FERGUSON, William Isaac
| Service Numbers: | Not yet discovered |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Captain |
| Last Unit: | 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen |
| Born: | Gympie, Queensland, Australia, 5 March 1872 |
| Home Town: | Gympie, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | Cooroy, Queensland, Australia, 14 August 1950, aged 78 years, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: |
Cooroy Cemetery, Queensland, Australia Plot: Presbyterian, Row F, #1 |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Lieutenant, Queensland Imperial Bushmen | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Captain, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen | |
| 18 May 1900: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Lieutenant, 4th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 475 notes 4th QIB embarked 18 May 1900 aboard Manchester Port arriving Beira 14 Jun 1900. | |
| 1 Apr 1901: | Transferred Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Captain, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 493 notes transferred to 5th QIB which arrived in Port Elizabeth 1 Apr 1901. | |
| 5 May 1902: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Captain, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 491 notes 5th QIB embarked at Cape Town 27 Mar 1902 aboard St Andrew returning to Australia arriving Brisbane 30 Apr 1902, disbanded 5 May 1902. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
William Isaac Ferguson embarked as a Lieutenant with the 4th Queensland Imperial Bushmen and on return to Australia was serving as a Captain with the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen. Information from AWM Bore War Nominal Roll, Murray pages 479 and 493.
Biography contributed by Claude McKelvey
His father, Lt-Col William Ferguson was a pioneering resident of Gympie and was instrumental in forming the first military corps in the district. William Isaac Ferguson is likely to have served in the local corps before volunteering for the Boer war and in 1900 was appointed as a Lieutenant in the 4th Queensland Imperial Bushmen. He then transferred to, and was appointed Captain in, the 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen who had arrived in South Africa to relieve the 4th.
When he was entered in the original roll of the 4th Queensland Imperial Bushmen Contingent (NAA- B 5172) his N.O.K. was recorded as his father, Mary St, Gympie. He wasn't recorded in the original nominal roll for the 5th QIB, however, he was recorded in both the Boer War Service Paybooks of the 4th and 5th QIBs (Qld State Archives), the later noting his transfer from the 4th.
In both entries in the service paybooks it is noted he directed part of his pay to Mrs. Sarah D. Ferguson, Wintersdorf, Gympie. Wintersdorf was at the time the well-appointed family home, his father a successful businessman having established the business of Ferguson Bros. General Store.
After completion of his service in the 5th QIB he remained in South Africa for employment with the National Bank of South Africa, where in 1907 he was manager of the Harrison St. Branch in Johannesburg when it was held up, as reported in Darling Downs Gazette, 23 Mar 1907. His father passed in 1919 at Gympie and in his obituary, it was noted that his son William was back in Qld living at Cooroy.
William Isaac Ferguson was born on 5 Mar 1872 at Gympie, a son to William Jeremiah Ferguson and Sarah Dorothea Ferguson (nee Bennett). He married Elizabeth Florence Thompson.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 479 and 493; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 4th QIB, Bk 1 p. 19, and 5th QIB, Bk 4 p. 31; National Archives Australia- B 5172 Nominal Roll of 4th Queensland Contingent Queensland Defence Force for service in South Africa, p. 1).
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