Tpr. R. G. Nicholson. Diamond Fds Horse

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"Richard Granville Nicholson was born at Rondebosch, Cape Town, on 8 March 1859, son of John Granville Nicholson. He was
educated in Cape Town and moved to the Transvaal in 1876 where he joined the Diamond Fields Horse. He took part in the Gaika and
Galeka wars 1877-78, and the Griqualand rebellion of February 1878. According to the South African Who’s Who 1931-32, he also
served in the ‘Zulu War of 1879-80 at Kambula and Ziobanne. Assegai wound at latter place. Seccocoeni 1880, Basuto, 1881. Mapoch
1883.’ He accompanied Major Granville when he escorted Empress Eugenie through portion of Zululand in 1880 to visit the grave of
her son, the Prince Imperial.
Nicholson raised a Boer expeditionary party to enter Mashonaland in 1889-90, but was persuaded by Cecil Rhodes to join the Pioneer
Column instead. He duly raised the Zoutpansberg section of the Corps, and led it south-west to Mafeking in May 1890 in the rank of
Lieutenant and Intelligence Officer. He returned to South Africa soon after the disbandment of the Pioneer Corps.
He fought for the Z.A.R. during the Boer War, serving with his scouts in Natal, and later as Staff Officer to General Beyers. He was a
Member of the Legislative Assembly, first Transvaal Parliament, 1907. He was returned unopposed for Waterberg in the first Union
Parliament, 1910. Served in German South-West Africa in 1914-15 as a Major in the 3rd Mounted Brigade, being mentioned in
despatches (London Gazette 22 August 1918) and awarded the O.B.E. in June 1919.
Major Nicholson died at his farm, Mathiba’s Kraal, Pietersburg, on 17 September 1931, when newspapers all over the country carried
reports that typically described him as ‘probably the best known man in the Northern Transvaal, a mighty hunter, a friend of Selous,
who knew the Northern part of South Africa as very few indeed knew it.’
In addition to the O.B.E. and Zulu War Medal, Nicholson received the Union Medal 1910, the Anglo-Boer War medal, 1914-15 Star
trio, the B.S.A. Co. medal for Mashonaland 1890, and most probably the Cape General Service Medal. Some of these remain with his
descendants in South Africa."

Hi all

I do not believe that he took part in the Zulu War of 1879.

Hi Andy
I know it's not infallible but Nicholson isn't on the DFH Roll in Forsythe for 77-78-79.
90th

I have a Medal to Trooper Robert Welby also of the Diamond Fields Horse. He served during the Gaika Reballion in 1878 only and has that clasp. He emmigrated to Australia and died here in Sydney. I also have photos of him, in and out of uniform and a photcopy of his African Diary. Interesting reading.

Apropos Nicholson - I posed the question as to the DFH's involvement in the Zululand campaign in this post https://www.1879zuluwar.com/t10392-diamond-fields-horse-in-zululand

The consensus of opinion was that they were simply not in Natal at the time. What Williams was doing in Natal is still a mystery. He was, most likely, attached to another outfit (NNC?) but the facts remain elusive. All I know is that he appears on the medal roll with a "tick" under the Zulu campaign column.

Regards

Rory

More Boar war, than Zulu War.

https://www.amazon.com/Oupa-OBE-Fighter-Granville-Nicholson/dp/1928359035

The first post in this topic posted by LH, Doesn't show the medal

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For the period of the SAGS 1877-8-9 medal, all members of Colonial units signed on as volunteers for a six month period only, bearing in mind that many were farmers or had businesses that could not be left for excessive periods of time. History had shown that six months was quite often plenty of time for relatively speedy punitive expeditions to settle with a frontier tribe. Many other ranks and officers were, however, quite happy to sign on again at the end of their six-month term, if the unit was not disbanded (there were always financial pressures to do so from the Cape authorities who financed most campaigns), or join another unit if it was. Thus it is quite possible for a man serving right through the period covered by the medal of Sept 1877 to November 1879 to serve in five different units. Claims for the medal could be made as a unit (usually in 1881 and1882), where the units still existed or where commanding officers were still in possession of muster/pay rolls, or be made by individuals providing details of their service including units and COs thereof on a claim form. Sadly, only a dozen or so of these have survived, but several show multiple units.
The question then arises which unit name would be engraved on the medal. For unit claims it is almost certain to be that unit, regardless of any other unit served with, but for individual claims it seems to be without system but I don't know for sure. I have heard that it was "first unit served with" but that is certainly not always the case. Many mistakes were made too, e.g The medal named to Lt Von Hohenon, Cape Mtd Rifles, who was assegaied to death in 1877, well before the FAMP, with whom he actually served, was reconstituted as CMR the following year.
So the moral is, one cannot assume that the unit named on a SAGS medal is the only one served with. Certainly, the DFH as a unit did not serve in Zululand. Nicholson had been a member of its predecessor units in Kimberley as far back as 1876 and almost certainly fought in the Gaika/Gcaleka campaigns and ops in Grigualand West in 1878. But in 1875 he had become a Burger of the Zuid Afrikaanse Republiek. Also, a Burger Nicholson is recorded as serving with the Burger Force under Uys as part of the Northern Column in early 1879 (SA Military History Journal). Nicholson told his children that he had fought at Holbane and was wounded in the face sometime in the Zulu War. Uys led 32 men according to Terry Sole, who had identified just 20. There thus seems a possibility that RG Nicholson was amongst them. Can anybody add to Terry's list of names?

http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol044fm.html

Further to above, I see that Terry Sole mentions 42 men as being recruited by Uys, and this is supported by Huw Jones in Boiling Cauldron, commenting that they could "never muster more than 40". The figure of 32 is the number believed to have taken part in the attack on the East side of Hlobane. Comparing Terry's and Huw's lists, there are 18 names common to both, plus 2 in For God, Queen etc and a different 9 in Huw's list in SAMHJ Vol 13/3. There are a further 4 mentioned in The Red Book. Thus in total 33 inc P.L.Uys.