First Contingent 1899 · Boer War · Heretaunga Mounted Rifles · Reinforcements 1918
Sergeant James Horne
James Horne was born at Porirua, lived at Naenae in the Hutt Valley and worked as a civil servant when he joined the First Contingent as a corporal of the Heretaunga Mounted Rifles. He sailed on the Waiwera in October 1899 and received the Queen's South Africa Medal with the Relief of Kimberley, Driefontein and Transvaal clasps.
He enlisted again in the First World War as a farmer, aged about 43, and the Cenotaph shows him as a sergeant and later a trooper of the 38th and 44th Reinforcements, discharged on 11 November 1918. He died in Wellington in 1930 and is buried at Karori.
His story
From Porirua to the Hutt
James was born on 28 December 1874 at Porirua, the son of John Horne. By 1899 he was single, a civil servant, and living at Naenae in Lower Hutt. His next of kin were Charles Horne of Bay Street, Petone, and his sister Jessie May Fee of Mt Eden, Auckland. He was a member of the Heretaunga Mounted Rifles.
Source: Online Cenotaph record C34784; NZ War Graves Project (Cenotaph extract, node 67513)Corporal in the First Contingent
Wellington papers listed the Heretaunga Mounted Rifles men chosen for the Contingent, and the Evening Star's list of 24 October 1899 names Corporal Horne of that corps (printed with the initials J. J.). He embarked on the Waiwera on 21 October 1899 as a corporal in 1 Company, number 10.
Source: Papers Past, New Zealand Times 16 Oct 1899 and Evening Star 24 Oct 1899; Online Cenotaph record C34784South Africa
The Cenotaph lists Kimberley, Driefontein and the Transvaal among his campaigns and credits him with the Queen's South Africa Medal and those three clasps. No individual action, wound, promotion or return date for him was found.
Source: Online Cenotaph record C34784Between the wars
The sources we reached say nothing about his life between his return from South Africa and 1917, except that the Cenotaph shows him as a farmer when he enlisted again.
Source: Online Cenotaph record C34784Back in uniform
The Cenotaph records him as a private in B Company, 38th Reinforcements, promoted sergeant, and finally a trooper in the 44th Reinforcements, New Zealand Mounted Rifles, number 72561, demobilised on 11 November 1918. It gives no embarkation ship or date, and does not say whether he left New Zealand.
Source: Online Cenotaph record C34784; NZ War Graves Project (node 67513)Death
James Horne died on 29 March 1930. The Cenotaph gives his age as 53 although the 1874 birth date makes it 55. He is buried at Karori Cemetery, Wellington (plot 844, General Cemetery 2). He is also named on a Northland roll of honour of servicemen as a 'Second Reserves' man.
Source: Online Cenotaph record C34784
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
James Horne died in 1930 and is buried at Karori Cemetery, Wellington. The Cenotaph also lists him on a Northland roll of honour of servicemen, which may mean he or a namesake lived north of Auckland at some point; this is not explained. We found no information on marriage, children or his work after 1899.
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
- James Alexander Horne, Online Cenotaph, Auckland War Memorial Museum.
- NZ War Graves Project, Cenotaph extract for James Alexander Horne
- Papers Past: New Zealand Times, 16 Oct 1899 (N.Z. Contingent)
- Papers Past: Evening Star, 24 Oct 1899 (contingent list)
What we could not confirm
Very thin record: almost nothing beyond the Cenotaph. No newspaper obituary, no individual actions in South Africa, no return ship or date, and no marriage or children found.
Contemporary lists print the name as 'J. J. Horne' (Heretaunga Mounted Rifles); the Cenotaph says James Alexander. Number 10 and unit match the Cenotaph, so identity is probable; the New Zealand Mail list of October 1899 also shows a 'Trooper Horne' under the Auckland Mounted Rifles, which we think is an unrelated man or a list error.
Age at death: Cenotaph says 53, but birth on 28 December 1874 means 55 at 29 March 1930.
First World War: the Cenotaph shows service numbers 72561 with the 38th Reinforcements (B Company) and 44th Reinforcements (NZMR) but no embarkation details; 'demobbed 11 November 1918' suggests home service. We do not list First World War medals because overseas service is unconfirmed.
The 'Northland roll of honour' and 'Second Reserves' note is unexplained and may relate to a different man.
Archives NZ file R20520941 could not be opened (JavaScript catalogue).