TOPIC:

Charles John Church

Private, New England Mounted Rifles – Anglo Boer War

- Queens South Africa Medal to 6 PTE C. CHURCH. NEW ENG: M.R.



Charlie Church was born in Jamestown in the north-eastern part of the Cape Colony on 10 November 1866, the son of John Charles Church, reputedly a churchman, a Reverend Doctor/Farmer in the area and his wife Elizabeth Margarita, born Van Zyl. Growing up he would not have been short of company with siblings Sarah Jane, Charles John Nicholas, Johanna Elizabeth, Marion Emily Charlotte, Martha Magdalena, Francis Harvey, Nicolaas John, William Henry, John Nicolaas, Herbert Arthur, Alice Mary, Margaret Wilhelmina and Fanny Jane all available to play with. As can be gauged by the repetition of some of the above names, the Church mater and pater soon ran out of ideas as to what to label their children


The area around Barkly East

As the 19th century drew to a close the enmity between the two Boer Republics of the Orange Free State and the Transvaal spilled over into a declaration of war on 11 October 1899. At first this had little to no impact on the peaceful Eastern Cape but, as the war progressed and the need for horses, supplies and additional men from among the Cape Dutch became more pressing; Commandos began to infiltrate south of the Orange River into the very territory where the Church family farmed – Barkly East.

Already a hot bed of Cape Rebel activity, with most of the local Dutch-speaking farmers sympathetic to the Boer cause, the area was an ideal recruiting ground for them. To counter the incursions made into the area a number of Town Guards and similar type units were called into being – both to act as a deterrent and to protect the locals lives and property from the Boer invaders. One such outfit was the New England Mounted Rifles – New England being loosely described as a geographic area which included Barkly East and Rhodes.

Church attested for service with them and was assigned No. 6 and the rank of Private under the command of Captain Ben Norton. Trouble had been brewing in the area for a long while with the Londonderry Sentinel on 28 November 1899 reporting under the heading “Rebel Farmers at Barkly East” that:

“The Mayor of Barkly East brings news that last Wednesday seventy Barkly East farmers seized the magazine there containing 300 Martini’s and 4000 rounds of ammunition. They made a great demonstration of their Boer sympathies. In the evening 130 Free Staters arrived and the rebels joined them.”

The Liverpool Evening Express of 18 January 1901 reported that, “The Boers twice attempted to capture Barkly East but were successfully repulsed, several being killed by the Volunteers defending the town. Martial Law has been extended to the whole Cape Colony with the exception of the forts. A proclamation has been issued ordering the disarmament of the entire civilian population.”


This detailed map shows the farm Elibank ( circled in black) in relation to Rhodes and Barkly East (circled in green) along with Orpendale and Lyndale

Matters were now accelerating with the St James Gazette of 26 June 1901 reporting that,

“Jamestown (Church’s birthplace) again looted. A small body of invaders have again visited Jamestown and looted as much as they could. They issued a proclamation that the village was now the capital of the Orange Free State. On Saturday a Boer force engaged a patrol of Cape Police and of the local mounted defence force (of which the New England M.R. was part) on farms at Lyndall and Orpendale, within ten miles of Barkly East. The patrol lost one killed and nine prisoners, three of whom were wounded and two men are missing.

Jamestown and Barkly East are both in Northern Cape Colony. The former was previously captured and sacked by Kritzinger on 2 June. The report of fighting near Barkly East is confirmed by today’s official casualty list.

Barly East, June 24th – Fouche with two commandos has advanced beyond Glen Almond. The Boer scouts have exchanged shots with ours six miles from here. All the irregular forces have been mobilised, and the utmost vigilance is being exercised.”

The Western Daily Press of the same date – 26 June 1901 – reported that, “At Lyndale (sic) on Saturday last, the Cape Police had one man killed, and the New England Mounted Rifles Lieutenant Warren Melhuish Brown and five men made prisoner, whilst two other men are missing. They also had three men wounded and captured at Orpendale on the same day.”

As can be seen, unlike many of the Town Guards and District Mounted Troops who never saw a shot fired in anger, the NEMR were very active and often in the thick of things.

Church and his comrades weathered the storm and, with the declaration of peace signalling the end of the war on 31 May 1902, they returned to their normal routine. He was awarded the Queens Medal for his efforts off the roll dated 1 May 1903. The address provided was Elibank, Barkly East – the name of the family farm. Of his many siblings, only William volunteered for service with the NEMR.

Back on the land Church now found the time for romance, wedding Ida Jane Stephenson at Roseneath, Barkly East om 11 April 1905. She was to provide him with three children – Charles Stanley born in 1906, Elizabeth born in 1907 and Colin James born much later, in 1919. It was Colin who died under mysterious circumstances on 7 July 1938 when, whilst aboard the vessel Port Jackson, he fell overboard at sea and drowned.

Church himself passed away on Saturday, 31 January 1931 on his farm, Elibank. He was 63 years old and the cause of death was Heart Failure, Myocarditis with concurrent Senile Psychosis.

Acknowledgements:

- Church Family, Zastron for family tree
- Familysearch for birth, marriage and death details
- Various newspapers credited in the text above.