Hi I'm wondering if anyone can help please with this one. I have quite a bit of information already on Francis Townsend but would like to fill in the blanks:
Born Scotland 1890, educated Ireland, emigrated to SA...
Prospector in South Africa 1909-1912.
Joined SA Mounted Police,1912-1914.
served Aug 1914 to Nov 1915 in German SW Africa with SA Mounted Rifles.
Returned to UK for the duration of WW1
Returned to SA about 1920
Now here are the gaps..some of his British army papers give him as widower.
He then married Mathilde Boeson in 1924 at Plumstead, Wynberg, The Cape,. (They had a daughter Shelagh). Subsequently divorced in 1951 for desertion on Mathilde's part.
I have the NAARS papers on this.
I would like to find his first marriage if possible, probably between 1910-1916 in SA as I can find no trace in UK records.
(just a thought on that, he suddenly added the name Melville to his name on his army papers and I wondered if that might have been his first wife's name?)
My dear old Mum who has been generally reliable on Fam Hist memories believes that Shelagh married a David Smuts, but I can find no trace of that either.
Should add that Francis Townsend ended up working at the Royal Naval Hospital in Simon's Town as an accountant
Sorry I'm in New Zealand, don't know if that makes it difficult
Sylvia
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