COVELL, Henry Horton
| Service Number: | 38 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Corporal |
| Last Unit: | 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Gatton, Lockyer Valley, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Police Officer |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Corporal, 38, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov 1899: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Corporal, 38, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 448 notes 1st QMI embarked 1 Nov 1899 aboard Cornwall arriving Cape Town 13 Dec 1899. | |
| 23 Jan 1901: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Corporal, 38, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 449 notes 1st QMI embarked 13 Dec 1900 returning to Australia aboard Orient arriving Brisbane 17 Jan 1901, disbanded 23 Jan 1901. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
When Henry Horton Covell enlisted in 1899 in the 1st QMI and his details were published with the rank and file in The Brisbane Courier, 18 Nov 1899, he was recorded as Corporal H. H. Covell, single, Police Depot, Pertie Terrace, Brisbane. His entry in the Boer War Service Paybooks for the 1st QMI, Bk 1 p. 29, provide no further information like N.O.K. but note that he transfered to the South African Police on 1 May 1900.
Several newspaper reports between 1898-1899 indicate he was serving as a Constable in the Queensland Police Service at Gatton prior to enlisting in 1899. Being a serving mounted police officer probably accounts for his rank as Corporal on enlistment with the 1st QMI. Given he gave his contact details as the Police Depot, Brisbane, it suggests there was no N.O.K. and he had possibly emigrated from the likes of England.
His entry in the Boer War Service Paybooks indicate that wages paid to him ceased in Jun 1900, after he had transferred to the S. A. Police, with no indication he had rejoined the contingent or returned to Australia for discharge. Reports in several newspapers including The Brisbane Courier, 14 Mar 1902, noted several men from Australian contingents had recieved commissions as Lieutenants with the Imperial Yeomanry. Among those was a Corporal H.H. Covell, lately of the New South Wales Lancers.
Murray in his compilation fo the Boer War Nominal roll records only one soldier with the surname Covell, the said Corporal Henry Horton Covell of the 1st QMI. It is possible the newspaper inadvertently incorrectly recorded his contingent, but given the 1st QMI had returned to Brisbane in early Jan 1901, it is also possible he had transferred from the police to the NSW Lancers in South Africa. At the end of the war it is possible he remained in South Africa or sailed with the Yeomanry to England. There is no indication he returned to Australia and at the very latest his appointment with the 1st QMI would have terminated with the units disbandment on 23 Jan 1901.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 451; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 1st QMI, Bk 1 p. 29; various newspaper articles- see links).