Regiment catchment area?

[Stewart R]

My Great Uncle, James White lost his life in 1900 fighting in the boar war. I've narrowed him down in the records to one of two people. Either dying of dysentery with the Duke of Cornwall Light infantry or of a self inflicted gun shot wound whilst with the Cheshire's. Although its a dirty word in the genealogy world  but as i know he was born & raised in Plymouth would it be safe to "assume" he was with the DCLI and not with the Cheshire's.

Regards

Stewart

[Jebber]

The golden rule in genealogy Never Assume.

You need further information to narrow down which is your man, Regiments could  enlist men from others parts of the country, especially if they were low on manpower. Try newspapers to see if there are any reports of self inflicted gunshots, or of men dying in the Boer war. If he died in service his records are unlikely to survive.

[Andy J2022]

Whichever Regiment he was with, it would have been the 2nd battalion in each case. Both the 1st Battalion the DCLI and the 1st Battalion the Cheshire Regiment were in India during the Second Anglo-Boer War.

In 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, the Army was re-organised and the old numbered regiments formally adopted the territorial names like the Cheshires. At the same time their depots (which were responsible for the initial training of recruits) were permanently located within their parent regional district areas and, in the main, recruiting was more localised to that area. The depot for the DCLI was located at Bodmin.  The Cheshire's depot was at Chester, and the 2nd Battalion of the Cheshires was located at Limerick in Ireland in 1898. This means that he is more likely to have joined the DCLI. That said, most of the battalions based in the UK and Ireland in the 1890s were under strength and so began a big recruiting drive once the Boer War started. Among other initiatives, legislation was introduced by parliament to allow militia men (who were only committed to serve in the UK) to be  approached and invited to join the Regular Army in order to fight in South Africa.   

More on the DCLI's time in South Africa here: https://web.archive.org/web/20090508143035/http://angloboerwar.com/units%20imperial/dcli.htm and the Cheshires here: https://web.archive.org/web/20081013021713/http://www.angloboerwar.com/units%20imperial/cheshire_regt.htm

[Andy J2022]

The James White who died of dysentery on 25 May 1900 with the 2nd Battalion DCLI had the regimental number 1179. As these numbers were issued sequentially, based on other know dates of recruitment, we can determine that he enlisted in 1885.

The James White who died from suicide on 4 October 1900 while serving with the 2nd Cheshires (he was originally from the 4th (Volunteer) Battalion) was a Colour Sergeant with the number 5040. Colour Sergeant is a fairly senior rank and promotion in the Volunteers was generally slower than in the Regular Army, meaning that he was likely to have been in the 4th Battalion for quite some time, possibly 10 years or more.

[ShaunJ]

Most newspapers list the May 1900 death as J H White

https://www.findmypast.co.uk/image-share/e6ff378d-bde5-4857-85e3-0420516baebb

But in the Army & Navy Gazette it's simply J White

[hanes teulu]

St Austell Star, 31 May 1900

[ShaunJ]

Did your James White marry Christina Flora Reid in Plymouth in 1893?

That one was a colour sergeant, then resident at Richmond Barracks in Dublin

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/record?id=GBPRS%2FPLY%2F004634922%2F00094&parentid=GBPRS%2FM%2F35162612%2F1

[Stewart R]

Thank you all for your information. I'm afraid i have to confess that this is my 2nd visit to a similar subject to one i posted a couple of years ago. The issue i still have is that the James in my tree was, according to his marriage certificate in 1893, a colour sergeant. The certificate also states he was a resident at Richmond Barracks Dublin, although the marriage was in Plymouth, where he was born. The information provide by Andy at the time confirmed the following regiments were based at Dublin around that time and all were posted to S.Africa:
1st bn Scots Guards
1st bn Royal Sussex Regiment (34th)
2nd bn Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (46th)
1st bn Royal Munster Fusiliers (101st)

Obviously the DCLI caught my eye on this list, however the record for the James White who was with them was only a Private when he died. It was suggested by a contributor at the time that he could have been busted down the ranks for some reason, as this occasionally happened. But from a Colour sergeant to Private seems a bit extreme considering he'd worked so hard to gain such a reasonably high rank in the first place. Thinking such a drop in rank was unlikely then my thoughts would turn to the Colour sergeant in the Cheshire's which lead me to my original question above. Just to confuse me further, the parents of my James white were from Ireland, although i suspect that is of no consequence.

Just noticed your reply Shaun, whilst running my spell check on the above, and yes that's the one

Regards

Stewart

[Stewart R]

.....aha! just seen your newspaper clipping hanes teulu. That appears to be the James in the DCLI. And i now suspect he is not my James White, as it says he had a wife & "children" Sadly the James in my tree was childless, and indeed his relatively young widow also died in 1915.

This is beginning to lean heavily on the James who shot him self whilst with the Cheshires.

Regards

Stewart