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'''Stanford Norman McLeod Nairne''' (born 1 January 1841 in Jamaica) was an officer and Adjutant of the [[94th Regiment of Foot]] who was killed during the first action of the [[First Boer War]] on 20 December 1880 at [[Bronkhorstspruit]], Transvaal, South Africa. He was called 'The Swart Captain' because of his mixed race, and he was mourned by both black and white people at his death.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Long|first1=Mrs Walter H C Long|title=Peace and War in the Transvaal. An account of the defence of Fort Mary, [[Lydenberg]]|date=1882|publisher=Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington|location=London|pages=viii, 118 p. : ill.|ref=OCLC Number: 51542975}} |
'''Stanford Norman McLeod Nairne''' (born 1 January 1841 in Jamaica) was an officer and Adjutant of the [[94th Regiment of Foot]] who was killed during the first action of the [[First Boer War]] on 20 December 1880 at [[Bronkhorstspruit]], Transvaal, South Africa. He was called 'The Swart Captain' because of his mixed race, and he was mourned by both black and white people at his death.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Long|first1=Mrs Walter H C Long|title=Peace and War in the Transvaal. An account of the defence of Fort Mary, [[Lydenberg]]|date=1882|publisher=Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington|location=London|pages=viii, 118 p. : ill.|ref=OCLC Number: 51542975}}</ref> |
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==Early life== |
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It is not surprising that he joined the 94th Regiment of Foot as it had a long association with Scotland. It was originally formed as the 'Scots Brigade' in 1568, for service in the Netherlands. The regiment was brought onto the British establishment, in October 1794, as the 'Scotch Brigade', renumbered as the 94th Regiment of Foot in December 1802 and disbanded in December 1818. The regiment was reformed in December 1823 and served until 1881 when it was merged with the 88th Regiment of Foot to form the Connaught Rangers<ref>{{cite web|title=94th Regiment of Foot|website=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/94th_Regiment_of_Foot}}</ref> |
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He is the son of Police Inspector Alexander Darnley Nairne (1805–1880) and his wife Anna Sarah both of Kingston Jamaica. Alexander Darnley Nairne was the son of Scotsman Daniel Nairne (born about 1750 Nairnshire, Scotland; died 1816 in [[Clarendon Parish, Jamaica]]) and Sarah Williams a Free Negress. The terms [[Free Negro]] or Free Negress are obsolete terms indicating that a slave of African descent (or their ancestor) was formally freed from the condition of slavery.<ref>Slaves were freed by their owners and this was regulated by official manumission laws: "...In the British island colonies, manumission laws were largely formulated according to the indemnification model. Indemnification amounts ranged from a fairly reasonable £50 (Bermuda, 1806), to £100 (Grenada, 1796), to a prohibitive £300 (Leeward lslands, 1798) and an even more prohibitive £500 for native and £l,000 for imported slaves (St. Kitts, 1802). Jamaica was the most liberal of the island colonies. There, waiver of the manumission bond was permitted if the vestry of the parish could be convinced that the manumission was not intended to defraud the parish or to place the burden for care of an aged or infirm slave upon the public charge. Similar proof of a slave's ability to support himself or herself was required in Dominica, Tobago, and the Bahamas, but those areas did not allow a waiver of the manumission bond.....” (quoted from The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery, Volume 1; Volume 7 edited by Junius P. Rodriguez pp 426-7, article written by Louise Heite.) With reference to the above statement “Jamaica was the most liberal of the island colonies. There, waiver of the manumission bond was permitted...” it should be noted that there are extensive 'Manumission of Slaves' records in the Jamaica Archives giving the name of the slave, the person who freed them and the cost. These hand-written records consist of 70 bound volumes and date from 1747 until 1838. http://www.jard.gov.jm/component/content/article/7.html</ref> |
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==Career== |
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| ⚫ | He was commissioned as Ensign in the 94th Regiment of Foot in 1862 |
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| ⚫ | He was commissioned as Ensign in the 94th Regiment of Foot in 1862.<ref>ublished in the [https://www.thegazette.co.uk/London/issue/22691/page/6417/data.pdf London Gazette dated 19 December 1862, pg 6417]: "Stanford, Norman McLeod Nairne, Gent., to be Ensign, by purchase, vice Farrer."]</ref> He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1869.<ref>published in The Edinburgh Gazette of 5th Jan 1869 pg 19: "94th Foot—Lieutenant Stanford Norman McLeod Nairne to be Adjutant, vice Lieutenant H. W. Melliss, who has exchanged to the 4th West India Regiment. Dated 2d January 1869."</ref> |
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He married Amelia Samson (1840–1927) on 4 June 1863 at Melcombe Regis, Dorset, England. She is the daughter of Dr Alexander Samuel Samson of Weymouth Dorset. She accompanied her husband to India where he was serving with the 94th Regiment of Foot during the 1860s, and their only child (who lived beyond infancy) was born there on 17 Sept 1865 at Umballa/Ambala, Bengal, India. They named her Beatrice Inez Jerome Cafe McLeod Nairne (1865–1943.) |
He married Amelia Samson (1840–1927) on 4 June 1863 at Melcombe Regis, Dorset, England. She is the daughter of Dr Alexander Samuel Samson of Weymouth Dorset. She accompanied her husband to India where he was serving with the 94th Regiment of Foot during the 1860s, and their only child (who lived beyond infancy) was born there on 17 Sept 1865 at Umballa/Ambala, Bengal, India. They named her Beatrice Inez Jerome Cafe McLeod Nairne (1865–1943.) |
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=== Zulu War of 1879=== |
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The 94th Regiment was stationed in [[Aldershot]] military base in Southern England in 1879. On 26 February seven companies of the 94th left Southampton for South Africa on the ship SS China. The total strength of the regiment on board was 28 officers and 897 other ranks including Commanding Officer Lt. Col S. Malthus & Capt S N M Nairne. They took four weeks to cross the Atlantic, arriving at Simon’s Bay on 25 March, and then reached Durban on 2 April after a further journey of 35 days. |
The 94th Regiment was stationed in [[Aldershot]] military base in Southern England in 1879. On 26 February seven companies of the 94th left Southampton for South Africa on the ship SS China. The total strength of the regiment on board was 28 officers and 897 other ranks including Commanding Officer Lt. Col S. Malthus & Capt S N M Nairne. They took four weeks to cross the Atlantic, arriving at Simon’s Bay on 25 March, and then reached Durban on 2 April after a further journey of 35 days. |
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They set up their camp just outside Durban and three days later on 6 April the 94th received orders to commence their march to the front. They marched into Pietermaritzburg on 8 April and left on 11 April and arrived at Greytown on 14 April 1879. |
They set up their camp just outside Durban and three days later on 6 April the 94th received orders to commence their march to the front. They marched into Pietermaritzburg on 8 April and left on 11 April and arrived at Greytown on 14 April 1879. |
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'''Battle of Ulundi''' |
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After marching more than a hundred miles north they encamped on the right bank of the White Mfolozi on 2 July 1879, within striking distance of Ulundi. They crossed the river and formed a large hollow rectangle before advancing across the Mahlabatini Plain and so took part in the Battle of Ulundi on 4 July. This was the final battle of the Anglo-Zulu War which resulted in a defeat for the Zulu army. The 94th marched with 20 officers and 593 other ranks. Their Commanding Officer was Lt. Col S. Malthus; Majors Murray and Anstruther; and five Captains including Captain Nairne who took charge of F Company. |
After marching more than a hundred miles north they encamped on the right bank of the White Mfolozi on 2 July 1879, within striking distance of Ulundi. They crossed the river and formed a large hollow rectangle before advancing across the Mahlabatini Plain and so took part in the Battle of Ulundi on 4 July. This was the final battle of the Anglo-Zulu War which resulted in a defeat for the Zulu army. The 94th marched with 20 officers and 593 other ranks. Their Commanding Officer was Lt. Col S. Malthus; Majors Murray and Anstruther; and five Captains including Captain Nairne who took charge of F Company. |
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The 94th Regiment then left Zululand, clad in tattered rags and marched into the Transvaal where all eight companies of the regiment took part in the successful attack on |
The 94th Regiment then left Zululand, clad in tattered rags and marched into the Transvaal where all eight companies of the regiment took part in the successful attack on Sekhukhune's stronghold on 28 November 1879. |
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===First Boer War of 1880=== |
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In 1880 the 94th were widely distributed throughout the Transvaal, and one of the garrisons was established at Lydenburg (A and F companies.) Capt Nairne was of course in command of F Company. It was during the re-concentration of the companies in December 1880, in response to outbreaks of civil disorder by the Boers that A and F companies were ordered to march from Leydenberg to Pretoria. They were attacked at Bronkhorstspruit in what proved to be the opening clash of the First Boer War. |
In 1880 the 94th were widely distributed throughout the Transvaal, and one of the garrisons was established at Lydenburg (A and F companies.) Capt Nairne was of course in command of F Company. It was during the re-concentration of the companies in December 1880, in response to outbreaks of civil disorder by the Boers that A and F companies were ordered to march from Leydenberg to Pretoria. They were attacked at Bronkhorstspruit in what proved to be the opening clash of the First Boer War. |
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The 94th lost one officer (Lieutenant Herbert Augustine Christopher Harrison) and 53 men killed in the carnage of the attack. Another four officers and 88 men received wounds of which three officers (Lt.Col. Philip Robert Anstruther, Captain Stanford Norman McLeod Nairne and Captain James MacSwiney) and 18 men later died. One officer and 105 men became prisoners of the Boers. (The information on these three military engagements has been summarised from the following article:<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Castle|first1=Ian|title=An Imperial Progress. The 94th Regiment in Zululand|journal=Journal of the Anglo Zulu War Historical Society|date=December 2001|volume=10}}</ref> |
The 94th lost one officer (Lieutenant Herbert Augustine Christopher Harrison) and 53 men killed in the carnage of the attack. Another four officers and 88 men received wounds of which three officers (Lt.Col. Philip Robert Anstruther, Captain Stanford Norman McLeod Nairne and Captain James MacSwiney) and 18 men later died. One officer and 105 men became prisoners of the Boers. (The information on these three military engagements has been summarised from the following article:<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Castle|first1=Ian|title=An Imperial Progress. The 94th Regiment in Zululand|journal=Journal of the Anglo Zulu War Historical Society|date=December 2001|volume=10}}</ref> |
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Details of the ensuing siege of the British garrison at Lydenberg by the Boers are recorded by Mary Long the wife of the Lieutenant who was left in charge of the garrison at Lydenberg in her book 'Peace and War in the Transvaal' |
Details of the ensuing siege of the British garrison at Lydenberg by the Boers are recorded by Mary Long the wife of the Lieutenant who was left in charge of the garrison at Lydenberg in her book ''Peace and War in the Transvaal''. They were spared because Lt Long (with 50) men was left in charge of stores at the military encampment at Lydenberg while the 94th marched from Lydenberg to Pretoria and were ambushed on the way. Captain Nairne was fatally wounded. |
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"...on Sunday, 5th December (1880) ....every individual in the little town of Lydenberg rose early....to wish their friends God speed..... Captain Nairne (who had obtained 24 hours leave), Mr Long and myself, after a hurried breakfast, mounted our ponies, determined to accompany them as far as possible....When we had ridden fifteen miles my husband deemed it advisable to say farewell..." |
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Capt. Nairne travelled back to Lydenberg with the Longs: "Captain Nairne was our guest at luncheon. Since the Sekukune campaign he had been at Ft. Albert, and having arrived at head-quarters, was really sorry to leave Lydenberg. He had become in a few short weeks a great favourite with its inhabitants...on the following day Captain Nairne left us to join the column - the last link was severed." |
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"CHAPTER IV. TERRIBLE TIDINGS |
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....on Thursday evening , the 23rd (December 1880) the post cart arrived late ... we had just finished our dinner, when we were startled by the entrance of our servant Meek, his face pale as death, hardly giving utterance to the words, "Sir, they say the 94th have been cut up, and all the officers killed.".....No other details could be got out of him except that the "swartz capitaine" was dead. He described his glorious end, how, whilst lying on the ground mortally wounded, he was heard rallying his men with his last breath. We could only guess that Captain Nairne was the officer he alluded to. The poor [man] had not got over his terror. His account was that all the officers had been shot down by the first volley...." |
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The rest of the book describes how the Boers surrounded the remainder of these Companies of the 94th at Lydenberg. The tiny garrison was transformed in a few days into a makeshift fort defended by 66 men, and Mary Long stayed with her husband. 700 Boers attacked the newly named 'Fort Mary' continually for three months, using cannons, rifles and fire-tipped arrows to set the thatch alight. The fort was reduced in part to rubble, and there were fatalities, but the remainder refused to surrender. Mary herself was only saved from a cannonball because she was so short – it smashed into a wall above her – missing her head by inches. They almost died from thirst as their well ran dry. They were never relieved by British troops. After 84 days an Armistice was agreed between the British and Boer forces, and the bombardment stopped. |
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Captain Nairne was originally buried with his fellow officers in a walled enclosure at the site of the battle. The gravestones were later moved to their present site near the battlefield which is a few km south of Bronkhorstspruit on the road to Delmas. |
Captain Nairne was originally buried with his fellow officers in a walled enclosure at the site of the battle. The gravestones were later moved to their present site near the battlefield which is a few km south of Bronkhorstspruit on the road to Delmas. |
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Revision as of 22:58, 16 October 2014
Stanford Norman McLeod Nairne (born 1 January 1841 in Jamaica) was an officer and Adjutant of the 94th Regiment of Foot who was killed during the first action of the First Boer War on 20 December 1880 at Bronkhorstspruit, Transvaal, South Africa. He was called 'The Swart Captain' because of his mixed race, and he was mourned by both black and white people at his death.[1]
Early life
He is the son of Police Inspector Alexander Darnley Nairne (1805–1880) and his wife Anna Sarah both of Kingston Jamaica. Alexander Darnley Nairne was the son of Scotsman Daniel Nairne (born about 1750 Nairnshire, Scotland; died 1816 in Clarendon Parish, Jamaica) and Sarah Williams a Free Negress. The terms Free Negro or Free Negress are obsolete terms indicating that a slave of African descent (or their ancestor) was formally freed from the condition of slavery.[2]
Career
He was commissioned as Ensign in the 94th Regiment of Foot in 1862.[3] He was promoted to Lieutenant in 1869.[4]
He married Amelia Samson (1840–1927) on 4 June 1863 at Melcombe Regis, Dorset, England. She is the daughter of Dr Alexander Samuel Samson of Weymouth Dorset. She accompanied her husband to India where he was serving with the 94th Regiment of Foot during the 1860s, and their only child (who lived beyond infancy) was born there on 17 Sept 1865 at Umballa/Ambala, Bengal, India. They named her Beatrice Inez Jerome Cafe McLeod Nairne (1865–1943.)
Zulu War of 1879
The 94th Regiment was stationed in Aldershot military base in Southern England in 1879. On 26 February seven companies of the 94th left Southampton for South Africa on the ship SS China. The total strength of the regiment on board was 28 officers and 897 other ranks including Commanding Officer Lt. Col S. Malthus & Capt S N M Nairne. They took four weeks to cross the Atlantic, arriving at Simon’s Bay on 25 March, and then reached Durban on 2 April after a further journey of 35 days.
They set up their camp just outside Durban and three days later on 6 April the 94th received orders to commence their march to the front. They marched into Pietermaritzburg on 8 April and left on 11 April and arrived at Greytown on 14 April 1879.
After marching more than a hundred miles north they encamped on the right bank of the White Mfolozi on 2 July 1879, within striking distance of Ulundi. They crossed the river and formed a large hollow rectangle before advancing across the Mahlabatini Plain and so took part in the Battle of Ulundi on 4 July. This was the final battle of the Anglo-Zulu War which resulted in a defeat for the Zulu army. The 94th marched with 20 officers and 593 other ranks. Their Commanding Officer was Lt. Col S. Malthus; Majors Murray and Anstruther; and five Captains including Captain Nairne who took charge of F Company.
The 94th Regiment then left Zululand, clad in tattered rags and marched into the Transvaal where all eight companies of the regiment took part in the successful attack on Sekhukhune's stronghold on 28 November 1879.
First Boer War of 1880
In 1880 the 94th were widely distributed throughout the Transvaal, and one of the garrisons was established at Lydenburg (A and F companies.) Capt Nairne was of course in command of F Company. It was during the re-concentration of the companies in December 1880, in response to outbreaks of civil disorder by the Boers that A and F companies were ordered to march from Leydenberg to Pretoria. They were attacked at Bronkhorstspruit in what proved to be the opening clash of the First Boer War.
The 94th lost one officer (Lieutenant Herbert Augustine Christopher Harrison) and 53 men killed in the carnage of the attack. Another four officers and 88 men received wounds of which three officers (Lt.Col. Philip Robert Anstruther, Captain Stanford Norman McLeod Nairne and Captain James MacSwiney) and 18 men later died. One officer and 105 men became prisoners of the Boers. (The information on these three military engagements has been summarised from the following article:[5]
Details of the ensuing siege of the British garrison at Lydenberg by the Boers are recorded by Mary Long the wife of the Lieutenant who was left in charge of the garrison at Lydenberg in her book Peace and War in the Transvaal. They were spared because Lt Long (with 50) men was left in charge of stores at the military encampment at Lydenberg while the 94th marched from Lydenberg to Pretoria and were ambushed on the way. Captain Nairne was fatally wounded.
Captain Nairne was originally buried with his fellow officers in a walled enclosure at the site of the battle. The gravestones were later moved to their present site near the battlefield which is a few km south of Bronkhorstspruit on the road to Delmas.
References
- ^ Long, Mrs Walter H C Long (1882). Peace and War in the Transvaal. An account of the defence of Fort Mary, Lydenberg. London: Sampson Low, Marston, Searle, & Rivington. pp. viii, 118 p. : ill.
- ^ Slaves were freed by their owners and this was regulated by official manumission laws: "...In the British island colonies, manumission laws were largely formulated according to the indemnification model. Indemnification amounts ranged from a fairly reasonable £50 (Bermuda, 1806), to £100 (Grenada, 1796), to a prohibitive £300 (Leeward lslands, 1798) and an even more prohibitive £500 for native and £l,000 for imported slaves (St. Kitts, 1802). Jamaica was the most liberal of the island colonies. There, waiver of the manumission bond was permitted if the vestry of the parish could be convinced that the manumission was not intended to defraud the parish or to place the burden for care of an aged or infirm slave upon the public charge. Similar proof of a slave's ability to support himself or herself was required in Dominica, Tobago, and the Bahamas, but those areas did not allow a waiver of the manumission bond.....” (quoted from The Historical Encyclopedia of World Slavery, Volume 1; Volume 7 edited by Junius P. Rodriguez pp 426-7, article written by Louise Heite.) With reference to the above statement “Jamaica was the most liberal of the island colonies. There, waiver of the manumission bond was permitted...” it should be noted that there are extensive 'Manumission of Slaves' records in the Jamaica Archives giving the name of the slave, the person who freed them and the cost. These hand-written records consist of 70 bound volumes and date from 1747 until 1838. http://www.jard.gov.jm/component/content/article/7.html
- ^ ublished in the London Gazette dated 19 December 1862, pg 6417: "Stanford, Norman McLeod Nairne, Gent., to be Ensign, by purchase, vice Farrer."]
- ^ published in The Edinburgh Gazette of 5th Jan 1869 pg 19: "94th Foot—Lieutenant Stanford Norman McLeod Nairne to be Adjutant, vice Lieutenant H. W. Melliss, who has exchanged to the 4th West India Regiment. Dated 2d January 1869."
- ^ Castle, Ian (December 2001). "An Imperial Progress. The 94th Regiment in Zululand". Journal of the Anglo Zulu War Historical Society. 10.