TOPIC:

As Dave posted earlier he left South Africa and arrived in Southampton in April 1904, so he must have signed on for additional time there, that would explain the medal.

As for why cap badges on his collar or no feathers in his cap that's a good question.

Another little mystery, at least by identifying the date of the badges and medal we now know the pictures were taken after he returned to Canada.

Hi Peter
Thank you for the clarification, I did think that Ancestry (Canada file search) may have made an error regarding the photograph and the testimony which I believe was taken from Find my Grave. Incidentally, the gentleman who posted that information was a Herbert Rickards.
When you have collated all your research on your Grandfather it may be prudent to join Ancestry for a trial period and put the records straight. It's not unusual for errors to occur when other families are researching ancestors with same surnames.
I would agree with Mike reference the image of Nelson which was taken on his return. Incidentally, do the family have his medal?
The medal worn only shows 2  clasps, looking at the rolls IMHO I think they are Cape Colony and Orange Free State. His Transvaal and date clasps would have been forwarded to him at a later date.
Good luck with your research Peter.

Cheers

Dave

A couple of images of the ships that your Grandfather travelled on to return to Canada.

Dave F wrote: Hi Peter
Thank you for the clarification, I did think that Ancestry (Canada file search) may have made an error regarding the photograph and the testimony which I believe was taken from Find my Grave. Incidentally, the gentleman who posted that information was a Herbert Rickards.
When you have collated all your research on your Grandfather it may be prudent to join Ancestry for a trial period and put the records straight. It's not unusual for errors to occur when other families are researching ancestors with same surnames.
I would agree with Mike reference the image of Nelson which was taken on his return. Incidentally, do the family have his medal?
The medal worn only shows 2  clasps, looking at the rolls IMHO I think they are Cape Colony and Orange Free State. His Transvaal and date clasps would have been forwarded to him at a later date.
Good luck with your research Peter.

Cheers

Dave

Thank you again Dave,

I do have an Ancestry account for our family tree, I started it in November last year.
I don't have those other records attached to Nelson in our family tree, they may have come up as hints, and I would have disregarded them as I knew them to be false. Though I don't recall seeing anything about military service until 1922, or being a police officer in Canada. But like I said, if I did review them, I would have quickly dismissed those hints and moved on.

Also thanks for the pictures of the ships, I also did a search for the ships after you provided the information and came up with two different pictures, but they look like the same ships:

Dave F wrote: Hi Peter
Incidentally, do the family have his medal?
The medal worn only shows 2  clasps, looking at the rolls IMHO I think they are Cape Colony and Orange Free State. His Transvaal and date clasps would have been forwarded to him at a later date.
Good luck with your research Peter.

Cheers

Dave

I checked with my sister and she has the medal, I'll be getting together with he in April so I can it and get some pictures... I'll share those once I have.

QSAMIKE wrote: Interesting he is wearing wedge cap, cap badges as collar badges..... Also he is missing the feathers in his stetson.....

Mike

Thinking more about this, I'm wondering if that is the hat he had from his service, or one that just looks the same, that could explain why there was no badges on the hat. Again as to why he had hat badges on his color, I can't figure out why.

I do have a guess about the feather, but it is only a guess.
Nelson Henry was native born as a member of the Munsee-Delaware nation. As there is native cultural significance to wearing feathers, he may have chosen to remove the father from the hat or wear a different hat for cultural reasons. That would be a guess though.

Peter