New Zealand in 1900 was still very much a child of Mother Britain. It was proud to be part of the largest empire in history and of its cultural legacy from the other side of the world.
At least, the dominant imperial culture was. It was this culture which was glad of the opportunity to stand beside the mother country and send its young men to another colony, South Africa, when imperial power there was threatened. New Zealand's sons were feted as heroes when they left for the war and proudly mourned as martyrs when they died.
Corporal Samuel Gourley of the Otago Hussars was one of the first to volunteer.
NEW ZEALAND CONTINGENT.
Our Wellington correspondent informs us that it has been decided to send one of the recently-appointed Government veterinary surgeons with the Transvaal contingent. He will have charge of the horses.
THE OTAGO CONTINGENT.
The full list of members of the Otago Hussars who have volunteered for service in the Transvaal is as follows:— Corporals Hazlett and Gourley and Trooper Ellis, Dunedin; Corporal Muir, Troopers Black, Townsend, and Orbell, Waikouaiti; Trumpeter Palmer, Troopers Hastie and Amos McKegg, Taieri; Troopers Forsyth and Macpherson, Portobello. Of these twelve men, seven provide their own horses. It is announced officially that the department will purchase at a fair price suitable horses that volunteers may take with them. This seems to fairly meet a difficulty that was looming in the distance.
The Otago Hussars' representatives for the Transvaal paraded at 1.15 to-day in the orderly room, and were briefly addressed by Lieutenant-commanding Crosby Morris, who said: "You are starting on a big undertaking if you are sent, and I think you will be. The training you have had with the Otago Hussars will stand you in good stead in case you are sent to the front. You have known what it is to undergo minor hardships, and if you are called upon to put up with hardship in the field I hope you will acquit yourselves in the same spirit that you have met it with the Hussars in peace times. I wish you good luck in your undertaking." The men were then dismissed till 4.30, the time for which the final muster prior to embarking on the train was fixed. The lieutenant's remarks were received with a hearty round of applause.
Eight members of the Clutha Mounted Rifles, bringing three horses, signed on this morning. They are Corporal William Renton and Troopers William Bunton, Walter Johnston; George Mitchell, George Smyth, Henry Sutherland, John R. W. Wilson, and Hugh Gibson Smith. They arrived by the morning train from the South.
The North Otago Mounted Rifles were expected to furnish five men, who were to come by the train arriving at 1 p.m.; but the only man who came by that train was Trooper Harold Booth, and he was taken on as orderly tor Adjutant Stronach. Two other members of the N.O.M.R. are expected to join the party at Lyttelton.
Four men, one bringing his own, horse, are supposed to be coming up as representing the Southland Hussars. They will be here at 5 p.m., and will at once go on to Port with the other Otago mounted men, there joining the Te Anau for Wellington. Adjutant Stronach will be in charge of the party as far as Wellington, where he will report to the commandant. -Evening Star, 9/10/1899.
ON HONOUR'S ROLL.
For the cause that lacks assistance,
For the wrong that needs resistance,
For the future in the distance,
And the good that ye can do. '
Two more men of'the New Zealand Contingent in South Africa are reported to have fallen in battle, although the report has not yet received official confirmation. These deaths make the loss to the troops sent from this colony three. It is indeed a small number even in relation to the small force of which it formed part, and if we take into account the character of the fighting in which the men have been engaged, the nature of the country, and the many advantages which the enemy enjoy, the casualties among the New Zealanders cannot be regarded as unexpectedly numerous. As compared with the terrible losses of the Highlanders in that gallant charge at Magersfontein, for instance, those of the Colonials have been very trivial. But while we all recognise this, it scarcely diminishes the shock with which we hear of each fresh fatality among the New Zealahders. For these are our own boys, and they are fighting in the war under circumstances which, in our eyes at least, if not in the eyes of the whole Empire also, differentiate them from the regular troops.. They are not regular soldiers whose first business it is to fight, but volunteers from the ends of the earth, whose ardent patriotism rather than the Empire's need has led them to incur all the perils of battle. The ordinary light that invests a soldier's calling, especially in the time of actual waefare, is in their case intensified into a kind of halo gilding the brows of heroes. The business on which they are engaged becomes a more than ordinary chivalric quest. And the interest which thus attaches to the Contingent in the eyes of their proud fellow colonists, watching their deeds afar off, is ten-fold increased in the case of each individual unit of the body among his friends here. To the world beyond New Zealand the names of Trooper Connell of Auckland, and Sergeant Gourley of Dunedin, who are reported to have met their deaths in a gallant charge the other day, will be read with many others and forgotten, as two among many brave men who have met a soldier's fate; but in New Zealand, and much more particularly in Auckland and in Dunedin, where they lived their brief lives, and were surrounded by their relatives and friends, their death excites quite another kind of interest. While we may not feel so deeply their loss as must their bereaved relatives, we certainly do experience a sorrow akin to theirs, for on an occasion like this we wish to claim brotherhood with these gallant boys. But there comes to alleviate that common grief the proud sense of the noble cause and manner in which these youths came to their end. And it is right and fitting that that sense should be an alleviation of the loss which the immediate relations of the dead have sustained. There is surely large and generous comfort in the thought that these poor boys died so gloriously. What nobler end could any man ask for than
"dying of a mortal stroke
What time the foeman's line is broke
And all the war is rolled in smoke."
We are certain, and our readers who peruse the extracts from Mr Conner's letters published elsewhere will agree with us, that the men themselves would not have wished a more soldierly close to their lives. It may be that before the war ends other New Zealanders will have to share the same fate as their comrades; we cannot be so sanguine as to suppose that our Contingent will escape with no further loss than it has sustained up to the present. Later, therefore, we may become somewhat more familiar with the messenger of death. At the present moment, however, it is not easy to get over these early reminders of the perils in which our boys are placed, and it is natural that we should seek to dwell on the fate of those first three names in our colonial death-roll. Bradford, Connell, and Gourley, the men of New Zealand who have set their comrades in South Africa such a noble example of how thle sons of the Empire should, and we hope ever will, be prepared to die for their country.
The story of their gallant deeds, as briefly told in our cable columns tonight, must send a glow of pride through the heart of every colonist. It appears that a detachment of the regulars belonging to the Yorkshire Regiment, supported by ten New Zealanders under Captain Maddocks, were holding a hill near Rendsberg when they were attacked by the Boers The enemy had advanced almost up to the wall behind which the British troops were sheltered when the latter, without waiting for the assault, leaped over and bayoneted their assailants, who fled panic stricken, leaving a large number of dead and wounded on the field. Experience shows that the best of unseasoned troops are apt to be unsteady when first in action, but our brave young colonists have comported themselves when undergoing their "baptism of fire" in a manner that has elicited the admiration of the general in command, and the warm commendation of the Secretary of State for the Colonies. Death is busy amongst us at all times, and the feelings of intense sorrow which the visitations of the ruthless reaper evoke are intensified when the young with all their physical capacities unimpaired and a prospect of long life and happiness before them are numbered among the victims, as frequently happens, but if death must come we cannot conceive of it coming under more glorious aspects than to the man who has bravely faced it in the performance of his duty and in defence of his country. Vale Troopers Connell and Gourley! Your deeds will be told when the names of others more distinguished in their day and generation have long passed away into the limbo of forgetfulness. Mr Connell was a young man of great intelligence, well known to the Aucklanders of his time who have passed through our College and Grammar School, and his relatives are amongst our most esteemed citizens. He was one of the "Star's" special correspondents with the New Zealand contingent. We hope that the reported death of these intrepid young New Zealanders, circumstantial though it is, may yet be contradicted, and the fact that the press reports and the official telegrams from General French, the Secretary of State, and Agent-General so far make no mention of New Zealanders being killed gives ground for hope that the report is unfounded. But if the worst apprehension on the subject be realised the relatives of the deceased will have such comfort as may be afforded by the universal sympathy of their fellow-colonists, and the knowledge, that these young New Zealanders fell with their faces to the foe and in the hour of victory. -Auckland Star, 18/1/1900.
TO: Hon. H S Gourley, MHR
"I deeply regret having to inform you that official information has been received that your son has been killed in South Africa. On begalf of myself and the troops under my command I tender yourself and family our most sincere sympathy with you in your great grief. Your boy died gallantly fighting for the Empire and has met with the most noble of soldiers' ends. It must be some slight consolation to you know that so much glory has been reflected on the colony through the action in which he met his death." - Alfred Robin, Colonel. 19/1/1900.
| Otago Hussars in dress uniform. Burton Bros. photo, courtesy of the Hocken Library. |
NOTES FROM DUNEDIN
The stern realities of war have been brought home to the people of Dunedin by the death of Sergeant Gourley, and in a less manner that of Trooper Connell, in a way in which even such defeats as those at Magersfontein and Chievely failed to do. When a young fellow who, in the flush of his early manhood, was only a few weeks aso riding his hack through the streets of Dunedin is known to have fallen by a Boer bullet on the far-distant sunscorched veldt of South Africa it touches us very closely. His death is almost a personal loss even to many of our residents who knew him not even by sight. The regular soldier who is killed, "while doing his country's work," counts for much less, but when one of our boys dies the death of a soldier with his face to the foe it is then that we realise what fighting really is. To say that profound sympathy is felt for the Hon. Hugh Gourley in his bereavement is to express but feebly the feelings of the town. Dunedin has metaphorically gathered about the father's feet in the sincerity of its grief. To each member of the community the heavy blow which he has sustained has dealt a wound, and many, many hearts have ached in sympathy with his. It is an open secret that Mr Gourley was averse to his son going to the war, but the latter was possessed of that dauntless spirit that the true soldier possesses and was intent upon going. He died in the course of a gallant charge and his relatives may derive some consolation from the knowledge that no nobler end than his could be his as well as from the unreserved sympathy of the public. Samuel Walker Gourley was only 29 years of age. He was a clerk. Journalism was tried bv him for a time, but that was on the staff of the Globe when that ill-starred publication was moribund. After that he was for a time in an insurance office, and later still in the Harbour Board office, where he was when the opportunity came to him of going out on service. It is probably safe to say that office work was uncongenial to him. It was in the saddle that he longed to be, and no sooner would his day's work be completed than he would out on horseback. He was a skilled equestrian, a regular follower of the hounds, so long as they remained in Dunedin, and he had ridden in steeplechases. Of the Otago Hussars he proved so efficient a trooper that his promotion was fairly rapid, and when he was accepted as a member of the first New Zealand contingent his comrades felt that he would do the troop credit. Even in his death he did not belie their expectations of him. -Mount Ida Chronicle, 26/1/1900.
THE SCHOOLS' BREAK-UP
PORT CHALMERS. The annual break-up and distribution of prizes and certificates took place yesterday forenoon. It was the intention of the Committee that the children, with the parents and friends, should assemble in the quadrangle used as a playground; but owing to the inclemency of the weather it had to be held in the different class rooms, and it was a great pity that the Committee on this occasion should have departed from what had been done in previous years — viz., hold the break-up in the Town Hall, so that each of the pupils could have heard the renarks made by the different speakers. There was a fair number of parents and friends present, together with the mayor and mayoress, the chairman, and members of the Committee. The first part of the proceedings was held in the infants' room, and after the chairman and the rector had spoken in complimentary terms of the good service done by Miss McMillan, and each child had received a prize and a bag of lollies, three cheers were given for Miss McMillan. The infants were then dismissed for their vacation. An adjournment to the rooms where the pupils of the Fourth, Fifth, Sixth, and Sixth were congregated was then made. Mr McLaughlan, chairman of the Committee, said that he was pleased to be with them, but the weather had upset their arrangements, so that it was necessary to divide the addresses in the classrooms. It afforded him great pleasure that during the past year the attendance had been so good. Mr Rennie informed him that in 1899 there were only 67 attendance certificates, while this year there were 118. He had no doubt it was the attendance prizes that brought the children to school. The certificates this year should be prized by those who wero fortunate to receive them, as there was a photograph on each certificate of one of the old schoolboys, Samuel Gourley, who, he had no doubt, everyone present had heard something about, and who lost his life in South Africa. He hoped that before long a tablet would be erected in the school to commemorate his death. — (Applause.) He would also mention that there were now in South Africa other old boys — viz., Lieutenant Bauchop, Forman, Clark, and Borlase — who had all done good work at the front. He was also pleased to state that the boys were going in for athletics and swimming, and hoped that they would be entitled to a share of the vote which had been placed on the Estimates fqr school children. The speaker then referred to the improvements that had been made, by which the Committee had incurred a debt of £l20, of which they had only been able to pay £70, and were now indebted to the Education Board £50. But he felt sure that the parents would rally round and help the Committee to pay off the debt. —(Applause) -Evening Star, 20/12/1900.
The merit certificate of the Port Chalmers High School is unique in design. In bears on the dexter upper quarter a Zulu shield containing the portrait of the late Sergeant Samuel Gourley. It is the intention of Mr J. Rennie, under whom Sergeant Gourley studied, to present a copy of the certificate, appropriately framed, to Mrs Downes, widow of the late Mr F. G. Downes, postmaster at Port Chalmers, and Sergeant Gourley's eldest sister. The photo is an excellent one, and the design artistic to a degree. -Otago Witness, 26/12/1900.
 |
| Southern Cemetery, Dunedin. |
In 1903, there occurred the dedication of a memorial window for Samuel Gourley, in St Matthews Anglican church in Dunedin.
Had Samuel been there in any way, he might have listened in amazement to the words of William Curzon-Siggers, the church's Minister, whose words put the British Empire on a level only slightly below that of his god and the death of Samuel equal in sacrifice only slightly below that of his god's son.
If the British Empire, as part of a divine destiny, were as holy and honourable a cause as promoted by the Rev. Curzon-Siggers, what hope for the commandment "Thou shalt not kill?" The good Reverend must have been a happy man indeed when the Great War began in 1914.
THE GOURLEY MEMORIAL IN ST. MATTHEW'S CHURCH.
DEDICATION SERVICE.
The Volunteer corps and battalion forming the garrison troops at the Dunedin centre, with cadets, paraded at the Garrison Hall yesterday afternoon and marched to St. Matthew's Church, Stafford street, to be present at the dedication of the Gourley memorial window, which has been placed in the church in memory of the late Sergeant Gourley (son of the Hon. Hugh Gourley, of this city), who was killed in action on January 15, 1900, at New Zealand Hill, South Africa. The Garrison Band, 20 in number, conducted by Bandmaster George, led the way to the church. The brigade troops, numbering 50, consisted of the Otago Hussars (dismounted, of which the deceased was a member) and the City Engineers; Captain Barclay in command. The 1st Battalion, Otago Rifle Volunteers, totalled 150 officers and men, including representatives from The Dunedin City Guards, the North Dunedin Rifles, the Dunedin Highland Rifles, the Dunedin City Rifles, the Dunedin Rifle Volunteers, the Wakari Rifles, the Caversham Rifles, the Green Island Rifles the Dunedin Cycle Volunteers, and the Dunedin Bearer Corps. Lieutenant colonel E. R. Smith, V.D., was in command. The Cadets' Provisional Battalion was made up of 117 officers and privates from the Dunedin Engineer Cadets, the Caversham Rifle Cadets, the Wakari Rifle Cadets, and the Industrial School Cadets, Captain Hislop commanding. The headquarters' staff consisted of Colonel Robin, Lieutenant-colonel de Lautour, and Major Beal. The companies occupied the centre seats in the church, the officers being seated in front, and the remainder of the space was thrown the public, a very large number of whom attended. Special seats were reserved for the Hon. Mr Gourley and family and friends, who are members of the church.
The opening voluntary was Beethoven's "Funeral march" (adapted to the organ by Mr A. W. Lilly), which was followed by the singing of the hymn "Brief life is here our portion." The lesson was from the fifteenth chapter of Corinthians. The anthem "The righteous souls" was sung by the choir, and after prayers the hymn "God of the living, in Whose eyes" was sung in memory, as the Rev. Curzon-Siggers stated, of all members of the New Zealand contingents who are buried in South Africa.
The dedication of the memorial window, which is situate above the altar table, then took place, the audience standing while the Rev. Mr Curzon-Siggers offered up the following prayer: "O, Almighty God, Who has called us out of darkness into Thy marvellous light, mercifully accept the offerings of Thy service towards this memorial window, and graciously receive at our hands this window in honour of the ascension of Thy Son Jesus Christ, which we offer and dedicate to beautify Thy sanctuary in memory of Thy servant, Sergeant Gourley, one of the first of our colony to die for the Empire in South Africa." The "Dead March" in "Saul" was played by Mr Lilly, and after the Rev. Mr Curzon-Siggers's address the congregation sang the National Anthem, the Garrison Band leading. The hymns "Britain's sons with hearts and voices" (words by the Rev. W. Curzon-Siggers) and "O King of kings and Lord of Hosts" were sung, and the outgoing voluntary was Cowen's "Better Land." The organist was Mr A. Lilly, F.G.C.M.
The Rev. W. Curzon-Siggers, taking his text from Deut. xxxiii, 27-29, said that these words were especially comforting to our nation, not only because they contained God's promise to our nation, but because of our position as the best-hated nation — hated because we stood for an open Bible, freedom, justice, righteousness. The growth of England's greatness corresponded with the unfolding of these truths. When England listened to Wicklyffe then she won one of the 15 decisive battles of the world; under Henry VIII with the open Bible she defied enemies at Home and abroad; under Elizabeth she fought the Armada; under Cromwell she was feared by all Europe, even to the valleys of the Waldenses, where persecution was stopped through Cromwell's threat; under William III and the growth of these truths England's greatness increased. No wonder that Mirabeau, in 1790, said that "England nourishes for the everlasting instruction of the peoples." England's greatness is but the unfolding of God's righteousness and faithfulness to His promises. Those promises include a mighty Empire, great military power, the blessings of the heavens above and of the earth beneath and of the hills. In the dispensation of God came the Boer war. We trace that war to the same cause as the "Great Trek" — viz., the dislike of dealing justly with the Natives or any aliens. Then the war was one in which Europe, in some form or other, seemed arrayed against us. For years the Boers had prepared: Germany supplied the munitions, pro-Boers gave the encouragement to the forces of Anarchism, all South Africa acted as an intelligence department against us, the greatest crusade since the days of Peter the Hermit was preached against us by Dutch friends and by papers, supported by the Vatican, as Colonel Senior, in his recent work, has shown fully — giving even the countries where prayers were regularly offered for the downfall of England. Under these conditions, England arose majestic in her calm strength beneath the Everlasting Arms, with God as her refuge. Her enemies snarled in vain, for God was but preparing her for that great conflict to come when Anglo-Saxondom shall conquer the arrayed forces of the world and establish freedom, equity, and righteous rule amongst all nations. The real power of England has never yet been seen. It shall be in that day. Then the words of the late Admiral Colomb will be shown to be true, in which he spoke of England's power as being beyond anything that could be gathered from descriptions thereof on paper. Thus it behoves the nation to take to heart the Christian motto, "Watch and pray." Watch, that is, be ready, prepare, retain your manhood by every noble means. Pray, that is, find your strength in communion with God, in the strength of your religious belief. Remember how the Jews obtained terms — a mere handful against the greatest Empire — from the Romans, because they were strong from their belief in our text. Our hope lies in the intensity of our belief. And England in the late war was strong in her belief of the righteousness of her cause and of the aid of the Almighty. Great men of England have ever been strong believers. The Lord Chancellors of England and other legal luminaries have been proud to be Sunday school teachers; in science, men like Lord Kelvin, Balfour, and Tait, in medicine, names too numerous to mention — presidents of the British Associations — in soldiers, from Lord Roberts downwards, we have had men to lead us, not only in their professions, but also in religious belief. So preachers and leaders shall never be wanting in our race, saith the prophet, to inspire us with God's support and lead us to victory for the good of the nations. For England, the home of the brave and the free; for England (and in using that term I use it of the Empire), which giveth liberty to the oppressed fellaheen in Egypt; for England, which sets the oppressed free in Africa and elsewhere; for England, which stands for all that is best in Protestantism; for England, that exists to unfold God's providence to the world, to be, as in India, a kind of deity, providing its famine-stricken millions from time to time with food, and its hundreds of millions with justice and liberty — for this England Sergeant Gourley was one of the first to die. His death was but the death of the many who died for old England. In their death we who remain became strong. For a noble idea or general truth to become lasting some soul must die for it. For that general truth which is summed up in the name of England our men died, and that truth now abides with us. In their bloodshed our life is renewed; in the bodies buried we rise to a newer life; in their patriotism we are ennobled; in their loss is our gain. This window, dedicated to his memory, becomes in a sense the memorial of all, in that his spirit was their spirit, his patriotism their patriotism. And so the subject of "The Ascension" is a fitting one as a memorial of him and them: for they died for others as Christ died for all, and now through Him they shall ascend whither He has gone in that in doing their duty they were assisting in the work of God's providence. We may take our thoughts to the future that lies before our nation, built on its glorious past — a future depending on our observance of the Sabbath, our freedom from idolatry, our trust in God, and our avoidance of the grosser sins contained in the Decalogue. Then we may take our thoughts back to those sacred spots on the veldt where lie our hallowed dead, to those spots, verdent by our heroes' blood, symbolic of the ever freshness of that resurrection body and life which shall be theirs, and we may resolve that we will go forth beneath the support of the Everlasting Arms to fight the battles of life, to unfold all those virtues for which the name of England stands until that happy morn when all who have done their duty here shall be for ever with the Lord.
The window consists of five lancets, occupying the most prominent position in the building, and filling in the whole of the chancel windows. The lancets are all the same size, and are about 12ft high by 2ft 6in wide. The subject is a representation of the Ascension, the centre lancet being wholly taken-up-with the figure of Christ ascending to Heaven, and is intended to be illustrative of the text, "And he led them out as far as to Bethany and lifted up His hands and blessed them, and it came to pass while He blessed them He was parted from them and carried unto Heaven." The colouring of the subject is particularly bright, the drapery being very free in white and yellow, with ruby returns; while the nimbus is similarly treated. The flesh-work, which always causes the painter some little anxiety owing to its several firings, is a marked success. The drawing shows considerable care, and the face is particularly soft, yet bold. The background is of a subdued blue, relieved by clouds which are just sufficient to break the monotony of the sky, with foliage and very effective Gothic architecture in the foreground. Surmounting the picture is a well-drawn canopy lightly treated with ruby background, coupled with base and shafting of similar architecture, and running through the base is the inscription, showing by and to whom the window is erected. The inscription runs: "To the memory of Sergeant Samuel Gourley, who was killed at Rendsburg, South Africa, January 15, 1900. Erected by his family, friends, and co-parishioners." The other four lancets contain 11 figures, representing the Apostles witnessing the departure of our Lord. These subjects, like the centre one, all show great care in the production of a rich, warm effect, the variety of colour in the robes harmonising very nicely; while the canopy bases, etc., all resemble the centre lancet both in colour and design. The glass has been carefully selected, and is of the best English and Munich manufacture. The window was designed and the work carried out by Mr Robert H. Fraser, of Dunedin, whose high reputation as an artist it fully sustains. -Otago Daily Times, 26/1/1903.
 |
| The Oval, Dunedin |
MEMORIAL TO NEW ZEALANDERS WHO FELL IN SOUTH AFRICA.
Dunedin, November 29. A memorial to those members of the Otago contingents who lost their lives during the Boer war in South Africa was unveiled this morning. The memorial has been erected at the entrance to the Southern Reserve, better known as the Oval. There was a large attendance of the public and over 50 members of the various contingents were present. The time was unsuitable for many volunteers to attend, but the school cadets made a fine display, and the blue jackets of H.M.S. Pioneer paraded. The monument, which consists of a fine column, on top of which, in marble, is a full size figure of a soldier watching over the body of a fallen comrade, was unveiled by His Excellency the Governor, who referred to the necessity for inculcating patriotism and encouraging and supporting the splendid volunteers and cadets who had made a name for themselves all over the world. The Rev. D. Dritton, who was Chapplain of one of the contingents, offered prayer, after which the Hon. the Premier spoke briefly, referring to the testimony given by British commanders to the fine work of the New Zealanders. The Premier having handed over the monument to the City Council, the Mayor returned thanks and the proceedings closed. -Colonist, 30/11/1906.
No comments:
Post a Comment