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Australians
in the Boer War
Oz-Boer Database Project |
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Full Record
Hint: This site is intended as a search aid - not a definitive source. It is essentially an index to documents that seem to relate to this person plus a very brief precis of relevant elements. Sources often conflict and I also flag things with a ? when I am unsure. So if the information below is important to you, then please check the original sources to see what else they contain (and in case I have inadvertantly introduced transcription and/or precising errors). There can be additional information that was not included in the database for both space and copyright reasons.
| Surname | | EDGAR |
| Given Name(s) or Initial(s) | | Joseph Henry |
| Regimental Number | | 1708 |
| Rank | | Trooper |
| Unit Name | | 3rd New South Wales Mounted Rifles |
| State | | NSW |
Extracts and Comments
(from Sources as shown) | |
Murray: 'E'Sqn.
B5204: miner born 1879 in Emmaville NSW next of kin in Armidale.
URL1: War Memorial Armidale NSW.
Source:# 1053 Joseph Henry born 1879 in Armidale NSW, accidentally shot and killed 9.7.1902 at Armidale Showground during Coronation celebrations re-enacting the battle of Modder River.
URL2: shot with .303 ball instead of blank cartridge.
URL3: military funeral.
URL6: Return of Invalided Men. The transport Manchester Merchant, from South Africa, arrived in Sydney Harbour yesterday morning [31.1.1902] at 10.45, and was at once moored in Farm Cove. The vessel had on board 88 invalided soldiers who have returned from the front. They are in command of Captain Hubert St. Julien PEARCE, Civil Sergeant (sic) Dr. MCNEVIN, and Civil Veterinary Surgeon CONACHER. Fifty-two of the men belong to New South Wales, 19 to Queensland, and 17 to New Zealand. At noon the men were brought ashore in Government launches, and were landed with their baggage at the jetty at the foot of Phillip Street. The New South Wales portion of the contingent attended at the Treasury and received in advance of 15 days pay. The whole of the returned men were then entertained at a sumptuous dinner at Quong Tart's rooms. Captain THOMAS, who had charge of the general arrangements for the landing, presided at the meal, and, in the name of the Government of New South Wales cordially welcomed the men home again. ... The following are the names of those of the contingent who belong to New South Wales or who enlisted in this State - Trooper Joseph Henry EDGAR, Tenterfield.
URL7: The unfortunate death of Trooper EDGAR, a
returned soldier from South Africa, who was assisting in the celebration of peace and the coronation at Armidale, unfortunately does not stand alone, but it is a type of event that should be impossible. The local volunteers held a sham fight at night, and a coronial inquiry, extending over six days, has established the fact that some one or other of them was using ball cartridge
instead of blank, and firing low into the people, instead of high, as ordered by the captain. No doubt the military authorities will have something
serious to say on the matter, though it should not be necessary with grown men to require a special parade, as recommended by the jury, before blank
cartridge is used, so that it might be seen that there was no ball in the bandoliers. Ordinary common sense, apart altogether from military discipline, should lead sane men to look for them selves.
URL9: The death of Trooper EDGAR at Armidale is one of the saddest fatalities that have occurred in NSW for many years. Returning after a considerable experience of legitimate warfare in South Africa, by the 'Aurania,' he returned to his home and parents and promised wife at Armidale. There he took part in a sham fight, representing a well-known
episode in the Boer war, and by some extraordinary means, not yet explained
was riddled to death by bullets, one of which, at least, appears to have been
an expanding, or soft nose 'dum dum'. The irony of fate!
URL10: Sydney July 25 [1902]. An exhaustive inquiry concerning the death of Trooper EDGAR, which took placed during the peace celebrations on 9th instant at Armidale, was concluded last night [24.7.1902]. EDGAR had recently returned from South Africa, and was taking part in military operations. The Jury returned a verdict that EDGAR had been shot with a .303 military cartridge and expressed the opinion that taking ball cartridges to the grounds was most reprehensible; and a disobedience of the captain's orders to fire high was equally so.
RTHS&JWC: At the coronation celebrations at Armidale last night [9.7.1902], Trooper EDGAR a returned soldier, was killed by the explosion of some fireworks. Another accident also occurred during procession, an armoured train caught fire and two men who were inside narrowly escaped.
Gippsland Tms: A returned soldier, named EDGAR, was
accidentally killed by the explosion of a limelight apparatus during the Peace celebrations at Armidale, NSW, on Wednesday [9.7.1902].
Bne. Tele.: There was something about that fatal occurrence in Armidale, Now South Wales, which the Doctor cannot properly understand. 'A sham fight was arranged, during the
course of which one of the participants, a young man who had gone through the Boer war unscathed, was horribly wounded with a bullet and died. The jury brought in a verdict of a most remarkable nature. They said that to take ball cartridge to a sham fight was most reprehensible, and therefore the deceased met his death through a bullet wound. It would have been far more to the point to have returned a verdict of wilful murder against somebody unknown.
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| Source References | |
Murray: Official Records of the Australian Contingents etc. page(s) 136
B5204: National Archives of Australia series B5204 folder 11A
Source:# Oz-Boer contributed source number 1399
NSW BDMs: NSW Births Deaths & Marriages Index number(s) 1879/8375 & 1902/8238
Syd. Herald : Sydney Morning Herald newspaper date(s) 1.2 & 10, 12 & 25.7.1902
Hbt. Mercury: Hobart Mercury newspaper date(s) 16 & 18.7.1902
Chronicle: Chronicle newspaper Adelaide SA date(s) 12.7.1902
Sydney Mail: Sydney Mail newspaper date(s) 2.8.1902
QldTIps.: Queensland Times, Ipswich Herald & General Advertiser newspaper date(s) 19.7.1902
PeakHExp: Peak Hill Express newspaper date(s) 18.7.1902
Northern Miner: Nortnern Miner (Charters Towers) newspaper date(s) 26.7.1902
RTHS&JWC: Riverina Times, Hay Standard & Journal of Water Conservation (Hay NSW) newspaper date(s) 10.7.1902
Gippsland Tms: Gippsland Times newspaper date(s) 14.7.1902
Bne. Tele.: Brisbane Telegraph newspaper date(s) 25.7.1902
| | External Link URL1 | | www.warmemorialsnsw.asn.au/Details.cfm?MemNo=970 | | External Link URL2 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14455708 | | External Link URL3 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14454781 | | External Link URL4 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9585203 | | External Link URL5 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article87825177 | | External Link URL6 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14432688 | | External Link URL7 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165386254 | | External Link URL8 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article124144475 | | External Link URL9 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107242342 | | External Link URL10 | | nla.gov.au/nla.news-article84841215 |
Please email me if you can
contribute any other relevant information about this person (eg any
other military service, where in Australia they came from or when/where
they died). Also, if you find an external link broken.
Apology: For some time now it has been difficult to keep up with the newly available sources (especially the Trove newspaper site) plus the flow of contributions and queries. So I have been forced to prioritise maintenance and data entry over replying to correspondence. Nevertheless, your contributions are being added to the database and acknowledged on the contributions page and, although my replies are many months behind, I will attempt to get to them more often.
The
Oz-Boer Database
is copyright and may not be used for any commercial purpose.
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