Bugler Fred Jackson; Natal Carbineers KIA Isandlwana

Bugler Fred Jackson, Natal Carbineers KIA Isandlwana. Born Dec 1862, Bradford Yorkshire. He was my great uncle. The first photo is the memorial to him on the family tomb in the old cemetery in Commercial Road, Pietermaritzburg. The second photo is the memorial at Isandlwana. A further family connection is that Fred's brother, Percy, became an architect and was commissioned to design and supervise the memorial at Isandlwana. You can see the similarity of both memorials as they share a design and type of stone.

Fred's remains were found 20 Jun 1879 with those of Malcolm Moodie about 400 yards towards the camp from where Lt Scott and the other Carbineers were found with Col Durnford (Report from Lt Royston 30 June 1879 Natal Witness).
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Lt Royston, Natal Carbineers led the burial party. Moodie and Fred Jackson's bodies were found together between the camp and the Carbineer's last stand. Talking with Adrian Grieves suggests that they may have been carrying ammunition down to their comrades from the camp.

Moodie was known to have been injured that day and had stayed in camp. He had lent his horse to his cousin, Edward Greene. So it is possible that Fred was sent to the camp to get more ammo and Malcolm Moodie helped him carry it back. They were probably caught out in the open when the left horn of the Zulu force broke through.

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The information about Moodie and his circumstances on the day come from the family. Greene continued to serve with the Carbineers. The blog on Moodie says that 79 spent cartridges were found next to the remains by burial parties. I asked where such information was recorded but so far this has proved elusive. The Carbineer historians say that Royston's full report was lodged with military archives. The South African military archives say that the report is not available and was probably destroyed when old records were pulped during the paper shortage of WW1.

The Moodie family ran a transport rider business from Natal into the Transvaal. Malcolm's family hit it big through gold mining claims on the Witwatersrand and became very wealthy. The family built Tuin Huis in Cape Town which was bought by Rhodes and subsequently has become the Presidential Residence of the RSA.