Re: look up / advice request Boer War



Daniel Morgan wrote:
On Dec 17, 3:52 pm, Naomi <n.spannerdav...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
I'm trying to find out where to find out more about a Englishman who
served in the Boer War (I'm not 100% sure which one). He received a
medal, and stayed in South Africa.

This is a completely new topic to me. I am not a military historian by
any means. Is it a case of having to go to Kew, or are there some other
things I can try first?
Also, can anyone help me interpret the abbreviations on his medal?

The details I have are:

Richard James HALES
born (from South African death certificate) c1862 "London, England"
No idea of father (that's what I'm trying to find)

I can't answer your Boer War questions, but if you're trying to find
his father, why not try his birth certificate? FreeBMD
* http://www.freebmd.org.uk
has one and only one birth of a Richard James HALES, in Q4 1859 in the
Islington registration district, which is in London. Sounds like him
unless you have a reason to think that it's not.

I agree that it's a very likely birth record, despite being 3 years out, but I need something to match something against it to be sure. There are a few other births for James HALES in the period, with a middle name James. I've often found that people are registered without their middle names (perhaps they add in the middle name later to distinguish them from a family member).
And I also think the place of birth as London could be dubious as it was given many years later in South Africa, presumably by a South African relative.

So, although it looks very likely, I have nothing to confirm it. I am hoping that finding something about him in his military career that will match up.

Otherwise, I will need to follow all the other possible James HALES to find them in the 1901 census to rule them out...

Naomi
.



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