Hello everyone,
I was interested to see this post about Isaac Henry Hazzard. Many years ago when conducting research I happened to receive a telephone call from a man called George, who is the Grandson of this man.
He was trying to find out information about his Grandfather and two of his brothers Meshach and John. John had kept a diary and Isaac had given his son Isaac a middle name of Rensburg. Isaac Rensburg Hazzard served with the Wiltshire's in WW2.
So, what is now known as The Rifles Museum, Salisbury has on its website a Militia Directory which lists these three brothers as members of the 3rd Militia Battalion of the Wiltshire Regiment.
I thought I'd add some more information:
In total there were five Hazzard brothers, plus one sister and one half-sister and one half-brother, all born in the village of Woodford, Wiltshire, to Charles Hazzard, a Boot Maker and his wife Eliza. She already had an elder daughter called Elizabeth Osgood and an elder son called Herbert Osgood.
The Hazzard brothers were William George born in 1868, John Hale born in 1873, Meshach born in 1875, Isaac Henry born in 1877 and Sidney born in 1880; their other sister Sarah Jane was born in 1871.
1. William George Hazzard was a Shepherd; he died in 1903.
2. Sarah Jane Hazzard married a William Madgett Culver and had one child.
3. John Hale Hazzard married a girl called Fanny Swatton in 1899, and had four children, born in 1900, 1902, 1903 and 1910 respectively, which despite a diary being attributed to John, indicates that he did not serve in South Africa himself, which is supported by there being no record of him for the period that the regiment spent there. He spent his life working as a Postmaster in Wiltshire and died in 1945.
4. Meshach Hazzard married Elizabeth Jane Sleeman in 1908, and three children born in 1908, 1910 and 1912 respectively. He served in South Africa with the 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment with a service number of 4542 and was not with D or G Companies at Rensburg. His QSA medal clasps are recorded as CC, OFS and TV, which are the usual ones seen for regular soldiers of this regiment, with the exception of those who served with the Mounted Infantry who were entitled to a greater number.
5. Isaac Henry Hazzard, the subject of this topic, married Prudence Dear in 1907 and had two sons born in 1911 and 1919 respectively. Isaac Rensburg mentioned above was born in 1911.
He served in South Africa with the 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment with a service number of 5231 and was a member of either D or G Companies, because as we all know it was these two companies who were taken prisoner at Rensburg on Valentine's Day 1900. His QSA medal clasps are recorded as CC, OFS and TV. After the war Isaac Henry Hazzard spent his life working as a Groom/Gardener. I have noted this discrepancy of recording Isaac Henry as ‘T’ Hazzard before. Isaac Henry Hazzard died in 1953.
6. Sidney Hazzard served in South Africa with the 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment with a service number of 5629, attached from the 3rd Wiltshire’s and was not with D or G Companies at Rensburg. His QSA medal claps are recorded as WT, CC and TV. He married Constance Pamela Pearce in 1906, had four children and spent his life working as a farm labourer. He died in 1956.
There is one final piece of information regarding Isaac Henry Hazzard. My own Great Grandfather was 3629 Pte John Heath, D Company, 2nd Battalion Wiltshire Regiment, who was also taken prisoner at Rensburg. I know from my Grandfather that during the war John Heath had a pal called Hazzard, whom he was imprisoned with at Watervaal. By no means ‘concrete’ evidence, but there is a possibility that Isaac Henry Hazzard was also with D Company.
