Major E Saffery Cooper 1920

MAJOR E.SAFFERY COOPER

Born 9th June 1862

Died 27th Nov.1920

5/R.L.M., 2/D.L.I., 31/P.I., 11/R.W.F.

Egypt 1885-6……………….O *

Hazara 1887………………..O -

Malakand 1897……………O =

Great War 1914-15………@

 

(Symbols are approximations and I haven’t a clue what the originals mean – do they denote medals or ranks, etc.)

 

COOPER, E S

Rank:…………………..Major

Date of Death:…….27/11/1920

Regiment:……………Royal Welch Fusiliers, 11th Bn.

Grave Reference:…South-West part.

Cemetery:

HOVETON ST. JOHN CHURCHYARD

CWGC: www.cwgc.org/find-war-dead/casualty/2803424/COOPER,%20E%20S

 

The National Archive holds a Medal Index Card for a Major E “Sahergr” Cooper, 11th Royal Welsh Fusiliers, Indian Army under the reference WO 372/5/7938

discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/D1935462

 

The Probate Calendar for 1921 records that Edmund Saffery COOPER of the Houseboat Escia, Hoveton St John, Norfolk, a retired Major, H.M.Army, died on the 27th November 1920. Probate was granted at Norwich on the 22nd February 1921 to May Elizabeth Privett, Soinster, and Edward John Ward, sub-postmaster. His effects were valued at £4,156 12s 8d.

probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Cooper&...

 

The death of an Edmund S Cooper, aged 58, was recorded in the October to December quarter, (Q4),of 1920 in the Smallburgh District of Norfolk.

 

Birth – 9th June 1862

 

The birth of an Edmund Saffery Cooper was recorded in the South Stoneham District of Hampshire in the July to September quarter, (Q3), of 1862

 

Baptised 18th February 1863

 

An Edmund Saffery Cooper was Christened on this day at All Saints, Southampton, Hampshire.Parents were William and Mary Anne Cooper

Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NRN3-JDQ

Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NDQJ-S77

Source: familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:NN97-1QQ

 

1871 Census

 

The 8 year old Edmund S, born Shirley, Sussex, was recorded at a dwelling at Saxholm, Bassett, South Stoneham. This was the household of his parents, William, (aged 50 and a Brewer, Malster & Spirit Merchant employing 16 men and 3 boys, originally from Seaford, Sussex) and Mary A, (aged 39 and from Portsmouth, Sussex), As well as Edmund their other children are:-

James S……..aged 5…………..born Southampton, Sussex

Ida C………….aged 4……………born Southampton, Sussex

William G…..aged 2……………born Bassett, Hampshire

Marjory H…..aged 11 months…born Bassett, Hampshire.

The family then have 4 live in servants.

 

16th April 1880

 

The London Gazette of the 30th April 1880 included the announcement that Second Lieutenant Edmund Saffery Cooper of the 5th Royal Lancashire was promoted to Lieutenant effective this date.

Source: www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/24840/page/2788/data.pdf

 

1881 Census

 

By the time of this census the family have moved to 14 Hanover Buildings, All Saints, Southampton. As well as father William, (60, a Brewer employing 27 men and 1 boy) and Mary Ann, (49), children still at home are Alice Mary, (aged 21 and a Teacher from Southampton), Edmund S, (aged 18 and a Lieutenant in the Militia), Maud Elizabeth, (aged 17 and a Scholar from Southampton), James Sampson, (15), William George, (12), Norah Kate, (aged 7 and born Bassett). Also in the household is Williams’ sister, Elizabeth Cooper, (aged 63 and from Seaford, Sussex). The family have just the one live in servant.

 

19th December 1883

 

Lieutenant Edmund Saffery Cooper, from the 3rd Battalion, the East Lancashire Regiment, to be Lieutenant, vice W. Bagwell-Purefoy, transferred to the 3rd Hussars effective this date.

Source: www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25297/page/6522/data.pdf

 

1886 Army List

 

Lieutenant Edmund Saffery Cooper appears on the list of the officers of the 2nd Battalion Durham Light Infantry. He was a Regular Army Lieutenant with seniority from the 19th December 1883, having come straight in that rank. The 2nd Battalion was stationed then in Egypt.

Source: www.mocavo.co.uk/The-New-Annual-Army-List-Militia-List-an...

 

1885-86 Egypt

 

The Digest of Services of the 2nd Battalion, The Durham Light Infantry [D/DLI 2/2/14], records that on 15 February 1885, the Battalion embarked from Gibraltar for Egypt, 'to strengthen the Army of occupation there', following the fall of Khartoum to the Dervishes and the death of General Gordon. Lieutenant Colonel E.R. Coker was in command.

 

The soldiers arrived in Alexandria a week later, then went to Cairo, where they were to live in the Citadel [a fort].

 

On 29 September 1885, they moved from the Citadel into tents to undertake a six-week course of military training and musketry, but were 'most suddenly and unexpectedly placed under orders to proceed up Nile to Assouan [Aswan] to strengthen the Frontier Field Force, owing to the threatening aspect of affairs at the Front.'

 

They arrived at Aswan on 20 November, before moving on to Wadi Halfa, the southernmost frontier post of Egypt on the Nile, and then to Akasheh in December.

 

On Christmas Day they moved to Firket to join the force being assembled by General Butler, then to a place between Mozrakeh and Kosheh, where they halted for the night on 29 December. The next day they took part in the Battle of Ginnis.

 

Immediately after the end of the battle, the Battalion formed part of the pursuing force that moved south as far as Kozak, and was detailed to hold the extreme frontier post of Kosheh, where the men camped for nearly three months.

 

In April 1886, 2DLI returned to Aswan via Akasheh, then on 24 June received orders to proceed to India. During the Battalion's stay in Egypt, according to the 'Record of Services of the Durham Light Infantry' [D/DLI 2/2/135], one officer (Captain Barker), two colour sergeants, four sergeants, two corporals, two lance corporals, one bugler and 44 privates were lost from wounds or disease. A tablet to their memory was placed in Durham Cathedral.

 

Later, when they were stationed in India, the Khedive's Star was presented to the officers and men of the Battalion who had served in the Egyptian campaign.

www.durhamrecordoffice.org.uk/Pages/EgyptandSudan.aspx

See also www.durhamrecordoffice.org.uk/Pages/BattleofGinnis.aspx

 

Hazara 1887

 

All the on-line references relate to 1888.

 

The Hazara Expedition of 1888, also known as the Black Mountain Expedition or the First Hazara Expedition, was a military campaign by the British against the tribes of Kala Dhaka (then known as the Black Mountains of Hazara) in the Hazara region of what is now Pakistan.

 

On June 18, 1888 two British officers and four Gurkha soldiers were killed in an altercation between British reconnaissance patrols and antagonistic tribes. As a response, the Hazara Field Force was assembled and began its march on October 4, 1888, after an ultimatum had not been satisfied by the tribes by October 2, 1888. The first phase of the campaign ended with the Hassanzai and Akazai tribes requesting an armistice on October 19, 1888. The second phase of the campaign targeted the tribes that lived north of Black Mountain such as the Allaiwals. The campaign ended when the Allaiwal village of Pokal was occupied and destroyed by the British on November 2 and 3, 1888.

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hazara_Expedition_of_1888

 

The 9,500-man Hazara Field Force, (as the force involved in the Black Mountain expedition was called) was commanded by Major Genereal J.W.McQueen. The 1st Brigade was commanded by Brigadier General G.N Channer V.C., and the 2nd Brigade by Brigadier General W Galbraith. Each of the two brigades was divided into two columns, and there was a fifth reserve column. The difficult terrain and lack of roads necessitated smaller, more mobile columns. The total force consisted of five British and nine native Infantry battalions, one cavalry regiment, three mountain batteries, one engineer company, and four Gatling guns.

books.google.co.uk/books?id=HvE_Pa_ZlfsC&pg=PA163&amp...

see also www.roll-of-honour.com/Sussex/EastbourneSussexRegimentMem...

 

Units that made up the force:-

First Brigade

Brig Gen G.N.Channer VC

Col J.M.Sym, 1st Batt 5th Gurkhas

4th Hazara Mountain Battery (4 guns)

1st Batt Northumberland Fusiliers

One Company 2nd Battalion Seaforth Highlanders

3rd Sikhs

1st Batt 5th Gurkhas

Half 3rd Company Sappers & Miners

Col R.H.O'G.Haly, 1st Batt Suffolk Regiment

1st South Irish Div. Royal Artillery (2 guns)

1st Batt Suffolk Regiment

40th Bengal Infantry

45th Sikhs

Second Brigade

Brig Gen W.Galbraith

Lieut Col M.S.J.Sunderland, 2nd Batt Royal Sussex Regiment

1st South Irish Div. Royal Artillery (2 guns)

2nd Dejarat Mountain Battery (2 guns)

2nd Batt Royal Sussex Regiment

14th Sikhs

Half 3rd Company Sappers & Miners

Khyber Rifles (296 men)

Reserve Column

2nd Batt Seaforth Highlanders

15th Regiment of Bengal Cavalry

2nd Sikhs

Kashmir Contingent (1,392 men)

Source: wiki.fibis.org/index.php/Black_Mountain_Expedition_1888

 

19th December 1894

 

Included in a large list of changes to the Indian Staff Corps it is noted that Edmund Saffery Cooper is promoted from Lieutenant to Captain effective this date.

Source: www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26601/page/1067/data.pdf

 

16th November 1895

 

The Times of India in its edition dated 27th November 1895 reported that the marriage had taken place on the 16th November at Christ’s Church, Rawulpindi of Captain Edmund Saffery Cooper of the 31st Punjab Infantry to Emma Hill Walke. The service was officiated by the Reverend J Moulson, Chaplain. He was the oldest son of the late William Cooper Esquire of Saxholm Bassel, Southampton, while she was the second daughter of the late Reverend Eilliam Dewdney Walke of Rushall, Wiltshire.

Source: search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_detail.php?id=1025972

Official Marriage Index: search.fibis.org/frontis/bin/aps_detail.php?id=386639

 

1897 Army List

 

Captain Edmund Saffery Cooper is recorded as the Wing Officer, 31 Bengal infantry. He had previously served with the Durham Light Infantry. He was part of the Indial Staff Corps.

archive.org/stream/newannualarmy1897lond#page/400/mode/2up

 

Malakand 1897

 

The Siege of Malakand was the 26 July – 2 August 1897 siege of the British garrison in the Malakand region of colonial British India's North West Frontier Province. The British faced a force of Pashtun tribesmen whose tribal lands had been bisected by the Durand Line, the 1,519 mile (2,445 km) border between Afghanistan and British India drawn up at the end of the Anglo-Afghan wars to help hold the Russian Empire's spread of influence towards the Indian subcontinent.

 

The unrest caused by this division of the Pashtun lands led to the rise of Saidullah, a Pashtun fakir who led an army of at least 10,000 against the British garrison in Malakand. Although the British forces were divided among a number of poorly defended positions, the small garrison at the camp of Malakand South and the small fort at Chakdara were both able to hold out for six days against the much larger Pashtun army.

 

The siege was lifted when a relief column dispatched from British positions to the south was sent to assist General William Hope Meiklejohn, commander of the British forces at Malakand South. Accompanying this relief force was second lieutenant Winston Churchill, who later published his account as The Story of the Malakand Field Force: An Episode of Frontier War.

 

(Part of the besieged force were two units of the 31st Punjab Infantry, which is probably the 31st P.I. referred to on the headstone).

Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Malakand

 

N.W. Frontier of India 1897-8 – Defence and relief of Malakand. Action at Landakai. Operations in the Mamund country. Medal with 2 clasps.

(Part of his Military biography which appears in the 1915 Army list – see below.

 

19th December 1901

 

The Promotion of Edmund from Captain to Major, Indian Staff Corps, effective 19th December 1901 appeared in the London Gazette dated 25th March 1902.

Source: www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27419/page/2084/data.pdf

 

1905 Army List

 

Edmund Saffery Cooper is recorded as a Major in the Indian Army. His seniority dates from the 19th December 1901.

Source: www.mocavo.co.uk/Harts-Annual-Army-List-Militia-List-and-...

 

19th March 1905

 

The London Gazette, dated 28th April 1905, records the retirement of Indian Army Major, Edmund Saffery Cooper, effective from this date.

Source: www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27788/page/3105/data.pdf

 

1911 Census

 

Edmund Saffery Cooper, aged 48 and a Retired Major in the Indian Army from Shirley, Hampshire, was recorded as the married head of the household at The Haven, Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire. He lives there with his wife Emma Hill Cooper, aged 50 and from Devizes, Wiltshire. The couple have left blank the column about how long they have been married but state there are no children. The couple have a 31 year old live in Servant, a single woman, May Elizabeth Privett, who is probably the later executor of the estate – see probate above.The couple also have a visitor staying with them on the night of the census, a 48 year old spinster Alice Hill from Mornington, Herefordshire.

 

Great War

 

Royal Welsh Fusiliers.

 

11th (Service) Battalion

Formed at Wrexham on 18 October 1914 as part of K3 and came under orders of 67th Brigade, 22nd Division. Moved to Seaford and by December 1914 was in billets in St Leonards. Returned to Seaford April 1915 but moved on to Aldershot in June 1915.

Landed in France early September 1915 but by 5 November 1915 was at Salonika.

Source: www.longlongtrail.co.uk/army/regiments-and-corps/the-brit...

 

April to July 1915 Army List

 

Cooper, Edmund S (Major retired Indian Army.)

Soudan 1885-6 Frontier Field Force. Action of Giniss. Medal;bronze star.

Hazara Expedition, 1888 – Medal with clasp.

N.W. Frontier of India 1897-8 – Defence and relief of Malakand. Action at Landakai. Operations in the Mamund country. Medal with 2 clasps.

archive.org/stream/armylistjanvol31916grea#page/206/mode/2up

 

Epilogue

 

The death of an Emma Hill Cooper is reported on the 1933 Probate Calender. Emma, of Hanover House, Stubbington, Fareham, Hampshire, a widow, died on the 20th January 1933. Probate was granted at the London Court on the 27th May 1933 to William Alfred Hill, a retired major in H.M. Indian Army. Effects were valued at £1,078 15s 7d.

probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Cooper&...

(The death of an Emma H Cooper, aged 73, was recorded in the Gosport District of Hampshire in the January to March quarter, (Q1), of 1933).

 

Done