Malay States Guides officers c. 1914

[Simon_Fielding]

I thought I'd share this photograph with the forum that I recently acquired: anyone who has done any research on the Malay States Guides and their service in Aden during the Great War will be indebted to 'Bushfighter' / Harry's great site http://www.kaiserscross.com/188001/279622.html. I think this photo can put a few faces to names, and I've done a little basic research on most of them, following BF's lead. More details gratefully received.

NB - the labelling of these officers has been revised thanks to the input of several forum colleagues - please let me know if you have different ideas about their identity. 

 

SHF 16/01/2019

 

 

Edited 16 January by Simon_Fielding

[Simon_Fielding]

Col 

Charles Henry Brownlow Lees

b. 17th October 1871 at Simla, educated Bristol Grammar School, son of Harriet Lees: in 1881 she is a widow born in India in 1843, with 'Income Chiefly From Military Fund'. Her eldest son is Edwin L Lees born 1864 and a Medical Student; other children given as Leonora H Lees born 1867; Clarence Edward Lees born 1869. The family reside at 6, Cotham, Ss James and Paul (United Out), Barton Regis, Gloucestershire.

Lees attended Sandhurst in 1891 and was commissioned in the 62nd Wiltshire? Regiment in 1892. He married Violet Mary Nicholette 19 July 1900, and is listed as a Major in the 51st Sikhs in the Army List of 1912. He seems to have spent some time farming in Moiben Kenya by 1934, but is retired and living with his wife in Albert Road, Beechwood Corner, Deal, Kent in 1939. he died 1st March 1941

Seymour James Gordon Beaumont

born 2nd July 1882 Shirley, Southhampton, and registered South Stoneham, Hampshire; son of Dr CG Beaumont who later lived at Hayes Mount, Bath

wife Mabel Dickenson Beaumont

4th Bn East Surrey 1900-1901

2nd Lt Cheshire Regt. 1902.

1st Sept 1904 Lieutenant- 101st Grenadiers

Commissioned captain 10th July 1910 Malay Guides

BWM VM 101st Grenadiers promoted major December 1916

died Erpingham Norfolk 18th May 1920

 

Edited 16 January by Simon_Fielding

[Simon_Fielding]

Cyprian Edward BORTON

 

http://www.roll-of-honour.com/Overseas/ipoh.html

Captain Thomas.Brutton. Minniken, 76th Punjabis

b 11 Mar 1884, Baptism date 12 Apr 1884 Simla Presidency Bengal Father's first name(s)  George Minniken,

Mothe r's first name(s) Harrietta

1911 Tientsin China

1912 1916 WIR

Major Indian Army 1922 Malay States Guides m Dorothy M Bell 1921 divorced m Victoria Loibl 1930

 

Edited 16 January by Simon_Fielding

[Simon_Fielding]

Lieutenant Frederick Golding

Born 10^th June 1872, at Martindale, Penrith. Son of Samuel and Elizabeth, Samuel the rector of Ousby by 1881. Attested 26^th September 1895 in London as Private Border Regiment number 4855; lance corporal Feb 1896 and corporal November 1897; lance sergeant March 1899. Transferred to ASC Feb 1901. Worked up promotion scale again to sergeant in ASC – “discharged having been appointed quartermaster Malay States Guides” 31^st December 1906.  Married Florence Violet McCrozier November 1903 at South Stoneham.

On 22nd January 1914 listed as 'detective' and sails on the 'Khiva' from London to Yokohama – seems to have accompanied RCM Kindersley and wife -

served in Aden from 26th September 1915 to 18th January 1920

listed as ‘Captain’ on medal roll: listed as ‘major’ on Govt ship "Kashgar" returning to London on 2nd March 1923.

By 1939, resident at the ‘For Inn’ Ousby, Penrith, Cumberland; name given as ‘Frederick Major Golding’ and career ‘Fed Malac Stories Gov Retired’ (sic) (Federation of Malay States Government). He is divorced. He died aged 73, his death was registered at Penrith 11th Dec 1952, with probate granted to Lt Col Ardale Vautier Golding.

 

 

Reginald Charles Francis Schomberg

born 19th Sept 1880 in Walmer, Kent – died 1st March 1958; son of Reginald B and Frances S.

commissioned Dec '01 and 2nd Lt Seaforth Highlanders October 1902 Army List. 1st Bn Seaforth Highlanders 1911; Captain Seaforth Highlanders 1914 Army list. In BWM VM medal rolls, Lt Colonel Seaforth Highlanders, and GSO 3 39th Division attached HQ 25th Div, 1st Bn Seaforth Highlanders.

British Library: Schomberg travelled widely in the northern areas of imperial India (Chitral), Central Asia (Karakoram and Chinese Turkestan [1927/9/30/31] ) as well as and Tibet and Ladakh [1943/44], taking large quantities of photographs in each area. These images are today spread between the photographic collections in the Royal Society for Asian Affairs, the Dept of Asia at the BM and the Pitt Rivers Museum at Oxford. It is reported that, in his retirement, he took holy orders.

 

Edited 16 January by Simon_Fielding

[Simon_Fielding]

Guy Fisher Turner

Capt. 82nd Punjabis; Born 28^th September 1886 Lahore India; Baptised 11 Nov 1886 Meerut, St John Bengal; son of Alweyn and Violet Frances;

educated Bedford Modern and Reading School; first commissioned Jan 1907; date of first rank 19 April 1909. January 1912, Indian Army List a lieutenant in 1915, 1916, Captain 1917, 1918, and in 1922 a Brevet Major. In April 1918 awarded Military Cross. Awards for service in the Aden peninsula, London Gazette, 3rd June 1919 p.6976 appointed Brevet Major.

GSO 2nd Grade from a DAAG on the 14th July 1920

Died 15^th October 1942, resident Bexhill. Evelyn Augusta Vere Tyndale Turner

Captain Dr Francis Ernest Wood (Medical Officer)   

Born 23^rd September 1877; Cambridge BA at Downing, Sept. 5, 1895 - 1898, MB, BCh 1902 St. Bartholomew’s Hospital. House Surgeon, Royal Infirmary, Windsor. London School of Tropical Medicine 1905; senior Medical Officer Perak, Major and Medical Officer Malay States Guides. By 1930 resident ‘Coedfa’, Bettws-y-Coed, N. Wales; expert on the stamps of the Straits Settlements. Died 1964.

Edited 16 January by Simon_Fielding

[bushfighter]

Well done Simon.

 

Harry

[Simon_Fielding]

Thanks Harry - much appreciated 

 

Simon 

[Ian Golding]

Dear Dr. Fielding,

Frederick Golding was my great-uncle, and Lieut. Col (later Colonel) Ardale Golding was my father.

As a young boy, growing up in Halstead, Kent in the 1950's, there were several large racks of Uncle Fred's spears, arrayed horizontally, on the walls of our hall.

His mother's maiden name was Elizabeth Harcourt, and he is buried within the precincts of St. Martin's Church ("The Old Church") in Martindale in Cumbria.

I am impressed by the depth of your research, which makes for interesting reading and has added considerably to what I knew about him, and if it isn't too much trouble I would greatly appreciate it if you could email me links to, or copies of, the information in your possession.

I found the biographies of the other officers equally interesting, but I wonder if there could possibly have been some mix-up with their photographs?

I make that observation because the photograph I'm attaching, of "Uncle Fred" in retirement, seems to bear a close resemblance to the picture ascribed to Capt. Thomas Minniken.

I'm also attaching a couple of pictures of the 'pen holder' I inherited, a shell casing measuring approx. 3⅛"x 3⅞" with the Malay States Guides badge attached, which sits before me on my desk as I write this.

Sincerely,

Ian Golding

[Simon_Fielding]

Thank you for a fascinating post, Ian: corrections made.

[Jonathan Westaway]

Dear Simon,

 

I am researching the life of R. C. F. Schomberg.  Do you have any further information about his service record?  His journeys in Kashmir and Xinjiang in the late 1920s and early 1930s resulted in four travel books and an awful lot of survey work in the Karakoram that ended up filling in blanks on the map for the Survey of India Frontier Circle.  It is hard not to draw the conclusion that this kind of trans-border work was sanctioned by the Government of India Foreign and Political Department.

 

Schomberg is a pretty mysterious character, any light you can shed would be gratefully received.

 

Regards, Jonathan

[Vlaamse Verhalen]

Superb photograph and a very interesting subject. Many thanks for sharing both the image, and the background information, thus far.

 

Just one small thing I felt I ought to point out. As the names are written on the reverse of the photograph, should the individuals pictured not be as follows:

 

Standing at rear (from left to right): Minniken, unnamed, Schomberg, unnamed, Golding

 

Seated: Wood, Borton, Colonel Lees, Turner, Beaumont

 

So the individual picture you have for Beaumont is actually Wood, and so on.

 

Best wishes

 

 

Steve

[BigT]

1. I recently visited the Church of St Peter in Martindale in the Lakes  where I found the grave of Major Frederick Golding, Malay State Forces. The stone is in good condition but the area around it is very overgrown.

[Paul Nixon]

Unless there were two Brevet Major Turners who served with the 82nd Punjabis, I have Guy Fisher Turner's photograph albums from this time which I purchased on eBay in 2017, along with some other photos which were being sold as separate lots. Together, the 'archive' fills a large shoebox. I must have a look later to verify this, but in any event, well done to you, Simon, for the research you have posted here.

Edited 15 January by Paul Nixon

[Paul Nixon]

Simon, I have checked my photos and confirm that it's the same man - and I have photos in his albums which feature the same people in your photo. One thing to note however, and it's a key point, the names on the reverse of the photo have essentially been written behind the individual concerned. So, for instance, Guy Fisher Turner is seated second from right, whilst Cyprian Edward Borton is seated second left.

 

I see you origianlly posted in July 2017. I bought the albums and several other photos from the same collection which had been split and offered for sale on eBay. I wouldn't be at all surprised if we bought from the same person - or that at the very least the photos come from the same collection.

Edited 16 January by Paul Nixon

[Simon_Fielding]

Does this look better Paul?

 

 

Edited 16 January by Simon_Fielding

[Paul Nixon]

Spot on, Simon (although I am embarrassed to see that Steve already pointed this out in post 11) Here are some of the same men from one of the albums in my possession, date unknown.

Edited 18 January by Paul Nixon

[Paul Nixon]

and another...

[stevebecker]

Mates,

 

Sorry, but do we know the names of the two unnamed officers?

 

Cheers

S.B

[Paul Nixon]

From my perspective, not at this point in time.

[Simon_Fielding]

Fantastic images Paul - thank you. 

 

I found the names we already have in the Indian Army List - it's only in the 1918 vol that there are some new names. Perhaps other colleagues would like to take a look?

 

https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.285012/page/n1311

 

Irritatingly there seems to be no separate listing for the MSG - just as a destination for attachment. 

 

Borton's obituary in De Ruvigny is very full, as is the obituary in the Cambridge Independent Press 5/10/1917 p.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited 19 January by Simon_Fielding

[Umej Bhatia]

I am deeply grateful to “Old Sweat” and other contributors to this thread for the extremely useful background on the MSG officers and the photos which puts face to names.  The MSG were sent back from Singapore to Taiping in 1914 after the sepoys refused to go on service in East Africa. I am writing a book on the period and the role of the Guides and their officers forms part of the story.  I would very much like to know who holds the image rights to the picture of the officers for use in my book, which will be credited. Many thanks

umej

[Simon_Fielding]

It's my photo Umej - you're very welcome to do as you like with it. Can I send you a higher res copy?

 

Simon

[rflory]

Captain William Leslie, RGA (Commanded Malay States Guides Mountain Battery)

 

Posted to Aden with No. 70 Company, RGA he was promoted to Captain on 30 October 1914 and appointed in command of the Malay States Guides Mountain Battery at Sheikh Othman, Aden on 11 October 1915.  On 12 January 1916 the battery moved to position near Dar Ahmed Hatum, where it fired at the attacking Turks. While reconnoitering for a new position he was struck by a rifle bullet and killed.