Colonel James Sutherland Wilkins Indian Medical Service died 1916
In
Loving Memory
Of
Col. J.S WILKINS I.M.S. D.S.O
of Stayer House, Eye
Died Oct.27th 1916 Aged 65
“Then are they glad, because they are at rest”
The British Medical Journal had an obituary for him in their edition of the 11th November 1916.
Colonel James Sutherland Wilkins, D.S.O., Bombay Medical Service (retired), died at Stayer House, Eye on October 27th, aged 65. He was born on May 18th 1851, took the diplomas of L.R.C.P Lond. in 1873, and M.R.C.S. in 1874, and entered the I.M.S. as surgeon on March 31st, 1874. He became surgeon-major on March 31st 1886, surgeon lieutenant-colonel on March 31st 1894, brigade surgeon lieutenant-colonel on August 16th 1897, and colonel on October 2nd, 1900, retiring on November 11th, 1905. He served in the second Afgham war in 1880, when he took part in the march from Quetta to the relief of Kandahar, receiving the medal; in Burma in 1886-87, when he was mentioned in dispatches, and gained the medal with two clasps, and the D.S.O.; and in South Africa in 1902, gaining the Queen’s medal with three clasps. He also received the Kaisar-i-Hind medal, 1st class, on January 1st, 1901.
Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2354981/?page=1
Alternative Source: www.bmj.com/content/2/2915/670.6
Born 18th May 1851
See obituary above. The same information is also given in the entry for his DSO award, (see below for sources).
1864 – birth of his future wife
The birth of Dora Sophia Lee French was recorded in the Hoxne District of Suffolk in the April to June quarter of 1864.
1871 Census for England and Wales
A 19 year old James Wilkins, a Medical Student from India, was recorded as a lodger at 23 Merrick Square, Newington, London.
His future wife, the 6 year old Dora S L French, born Worlingworth, Suffolk, was recorded at The Rectory, Worlingworth. This was the household of her parents, Frederic,(aged 47 and the Vicar of Worlingworth + Southolt, from Eye) and Anna Maria, (aged 42 and from London, Middlesex. Dora has 7 siblings.
1874 Appointment to to Bombay division of the Indian Medical Service.
The admission of James Sutherland Wilkins as a Surgeon, effective 31st March 1874 appears in the London Gazette dated 28th August 1874.
Source: www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/24126/page/4203/data.pdf
1878-1880 – Second Afghan War
The Second Anglo–Afghan War was fought between the United Kingdom and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended after the British emerged victorious against the Afghan rebels and the Afghans agreed to let the British attain all of their geopolitical objectives from the Treaty of Gandamak. Most of the British and Indian soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan. The Afghan tribes were permitted to maintain internal rule and local customs but they had to cede control of the area's foreign relations to the British, who, in turn, guaranteed the area's freedom from foreign military domination. This was aimed to thwart expansion by the Russian Empire into India.
(After an initial peace treaty was signed in May 1879), British representatives were installed in Kabul and other locations, British control was extended to the Khyber and Michni passes, and Afghanistan ceded various North-West Frontier Province areas and Quetta to Britain. The British Army then withdrew.
However, on 3 September 1879 an uprising in Kabul led to the slaughter of Sir Louis Cavagnari, the British representative, along with his guards, and staff – provoking the next phase of the Second Afghan War.
Major General Sir Frederick Roberts led the Kabul Field Force over the Shutargardan Pass into central Afghanistan, defeated the Afghan Army at Char Asiab on 6 October 1879, and occupied Kabul two days later. Ghazi Mohammad Jan Khan Wardak, and a force of 10,000 Afghans, staged an uprising and attacked British forces near Kabul in the Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment in December 1879. Despite besieging the British garrison there, he failed to maintain the Siege of Sherpur, instead shifting focus to Roberts' force, and this resulted in the collapse of this rebellion. Yaqub Khan, suspected of complicity in the massacre of Cavagnari and his staff, was obliged to abdicate. The British considered a number of possible political settlements, including partitioning Afghanistan between multiple rulers or placing Yaqub's brother Ayub Khan on the throne, but ultimately decided to install his cousin Abdur Rahman Khan as emir instead.
Ayub Khan, who had been serving as governor of Herat, rose in revolt, defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Maiwand in July 1880 and besieged Kandahar. Roberts then led the main British force from Kabul and decisively defeated Ayub Khan on 1 September at the Battle of Kandahar, bringing his rebellion to an end. Abdur Rahman had confirmed the Treaty of Gandamak, leaving the British in control of the territories ceded by Yaqub Khan and ensuring British control of Afghanistan's foreign policy in exchange for protection and a subsidy.
Abandoning the provocative policy of maintaining a British resident in Kabul, but having achieved all their other objectives, the British withdrew.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Anglo-Afghan_War
Relief of Kandahar
General Roberts, would personally lead a division from Kabul to rectify the recent calamity and relieve the besieged city of Kandahar. It was also arranged that General Phayre would march from Quetta in northern India with the same intention, and that General Stewart would proceed to evacuate the rest of the garrison back to India as originally planned. The Viceroy of Afghanistan was informed that Roberts would march on the 8 August with the expectation of reaching Kandahar by 2 September.
By the 24th, the relief column had reached Khelat-i-Ghilzai. General Roberts received a letter from General Primrose at Kandahar describing the sortie in the village of Deh Khoja earlier on the 16th, and informing Roberts of the situation. On the 25th, the relief column, joined now by the garrison of Kelat-i-Ghilzai, resumed their march towards Kandahar. General Phayre's relief column however had suffered many problems from his arduous trek and was still some distance from Kandahar.
(Roberts appears to have engaged the besiegers on the1st September without waiting for Phayre’s troops)
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kandahar
Phayre commanded a brigade, first in Bombay and afterwards in Rajputana, from 10 May 1875 to 4 May 1880. Having been promoted major-general on 1 Jan. 1880, he was then appointed to the command of the reserve division of the army engaged in the second campaign of the second Afghan war, and had charge of the line of communication by Quetta to Kandahar. After the disaster of Maiwand, on 27 July, he was directed to push forward to Kandahar, besieged by Ayoub Khan; but he was delayed by want of troops and transport, and Kandahar was delivered by General (afterwards Earl) Roberts from Kabul before his arrival. He was mentioned in despatches (London Gazette, 3 Dec. 1880 and 25 Jan. 1881), was included in the vote of thanks of parliament, was made K.C.B. on 22 Feb. 1881, and received the medal.
Source: en.wikisource.org/wiki/Phayre,_Robert_(DNB01)
1881 Census for England and Wales
The 16 year old Dora S L French was recorded a a dwelling on Church Street, Worlingworth, (probably the Rectory) and is described as a scholar. Her father Frederic gives his occupation as Rector or Worlingworth and Justice of the Peace for Suffolk.
1886-87 Burma Campaign
He became Surgeon-Major 31 March, 1886, and again saw active service in
the Burmese Expedition of 1886-87. He was mentioned in Despatches
[London Gazette, 2 Sept. 1887], and received the Medal and two clasps.
Source: lib.militaryarchive.co.uk/library/Biographical/library/Th...
Alternative Source: angloboerwar.com/component/grid/?gid=24_pq_0&p=21
His name was one of those brought to the attention of the expedition Commander in Chief by Brigadier-General Cox for Mention in Dispatches, although no further details are given.
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25735/page/4763/data.pdf
The same dispatch has:-
Brigadier-General A.T.Cox, commanding the 2nd Brigade, has conducted the advance on Wuntho from the north, and has carried out his instructions for the advance on that capital with skill and success.
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25735/page/4759/data.pdf
From “A History of the Hyderabad Contingent”
(Page 254) The district of Wuntho is situated to the west of the Bhamo District, north of the Shwebo District, and east of the Upper Chindwin. The Tsawbwa having refused to acknowledge British supremacy in Upper Burma, it was decided in December 1886 to send a force to seize and temporarily to control his capital. For this purpose a column, based on Katha, was to advance from the north in January, whilst at the same time a detachment under Colonel Farrington, including two squadrons of the 3rd Cavalry, Hyderabad Contingent, under Captain Gubbins and Lieutenant McSwiney, was to co-operate from the south.
The Shwebo column commenced its march on the 3rd January 1887. Advantage was taken of this advance to the Wuntho frontier to scour the country lying north of Shwebo between the Mu and the Irrawaddy, in which bands of dacoits were known to be in hiding. One hundred of the South Yorkshire Regiment and 60 lances 3rd Cavalry, Hyderabad Contingent, under Captain Gubbins, were sent vid Sabenatha to arrive at Shahgyin on the 10th January. This party came on a band of dacoits near Sabenatha on the 4th January and routed them with loss.
On the 6th January the dacoits were again attacked and five killed at the same place.
(Page 255). The advanced guard of the Shwebo column under Captain Gubbin arrived at Kawlin on 20th January, the Katha column having already entered Wuntho on the flight of the Tsawbwa. Leaving the cavalry at Kawlin, where grass was plentiful, the main body of the Shwebo column inarched into Wuntho on 26th January. On Sunday, 1st February, in consequence of a report received that Nabekgyi had been attacked, a squadron of the 3rd Cavalry, Hyderabad Contingent, under Captain Gubbins was despatched to the assistance of that post. Taking 82 lances of his 1st Squadron and 22 of the 3rd Squadron, Captain Gubbins marched towards Hlutaik, and encamped at Nyaungu on 2nd February. At 2 a.m. his camp was attacked by two or three hundred dacoits, and the sentries at both ends of the camp were shot down simultaneously, one being killed outright, and the other, although severely wounded, remaining at his post and continuing to return the enemy's fire. For this brave action he was afterwards admitted to the 3rd class of the Order of Merit "for conspicuous gallantry when the camp was attacked by a large number of dacoits, on which occasion, while on sentry duty, he, although severely wounded, resolutely maintained his post until reinforced." A duffadar was also wounded, and a horse and three ponies shot. The attack lasted some time, but fortunately the bullets went high, owing to the formation of the ground. The enemy's loss was unknown, but marks of blood were found in the vicinity. Captain Gubbins attempted to pursue at daybreak, but found the ground impracticable for cavalry near the confluence of the Dunga and Mu rivers, and marched to Okan, where he encamped.
On the 4th February, hearing that these dacoits were assembled six Action at miles off at Laka, Captain Gubbins surprised them with 50 men and killed 16, while some escaped wounded.
The troops were withdrawn to Kawlin on 1st April, the Tsawbwa having complied with the terms offered him.
Source: www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/A_History_of_the_Hyd...
From reading it the article here reads like a Burmese perspective on the resistance to the British,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_resistance_movement_1885%E2...
1891 Census for England and Wales
The 27 year old Dora S L French was living at The Rectory, Worlingworth. Her brother William, who would later introduce Dora to her future husband, was at home and gives his occupation as 2nd Lieutenant Lancashire Fusiliers. Father “Frederick” is Rector of Worlingworth cum Southolt and a Justice of the Peace.
1891 Companion of the Distinguished Service Order
He was created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order [London
Gazette, 30 May, 1891]: "James Sutherland Wilkins, Surgeon-Major,
Indian Medical Service." The Insignia were sent to the Commander-in–
Chief in India and the presentation took place on 7 Dec. 1891.
Source: lib.militaryarchive.co.uk/library/Biographical/library/Th...
Alternative Source: angloboerwar.com/component/grid/?gid=24_pq_0&p=21
This was in the 1891 Birthday Hours.
The 1891 Birthday Honours were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The Queen, and were published in the London Gazette on 29 May 1891and in The Times on 30 May 1891.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1891_Birthday_Honours
31st March 1894
Promotion to Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel, Bombay Medical Establishment. (London Gazette 22nd June 1894)
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26524/page/3574/data.pdf
16th August 1897
Promotion to Brigade Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel, Bombay Establishment. (London Gazette 11th January 1898).
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26928/page/167/data.pdf
2nd October 1900
Promotion to Colonel, Bombay Establishment. (London Gazette dated 1st January 1901)
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27262/page/6/data.pdf
1st January 1901
Award of the Kaisar-I-Hind Medal for Public Service in India
books.google.co.uk/books?id=3VQTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA172&...
1901 Census for England and Wales
The 36 year old Dora S L French was living at The Rectory, Worlingwort with her parents Frederic, (77) and Anna Maria, (72). There were various grand-children living with the couple plus numerous servants.
Service in South Africa
William Cotton French was born on the 26th January 1871, the youngest son of the Rev’d Frederic French, Rector of Worlingworth, Suffolk. After being tutored at home by a governess in his youth, he was privately tutored in his early teens, along with his brother Francis, at Wymondley House, Hertfordshire.
He was then educated at Wellington College in Berkshire, before being accepted to train as an officer cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He took a commission in the Lancashire Fusiliers in about 1890 as a 2nd Lieutenant. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 26th July 1892.
He married Evelyn Mary Rose at Worlingworth on 24th October 1899. They had three children: Hugh Rose French, John William French and Doreen Evelyn French. On the 10th July 1901, he was promoted to Captain and served in South Africa. It is thought that his children were all born in South Africa. He met and became a friend of Colonel James Sutherland Wilkins, the future husband of his sister Dora, who was commander of the Boer concentration camps in South Africa. William became a Major in October 1903 in the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Gurkha Rifles, after his service in South Africa. In 1907, the regiment became, on the orders of the King and Queen, the 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles. The regiment was part of the Expeditionary Force that was sent to France in 1914. William was killed in action on the third day of the Battle of Neuve-Chappelle on March 12th 1915 and is buried at Le Touret Military Cemetery. He stood on the parapet and fired a Very pistol to light up no man's land as the Germans counter-attacked and was fatally wounded in the head.
The regimental history recounts “he died instantaneously whilst setting a wonderful example of courage and coolness that he was proverbial for. The day before he died, he called on his men nearby to bring in a wounded man, who was lying in front of the parapet about 50 yards away. When no-one volunteered at once, he took off his overcoat and brought him in himself, Fisher helping him. He was one of the most loveable characters I have ever known and there is no-one here in the Regiment, whose loss would be more generally felt.”
His son John (Jock) William French grew up in the army tradition and won an MC in Italy in World War 2. Uncle Billy, as he was known by his comrades, would have been very proud of his son's achievements.
Source: www.everymanremembered.org/stories/?story=13656
The camp registers of the white camps, which are preserved in the DBC series, National Archives, Pretoria and the SRC series, Free State Archives. Although the majority of the registers have survived, some (like Kroonstad) disappeared at the end of the war, while others (like one of the Irene registers) have vanished relatively recently. The registers vary greatly in quality. In particular, the Orange River Colony registers appear to have been rewritten in 1902, probably at the request of the second Chief Superintendent of Refugee Camps, Colonel Wilkins, and the originals have not survived. Clerks were of varying competence and the information they recorded varies in accuracy and legibility.
Source: www.archivalplatform.org/registry/entry/british_concentra...
(My emphasis – not in original)
From Page 96, Women in South African History.
By November 1901 it has become obvious to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain and to the High Commissioner, now Lord Milner, that urgent changes were needed in the camps. In the process the camps became increasingly “Indianised”, medicalised and feminised. For the Colonial Office, which had taken over the full management of the camps from the War Office, the obvious source of men skilled in the management of civilian camps was the Indeian Medical Service (IMS), which had operated in plague camps in the previous decade. Colonel JS Wilkins (in the ORC) and Lieutenant-Colonel SJ Thomson (in the Transvaal), both military doctors, were recruited from the IMS and they introduced into the camp administration a number of fellow IMS recruits. Their salaries, at £1,000 per annum, were strikingly larger than those of the previous incumbents who had had to shoulder the burden of the worst months. It is not clear, though, that their presence made much difference to the camps. Their main focus was on sanitation, where improvements had been largely achieved by 1902 anyway. They did, however, relieve Milner from the day-to-day responsibility of the camps.
Source: www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&...
1905 – Marriage
M. 1905, Dora Sopffiia Lee (d. 1906), 2nd daughter of Rev. F. French of Worlingworth Rectory, Suffolk.
prabook.org/web/person-view.html?profileId=756246
The marriage of James Sutherland Wilkins to Dora Sophia French was recorded in the Hoxne District of Suffolk in the July to September quarter of 1905.
16th September 1906 - Birth of a son
The birth of a James French Wilkins was recorded in the Hartismere District of Suffolk in the October to December quarter of 1906”
The reverse side of this memorial is one for his son, which gives this date of birth.
The death of Dora Sophia L Wilkins, aged 42, was recorded in the Hartismere District of Suffolk in the July to September quarter of 1906. I suspect Dora died in childbirth or as a result of a subsequent infection. This is confirmed by the 1907 Probate calendar, which records that Dora Sophia Lee Wilkins, of Eye Suffolk, wife of James Sutherland Wilkins, died on the 16th September 1906. Administration was granted at the Bury St Edmunds Court on the 8th May 1907 “to the said James Sutherland Wilkins, retired colonel in H.M.Indian-medical-staff.” Effects were valued at £63 10s 3d.
Source: probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Wilkins&...
1911 Census
The 59 year old James Sutherland Wilkins, a widower and a Retired Colonel in the Indian Medical Service who was born Madras, India, was recorded at Stayer House, Eye. Living with him is his spinster sister-in-law, Annie Cecilia French, aged 55 and born “Suffolk” and his son
the 4 year old James French Wilkins, born “Suffolk”. There are then three live in servants plus a visitor staying with them.
Stayer House can be seen here:_
www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-468305-stayer-house-e...
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-26075416.html
Died 27th October 1916
The death of a James S Wilkins, aged 65, was recorded in the Hartismere District of Suffolk in the October to December quarter of 1916.
The 1916 Probate Calendar has a James Sutherland Wilkins D.S.O of Stayer House, Eye, a retired Colonel in the Indian Medical Service who died on the 27th October 1916. Probate was granted on the 22nd December in the London courts to Annie Cecilia French, spinster, and Frederick William French, esquire. Effects were valued at £6,832 12s.
probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar#calendar
Colonel James Sutherland Wilkins Indian Medical Service died 1916
In
Loving Memory
Of
Col. J.S WILKINS I.M.S. D.S.O
of Stayer House, Eye
Died Oct.27th 1916 Aged 65
“Then are they glad, because they are at rest”
The British Medical Journal had an obituary for him in their edition of the 11th November 1916.
Colonel James Sutherland Wilkins, D.S.O., Bombay Medical Service (retired), died at Stayer House, Eye on October 27th, aged 65. He was born on May 18th 1851, took the diplomas of L.R.C.P Lond. in 1873, and M.R.C.S. in 1874, and entered the I.M.S. as surgeon on March 31st, 1874. He became surgeon-major on March 31st 1886, surgeon lieutenant-colonel on March 31st 1894, brigade surgeon lieutenant-colonel on August 16th 1897, and colonel on October 2nd, 1900, retiring on November 11th, 1905. He served in the second Afgham war in 1880, when he took part in the march from Quetta to the relief of Kandahar, receiving the medal; in Burma in 1886-87, when he was mentioned in dispatches, and gained the medal with two clasps, and the D.S.O.; and in South Africa in 1902, gaining the Queen’s medal with three clasps. He also received the Kaisar-i-Hind medal, 1st class, on January 1st, 1901.
Source: www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2354981/?page=1
Alternative Source: www.bmj.com/content/2/2915/670.6
Born 18th May 1851
See obituary above. The same information is also given in the entry for his DSO award, (see below for sources).
1864 – birth of his future wife
The birth of Dora Sophia Lee French was recorded in the Hoxne District of Suffolk in the April to June quarter of 1864.
1871 Census for England and Wales
A 19 year old James Wilkins, a Medical Student from India, was recorded as a lodger at 23 Merrick Square, Newington, London.
His future wife, the 6 year old Dora S L French, born Worlingworth, Suffolk, was recorded at The Rectory, Worlingworth. This was the household of her parents, Frederic,(aged 47 and the Vicar of Worlingworth + Southolt, from Eye) and Anna Maria, (aged 42 and from London, Middlesex. Dora has 7 siblings.
1874 Appointment to to Bombay division of the Indian Medical Service.
The admission of James Sutherland Wilkins as a Surgeon, effective 31st March 1874 appears in the London Gazette dated 28th August 1874.
Source: www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/24126/page/4203/data.pdf
1878-1880 – Second Afghan War
The Second Anglo–Afghan War was fought between the United Kingdom and the Emirate of Afghanistan from 1878 to 1880, when the latter was ruled by Sher Ali Khan of the Barakzai dynasty, the son of former Emir Dost Mohammad Khan. This was the second time British India invaded Afghanistan. The war ended after the British emerged victorious against the Afghan rebels and the Afghans agreed to let the British attain all of their geopolitical objectives from the Treaty of Gandamak. Most of the British and Indian soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan. The Afghan tribes were permitted to maintain internal rule and local customs but they had to cede control of the area's foreign relations to the British, who, in turn, guaranteed the area's freedom from foreign military domination. This was aimed to thwart expansion by the Russian Empire into India.
(After an initial peace treaty was signed in May 1879), British representatives were installed in Kabul and other locations, British control was extended to the Khyber and Michni passes, and Afghanistan ceded various North-West Frontier Province areas and Quetta to Britain. The British Army then withdrew.
However, on 3 September 1879 an uprising in Kabul led to the slaughter of Sir Louis Cavagnari, the British representative, along with his guards, and staff – provoking the next phase of the Second Afghan War.
Major General Sir Frederick Roberts led the Kabul Field Force over the Shutargardan Pass into central Afghanistan, defeated the Afghan Army at Char Asiab on 6 October 1879, and occupied Kabul two days later. Ghazi Mohammad Jan Khan Wardak, and a force of 10,000 Afghans, staged an uprising and attacked British forces near Kabul in the Siege of the Sherpur Cantonment in December 1879. Despite besieging the British garrison there, he failed to maintain the Siege of Sherpur, instead shifting focus to Roberts' force, and this resulted in the collapse of this rebellion. Yaqub Khan, suspected of complicity in the massacre of Cavagnari and his staff, was obliged to abdicate. The British considered a number of possible political settlements, including partitioning Afghanistan between multiple rulers or placing Yaqub's brother Ayub Khan on the throne, but ultimately decided to install his cousin Abdur Rahman Khan as emir instead.
Ayub Khan, who had been serving as governor of Herat, rose in revolt, defeated a British detachment at the Battle of Maiwand in July 1880 and besieged Kandahar. Roberts then led the main British force from Kabul and decisively defeated Ayub Khan on 1 September at the Battle of Kandahar, bringing his rebellion to an end. Abdur Rahman had confirmed the Treaty of Gandamak, leaving the British in control of the territories ceded by Yaqub Khan and ensuring British control of Afghanistan's foreign policy in exchange for protection and a subsidy.
Abandoning the provocative policy of maintaining a British resident in Kabul, but having achieved all their other objectives, the British withdrew.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Anglo-Afghan_War
Relief of Kandahar
General Roberts, would personally lead a division from Kabul to rectify the recent calamity and relieve the besieged city of Kandahar. It was also arranged that General Phayre would march from Quetta in northern India with the same intention, and that General Stewart would proceed to evacuate the rest of the garrison back to India as originally planned. The Viceroy of Afghanistan was informed that Roberts would march on the 8 August with the expectation of reaching Kandahar by 2 September.
By the 24th, the relief column had reached Khelat-i-Ghilzai. General Roberts received a letter from General Primrose at Kandahar describing the sortie in the village of Deh Khoja earlier on the 16th, and informing Roberts of the situation. On the 25th, the relief column, joined now by the garrison of Kelat-i-Ghilzai, resumed their march towards Kandahar. General Phayre's relief column however had suffered many problems from his arduous trek and was still some distance from Kandahar.
(Roberts appears to have engaged the besiegers on the1st September without waiting for Phayre’s troops)
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kandahar
Phayre commanded a brigade, first in Bombay and afterwards in Rajputana, from 10 May 1875 to 4 May 1880. Having been promoted major-general on 1 Jan. 1880, he was then appointed to the command of the reserve division of the army engaged in the second campaign of the second Afghan war, and had charge of the line of communication by Quetta to Kandahar. After the disaster of Maiwand, on 27 July, he was directed to push forward to Kandahar, besieged by Ayoub Khan; but he was delayed by want of troops and transport, and Kandahar was delivered by General (afterwards Earl) Roberts from Kabul before his arrival. He was mentioned in despatches (London Gazette, 3 Dec. 1880 and 25 Jan. 1881), was included in the vote of thanks of parliament, was made K.C.B. on 22 Feb. 1881, and received the medal.
Source: en.wikisource.org/wiki/Phayre,_Robert_(DNB01)
1881 Census for England and Wales
The 16 year old Dora S L French was recorded a a dwelling on Church Street, Worlingworth, (probably the Rectory) and is described as a scholar. Her father Frederic gives his occupation as Rector or Worlingworth and Justice of the Peace for Suffolk.
1886-87 Burma Campaign
He became Surgeon-Major 31 March, 1886, and again saw active service in
the Burmese Expedition of 1886-87. He was mentioned in Despatches
[London Gazette, 2 Sept. 1887], and received the Medal and two clasps.
Source: lib.militaryarchive.co.uk/library/Biographical/library/Th...
Alternative Source: angloboerwar.com/component/grid/?gid=24_pq_0&p=21
His name was one of those brought to the attention of the expedition Commander in Chief by Brigadier-General Cox for Mention in Dispatches, although no further details are given.
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25735/page/4763/data.pdf
The same dispatch has:-
Brigadier-General A.T.Cox, commanding the 2nd Brigade, has conducted the advance on Wuntho from the north, and has carried out his instructions for the advance on that capital with skill and success.
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/25735/page/4759/data.pdf
From “A History of the Hyderabad Contingent”
(Page 254) The district of Wuntho is situated to the west of the Bhamo District, north of the Shwebo District, and east of the Upper Chindwin. The Tsawbwa having refused to acknowledge British supremacy in Upper Burma, it was decided in December 1886 to send a force to seize and temporarily to control his capital. For this purpose a column, based on Katha, was to advance from the north in January, whilst at the same time a detachment under Colonel Farrington, including two squadrons of the 3rd Cavalry, Hyderabad Contingent, under Captain Gubbins and Lieutenant McSwiney, was to co-operate from the south.
The Shwebo column commenced its march on the 3rd January 1887. Advantage was taken of this advance to the Wuntho frontier to scour the country lying north of Shwebo between the Mu and the Irrawaddy, in which bands of dacoits were known to be in hiding. One hundred of the South Yorkshire Regiment and 60 lances 3rd Cavalry, Hyderabad Contingent, under Captain Gubbins, were sent vid Sabenatha to arrive at Shahgyin on the 10th January. This party came on a band of dacoits near Sabenatha on the 4th January and routed them with loss.
On the 6th January the dacoits were again attacked and five killed at the same place.
(Page 255). The advanced guard of the Shwebo column under Captain Gubbin arrived at Kawlin on 20th January, the Katha column having already entered Wuntho on the flight of the Tsawbwa. Leaving the cavalry at Kawlin, where grass was plentiful, the main body of the Shwebo column inarched into Wuntho on 26th January. On Sunday, 1st February, in consequence of a report received that Nabekgyi had been attacked, a squadron of the 3rd Cavalry, Hyderabad Contingent, under Captain Gubbins was despatched to the assistance of that post. Taking 82 lances of his 1st Squadron and 22 of the 3rd Squadron, Captain Gubbins marched towards Hlutaik, and encamped at Nyaungu on 2nd February. At 2 a.m. his camp was attacked by two or three hundred dacoits, and the sentries at both ends of the camp were shot down simultaneously, one being killed outright, and the other, although severely wounded, remaining at his post and continuing to return the enemy's fire. For this brave action he was afterwards admitted to the 3rd class of the Order of Merit "for conspicuous gallantry when the camp was attacked by a large number of dacoits, on which occasion, while on sentry duty, he, although severely wounded, resolutely maintained his post until reinforced." A duffadar was also wounded, and a horse and three ponies shot. The attack lasted some time, but fortunately the bullets went high, owing to the formation of the ground. The enemy's loss was unknown, but marks of blood were found in the vicinity. Captain Gubbins attempted to pursue at daybreak, but found the ground impracticable for cavalry near the confluence of the Dunga and Mu rivers, and marched to Okan, where he encamped.
On the 4th February, hearing that these dacoits were assembled six Action at miles off at Laka, Captain Gubbins surprised them with 50 men and killed 16, while some escaped wounded.
The troops were withdrawn to Kawlin on 1st April, the Tsawbwa having complied with the terms offered him.
Source: www.forgottenbooks.com/readbook_text/A_History_of_the_Hyd...
From reading it the article here reads like a Burmese perspective on the resistance to the British,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burmese_resistance_movement_1885%E2...
1891 Census for England and Wales
The 27 year old Dora S L French was living at The Rectory, Worlingworth. Her brother William, who would later introduce Dora to her future husband, was at home and gives his occupation as 2nd Lieutenant Lancashire Fusiliers. Father “Frederick” is Rector of Worlingworth cum Southolt and a Justice of the Peace.
1891 Companion of the Distinguished Service Order
He was created a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order [London
Gazette, 30 May, 1891]: "James Sutherland Wilkins, Surgeon-Major,
Indian Medical Service." The Insignia were sent to the Commander-in–
Chief in India and the presentation took place on 7 Dec. 1891.
Source: lib.militaryarchive.co.uk/library/Biographical/library/Th...
Alternative Source: angloboerwar.com/component/grid/?gid=24_pq_0&p=21
This was in the 1891 Birthday Hours.
The 1891 Birthday Honours were appointments by Queen Victoria to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the British Empire. The appointments were made to celebrate the official birthday of The Queen, and were published in the London Gazette on 29 May 1891and in The Times on 30 May 1891.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1891_Birthday_Honours
31st March 1894
Promotion to Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel, Bombay Medical Establishment. (London Gazette 22nd June 1894)
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26524/page/3574/data.pdf
16th August 1897
Promotion to Brigade Surgeon Lieutenant-Colonel, Bombay Establishment. (London Gazette 11th January 1898).
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/26928/page/167/data.pdf
2nd October 1900
Promotion to Colonel, Bombay Establishment. (London Gazette dated 1st January 1901)
www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/27262/page/6/data.pdf
1st January 1901
Award of the Kaisar-I-Hind Medal for Public Service in India
books.google.co.uk/books?id=3VQTAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA172&...
1901 Census for England and Wales
The 36 year old Dora S L French was living at The Rectory, Worlingwort with her parents Frederic, (77) and Anna Maria, (72). There were various grand-children living with the couple plus numerous servants.
Service in South Africa
William Cotton French was born on the 26th January 1871, the youngest son of the Rev’d Frederic French, Rector of Worlingworth, Suffolk. After being tutored at home by a governess in his youth, he was privately tutored in his early teens, along with his brother Francis, at Wymondley House, Hertfordshire.
He was then educated at Wellington College in Berkshire, before being accepted to train as an officer cadet at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. He took a commission in the Lancashire Fusiliers in about 1890 as a 2nd Lieutenant. He was promoted to Lieutenant on 26th July 1892.
He married Evelyn Mary Rose at Worlingworth on 24th October 1899. They had three children: Hugh Rose French, John William French and Doreen Evelyn French. On the 10th July 1901, he was promoted to Captain and served in South Africa. It is thought that his children were all born in South Africa. He met and became a friend of Colonel James Sutherland Wilkins, the future husband of his sister Dora, who was commander of the Boer concentration camps in South Africa. William became a Major in October 1903 in the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Gurkha Rifles, after his service in South Africa. In 1907, the regiment became, on the orders of the King and Queen, the 3rd Queen Alexandra’s Own Gurkha Rifles. The regiment was part of the Expeditionary Force that was sent to France in 1914. William was killed in action on the third day of the Battle of Neuve-Chappelle on March 12th 1915 and is buried at Le Touret Military Cemetery. He stood on the parapet and fired a Very pistol to light up no man's land as the Germans counter-attacked and was fatally wounded in the head.
The regimental history recounts “he died instantaneously whilst setting a wonderful example of courage and coolness that he was proverbial for. The day before he died, he called on his men nearby to bring in a wounded man, who was lying in front of the parapet about 50 yards away. When no-one volunteered at once, he took off his overcoat and brought him in himself, Fisher helping him. He was one of the most loveable characters I have ever known and there is no-one here in the Regiment, whose loss would be more generally felt.”
His son John (Jock) William French grew up in the army tradition and won an MC in Italy in World War 2. Uncle Billy, as he was known by his comrades, would have been very proud of his son's achievements.
Source: www.everymanremembered.org/stories/?story=13656
The camp registers of the white camps, which are preserved in the DBC series, National Archives, Pretoria and the SRC series, Free State Archives. Although the majority of the registers have survived, some (like Kroonstad) disappeared at the end of the war, while others (like one of the Irene registers) have vanished relatively recently. The registers vary greatly in quality. In particular, the Orange River Colony registers appear to have been rewritten in 1902, probably at the request of the second Chief Superintendent of Refugee Camps, Colonel Wilkins, and the originals have not survived. Clerks were of varying competence and the information they recorded varies in accuracy and legibility.
Source: www.archivalplatform.org/registry/entry/british_concentra...
(My emphasis – not in original)
From Page 96, Women in South African History.
By November 1901 it has become obvious to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, Joseph Chamberlain and to the High Commissioner, now Lord Milner, that urgent changes were needed in the camps. In the process the camps became increasingly “Indianised”, medicalised and feminised. For the Colonial Office, which had taken over the full management of the camps from the War Office, the obvious source of men skilled in the management of civilian camps was the Indeian Medical Service (IMS), which had operated in plague camps in the previous decade. Colonel JS Wilkins (in the ORC) and Lieutenant-Colonel SJ Thomson (in the Transvaal), both military doctors, were recruited from the IMS and they introduced into the camp administration a number of fellow IMS recruits. Their salaries, at £1,000 per annum, were strikingly larger than those of the previous incumbents who had had to shoulder the burden of the worst months. It is not clear, though, that their presence made much difference to the camps. Their main focus was on sanitation, where improvements had been largely achieved by 1902 anyway. They did, however, relieve Milner from the day-to-day responsibility of the camps.
Source: www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&...
1905 – Marriage
M. 1905, Dora Sopffiia Lee (d. 1906), 2nd daughter of Rev. F. French of Worlingworth Rectory, Suffolk.
prabook.org/web/person-view.html?profileId=756246
The marriage of James Sutherland Wilkins to Dora Sophia French was recorded in the Hoxne District of Suffolk in the July to September quarter of 1905.
16th September 1906 - Birth of a son
The birth of a James French Wilkins was recorded in the Hartismere District of Suffolk in the October to December quarter of 1906”
The reverse side of this memorial is one for his son, which gives this date of birth.
The death of Dora Sophia L Wilkins, aged 42, was recorded in the Hartismere District of Suffolk in the July to September quarter of 1906. I suspect Dora died in childbirth or as a result of a subsequent infection. This is confirmed by the 1907 Probate calendar, which records that Dora Sophia Lee Wilkins, of Eye Suffolk, wife of James Sutherland Wilkins, died on the 16th September 1906. Administration was granted at the Bury St Edmunds Court on the 8th May 1907 “to the said James Sutherland Wilkins, retired colonel in H.M.Indian-medical-staff.” Effects were valued at £63 10s 3d.
Source: probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar?surname=Wilkins&...
1911 Census
The 59 year old James Sutherland Wilkins, a widower and a Retired Colonel in the Indian Medical Service who was born Madras, India, was recorded at Stayer House, Eye. Living with him is his spinster sister-in-law, Annie Cecilia French, aged 55 and born “Suffolk” and his son
the 4 year old James French Wilkins, born “Suffolk”. There are then three live in servants plus a visitor staying with them.
Stayer House can be seen here:_
www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-468305-stayer-house-e...
www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-26075416.html
Died 27th October 1916
The death of a James S Wilkins, aged 65, was recorded in the Hartismere District of Suffolk in the October to December quarter of 1916.
The 1916 Probate Calendar has a James Sutherland Wilkins D.S.O of Stayer House, Eye, a retired Colonel in the Indian Medical Service who died on the 27th October 1916. Probate was granted on the 22nd December in the London courts to Annie Cecilia French, spinster, and Frederick William French, esquire. Effects were valued at £6,832 12s.
probatesearch.service.gov.uk/Calendar#calendar