LIEUT.-COL. HENRY RICHINGS BOUSFIELD

C.M.G., J.P., of St. Andrew's St., Durban, and the Durban and Royal Natal Yacht Clubs, was born at Winchester, Hants, May 3, 1863, and is the eldest son of the late Rt. Rev. Henry Brougham Bousfield, D.D., Bishop of Pretoria, was educated at All Hallowes, Honiton and Sherborne. He was attached to H.M. Ordnance Dept., Transvaal, 1879-80 (Zulu and Sukukeni wars) ; joined the Transvaal Civil Service (Col. Secy's. Dept.), 1880, and was employed on staff duties during the siege of Pretoria in the
Boer War of 1880-1 ; attached Acct.-Gen.'s Dept. of the Army at Pretoria, Aug. 1881, and was appointed to the Natal Civil Service in the following Sept. Subsequently he became Chief Clerk and Registrar of the Circuit Court ; J.P. for the County, 1886 ; and acting Magistrate in Durban in 1889. He resigned the Natal Civil Service in Oct., 1890, and was called to the Bar of the Inner Temple in Nov., 1892. He was admitted Advocate of the Supreme Courts of Natal (1893), and the Cape of Good Hope
(1899), and was Commissioner in Natal of the Supreme Court of the Transvaal in 1902.

He joined the Royal Durban Rifles as Lieut, in 1886, was Capt. in Natal Royal Rifles 1888, receiving his majority and the command of the Durban Light Infantry in 1893, and transferred to the Reserve, Natal Volunteers, 1895. During the S.A. War he acted as Station Staff Officer at Durban, 1899-1900, being mentioned in despatches and receiving the C.M.G., 1902. Col. Bousfield has now retired from the service. He married, Apr. 22, 1890, Coral, second daughter. of the late Rt. Hon. Sir Harry Escombe, P.C. Q.C., LL.D., M.L.A., late Premier of Natal.

Hi littlehand

I am unable to find him on the medal roll. Also born in 1863 would only put him at 15 when the war broke out.

Thanks Graves. "Would only put him at 15 when the war broke out" Not Un-heard of.

Littlehand. They may have been some mix-up with his father.

It was in October, 1877, when the Metropolitan visited the Transvaal, that it was decided to form the country into a separate diocese to be called by the name of the capital--Pretoria. The Bishop selected for the post was the Rev. H. B. Bousfield, Vicar of Andover. He was consecrated in England on the Feast of the Purification, 1878, and reached Pretoria on January 7, 1879.The Bishop arrived in stormy times, as the Zulu War was then in hand, and the end of that year saw a revival of hostilities with the native chief, Sekukuni, who had more than once before given serious trouble; and this was followed in December, 1880, by the revolt of the Boers and the first Boer War. The result of that war was, of course, to put back the work of the English Church, as many of our countrymen left the Transvaal. Much, however, remained to be done both among the English settlers and among the natives. The Rev. A. Temple, who afterwards became Archdeacon, was at this time active among the natives of the Potchefstroom district; and for the English mining population of Johannesburg the Rev. J. T. Darragh was appointed Priest-in-charge, and afterwards Rector of S. Mary's,
a post he has held ever since. He has done splendid work for [145/146] the Church of CHRIST both before and since the war.In 1902 Bishop Bousfield died, and was succeeded by Bishop Carter, translated from Zululand. His coming, which synchronized with the termination of the great Boer War, has been followed by immense strides in the Church work of the diocese. Before the war there had been, beside the Bishop, thirty-two clergy, nearly all of whom had been expelled from the Republic at the outbreak of hostilities. When Bishop Carter took over the charge of the diocese in November, 1902, he found only twenty-six clergy at work. By the end of 1904 there were sixty-one. In that year alone ten fresh districts were provided with resident clergy, ten new churches were built and five enlarged, while two more were started, and two parish halls. There are now seventy-nine clergy (including four Archdeacons) in addition to five Army chaplains and five clergy of the Railway Mission, a great part of whose work lies within the diocese. The expenditure from the Central Fund for last year (apart from the stipends raised by congregations for their clergy) was £11,129, just about half of which was [146/147] contributed directly in subscriptions by individuals and companies, many of the larger firms giving as much as £500 or £600 each, while the total grant from England through the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel for the year was only £1,170, showing that the diocese is in a fair way to becoming self-supporting.

Officers Commanding
NATAL ROYAL RIFLES
1889 Major T McCubbin
1893 Major HR Bousfield

HR Bousfield. Boer War.

"General Buller's final despatch: Colonel T. M'Gubbin, as station commandant at various places. Major Bousfield, Natal Vols. has devoted his local knowledge, his professional skill, and his singular personal influence to making the administration of martial law easy; I owe him a deep debt of gratitude. Captain Cecil Yonge, Natal Vols. attached to Army Service Corps, and did excellent work. Colonel Dartnell was again mentioned as being unwearyingly in his efforts, while Sir W. Hely Hutchison, GCMG, Governor, Sir A. Hime, Prime Minister, Mr Hunter, CMG, manager of the Natal Railways, Mr Shaw, Chief Engineer, Mr Harrison, of the Public Works department, and the Colonial Nurses, were all most highly praised for assistance given. The General also said: "Early in the war a corps of guides was formed in Natal from colonists with local knowledge of the districts in which our forces were operating. These gentlemen rendered the greatest possible assistance. Foremost in every fight, always ready to undertake difficult or dangerous duties, they helped me equally in field operations, with supply, with transport, and in dealing with the Dutch inhabitants. To the Hon. T. K. Murray, CMG, at first, and latterly to Mr F. Struben, who were in charge, my principal thanks are due; but I am equally indebted to many others, among whom I must mention Mr F. Knight, the brothers Loxton, the brothers Alison, the brothers Whipp, the brothers Robinson, Mr Foster, Mr Macfarlane, Mr Godson, and Mr Otto Schwikkard, whose wonderful energy and great knowledge of transport details were invaluable.
The last sentence of General Buller's final despatch is as follows: "Colonists, I cannot close this report without alluding to the great assistance I have received throughout the war from the colonists of Natal. Colonel (local Brig-Gen.) J. G. Dartnell, CMG, will no doubt report through the proper channel upon the Natal Vols. I can only say that their services were invaluable to the Empire, that they took part in every engagement in Natal, and willingly remained in the field-though at great inconvenience to themselves-until they knew that their services could be spared."
Lord Robert's despatches: 2nd April 1901: Colonel Dartnell, as GOC Natal Colonists, has maintained the best traditions of the regular forces. His name stands very high in the estimation of the colonists, and he possesses the greatest influence over the natives. His advice was of much assistance in the earliest actions of the war, afterwards during the siege of Ladysmith, and finally in the general advance through the Biggarsberg to Laing's Nek, when Natal was cleared of the enemies of the Queen. Colonel Dartnell was awarded the KCB. Natal Carbineer’s - Major D. McKenzie. Natal Vol. Med. Corps - Privates E. Clark, J. Domingo, G. H. Howard, G. G. Smith. Natal Vols. - Colonel W. Royston (dead); Majors Bousfield, H. T. Bru-de-Wold, J. Hyslop, PMO. Struben's Scouts - Lieutenant R. H. Struben. Umvoti Mounted Rifles - Lieutenant Colonel G. Leuchars"

Hi 1879Graves / Littlehand.
Bousfield would have turned 16 on the 3rd of may 1879 so I dont think his age would have been a problem , he may have worked
for the Ordnance dept as a labourer and therefore '' Not on the books '' so to speak , as he hadnt joined officially ? . Does that
make sense ? . I also couldnt find him on the roll for the Ordnance Dept .
cheers 90th.