PEART, James Alfred
| Service Number: | 524 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | 1 April 1901, Onboard SS Templemore on the day of arrival at Port Elizabeth. |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen |
| Born: | Scarsdale, Victoria, Australia, 1869 |
| Home Town: | Brisbane, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Died: | United States of America, 1946, cause of death not yet discovered |
| Cemetery: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 524, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Apr 1901: | Enlisted Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 524, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Onboard SS Templemore on the day of arrival at Port Elizabeth. | |
| 1 Apr 1901: | Involvement Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 524, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB, Bk 4 p. 139, notes he enrolled aboard SS Templemore on 1 April 1901, the day it arrived at Port Elizabeth. | |
| 12 Jun 1902: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 524, 5th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB, Bk 4 p. 139, notes returned to Australia aboard Aurania arriving Brisbane 5 Jun 1902, discharged 12 Jun 1902. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
Murray, in his compilation of the AWM Boer War Nominal Roll on p. 504 to 505, notes members of the 5th QIB who enrolled/enlisted in South Africa.
James Alfred Peart enrolled in South Africa with the 5th QIB and as such was not recorded on the original nominal roll for the 5th Queensland (Imperial Bushmen) Contingent held by National Archives. He was however, recorded in the Boer War Service Paybooks of the 5th QIB, Bk 4 p. 139, where it is noted he enrolled aboard the Templemore on 1 April 1901 the day the ship arrived at Port Elizabeth.
The paybooks note his contact details as care of W. S. Shearer, H.M. Customs, Brisbane. W. S. Shearer was an officer in H.M. Customs warehouse branch and it is possible James was also working in the organisation when he decided to join up for the Boer war. The Brisbane Courier, 16 May 1902, reported that he remained in hospital in South Africa suffering jaundice when the 5th QIB returned to Australia. The paybooks note he returned to Brisbane, aboard Aurania, where he was discharged 12 Jun 1902.
It appears that he emigrated to Canada in Sept 1902 and then to the USA. On a "Manifest of Alien Arrivals" at New York in 1918, he noted he was born at Scarsdale, Victoria, Australia and his ocupation was a foreman. He gave his nearest relative in Australia as his brother Thomas at Birregurra, Victoria. He identified as Canadian having last lived at Toronto and having emigrated from Australia to Quebec in Sep 1902 aboard S.S. Ionian. He indicated he had previously been in New York from 1904 to 1917 with passage paid by the Army, suggesting he had been in the military forces of Canada or the USA.
James Alfred Peart was born in 1869 at Scarsdale, Victoria, a son to Robert Peart and Frances Peart (nee Hounam). He was one of 9 children two of whom, including his brother Thomas, had been born in England before his parents emigrated to Australia.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 504; National Archives Australia- B 5172 Nominal Roll of 5th Queensland (Imperial Bushmen) Contingent Queensland Defence Force for service in South Africa; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 5th QIB, Bk 4 p. 139; "New York, Northern Arrival Manifests, 1902-1967", FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q23H-12W1 : Sat Apr 12 20:43:47 UTC 2025), Entry for James Alfred Peart, 1918).