Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Edmund St. John Vincent Brodrick, as the records have him, seems to be a bit of an enigma. Not much information can be found about his short life. The name is too common to establish any details. There are no records listed in Australia or in Queensland. There was an Edmund James Vincent Broderick, born in Victoria in 1872, but nothing can be found to match him. Searching English or Irish birth records does give a few names close to this, but no one with an exact match, so this may not be the actual person. There are no direct matches listed as Brodrick, Brodbrick or Broadbrick. Edmund must have moved to Queensland at some time and joined the 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, in B Company as Private 134. No records are available to show when he joined. In the photos of the regiment before it left Queensland, he is listed as Broadbrick. A roll lists him as 134 S Brodrick and his next-of-kin address as St. Andrews, Bradford, Dorsetshire, England, but no family members can be identified in the census or other records.

He must have been in or was in some sort of service before the war, as Murray’s says the contingent was raised from men who were in or had been in the Queensland Mounted Infantry or Queensland Defence Force. It was raised between the 13th and 28th October 1899 in Brisbane. The contingent was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Ricardo. They left on 1st November 1899, embarking on the SS Cornwall from Brisbane and arrived at Table Bay on 12th December. The disembarked at Cape Town the following day and went in two trains to Orange River. They proceeded to Belmont and played a prominent part in the action at Sunnyside on 1st January 1900, where the first Australian casualties occurred. They were also involved in the Relief of Douglas on the 2nd and in February it was involved in the Relief of Kimberley. They proceeded to Koodoosrand and were employed in operations at Paardeburg between 17th and 26th February. The contingent was then involved in engagements at Poplar Grove on 7th March and Dreifontein on 10th, and the occupation of Blomfontein on the 8th and rested at Springfontein until 31st March. They were involved in the engagement at Sanna’s Post on the 31st where the Boers ambushed the British and caused many casualties, took many prisoners and captured some guns and wagons. More serious than the loss in action was the loss of the water supply to Blomfontein, which was situated at Sanna’s Post. This greatly aggravated an epidemic of enteric fever, dysentery and cholera amongst the British army. In April they combined with other contingents to form the 3rd Mounted Infantry Corps. They left Blomfontein on 1st May, when the general advance on Pretoria commenced and were involved in various engagements in May and June.

In the list of Boer War Casualties he is just listed as E Broderick with the QMI regiment and service number 134 and it states he died on 10th June 1900 at Wynberg. Murray’s remarks he died of enteric at Bloemfontein on 25th June and has his surname spelt Broderick. A note of the listings at the Australian War Memorial has his surname spelt as Brodrick on the 2 pages he is mentioned in. So even in death confusion surrounds him. It may be Winburg he died at, as it is 120km from Blomfontein. Wynberg is near Cape Town. He may have died at Blomfontein and his body was transported to Wynberg for burial. The Morning Bulletin in Rockhampton said he was seriously ill at Cape Colony and he was from the Central Division, so this adds a bit more confusion. His grave has now been shifted to Maitland Cemetery.

He was issued the Queens South Africa medal with Paardeburg, Dreifontein and Relief of Kimberley clasps.

He is remembered at a memorial in Brisbane which reads “ In memory of the Queensland heroes who fell in the South African War 1899-1902”.


The http://www.maryboroughmuseum.org/ has his medal and would welcome any information on him.