FELLOWS, Isaac
| Other Name: | Jeavons-Fellows, Isaac - True name |
|---|---|
| Service Number: | 214 |
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry |
| Born: | Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, 1867 |
| Home Town: | South Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Storekeeper, Gold Miner |
| Died: | Silicosis, Morningside, Durban, South Africa, 1 September 1943 |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 214, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov 1899: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 214, 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. | |
| 24 Oct 1900: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 214, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks, Bk 1 p. 124, notes discharged in South Africa on 24 Oct 1900. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
Note- while the AWM Boer War Nominal Roll compiled by Murray records him as Isaac Fellows his actual name was Isaac Jeavons-Fellows which was recorded as such in the Boer War Service Paybooks for the 1st QMI held by Qld State Archives.
When Isaac (Jeavons-) Fellows 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 Private I. Fellows, single, Ervingston, George and Charlotte Streets, South Brisbane. In the Boer War Service Paybooks for the 1st QMI, Bk 1 p. 124, he was recorded under his full name of I. Jeavons-Fellows.
The paybooks note that, like a number of the men, he was seconded to the South African Police between 19 Jun 1900 and 14 Sep 1900. Further, the paybooks note that he sought and was granted his discharge in South Africa on 24 Oct 1900. It appears that he applied to enlist with South African forces in 1915 for WW1 but given his age it is unclear if he saw active service.
He lived the rest of his life in South Africa passing in 1943 with details on his birth etc extracted from his death notice sourced on the online genealogy site FamilySearch.
Isaac Jeavons-Fellows was born in 1867 at Birmingham, England, a son to Thomas Jeavons-Fellows and Maria Jeavons-Fellows (nee Langford). It is unclear when he came to Australia but newspaper reports in the early 1890s have him living and working in the Illawarra district in NSW. In 1893 he was one of 3 partner storekeepers in the firm "J. T. Wynn and Co" at Corrimal, NSW, when the partnership was dissolved so he could leave the business.
By Mar 1894 he was running his own grocery business "I. Jeavons-Fellows Commercial Stores" at Corrimal. In Jul 1894 he nominated for election as an alderman in the Borough of North Illawarra following the resignation of a sitting alderman.
By Apr 1896 he was located at Bundaberg, Qld, where he was the manager of the "London, Edinburgh, and Dublin T. Company" selling My Favourite and O.K. Teas. It is unclear how long he had been in Brisbane prior to enlisting in 1899 as the address he gave, "Ervingston", was a well known lodging house at the time.
Following his discharge in South Africa in Oct 1900 he was living at Durban working as a storekeeper when he married, Australian born, Annabella "Bella" Macdonald on 1 Feb 1901 and they had one child. Bella passed in 1918 while they were living at Johannesburg where Isaac was working as a gold miner. He married a second time to Olive Rosalind Owens-Smith (who also was Australian born) on 1 Jan 1923, at St Mary's Church, Johannesburg and they had two children.
He was retired and living back in Durban with his wife and children when he passed in 1943. It appears his working in the gold mines caused him to contract miners phthisis for which he was granted a pension with his official cause of death recorded as Silicosis. He passed on 1 Sep 1943 at Durban with his age recorded as 76 years 5 months.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 452; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 1st QMI, Bk 1 p. 124; various newspaper articles- see links; "South Africa, Pietermaritzburg, Estate Files 1846-1950", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QLR2-R421 : Sat Jan 18 21:33:40 UTC 2025), Entry for Isaac Jeavons-Fellows, 1943).