POPE, Rupert
| Service Number: | 333 |
|---|---|
| Enlisted: | Not yet discovered |
| Last Rank: | Private |
| Last Unit: | 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen |
| Born: | Not yet discovered |
| Home Town: | Te Kowai, Mackay, Queensland |
| Schooling: | Not yet discovered |
| Occupation: | Not yet discovered |
| Memorials: |
Boer War Service
| 1 Oct 1899: | Involvement Private, 333 | |
|---|---|---|
| 4 Apr 1901: | Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 333, 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 506 notes 6th QIB embarked at Pinkenba 4 Apr 1901 aboard Victoria arriving Cape Town 2 May 1901. | |
| 23 Jun 1902: | Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Private, 333, 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 508 notes 6th QIB embarked at Durban 17 May 1902 aboard Devon returning to Australia arriving Brisbane 17 Jun 1902, disbanded 23 Jun 1902. |
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Add my storyBiography contributed by Claude McKelvey
When Rupert Pope enlsited in 1901 in the 6th QIB and his details were published with the rank and file in The Queenslander, 13 Apr 1901, he noted his N.O.K. as Mrs. F. C. Lea, Treasury Buildings, Brisbane. In the original Nominal Roll for the 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen Contingent, held by National Archives, it is noted his relationship to his nominated N.O.K. was not disclosed indicating they were not related.
Newspaper articles in Jun 1902, and the Boer War Service Paybooks for the 6th QIB, indicate he returned from the war with the rest of the 6th QIB aboard the Devon and was discharged in Brisbane. This appears to be disputed by the obituary published for his wife when she passed in 1928. A part extract of the obituary is reproduced below which indicates he passed in South Africa after cessation of hostilities but prior to him being able to return to Australia. It is noted there is only one Rupert Pope recorded on the nominal rolls produced by Murray.
Personal: Obituary- Mrs. Pope Daily Mercury (Mackay), 12 Jun 1928, p. 6.
"...She was a native of Queensland, and belonged to a very old pastoral family being born at Walloon, a well know station in the Burnett district. Mrs. Pope was the eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ferguson, and had almost reached her 63rd year. She married Mr. Rupert Pope, of Te Kowai, in 1893, and they had one son. Mr. Pope enlisted for service in South Africa during the Boer War but did not live to return, his death taking place there after cessation of hostilities. Later the deceased had the great misfortune to lose her only child, who took ill at the Brisbane Grammar School in 1909, and died at the early age of 14 years, a shock the devoted mother never quite recovered from."
Based on the above, while no birth registration was found on BDM Qld online for Rupert Pope, it is noted his wife was born in 1865. BDM records note Rupert Pope married Margaret May Ferguson on 22 Oct 1892 in Queensland and their only child, a son, was born on 10 Oct 1894.
(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 516; National Archives Australia- B 5172 Nominal Roll for 6th Queensland Imperial Bushmen Contingent Queensland Defence Force for service in South Africa, p. 5; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 6th QIB, Bk 2 p. 115; newspaper articles as noted above and in links).
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