TOPIC:

Hi, I'm looking for information on my relative James Firmin Manning who apparently was in the siege of Kimberley serving in Mostert's Redoubt. However, I can't find any info on that unit or on him. He is apparently in this photo, sitting on the left as we look at it. Thanks

Spooner 1962
There is no J. or J.F. Manning shown in the Biggins publication "Kimberley Siege Account and Medal Roll". Have you any more information?
Regards
IL.

Spooner1962,

J Manning is something of an enigma.

He is listed in the Siege of Kimberley roll in the Miscellaneous section:



He is listed on the KTG QSA roll (WO100/282p89) for the Defence of Kimberley but his name is crossed through. A note says medal and CC clasp deleted off Scott's Railway Guards roll.



On the SRG roll (Wo100/270p58), the entry lists only the CC clasp and says QSA (1) CC was issued 3 August 1906.

The note also says this man is not identical to the J Manning on the KTG roll.



Based on this, he is not listed on my DoK roll as a recipient of the clasp but he does appear to have been present during the siege.

It is possible the three other men with this surname caused some confusion when the rolls were created?

Do you know the names of the other men in the picture?

Best wishes
David

The only mention I could find of Mostert's Redoubt in the British newspapers of the day:

Montrose Review 6 April 1900:



Here is Sergeant William Main on the Kimberley Town Guard medal roll, half a dozen up from crossed out J Manning:



Googling James Firmin Manning brought up this:



Looking for him on Ancestry public family trees found him on one tree and this was the only item against his profile - his marriage to his second wife:



This link takes you to the medal of another defender of Mostert's Redoubt:

www.angloboerwar.com/forum/5-medals-and-...rley?start=252#88157

This link takes you to the medal of yet another defender of Mostert's Redoubt:

www.noonans.co.uk/archive/special-collections/1405/501227/ ?

This link takes you to an article which includes a piece about another defender of Mostert's Redoubt, namely Fergus Carstairs-Rogers, who like William Main was a Scotsman:

www.kimberley.org.za/today-kimberleys-history-4-november/

Sorry I don't have any more info, other than he apparently served under Captain Mosely?

Thanks for that info David. No, I don't know who the other soldiers are in that photo - it was from my late father's journal. There are other photos of JF Manning which look very similar to the guy in that photo, so I'm pretty sure that it is him? Dad's journal mentions that he served under Capt. Mosely during the siege?

Re the other J Mannings, there were indeed three in Kimberley at that time. As well as James Firmin, there was his father John Spooner who would've been 56 years old when war broke out. There was also his brother (also called John Spooner) who would've been about 25. All three were apparently living at 48 Lawson Street.

The only other info I have is this from Dad's journal "After the war ended in 1902, Granddad‘s unit was detailed to escort Boer women and children back to their farms and it was then that he met his future wife, Johanna Wilhelmina Graaf (nee Voges) whose husband had been killed during the war". Interestingly, I have since found out that Johanna's husband wasn't killed, but was captured at Paardeberg and sent as a POW to St Helena (Prisoner No. 1061). Johanna is listed as a widow on their marriage certificate, which is interesting as Graaf was repatriated back to SA later that year.

Thanks Vince