Private James Powell - 24th Regiment

Posts : 6 Join date : 2024-11-23 Location : Vancouver,BC

Private James Alfred Powell
24th Regiment - 25 Bde Regimental number 456

We have this info about my GGF from an old Family Bible.It comes from a form signed at Baracks Brecon dated 30 October(or Aug) 1880 and says he is being transferred after 6 years length of service.Trade looks like it says "Servant" and age 24.

I wonder if he was a servant to an officer serving at the Zulu War .
He has been very hard to track down, don't know where born - Wales,Ireland ??

The only other paper we found in the old Bible is a Reference dated November 1885 in Nowshera(India/Pakistan) saying that the bearer James Powell has served in G Company 1st BN Royal Irish Fusiliers for the last 3 years and has been Waiter in the Canteen over a year

signed JL(?) Steavenson Captain 1st Bn RIF(the Officer commanding his Company)

James Powell passed away in Whanganui,New Zealand in January 1901 aged 44 years after having married and then fathering 5 daughters, the eldest of whom was my Grandmother.

Does anyone by chance have any info on him from the South Africa time of engagement by the 24th Reg - is not clear if he was 1st or 2nd,I would assume he was Servant to an officer in one of the 2nd's Companies.Part of my thought process is that perhaps this officer transferred over to SWB after the 1880 reforms and then onto the Fusiliers at some point.

Posts : 65 Join date : 2024-02-15 Location : Somerset

Good evening,

His entry in the Noble 24th is as follows:

POWELL, James. 25B/456 Private
Enlisted at Waterford, Ireland 30/11/1874; age 18 years 6 months. South Africa Medal with clasp 1877-8.

The clasp detail may indicate service in B Coy. 1/24th but somebody with access to the pay and muster roll details may be able to confirm that. I have a note on my spreadsheet that says 'invalided home' but I am not sure where I got that detail.

Sorry that is all I have, there are other forum members who will probably have more to offer.

Regards
Dash

Posts : 6 Join date : 2024-11-23 Location : Vancouver,BC

Thank you SO very much for that, and your quick response.....answers a lot of questions

Posts : 65 Join date : 2024-02-15 Location : Somerset

Hi,

I should have added that if it is confirmed he served in B Coy. 1/24th he spent the duration of the Zulu War at a location on the St. John's River, Pondoland.

Sorry for not including that earlier.

Regards
Dash

Posts : 3388 Join date : 2009-03-03 Location : Devon

90th has provided this image..

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Posts : 6 Join date : 2024-11-23 Location : Vancouver,BC

Many Thanks - so what is the Image above?Is that a Muster Roll?What does "Discharged AGL 82" mean.

(James was still in the 24th and transferred from Baracks Brecon in October 1880).

From Dash's input - he was probably in the 1st Battalion(as received the 1877/78 Medal) - and assumption he was in B Company under Cpt HA Harrisson located back in Pondoland,not in either D or G which were in 1879 in Helpmekaar,as I think that those soldiers also received the 1879 Bar.

Is there any way of knowing when he was Discharged,or a way to confirm which Battalion and Company he was with - I started looking at the Muster Roll listings and got totally flummoxed.

Also from Dash,he enlisted in Waterford in 1874.Would that have meant he probably lived in the Waterford,Ireland area ?Another post on this site says that the 24th Regiment was based in Dublin prior to the move to Brecon in 1873 - so in the 1860's ,it was more based in Ireland....?

(I feel very privileged to have found his grave on a lovely spot overlooking the Whanganui River,on my latest trip back to my homeland last November)

Posts : 65 Join date : 2024-02-15 Location : Somerset

Evening,

The image provided by 90th/Graves appears to me to be a list for the medal/clasp entitlement for the soldiers of the 24th Regiment. I don't know the exact meaning of AGL82 - was never very good at acronyms - but believe it could relate to the authority under which he was discharged to the reserve or discharge.

The pay and muster rolls are handwritten documents, which can at times be very difficult to read. The National Archives holds records for the 1/24th for example WO16/1574 covers the 1st Battalion for the period 1879-80.

The fact he appears to have had further service in the 1st Bn. Royal Irish Fusiliers I find interesting. The Royal Irish Fusiliers - if my memory is correct - was formed by the amalgamation of the 87th and 89th Regiments - 1st Bn. (old 87th) 2nd Bn. (old 89th), I'm sure somebody will correct me if I am wrong. It is possible, if he transferred to the reserve he could have been recalled to the colours which could account for the later service.

All speculation on my part, I am not the real expert on the pay rolls, but hope some of this helps. There would be a few on the forum who would probably like to see the grave if you have pictures, and they would provide any assistance you required if you need help uploading to the forum.

Regards
Dash

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Just a snapshot of what the pay and muster rolls look like.

Subject: Pte James Powell - 24th Regt Mon Dec 02, 2024 4:40 am

Thanks Andy much appreciated .
90th Very Happy

Posts : 6 Join date : 2024-11-23 Location : Vancouver,BC

Thanks!
There was a mention on another Topic on this site, of a photo taken of Captain H A Harrisson with B Company,I believe it said at Fort Warwick "that has been used in several books on the AZR"

Does anyone have a copy of this image ,or can direct me to one of the books it was in......I can then try and hunt down the book at our Vancouver Library.

In the meantime,I'll start sleuthing more on the Archives site.

Subject: Private James Powell 24th Regt Tue Dec 03, 2024 2:28 am

BritNZCan
As far as I'm aware Capt Harrison's B Compmany 1/24th was never at Fort Warwick which was in Zululand , although a Company of the 2/24th was garrisoned there . St Johns is on the Eastern Cape between Durban and East London , nowhere near Fort Warwick . Happy to be corrected Very Happy

90th

Subject: Re: Private James Powell - 24th Regiment Tue Dec 03, 2024 8:53 am

Gary,

It is a case of two Fort Warwick. Harrisson’s Fort Warwick was established at the conclusion of the 9th Cape Frontier War. Whereas the second Fort Warwick dated from June 1879.

JY

Posts : 65 Join date : 2024-02-15 Location : Somerset

Hello,

Without trying to sound impertinent, I appreciate the structure of a good fortification as well as the next man, but the question was in what book(s) could the image be viewed. Right enough of my impertinence, I'm off back into the shadows.

Regards
Dash

Posts : 6 Join date : 2024-11-23 Location : Vancouver,BC

Thanks,
The Topic I was referring to was dated Jan 13,2013
"Can anyone confirm location of B Company 1/24 in Jan 1879"

Response from Kwajimu 1879 was...
"......were in Pondoland....
There's a photograph of the company which gets used a lot in books under the command of Captain HA Harrisson"

There was also another Topic about a photograph with Harrisson that mentioned a Fort Warwick.But I also recall a discussion about him with H Company in a photograph - of course H company was the reconstituted B Company after 23rd January 1879 which Harrisson led.

So I guess what I'm looking for is direction to a book/books with a photograph of Harrisson with his men either before Jan 1879(B Company ) or after Jan 1879 (the remade H Company)

Subject: Re: Private James Powell - 24th Regiment Tue Dec 03, 2024 3:30 pm

The photograph appears in The Hill of the Sphinx by F. W. D. Jackson. The original photograph was loaned to the production company behind the film Zulu, by the then curator of the S.W.B.’s Museum, however it was never returned. Fortunately, prior to this David Jackson had made a copy of the original.

JY

Subject: Re: Private James Powell - 24th Regiment Tue Dec 03, 2024 8:55 pm

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]
Captain Harrisson’s Company, St. John’s River.
Copyright - Property of the Regimental Museum of the Royal Welsh, Brecon.

Posts : 6 Join date : 2024-11-23 Location : Vancouver,BC

THANKYOU so very much all- you’ve been a tremendous help..
Wendy

Subject: Private James Powell 24th Regt Wed Dec 04, 2024 4:00 am

Thanks JY.
90th

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