Colonel William Dunbar

I have spent a bit of time trying to locate the grave of
Colonel William Dunbar 2/24th in the hope of visiting and paying respects.
Most of my successful grave visits have come about by using the excellent section on this forum but for this one I had to do a lot of more in-depth detective work.
I tracked his grave down by contacting the local council and they sent me a map of where the grave could be found. When I visited the graveyard I found no trace of the gravestone or grave.
I wrote back to the council and they have suggested it could be possible to lay a flat memorial headstone or a marker in roughly the area of the grave.
I am waiting for a response back but I would imagine this would not be done for free by the council!
Could anyone suggest my next port of call? Royal Regiment of Wales/SWB museum?

JCAWG

Hello JCAWG,

I take it you tracked him down to the Calton Burial Ground in Edinburgh? I visited there back in 2009 & again a few months ago in case I'd missed the headstone, but still nothing there.

Unfortunately, unless you can persuade a local mason to donate a memorial for free it may have to be a case of raising the funds via donations.

Regards,

Tim

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"William Matthew Dunbar was born in Cork on 21 October 1833. Commissioned an Ensign in the 34th Regiment on 5 January 1855 and promoted to Lieutenant in March the same year. Served in the Crimea, February 1855-June 1856, seeing action at the assault of the Redan, 8 September 1855 and the siege and fall of Sebastopol (Medal with Sebastopol clasp and Turkish medal). He then served in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny, including actions at Cawnpore, 26-28 November 1857, the siege and capture of Lucknow; capture of the fort at Meanee Gunge; relief of Azinghur; defeat of the rebels at Bootwul and the action at Bhowanie (Medal with Lucknow clasp). Promoted to Captain in September 1862, he exchanged to the 24th Regiment in March 1863 and was promoted to Major in November 1874.

Then, with the 2nd Battalion 24th Regiment, he served in the Kaffir War of 1878. Commanded the 1st Battalion 24th Regiment in the second advance into Zululand in 1879 and was present at the battle of Ulundi, for which he was mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 28 November 1879); received the brevet of Lieutenant-Colonel and the medal with clasp 1877-8-9. It is recorded that during the Zulu campaign, Dunbar, an experienced officer, had several ‘run-ins’ with inexperienced staff officers on the safety of camps and their siting, on one occasion resigning his commission on the spot when Crealock suggested that he was afraid to be at a certain site. It required the diplomatic skills of Lord Chelmsford to persuade him to retract his resignation. Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in May 1880, he was placed on Half Pay in September 1880. Appointed to Gentleman-at-Arms on 16 June 1882 and Honorary Colonel in September 1883, retiring on 9 January 1891 after service during the Queen’s Jubilee of 1887, for which he was awarded his fifth medal; this being named to him in his official capacity as a Bodyguard to the Queen."

Source DNW

William Mathew, Colonel DUNBAR = Hannah Margaret Lorain GEDDES


Married 10 Jul 1862, Newington, Edinburgh. Episcopalian.


William Mathew, Colonel DUNBAR


Born 21 Oct 1833, Cork Ireland
Died 15 Apr 1900, 52 GeorgeSq. Edin. (seen Will)
At marriage in 1862 in Edinburgh was lieutenant in the 34th(signature looks like HW Dunbar)
Gentleman-at-arms to Queen Victoria from 1882 to 1890 and Colonel in the 24th Foot. Crimea Medal with clasp Sebastopol
Turkish Medal
Indian Mutiny medal with clasp 1877-8-9.
Info from Museum of Royal Regiment of Wales Brecon, which has his travelling chest from the Anglo-Zulu campaign.
Crimea from 55, incl attack on Redan and siege of Sebstopol.
Indian Mutiny incl. Cawnpore 57, capture of Lucknow and fort at Gunge, relief of Azinghur, victory at Brotwul and affair at Bowhanie.
Commanded 1st Bn 24th Reg second advance into Zululand.
London Gazette 28/11/1879.
Commanded 1st Bn 1880
South Africa 78-80
Kaffir War 77-78
Zulu War 79, at Ulundi 4/7/79.

Source F462Dunbar

From Dix, Noonan & Webb

Date of Auction: 11th December 2013

Sold for £330
Jubilee 1887, silver (Colonel W. M. Dunbar, Body Guard) minor edge bruising, very fine, rare £200-300


William Matthew Dunbar was born in Cork on 21 October 1833. Commissioned an Ensign in the 34th Regiment on 5 January 1855 and promoted to Lieutenant in March the same year. Served in the Crimea, February 1855-June 1856, seeing action at the assault of the Redan, 8 September 1855 and the siege and fall of Sebastopol (Medal with Sebastopol clasp and Turkish medal). He then served in the suppression of the Indian Mutiny, including actions at Cawnpore, 26-28 November 1857, the siege and capture of Lucknow; capture of the fort at Meanee Gunge; relief of Azinghur; defeat of the rebels at Bootwul and the action at Bhowanie (Medal with Lucknow clasp). Promoted to Captain in September 1862, he exchanged to the 24th Regiment in March 1863 and was promoted to Major in November 1874. Then with the 2nd Battalion 24th Regiment he served in the Kaffir War of 1878. Commanded the 1st Battalion 24th Regiment in the second advance into Zululand in 1879 and was present at the battle of Ulundi, for which he was mentioned in despatches (London Gazette 28 November 1879); received the brevet of Lieutenan-Colonel and the medal with clasp 1877-8-9. It is recorded that during the Zulu campaign, Dunbar, an experienced officer, had several ‘run-ins’ with inexperienced staff officers on the safety of camps and their siting, on one occasion resigning his commission on the spot when Crealock suggested he that was afraid to be at a certain site. It required the diplomatic skills of Lord Chelmsford to persuade him to retract his resignation. Promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in May 1880, he was placed on Half Pay in September 1880. Appointed to Gentleman-at-Arms on 16 June 1882 and Honorary Colonel in September 1883, retiring on 9 January 1891 after service during the Queen’s Jubilee of 1887 for which he was awarded his fifth medal; this being named to him in his official capacity as a Bodyguard to the Queen. These medals were personally presented to the Gentlemen-at-Arms by the Queen, which probably explains why they were so named.