TOPIC:

Hugh Champneys Van Zuilecom

Corporal, Norfolk Regiment
Private, Colonial Scouts
Sergeant, Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry
Corporal, Imperial Light Horse

- Queens South Africa Medal with clasps Cape Colony, Tugela Heights, Relief of Ladysmith and Transvaal to 808 Corpl. H.C. Van Zuilesom (sic), Imperial Light Horse

Almost everyone has heard of Darjeeling tea, grown of course in the place of the same name in Bengal, India and it is was here that Hugh Champneys Van Zuilecom first saw the light of day on 3 January 1869. He was born to Charles Champneys Van Zuilecom, a Contractor, and his wife Letitia Temperance, born Muller and of part German part Channel Isles extraction. The Chaplain of Darjeeling, Revd. Mazuchelli christened baby Hugh on 13 January 1869, ten days after he was born.

At some point not long after his birth Hugh and family moved to England where, in January 1881 he was admitted to Bedford Grammar School with no. 732 and after the payment of £12 in fees. Interestingly his date of birth was logged as 3 January 1867, a clear and obviously successful attempt to convince the authorities that he was old enough for the lessons he was about to be instructed in.

Four years later, on 11 March 1885 Hugh completed the Attestation papers for Short Service with the Norfolk Regiment at Great Yarmouth. Again misrepresenting the truth about his age (he claimed to be 18 years and 2 months old) he was assigned no. 482 (this changed to 1182) and the rank of Private on joining “A” Company of the 1st Norfolks. Physically he was 5 feet 9 ¾ inches in height, weighed 151 pounds and had a fresh complexion, brown eyes and black hair. Having been passed as “Fit” by the Doctor at Bedford he donned his uniform and commenced his service. He claimed to be a Student by way of occupation.

Promotion to paid Lance Corporal came swiftly on 22 June 1886 followed by another promotion to Corporal on 1 January 1887. The Norfolk’s moved about quite a bit during Van Zuilecom’s time with them. On 12 December 1885 they were despatched to Gibraltar where, after 206 days, they returned home to England on 6 July 1886. After 1 year and 168 days at home they were off again, on this occasion back to Gibraltar, where they remained until 10 February 1889 when it as off to the East Indies, a neck of the woods Van Zuilecom would be slightly familiar with. Here they remained until 22 May 1891, a period of 2 years 100, before once more returning Home.

Back in England Hugh was placed on the Reserve for a period of 5 years and 285 days before taking his discharge from the army on 8 March 1897 on termination of his first period of limited engagement.

His service was not without incident – on 22 September 1890, whilst at Rangoon in the East Indies, he was convicted for “disobedience of orders” and sentenced to be reduced to the ranks with effect from 4 October 1890. He also forfeited his Good Conduct Badge in the process.

Medically he had a few scrapes which required some form of attention the first of these being Tonsillitis at Great Yarmouth on 27 March 1885 for which he spent 4 days in hospital having them removed. Later that year, on 26 November, he was hospitalised for at Gosport for Bronchial Catarrh.

At Gibraltar on 24 January 1886 he succumbed to that most common of afflictions to be found among young unmarried soldiers, Gonorrhoea. This required a longer period of treatment with Van Zuilecom being bedridden for 16 days whilst the treatment worked its magic.

Back in England, at Aldershot, he sprained his ankle and spent 14 days on his back in December of 1886 as a result. At Gibraltar on 1 August 1888 he was back in the wars, this time spraining his right thigh and groin – one can only imagine what occasioned this injury! Back in India he picked up a bout of Diarrhoea on 12 December 1889 and was “out of it” for 20 days whilst recovering.

Finished with the army and out of uniform Van Zuilecom must have scouted around for something with which to occupy himself. The Boer War, long in the making, provided such an opportunity for something to do and, although it is unknown as to when he headed for South Africa, Van Zuilecom was here shortly after the outbreak in October 1899. On 8 December 1899 he attested for service with the Colonial Scouts on their formation in Natal. His career with them was to be short-lived, on 2 January 1900, after less than 1 month’s service; he took his discharge from them, attesting for service with Thorneycroft’s Mounted Infantry at Pietermaritzburg the same day. Interestingly the Colonial Scouts medal roll has him down for the clasps Relief of Ladysmith and Natal which implies that he wasn’t one of the Scouts most of who were active in Zululand until their disbandment in April 1900.

With Thorneycroft’s Van Zuilecom was assigned no. 996 and the rank of Sergeant. His attestation papers confirmed that he had served previously with the Norfolk Regiment. He also confirmed that his next of kin was his mother, Letitia Temperance Van Zuilecom and that she was living In Musgrave Road on the Berea in Durban. What was also apparent was that his brother, Arthur Mostyn Van Zuilecom also attested with Thorneycroft’s on the same day – brothers in arms they were then to be.

In the battle of Spioenkop Thorneycroft’s played a vital role. Colonel Thorneycroft made a hasty reconnaissance of the area around the “Kop”, and sketched the outstanding features, trees, kraals, etc. The force employed was the 2nd Battalion Royal Lancaster Regiment, the 2nd Battalion Lancashire Fusiliers, two companies of the 1st Battalion South Lancashire Regiment, and Thorneycroft's Mounted Infantry, whose strength was 18 officers and 180 men, all dismounted for the task in hand. It is not the purpose of this story to describe the events of the 23rd January as they unfolded but that the T.M.I chaps were in the thick of the fighting there can be no doubt. At the end of the battle the British dead lay in the shallow trenches piled high in the blazing sun. Van Zuilecom was, in all probability at Spioenkop and one of the survivors.

Rushing on, after this setback, to relieve Ladysmith was the next order of business for General Buller and those battalions at his disposal. Ladysmith was relieved on the last day of February 1900 and Van Zuilecom was with his outfit when they rode into Ladysmith to the welcoming acclaim of the thousands who thronged the dusty streets to greet their “Relievers”. His work done he took his discharge from Thorneycroft’s a week later, on 6 March 1900.

It could be supposed that, now at the age of 31 Van Zuilecom had seen and experienced enough of war. Those who so thought would be mistaken, on 14 March, after a week of relaxation and after making his way back to Pietermaritzburg, he completed the Attestation forms for service with the Imperial Light Horse in the presence of the Officer Commanding, Colonel Wools-Sampson. On this occasion he confirmed that he was “33” years old and was 5 feet 10 ½ inches tall. Weighing 165 pounds he had a dark complexion, dark grey eyes and black hair. His mother, of Musgrave Road, Durban was again his next of kin.

It was with the 1st I.L.H., one of the “glamour” colonial units, that he was to see out his military career. Assigned no. 808 and the rank of Corporal he took to the field in the aftermath of the Relief of Ladysmith when Buller was pressing on to expel the Boers from Natal. Taking the fight into the Transvaal this was successfully achieved and, on 6 December 1900, Van Zuilecom took his discharge from the I.L.H. Quite what he did with himself immediately thereafter is a mystery. We know that his brother, the aforementioned Arthur, had sought greener pastures and had gone north to the Soutpansberg area north of Pietersburg where he applied for and was awarded several farms in the district. That Hugh had joined him there and was involved in some way with these ventures can be established by his presence in the neighbourhood in 1906, the year he died.

Hugh Champneys Van Zuilecom passed away at Pietersburg Hospital on 26 June 1906 at the comparatively young age of 39 years and 6 months (we know him to have been 37). He was a Prospector by occupation (gold was supposed to have been discovered in the area at this time) and he was survived by his brother Arthur, a sister Flora C. Davenport (married to Frank Davenport who was in the Ladysmith Town Guard during the war) and another sister Constance Crompton, married to Eustace Crompton of Pinetown outside Durban. His mother, Letitia, was in Rydal, Horsham , Sussex visiting people when he died.

Van Zuilecom left the proceeds of an assurance policy with the S.A. Mutual Life to the tune of £122 to be shared among his nearest and dearest. He had never married.

Good heavens Rory,
What a great name the recipient had, the medal is pretty good too!
Regards Frank

Hi Frank

Yes indeed - Van Zuilecom's name(s) were part of the attraction in the first place - the other consideration was that I was sitting with his brother-in-law's medal to the Ladysmith TG (although they didn't know at the time that they would be related...)

So there I had a Defender of Ladysmith and his brother-in-law; a Reliever. Rich irony I thought

Regards

Rory