Hi Emma
Here is an article I found -
http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol056sw.html - The cemetery closed after the siege and is run down it seems. Reading the article if he died when he did he must have been buried in Intombi.
From his number he would have enlisted in 1884/1885. Luckily there should be a muster book in the National Archives covering that period that may give you age and place of birth. It appears he was also awarded the Elandslaagte clasp.
Regarding the movements of the 5th Lancers, I have this:
1884 the regiment were based in Brighton
1885 half the regiment went to fight in the Sudan
1886 In Shorncliffe
1888 to 1897: in India (at Meerut, then Muttra)
1897 in Canterbury
February 1898 - sailed to Natal
Apart from the Sudan the deployments were part of normal rotation of stations and the approved wives and families would have been with the regiment. I am studying what happened to the families during the Boer War and up to now it looks as if they were sent from Natal back to England before the siege started in November 1899. Soldiers and their families used troopships and passenger lists were not taken.
Have you found his family in the 1901 census? Regarding widows pensions they were introduced in 1902 and back dated to the start of the Boer War. It lasted six years or until she remarried. But about 85% of records were destroyed to save space.
What was the wife’s name? And do you know when she was born? As they married in India there is a good chance she was the widow or daughter of another soldier
Ken
