Military: Samuel Pickles - Victorian Era & Boer War

Samuel Pickles was born in Leeds in 1867, and his father died when Sam was only 3 years old. His mother remarried and had several children with her second husband. By the time he was 14, Samuel was working as a coal miner. (For more information on Sam's non-military life, please see his story in the biography section.) Then on 14 July 1885, he joined the Prince of Wales Own (West Yorkshire) Regiment. Samuel would have turned 18 just two months earlier, and his service number was 1047. Without a formal education or an apprenticeship, the army may have been the best alternative to a coal mine.

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According to his service record, Samuel was only 5'4-1/2" at the time of his enlistment. He weighed 117 pounds and had a chest measurement of 33-1/2 inches. These measurements were recorded by the army for uniforms but also for identification purposes. Although it’s possible Samuel was still growing, the family was known to be short (my grandmother, his daughter, was 4'11" tall), so he may have remained that height for the rest of his life for all we know. Growing up in poverty may have meant Sam had poor nutrition, which may have contributed to his slight build. His complexion was 'fresh,' his eyes were grey and his hair was brown. Apparently ‘fresh’ simply meant healthy as opposed to dull, pasty or sickly. His religious denomination was shown as Church of England. Scars on his right knee and left calf were listed under distinctive marks (perhaps a result of working in the coal mine for several years). Sam's character was shown as good. His service record indicates that he was in the 2nd Battalion of the regiment at one point, but it is not clear if that was throughout his military career or for just one engagement.

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Samuel served at 'home' from 10 July 1885 to 21 February 1887 (1 year and 227 days). Home could have been anywhere in the British Isles including Ireland, which was part of the United Kingdom at the time.

Samuel was then posted to India from 22 February 1887 to 9 February 1893. Different units of his West Yorkshire regiment served in different areas, but one battalion was sent to the ancient city of Mooltan, in the Punjab of India in 1878 and remained there for years. So when Samuel was arrived in India in 1887, he probably served in Mooltan (now called Multan in what is currently Pakistan).

Britain had had a presence in India from the mid 1700s. The British East India Company operated throughout the sub-continent and paid for the Indian Army to control their interests. After the Indian Mutiny in 1858, the British government sent in the regular British Army. The two armies worked along side each other, but they were completely different organizations. The British Indian Army was exclusive to India and consisted mainly of British officers with indigenous Indian enlisted men, mostly Muslims and high-caste Hindus. Samuel was in the British Army in India, which had British officers and British enlisted men and served all over the British empire. The two armies would have carried out campaigns together, however, they would not have lived together.

Photograph taken of West Yorkshire Regiment soldiers in India around the time Samuel was in army.

In 1889 the West Yorkshire regiment was moved to Meean Meer (still in the Punjab) and in 1892 was in Seetapore or Sitapur, which is now in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. In 1893, the regiment was in Burma, but that may have been after Samuel returned home as he married in Leeds, Yorkshire, in December 1892.

An artist's depiction of West Yorkshire Regiment soldiers/officers, circa 1890 by R.Simkin published on the cover of an 1892 Army & Navy Gazette. This drawing was created when Samuel Pickles was serving in India, but the uniforms depicted are officers rather than enlisted men, who would have had more modest attire.

In total Samuel spent 5 years and 354 days in India. So many of these young men went to India and then came home and continued their mundane lives. Samuel, for example, went back to coal mining.

He was again serving at 'home' from 10 February 1893 until 13 February 1893, which was just enough time to sort out his discharge. Then he was listed as 'res' from 14 February 1893 until 28 January 1900. This would appear to mean that he was in the reserves, and might indicate his willingness to continue in the army, but there may not have been enough work for the soldiers they had at the time. It was common to furlough or 'lay off' soldiers after a war or campaign.

Samuel ended up back in Leeds, where he grew up, and he returned to coal mining. On 26 December 1893, he married Margaret Connell. Margaret was 23. Sam was 25, and the marriage register shows he was working as a coal miner. Although he indicated he was Church of England on his army attestation, they were married in St. Patrick's Roman Catholic Church in Leeds, because Margaret was from an Irish Roman Catholic family. The church had been built only a couple of years before in 1891 so was practically new.

Samuel and Margaret had their first child the following year, Isabel, born in 1894. Their next child was named Luke and was born in 1896, but he died in 1897. Son John was born around 1898.

On 9 January 1900, Samuel returned to the army. He'd had active service from 1885 until 1893 and was on reserve after that. But the Boer War began in October 1899 in South Africa. Officially known as the Second Anglo-Boer War, and most recently as the South African War, this conflict lasted until May 1902.

The Boers (Dutch colonists) and the British had been in conflict for years. During the 1800s, British subjects and other Europeans settled in southern and eastern Africa. The Boers had colonized an area that they named The Transvaal Republic. When gold was discovered there, settlers from other countries moved in. The Dutch government of the colony refused to give the non-Dutch residents voting or any other rights for fear of losing power to the other Europeans, especially the British who owned significant territory in Africa. This conflict eventually turned to full-on war between the South African Dutch government and the British Empire in 1899.

Samuel was called back to the Prince of Wales Own West Yorkshire Regiment, probably at the end of 1899, and took up his post in January 1900. He retrained for 66 days before being shipped off to South Africa in April. The trip from England to southern or eastern African ports took approximately a month by ship, so he'd probably have arrived in May.

Photograph taken of West Yorkshire Regiment soldiers in South Africa in January 1900, a few months before Samuel arrived to fight in the Boer War.

In the beginning of the conflict, the British were taken by surprise by Boer attacks on their settlements and were unprepared with a weak military presence in the area. During 1899 and 1900, the Boers defeated the British in several battles and besieged three towns settled by Brits. But the arrival of reinforcements for the British army throughout 1900, including Private Samuel Pickles, ensured victory over the Boers and relieved the besieged settlements. The Boers responded with guerilla warfare tactics that lasted into 1901. The British retaliated with a 'scorched earth' policy that involved burning farms owned by both Boers and indigenous Africans. Residents, including women & children, were rounded up and put in concentration camps, where many died due to unsanitary conditions. The Boers were eventually worn down and surrendered.

The West Yorkshire Regiment spent a significant amount of its time during the war on garrison duty, which means they manned an army depot and did not go out into the field. They also 'occupied' strategic pieces of land, essentially guarding the perimeter to ensure the land did not fall into the hands of the enemy. But there were also several periods where the regiment was involved in heavy fighting and long trekking.

Unfortunately, Samuel's service record does not provide a detailed account of his time in the army and only mentioned that he was never injured during his military service. Samuel had one major campaign listed on his service record: the 'Transvaal' of 1900, and he appears on the medal rolls for the Queen's South Africa medal and the King's South Africa medal. He may have received other medals or awards during the rest of his service, but he remained a private throughout his military career so either refused or was not offered promotion.

The war ended with British victory, and the Boer forces finally surrendered on 31 May 1902. The Dutch territories were annexed, and both republics were later incorporated into the new country of South Africa.

Samuel came home in June 1902 and returned to coal mining. He was 35 years old and had spent about 10 years in active service in the army. He had several more children with his wife Margaret while living in Leeds. Samuel died of chronic bronchitis/arteriosclerosis 19 February 1932 at the age of 64. Both chronic bronchitis and arteriosclerosis have been associated with coal mining.