GRAYSON, James
| Service Number: | 106 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry |
| Born: | Queensland, Australia, 6 March 1877 |
| Home Town: | Killarney, Southern Downs, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Farmer |
| Died: | Myocardial Failure, Warwick, Queensland, Australia, 27 January 1968, aged 90 years |
| Cemetery: |
Warwick General Cemetery, Qld Plot: C of E Section, Row E, Grave 65 |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 106, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Nov 1899: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 106, 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. | |
| 25 Aug 1900: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 106, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, National Archives Australia- Boer War Dossier notes, invalided returned to Australia aboard Persic arriving Brisbane 18 Aug 1900, discharged 25 Aug 1900. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
Note- The Australian Boer War Memorial descendant database contains a biography attributed to this soldier. However as discussed further below, based on records on this soldier held by National Archives Australia, it appears the biography is for a person who may not be the same Private James Grayson S.N. 106 who served with the 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry.
In the biography on the Boer War Memorial database, it is noted the full name of the person was John James Grayson, a son of George and Emily Grayson born about 1885, who had lied about his age to enlist. It also notes that he died about 1963.
A search of BDM Queensland birth and death registrations reveals that this John James Grayson was born on 11 Oct 1885, a son to George Grayson and Emily Grayson (nee Benglas), and died on 30 Nov 1963. Enlistments for the 1st Queensland Contingent occurred around Oct 1899 with the contingent embarking from Brisbane on 1 Nov 1899, at which point this person would have been fourteen years and 21 days old?
The age alone would seem unlikely, given most of the enlistments in the 1st contingent appear to have been in their 20s with a sizeable number drawn from men who were already serving in volunteer regiments of the Queensland Defence Force around Queensland. The biography also notes that he remained lifelong friends with fellow Boer War veterans from Warwick, Charlie Hobbs and Jim Mitchell. A search though of the Boer War Nominal Roll, compiled by Murray, indicates that no persons with the names Charles (or Charlie) Hobbs, or James (Jim) Mitchell served with Queensland contingents in the Boer War?
National Archives Australia holds three separate records pertaining to Boer War soldier James Grayson S.N. 106 from Queensland. The first is a Boer War Dossier, under Boer War service records, which only contains details of his invalided return to Australia with the only identifying detail being his post discharge address of Killarney via Warwick.
The other two records, under Other Defence Records, are repatriation case files being, a pension case file, and a medical case file, which unfortunately are not currently digitised. Assuming the medical case file may contain details of the soldier’s death that may definitively identify the soldier, a request was put to NAA to see if they could view the folder and advise.
NAA kindly reviewed the medical case file and found it contained a death certificate that indicated James Grayson died on 27 Jan 1968 at the Base Hospital, Warwick, from Myocardial Failure at the grand age of 90 years. This indicates that the James Grayson S.N. 106 is different to the person in the biography on the Australian Boer War Memorial database. The NAA information, and corresponding information sourced from Queensland BDM records, has been utilised to produce the following biography for the James Grayson S.N. 106 that served in the 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry in the Boer War.
When he 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 J. Grayson, single, Killarney via Warwick. He contracted enteric fever and was invalided from Bloemfontein returning to Australia aboard Persic arriving in Brisbane on 18 Aug 1900 with discharge on 25 Aug 1900.
After discharge he returned to Killarney where a reception and presentation was held on 6 Sep 1900 for his return from the war as reported in The Evening Observer, 20 Sep 1900, and The Warwick Examiner and Times, 15 Sep 1900. As reported, one of the speakers Mr. T. J. Howell, noted he had known Jim from his infancy indicating he was born in the district. It appears he would be a lifelong resident in the Warwick district where he would pass in 1968 at the age of 90.
James Grayson was born on 6 Mar 1877 in Queensland, a son to Thomas Grayson and Elizabeth Grayson (nee Mawhirt). He married Hannah Mary Ann Hone Fletcher on 31 Oct 1906 at Stowell Vale Station near White Swamp, across the border in NSW in the Tenterfield district. They would reside in the Killarney/Warwick district where they had 5 children.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 452; Australian Boer War Memorial- database bio; NAA- Boer War Dossier; NAA- Repartiation Medical Case File; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 1st QMI, Bk 1 p. 48; Newspaper articles- see links).