TOPIC:

As a collector of Boer War postal history I am a regular user of the ABW website.
I purchased a cover some months ago
The highlighted area gives the senders name as (possibly) J. F. Woleseley Bourne Transvaal Constabulary and the post mark is of PRETORIA Z.A.R. 21 JUL 00.
After researching the Transvaal Constabulary on the ABW website I discovered that little is known about this unit and it was in fact titled the Provisional Transvaal Constabulary. As there was no nominal roll I gave up trying to find out more.

Very recently I purchased a letter cover
This one is sent from Const. R Ford 1003 Transvaal Constabulary and the post mark is ARMY P.O. 55 S.AFRICA dated SP 14 00. APO 55 was located at Pretoria.
Constable Reg Ford (as he signs himself) gives his address as Transvaal Constabulary Pretoria
The information in the letter is also of interest and I've attached extracts.
The letter mentions a Major Sherston, a Major Wilberforce (second in command) a Senior Subaltern either Saunders or Symons (Reg wasn't sure) and a Captain Knight.
He also indicates that he could be earning 25/- a day as he's been "picked out as one of the smart ones" (sounds a lot of money to me)
He ends his letter stating that he has "grand quarters with electric lighting, showers and baths, and that all letters to him should be addressed as at the top of the letter to R. Ford 1003.

I am interested in finding out if this unit - the "Transvaal Constabulary" is the same as the Provisional Transvaal Constabulary as the members of the unit do not refer to it as 'Provisional'
Thank you to Frank who has already found some R Fords on the Provisional Transvaal Constabulary nominal roll ( but i don't think they are Reg Ford)

In fact I would be interested in finding out anything about this unit
best wishes to all, John

Hello John

I think "Provisional Transvaal Constabulary" and "Transvaal Constabulary" are one and the same.

There is a nominal roll - it is in the medal rolls hosted by Ancestry.

My own Register of the Anglo-Boer War has many of the PTC men listed. The data is also on FindmyPast, this is Reg Ford:

"First name(s) Reginald
Last name Ford
Age 21
Service number 13808
Rank Private
Regiment Base Company Imperial Yeomanry
Other regiments/units Unit: Base Company Imperial Yeomanry, Rank: Private, Number: 13808
Unit: served with Provisional Transvaal Constabulary, Rank: Trooper, Number: 1003
Rolls WO100/130
WO100/133 page 58
Memorials Saints Michael & George. Tablets. Army Service Corps, Aldershot, Hampshire, England
Literary references Durham School Register 313
The National Archives WO128. Imperial Yeomanry, Soldiers' Documents, South African War.
The Last Post being a roll of all officers
Biography Died of enteric at Ventersdorp, May 27th, 1901. He was elder son of Lieutenant Colonel A E Ford, formerly of the North Somerset Yeomanry, and grandson of James Ford of Bristol, was 21 years of age, and educated at the United Services College, Westward Ho. He joined the Imperial Yeomanry in 1900, and obtained his commission in the Army Service Corps, March 1901. His name was inscribed on a tablet erected at the United Services College, Westward Ho in memory of the old pupils who fell in the war.

Source: LP
Notes [Anglo-Boer War Memorials Project] QSA Clasps: CC,OFS,T
Event detail Died Enteric on 27/05/1901 at Ventersdorp
Event unit Army Service Corps
Event source SAFF
Event notes [LP]
Copyright Jones (UK) Ltd"

Regards
Meurig

Thanks Meurig
thats very helpful and one of the R Fords Frank found was the Reg Ford I was looking for.

The Unit Information on this site has the following to say about the Provisional Transvaal Constabulary (PTC):

“Little is known about this unit. There is a KSA roll but no QSA roll at the National Archives. The unit was no doubt set up after the taking of Pretoria on 5th June 1900.
“The KSA roll shows that its members came from a wide range of other units such as the Imperial Yeomanry, RE, ILI and Brabant's Horse. The date for joining varied on the above KSA roll excerpt from 14th June 1900 to 10 October 1900 with service lasting for most constables until the end of January 1902.
“KSAs are known to this unit. The KSA roll was dates 9th March 1903 in Pretoria.
“There is no entry for the unit in the Times History, History of the War in South Africa, With the Flag to Pretoria or After Pretoria.
“We would be pleased to hear from anyone with more information on this interesting unit.”

Thus I am reporting the following members of the first contingent of the Pembrokeshire Imperial Yeomanry (PIY-fc) for having served in the PTC:

4122 Private B M Andrews from 01/10/1900 to 26/11/1900
4174 Lance-Corporal E Hunt from 01/10/1900 to 09/01/1901
4176 Private A H Thomas from 01/10/1900 to 23/05/1901

This information was gleaned from the small writing in the right hand column of the QSA medal roll for the PIY-fc when it dawned on me what “Provl-T-Cnsty” stood for. The PIY-fc medal rolls shows that Hunt & Thomas received the Transvaal clasp in addition to the CCC & OFS clasps but Andrews did not. So forgetting what I had read above I went looking for a PTC QSA Medal Roll for Andrews and came up with this page on Ancestry nestled in amongst medal rolls for other South African units.



Scanning (for want of a better word) to the left & right showed there are a total of 73 such pages with varying numbers of men listed – one was filled by members of the Devon Imperial Yeomanry. Taking the page above as the average number one comes up with about 1,300 men serving in the PTC.

At the start of these pages is a letter with reference number WO100/277 (which I have cropped off in the presentation below).



Andrews appears to have rejoined the PIY-fc but went home a month earlier than the rump of the PIY-fc for reasons unknown. Thomas also appears to have rejoined the PIY-fc but was discharged, at his own request, at Green Point Camp on 30/06/1901 and I can find no evidence that he ever returned to the UK. Hunt’s service records show he boarded the S.S. Montrose on 14/03/1900 but no more dates are given and all I can establish about him, besides the above dates with the PTC, is that at the time of the 1881 census, aged 9, he was residing with his family in Goosepool, Chertsey, Surrey where his father was a “Pig Butcher”.

Apologies if all the above about the PTC is now old hat.