First Contingent 1899 · Hāwera Mounted Rifles · DSO · Boer War, then a Transvaal farmer
Major Edwin Bartlett
Edwin Bartlett was a Hāwera coachbuilder, fire brigade captain and borough councillor who sailed on the Waiwera in 1899 as a lieutenant in No. 1 Company. He rose to captain in South Africa, returned to the Eighth Contingent as a major in 1902, and was made a Companion of the Distinguished Service Order for his South African service.
After the war he did not come home. He took up farming at Boksburg on the Witwatersrand, where he and his family lived for the rest of his life. His son Harry, born in Hāwera, was killed with the South African Infantry at Arras in 1917.
His story
A Hāwera man
Edwin Bartlett, son of William Bartlett, was a coachbuilder in Hāwera, Taranaki, living in Argyle Street with his wife Isabella. He was an enthusiastic townsman: captain of the Hāwera Fire Brigade, a member of the Borough Council, a pastmaster of the Oddfellows and an officer in the Hāwera Mounted Rifles, which he rose through the ranks to command. He had a brother, J. Bartlett, also in Hāwera.
Source: Online Cenotaph C34774; NZHistory nominal roll entry; Papers Past, Hāwera & Normanby Star 31 Jan 1902 and 4 Mar 1901Lieutenant in No. 1 Company
Bartlett enlisted for South Africa on 6 October 1899 and was gazetted a lieutenant of No. 1 (North Island) Company of the First Contingent, alongside Captain Davies, also of the Hāwera Mounted Rifles. A Wellington list of 16 October 1899 names him among the contingent's officers. He sailed on the Waiwera on 21 October 1899.
Source: Online Cenotaph C34774; Papers Past, Hāwera & Normanby Star 16 Oct 1899 and New Zealand Mail 26 Oct 1899; Hāwera & Normanby Star 4 Mar 1901Campaigning in South Africa
Bartlett served with the contingent in South Africa for more than a year. His Queen's South Africa Medal carries the clasps Relief of Kimberley, Paardeberg, Driefontein, Johannesburg and Diamond Hill. He was promoted captain at the front. A Hāwera newspaper later said he had 'been on active service ever since' he left in October 1899.
Source: Online Cenotaph C34774; Papers Past, Hāwera & Normanby Star 4 Mar 1901Home on leave
Captain Bartlett arrived back in Hāwera by the evening train on Saturday 2 March 1901 and was met at the station by the borough band, the Fire Brigade, the Hāwera Mounted Rifles and the Oddfellows. The Mayor said the town was proud he had come back promoted, and the local MP, Mr McGuire, praised him as a brave soldier and a considerate officer. Online Cenotaph says he returned to New Zealand in January 1901, and in 1901 was appointed to the Taranaki board of examiners for volunteer officers' commissions.
Source: Papers Past, Hāwera & Normanby Star 4 Mar 1901 ('Return of Captain Bartlett'); Online Cenotaph C34774Major of the Eighth Contingent
Promoted major, Bartlett went to South Africa again with the Eighth Contingent's North Island regimental staff. On 30 January 1902 Hāwera held a farewell social at the Opera House, with a gold watch from the public, a gold albert and pendant from the Fire Brigade and an emblem from the Oddfellows. He sailed from Auckland aboard the Surrey on 1 February 1902.
Source: Papers Past, Hāwera & Normanby Star 31 Jan 1902, Wanganui Herald 31 Jan 1902; Online Cenotaph C34774 (Surrey, 1 Feb 1902)The DSO
In the honours list for the late war announced on 1 November 1902, Majors F. Abbott and E. Bartlett were among the New Zealanders made Companions of the Distinguished Service Order. The Cenotaph gives the London Gazette of 31 October 1902 and the citation 'in recognition of services during the operations in South Africa'.
Source: Papers Past, Hāwera & Normanby Star 3 Nov 1902; Online Cenotaph C34774A farm on the Witwatersrand
Bartlett stayed in South Africa. In June 1903 he wrote to a Hāwera friend from Klipfontein farm, Boksburg, about crops, horse sickness and high prices; in 1904 a visitor from Hāwera found him well, with his wife and family, and in 1905 he wrote about rates and local regulations. The Online Cenotaph (citing Stowers) names his property as 'Reipfontein', 2,000 acres near Elandsfontein, and says he was a Justice of the Peace.
Source: Papers Past, Patea Mail 26 Jun 1903; Hāwera & Normanby Star 21 Sep 1904 and 30 Mar 1905; Online Cenotaph C34774 (Stowers, p.146)The First World War
Online Cenotaph records that Bartlett also served in the First World War with the South African forces (the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force, 2nd embarkation) and lists the 1914-15 Star, British War Medal and Victory Medal with oak leaf (a mention in despatches). I could not find his unit, rank, theatre or dates. His son Harry Bartlett, a native of Hāwera, served with the 4th South African Infantry and was killed in action on 9 April 1917 north-east of St Laurent-Blangy near Arras; he is buried at Roclincourt Valley Cemetery, grave IV.H.17. The CWGC lists him as son of Edwin and Isabella Bartlett of Boksburg North, Transvaal.
Source: Online Cenotaph C34774 (medal and embarkation entries; son Harry, noting CWGC); Delville Wood website, Roclincourt Valley Cemetery page quoting CWGCOld friends and the end
In October 1930 the Auckland Star noted that Major E. Bartlett, DSO, formerly of Hāwera, had settled at Boksburg after the war, had once had to defend his homestead when imported Chinese mine labourers ran amok, and was growing a large area of vegetables for the Johannesburg markets. He died on 27 May 1943 aged 76 (the NZ War Graves Project places his memorial record at Boksburg, Transvaal). Online Cenotaph gives natural causes.
Source: Papers Past, Auckland Star 15 Oct 1930; Online Cenotaph C34774; NZ War Graves Project Cenotaph 34774
Rank and insignia
The rank he held, and the badge a soldier of that rank wore. These are simplified illustrations.
His medals
“Documented” means a source we name says he received it. “Listed on the Online Cenotaph” means the museum’s record lists the medal but we could not confirm it elsewhere. “Entitled” means his service dates qualified him, but we have not seen a record of the medal itself. The drawings are simplified illustrations.
His ships
Afterwards
Bartlett made his home at Boksburg, Transvaal, farming and growing vegetables for the Johannesburg market, and was a Justice of the Peace. In 1914 a New Zealand visitor motored out from Johannesburg to see him and reported that he hoped to visit New Zealand the following year with his wife. His son Harry died at Arras in 1917 with the South African Infantry. Edwin Bartlett died at Boksburg on 27 May 1943, aged 76. No grave or memorial reference was found.
His sign
This is the Service Record sign as we would make it from his record: his rank, name, regiment, number and date of embarkation. The medals on the sign are worked out automatically from the embarkation date, so the medals listed above are the ones to rely on.
Photograph
We haven’t hosted a photograph here
Rather than copy someone else’s image onto our own site, we’d rather send you to see it where it’s properly held: his full record at the Auckland War Memorial Museum’s Online Cenotaph.
Sources
- Edwin Bartlett, Online Cenotaph, Auckland War Memorial Museum.
- NZ War Graves Project, Cenotaph 34774
- NZHistory nominal roll: Edwin Bartlett
- Papers Past, Hāwera & Normanby Star 4 March 1901, 'Return of Captain Bartlett'
- Papers Past, Hāwera & Normanby Star 31 January 1902, 'Social and presentation to Major Bartlett'
- Papers Past, Hāwera & Normanby Star 3 November 1902, Cable news (DSO list)
- Papers Past, Patea Mail 26 June 1903, 'News from South Africa'
- Papers Past, Auckland Star 15 October 1930, 'The Passing Show'
- Papers Past, Taranaki Herald 27 May 1914, untitled letter noting a visit to Bartlett
- Delville Wood site: Harry Bartlett, Roclincourt Valley Cemetery (quoting CWGC)
What we could not confirm
First World War service is the biggest gap: Online Cenotaph says 'South African Overseas Expeditionary Force, 2nd embarkation' and lists the 1914-15 Star, BWM and Victory Medal with oak leaf, but I found no unit, rank, theatre or date, and no medal-roll confirmation. He would have been about 47 in 1914. Describe it on the page only as 'served with the South African forces'.
Birth: NZ War Graves Project index says 8 August 1867 (an older Cenotaph snapshot); the current Cenotaph has no birth date and gives age 76 at death on 27 May 1943, which is inconsistent with August 1867. Birthplace not found.
Dates for return to NZ: Cenotaph says January 1901; Hāwera newspaper says he reached Hāwera on leave on Saturday 2 March 1901 (that Saturday is 2 March).
The 1902 outward voyage (Surrey, 1 Feb 1902) comes from the Cenotaph. The Papers Past farewell shows he was in Hāwera on 30 January 1902.
Farm name: Cenotaph/Stowers says 'Reipfontein' near Elandsfontein; his own 1903 letter is headed 'Klipfontein Farm, Boksburg'. Both could be right (different years) but not reconciled.
Wife: Online Cenotaph names Mrs Isabella Bartlett as next of kin; the CWGC entry for their son names Edwin and Isabella of Boksburg North. The Cenotaph's 'Married, 21 Oct 1899' simply records his marital status on the sailing date, not a wedding date.
Identity: the NZ History nominal roll has a second, different 'Edwin Bartlett' record (edwin-bartlett-0), but this man is anchored by Hāwera, coachbuilder, Lieutenant No. 1 Company, Waiwera and the DSO.
Place of death and burial not confirmed beyond the War Graves index entry 'Boksburg, Transvaal'.
A South African death notice or probate record was not searched.