TOPIC:

....The following letter was received yesterday by Mrs Finkill, of 165 Livingstone Street, South Shields, from Col. Cookson, commanding officer of the Northumberland Hussars, Imperial Yeomanry: "Dear Madam, I regret to inform you that I have to-day received official information of the death of your son, No. 30862, Private J. T. Finkill, Imperial Yeomanry, on the 29th January, at Lichtenberg, from enteric fever. With my sincere sympathy, I am yours faithfully, John Blancowe Cookson."
....Private J. T. Finkill left South Shields on March 10th, 1901, for South Africa, having joined the Imperial Yeomanry at Newcastle. He served in the 15th Company Imperial Yeomanry under Lord Methuen, and saw a good deal of active service. Only in his last letter to his mother he said that there were three South Shields lads, Jones, Hails, and himself sitting down and writing to their respective friends at home, and all of them in excellent health. Hardly a month has past, and two of them, Hails and himself have succumbed to enteric fever in the military hospital at Lichtenburg. Trooper Finkill was 23 years of age at the time of his death, and resided, previous to his enlistment, with his widowed mother at 165 Livingstone Street. For over six years he was in the employ of Messrs Miller and Co., grocers, Fowler Street, and for the last three years in the service of the South Shields Co-operative Store, Westoe Lane. On his leaving for the front, he was presented by the Store with a gold albert. He was highly respected and well liked by all who knew him.
Shields Daily Gazette, Saturday 1st March 1902


Two Beautiful Letters.
...."One touch of nature makes the whole world kin." There is just that touch of nature in two letters I have read which have been received by the friends of poor Finkill, who succumbed to enteric in South Africa. The first, written under date March 12th, is from his nurse who is in charge of the military hospital at Lichtenburg, where he died:—"Dear Sir,—I received your letter this morning enquiring after Trooper J. Finkill. He died as you are aware on the 29th at 7-15 a.m. of enteric fever. He passed away very quietly and did not suffer much. He was buried in the cemetery, and his grave is marked with a white cross with his name, number, and regiment. Already there are flowers growing on his grave. We attend to these things ourselves, because we know that their people would do so. If it will comfort his poor mother to know this will you tell her how very sorry I am for her at losing her boy. But God willed it so, and we must abide by it. I'm very glad I can do this for her. He did not leave any message. They get very weak from enteric fever and invariably they are unconscious and pass off as if they fall asleep, nearly always very quietly and calmly. Of course he was buried in military style on a gun carriage with the flag over his body. It is no trouble writing this, and if there is anything else don't fail to write to me,—Yours truly, ....The second letter written on March 21st, from Klerksdorp, is from Trooper Finkill's commanding officer:—
....Dear Mrs Finkill,—It is with deep regret that I have to inform you of the sad death of your son, Trooper J. T. Finkill. who died at Lichtenburg, January 29th, of enteric fever. His loss is deeply felt by both the squadron and myself. l am afraid he must have caught this dreadful fever on our trek from Vryburg to Lichtenburg, as so many of our best fellows in the squadron have succumbed in Lichtenburg to enteric fever after that trek. The squadron and myself offer our deepest sympathy in your sad bereavement.—Believe me, yours sincerely,
....Letters like these are well worth the writing, for they must help to soothe, as nothing else can do, the bitter anguish of bereaved parents and personal friends.
Shields Daily Gazette, Wednesday 30th April 1902


FINKILL.— In loving memory of John T. Finkill, who died at Lichtenburg, South Africa, Jan. 29th, 1902, the dearly beloved son of Mary and the late J. T. Finkill, in his 23rd year.— Ever remembered by his mother and sister.
Shields Daily Gazette, Friday 29th January 1904