TOPIC:

In a Somerset churchyard I came across a family gravestone inscription for Henry Edward Buncombe, died in South Africa, on October 4th 1902, aged 22, Could he be the man below, or was 22 too young an age to be a Sergeant? There's just over 5 weeks' difference in the dates of death, but Buncombe isn't that common a surname.

Buncombe H Sergeant 2nd Battalion
Demise: Died 27 Aug 1902
Place: Heidelberg?
Source: In Memoriam by S Watt (Prince Albert's) Somerset Light Infantry

Berenice,

According to Ancestry, these are the only Buncombes in South Africa

G E Buncombe Houw Holk Dist Mounted Trops
H Buncombe 2nd Battalion The P A Somersetshire Light Infantry
J D Buncombe Johannesburg Mounted Rifles
John Dobree Buncombe 1st Imperial Light Horse
W A Buncombe Commander-In-Chief's Body Guard

The SLI men is 4815 Corporal on the QSA roll and Sergeant on the KSA roll with the note 'deceased'.

I'll check the newspapers ...

I could not locate him in the newspapers

Thanks, David, must have been a near-coincidence of names then. I did try the County Library in Taunton, but they don't have the local paper that far back.

Berenice and David

See attached hereto.

That is quite amazing that in 90 minutes we can connect a Somerset memorial to the person's grave in South Africa.