....Joseph had served in the N.S.W. Mounted Rifles in South Africa during the Boer War, and had only arrived back in Australia at the beginning of June 1902. On the evening of Wednesday 9th July, Armidale held a Peace celebration at the local showground in which a re-enactment of an incident in South Africa took place, where Joseph was one of three men who were inside an "armoured train" (actually made of wood), which was ambushed by Boers (in reality, members of local rifle clubs). The attackers had been issued with blank ammunition and instructed to fire above the "train", although two men later admitted to having live ammunition with them. Someone disobeyed orders, and fired directly at the train with at least two shots of live ammunition - Joseph was struck in the leg and stomach by dum-dum bullets, which expanded on impact. He remained conscious for a while, in great pain, but died just after arrival at Armidale Hospital. His mother was with him when he died.
....The funeral service was at St Peter's Cathedral, Armidale, on Friday 11th July, and the burial was at the "Anglican Cemetery." Would that be called Armidale General Cemetery now?
....Not much information was given in the papers about him, not even his age or home address, just that he was a young man and would have been getting to be married a few weeks later. Family attending the funeral were his father, Samuel (his mother wasn't reported as being there), William and Robert Hamilton (uncles), and "numerous relatives."
....He wasn't on Find A Grave, although I've now added him to Armidale General Cemetery (to be changed if that's incorrect).
....I'd be most grateful for any additional information about Joseph. He went through twelve months' of war in South Africa, only to die a month or so after returning home.
