Cape police?

[Chris Boonzaier]

A friend of my uncle writes the following... if anyone can help...

My grandfather James Walsh, a seaman, "jumped ship" in Table Bay 1900/1901. He married my grandmother in 1905.

At the time of his arrival in Cape Town, one had to have a certificate from an office in London (50 pounds) and one had to prove that one had 100 pounds with which to support oneself before being allowed to leave the ship. You can bet my grandfather had neither.

A possible scenario for what he was doing between 1900/1901 and 1905 (or at least part of that time) was that he was "captured" and put to use in the British Army. Not so unlikely as may seem as I have been told of at least 2 other Irish sailors who served in the British Army during the Boer War. 30000 Irishmen fought on the British side in the War the vast majority, of course, being in regiments like the Royal Irish Fusiliers.

A distant relative of mine in Ireland sent me an e-mail part of which I quote below. Note that I had not mentioned the Boer War or anything remotely connected with it in my correspondence with him.

"i remember my uncle william hogan telling me that an uncle of his was in the cape police and he had a photo of a man in uniform wearing a tunic and riding britches and a wide brimmed hat pinned up to one side....he also told me of an uncle who was in the mounties in canada...not sure if these uncles were hogans or walshs."

Two things are important in the above statement. The use of the words "cape police" and the uncles being Hogans or Walshs. If the latter, it could only have been my grandfather. The Cape Police were a British Army unit made up of local people during the Boer War. My grandfather was never in Canada to our knowledge.

I have two questions.

1) Where can I obtain the names of those (privates?) who made up the Cape Police?

2) Where can I view their uniform or a photo of their uniform?

Any assistance will be gratefully received

[Brett Hendey]

As the name implies, the Cape Police were the police force of the Cape Colony and they were in existence long before the Boer War started in 1899. Cape Police records are preserved in the Cape Town repository of the National Archives of South Africa. A local researcher will be required to search for and copy any records relevant to this enquiry. The Archives in Cape Town will, or should have a list of local researchers and they can be contacted via the National Archives website.

Regards

Brett

[Mervyn Mitton]

To see the Cape Police uniform - go back on this Forum , probably a few pages. Will Endley owns a full one and posted it - together with other equipment.