John McCoy b. 1844, Ireland d. 11/04/1881, Transvaal, South Africa

I'm trying to establish how John McCoy could have found his way from Northern Ireland to the Transvaal, South Africa.

His South African Death Notice doesn't give his parents' names. It states he was born in "North Ireland" and gives his occupation as Farmer.

His last will & testament states:
"I will ... the whole of my landed property consistent of two farms and also all my cattle wagons and other effects"
[url=familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS9...-Q?i=1189&cc=2520237]John McCoy Death Notice, South Africa[/url]

He died at the farm Rustplaats, near Lydenburg just 11 days after the siege that lasted eighty-four days. Casualties were four killed, including two volunteers, and nineteen wounded
[url=samilitaryhistory.org/vol052mg.html]The Besieged Towns of the First Boer War, 1880-1881 by M. Gough Palmer[/url]

I'm quite curious whether he was involved in the siege and, if so, in what capacity i.e. British Forces / Boer Forces?

He was married to Susanna Elizabeth Johanna Davis whose father was, London born, James Davis and mother was, South African born, Maria Geertruyda Janeke. He had two children with Susanna, the youngest of whom was born in 1873.

I was able to find:
First name(s) John
Last name McCoy
Service number 647
Rank Private
Unit or Regiment 2nd Bn 20th (East Devonshire) Regiment of Foot
HQ location King William's Town, South Africa
Year 1871
Country Great Britain
National Archives reference WO 12/3771
Period 01/04/1871-30/06/1871
Record set British Army, Worldwide Index 1871
Category Armed forces & conflict
Subcategory Regimental & service records
Collections from United Kingdom

You may wish to explore these files from South African National Archives:

Document 1 of 10
DEPOT KAB
SOURCE CO
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 4279
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE T22
PART 1
DESCRIPTION MEMORIAL RECEIVED. G TROLLIP. REGARDING LETTERS PATENT FOR JOHN
MCCOY.
STARTING 18910000
ENDING 18910000



Document 2 of 10
DEPOT KAB
SOURCE DOC
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 4/1/1327
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 2871
PART 1
DESCRIPTION MORTGAGE BOND. JOHN MCCOY.
STARTING 19080000
ENDING 19080000



Document 3 of 10
DEPOT KAB
SOURCE DOC
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 4/1/1327
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 2872
PART 1
DESCRIPTION MORTGAGE BOND. JOHN MCCOY.
STARTING 19080000
ENDING 19080000



Document 4 of 10
DEPOT Cory Library for Historical Research
TYPE Manuscript
REFERENCE PR4539
DESCRIPTION Michael John McCoy.
STARTING 19741202
ENDING 19741202
REMARKS 1 page. TS (carbon copy).
SUMMARY + Reference given by Elise de Villiers.



Document 6 of 10
DEPOT TAB
SOURCE LD
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 818
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE AG4123/04
PART 1
DESCRIPTION INQUEST - DEATH OF. JOHN MCCOY.
STARTING 19061120
ENDING 19061120



Document 7 of 10
DEPOT TAB
SOURCE MHG
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 0
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE O/948
PART 1
DESCRIPTION MCCOY, SUSANNA ELIZABETH JOHANNA. (BORN DAVIS).
STARTING 1878
ENDING 1878
REMARKS SURVIVING SPOUSE JOHN MCCOY.



Document 10 of 10
DEPOT TAB
SOURCE ZTPD
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 8/25
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 1162/1883
PART 1
DESCRIPTION EX PARTE APPLICATION. JAMES DAVIS IN RE ESTATE LATE JOHN MCCOY.
STARTING 18830000
ENDING 18830000

Thanks Frank.

Document 1: 1891 might be related.
Document 2: From 1908. John died 1881.
Document 3: From 1908. As above.
Document 4: From 1974?
Document 5: Missing?
Document 6: From 1906. A little late, maybe related to 2 & 3?
Document 7: His wife's Death Notice. Have seen the document.
Document 8: Missing?
Document 9: Missing?
Document 10: His father-in-law. Executor? Separation from estate?

I looked at WO 12/3771 (just the index) and it's for 20th Foot 2nd Battalion (Half Battn). Wonder what kind of information it contains? http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C2463607

WO12 are the pay and muster rolls of the various battalions. Their contents as follows.

Muster rolls and pay lists give the enlistment date, movements and discharge date of all soldiers in the British Army. From 1868 to 1883 musters may also contain lists of ‘men becoming non-effective’, found at the end of each quarter (or the beginning for regiments stationed in India) which give a man’s birthplace, along with his trade and date of death or discharge. However, these quarterly lists are not always present. From about 1868 musters may also include Marriage Rolls giving details of children and wives occupying married quarters.

In my experience they rarely contain birthplace or trade details, but you may be lucky.

Steve

Thank you Steve. Based on that I think it's absolutely worth paying for a copy.

The pay books are very large volumes which consist of alphabetical lists of names and columns of payments for each month during each quarter year. After 1868 there is usually a separate set of columns for wives "on the complement' and number of children. There is rarely anything beyond that unless, for some reason, there has been a loss or gain in pay. Having copies made of the volume would be very expensive (a single page is likely to tell you nothing other than an individual was present for the month concerned). So be wary of parting with money. If you could get to the National Archives you could of course view them all and copy them free of charge. I attach a typical page just to give you an idea of what you might get.

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Steve

Hi Rusteze, I ordered that document from National Archives. Unfortunately, no remarks or additional information (to my eyes anyway):

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