George Henry Lumsden TANCRED MID

TANCRED, George Henry Lumsden

Service Number: 35
Enlisted: Not yet discovered
Last Rank: Sergeant
Last Unit: 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry
Born: Belhelvie, Aberdeen, Scotland, 22 May 1863
Home Town: Nanango, South Burnett, Queensland
Schooling: Not yet discovered
Occupation: Dairy Farmer, Racehorse Trainer, Soldier
Died: Auckland, New Zealand, 12 February 1935, aged 71 years, cause of death not yet discovered
Cemetery: Waikumete Cemetery & Crematorium, Auckland, New Zealand
Columbarium Niche Wall Vlt
Memorials:
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Boer War Service

1 Oct 1899: Involvement Corporal, 35, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry
1 Nov 1899: Embarked Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Corporal, 35, 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.
31 Mar 1900: Promoted Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Sergeant, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 1st QMI, Bk 2 p. 105, notes promoted to Sergeant rom date of joining the 2nd Contingent on 31 Mar 1900.
23 Jan 1901: Discharged Australian and Colonial Military Forces - Boer War Contingents, Sergeant, 35, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, AWM Boer War Unit Details, Murray p. 449 notes 1st QMI embarked 13 Dec 1900 returning to Australia aboard Orient arriving Brisbane 17 Jan 1901, disbanded 23 Jan 1901.

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Biography contributed by Claude McKelvey

Note- during research it was noted that documents recording his life events in Australia and New Zealand (births, death and marriage registrations) record him as George Harry Lumsden Tancred.

George Henry (Harry) Lumsden Tancred served in both the South African (Boer) War and WW1First service was as a Corporal rising to Sergeant S.N. 35, 1st Queensland Mounted Infantry, Boer War. Second service was as a Captain, Royal Scots Fusiliers, British Army, WW1.

When he first 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 Corporal W. Tancred, married, Nanango. He was also recorded as W. Tancred on the original nominal roll for the 1st Queensland Contingent.

In the Boer war Service Paybooks for the 1st QMI, Bk 2 p. 105, however, he was recorded as G. H. L. Tancred. The paybooks also note that he directed part of his pay to Mrs. G. Tancred (with the given name of Sarah added later), Nanango, Queensland. 

George Henry (Harry) Lumsden Tancred was born on 22 May 1863 at Belhelvie, Aberdeen, Scotland, a son to Capt. Tancred. He married Sarah Ann Gillespie on 21 Apr 1897 at the Park, Esk, Qld. They made their home at Nanango, the town where her parents lived, where George was a dairy farmer and racehorse trainer.

They had 2 children, one born 3 months after he embarked to South Africa, prior to the Boer War. After he returned from the war he took his family on a 2 year tour of Europe prior to returning to Nanango where they had a further 4 children. The dates of his service in the British Army during WW1 are not to hand, but sometime between 1913 and 1918 he relocated his family to Nelson and then later Auckland New Zealand. A further child was born in New Zealand in 1918.

When he passed in New Zealand in 1935 an obituary was published in several newspapers, one of which is transcribed below.

Obituary- Mr. George H. L. Tancred. - Auckland Star, Volume LXVI, Issue 36, 12 February 1935, Page 9.

The death occurred this morning in a private hospital of Mr. George H. L. Tancred, of 14, Ladies' Mile, Remuera, aged 71 years. Mr. Tancred, who had been fishing at Taupo, returned in a sick state and was taken to a private hospital. He was the eldest son of the late Captain Tancred, of Weens, Roxburghshire, Scotland, and a nephew of Sir Harry Lumsden, of the Guides, who was mainly instrumental in the introduction of khaki in the British Army.

Mr. Tancred was a descendant of a long line who served in the British Army and Navy. He was in Queensland at the outbreak of the South African war, and was the first man to enlist there. He served through that war and later came to live in Auckland. When the Great War broke out Mr. Tancred enlisted in the Royal Scots Fusiliers, reaching the rank of captain. He is survived by Mrs. Tancred, three sons and five daughters.

(source- AWM Boer War Nominal Roll, Murray p. 453; National Archives Australia- Boer War Dossier; Qld State Archives- Boer War Service Paybooks 1st QMI, Bk 2 p. 105; Obituary- Auckland Star, 12 Feb 1935; WikiTree online genealogy biography).

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