,
Jim

In respect of the KSA, AO232 mentions that to be entitled to receive it, a man must be serving in South Africa on or after the 1st of January 1902 and have actually completed 18 months service there before the 1st of June that same year.

Hi Frank,

Thanks for the response. The roll book has him serving continuously from 12/12/00 to 15/10/02. That would rule him out as you say. II took it that the 18 months started from 1 Jan 01. On the bright side, it is going to be easier to find the 01,02 clasps than another medal.
Cheers,
Jim

Hi Jim,
I am new to this site.
Is there an actual medal for Richard Harris Tellam and if so do you know who purchased it? I am related to him (my grandfather's brother) and can confirm that at one stage he was living in Charters Towers but he stayed in South Africa after the Anglo Boer War. His grave is in Gauteng, Benoni Rynsoord cemetery.

Hi Ross,

I actually have it in my collection aka the present custodian.
The QSA is one of my local items. I live a day’s drive to the west of Charters Towers.
So that is what happened to him, I was trying to find him post Boer War backin Australia.
Have you read ‘Southern Cross Scots’, that is what put me on the trail of the QSA.
Cheers,
Jim

Hi Jim,
I am very glad the medal is in your safe hands and so close to Richard's home when young! I will certainly read "Southern Cross Scots".

Some background on Richard Harris Tellam may be interest:

Born:~1878 in Fowey, Cornwall
Father: William Tellam (1855-1932), tin miner in Cornwall, gold miner in Charters Towers
Mother: Hannah (Harris) Tellam (1848-1943.
Hannah is buried at Charters Towers. William is also likely there or Innisfail.
A young Richard and Family arrived in QLD Nov 11, 1884. The ship was the Duke of Argyle.
I assume the family went directly to CT, which was booming at the time and needed mining expertise.
Richard signed up and went to the Boer War in South Africa. I have no records about how he joined the Scottish Regiment.
Married Ella Vickery in 1906 in London (no children). born 1881; died in South Africa in 1939.

Richard lived most of his post Boer War life in South Africa and died there (1956 at 78 years of age). I have very little information about this time but he briefly visited his brother, William Tellam and his son of the same name (Richard's brother), in the mid 1930s at Charters Towers.
I have attached a photo of the gravestone for Richard and Ella but I suspect that the file may be too big. The grave is in Gauteng, Benoni Rynsoord cemetery (close to Johannesburg).

My father's name, Richard William Tellam, is full of family name tradition.


Cheers
Ross