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Greetings all!

I am in a bit of a pickle and I was hoping there might be someone on this website who may be able to provide some information on my conundrum.

For several years I have been researching on and off a distant relative who I understand, may have served in the Second Anglo-Boer War/South African War of 1899-1902.

His name was Joseph Alexander but he may have also been known as Joseph Starkey or perhaps even Joseph Faulkner. He was born on the 6th April 1880 in either Burland or Acton, near Wrenbury in Cheshire.

His death certificate states that he was late of the 4th Battalion Cheshire Militia and that he died of illness(acute yellow atrophy of the liver/jaundice) in England several months after the war had concluded. Whilst his death certificate records him as Joseph Alexander, he was buried under the name Joseph Starkey in Chorley. On the family gravestone it says he “died on the 24th of August 1902, aged 21 years, of illness contracted whilst on active service in the South African War.”

However the only J Alexander I can find is on the medal rolls and is listed as in the 3rd Battalion and I believe this man was called John Alexander with the serial number 5022. Whether or not this is the same person I have no idea.

I have also been unable to find any service/attestation records or a service number for a Joseph Alexander which would be a great help. I have scoured FindMyPast, Ancestry and the online National Archives as well as contacting the Cheshire Regimental Museum(Unfortunately I received no reply) but I have come up empty. I’ve even begun to look at the Cheshire Observer newspaper from 1899-1902 but have yet to find any mention of him. Nor have I been able to find his name on any memorials dedicated to those who served in the South African War.

His christening record lists him as Joseph Alexander and his mother(Jane Alexander), but there is no mention of a father, so it appears he may have been born out of wedlock. There has been some suggestion that his father was John Starkey, however on Joseph’s death certificate, John Starkey, who was present at Joseph’s death gives his relationship as Stepfather. Joseph is however listed on the Starkey Family grave as Joseph Starkey.

The 1881 census shows Joseph as being 11 months old and a boarder with Joseph Faulkner and his wife Elizabeth and their own family, and the 1891 census shows him as a boarder with John Starkey and his second wife Jane(nee Alexander. i.e Joseph's Mother)

I have also found a J Faulkner on the medal rolls in the 2nd Battalion, Cheshire Regiment. I may be grasping at straws but it might be possible that for whatever reason he may have enlisted under the name of the family he was boarding with in 1881 or some other false name.

As you can imagine I am getting quite frustrated that I seem to be no closer to solving this riddle than I was when I first started researching him. I would very much like to unravel his story!

Any information that can be provided would be a blessing.

Please help!

Kind regards,

Hi Cheshire. Which Chorley is he buried at? Chorley, near Wrenbury, or in Chorley Cemetery, Lancashire?

Hello, thank you for the reply.

He is buried in Bateman Memorial Chapel Cemetery in the Starkey Family grave at Chorley near Wrenbury.

Edit: Please find attached a copy of his death certificate.

Regards

I thought it probably would be the Cheshire Chorley, but best to make sure. (There's a Chorley in Staffordshire too)

Tracking him down has become very problematic, even more so due to the circumstances regarding his early life! But I think I can safely rule out Lancashire and Staffordshire.

Cheshire1900,

That is challenging research. We sometimes have difficulty with a single name!

I think you can rule out 5022 John Alexander as there are service papers for him saying he was born in Dundee in 1881.

There are a couple of Starkeys in the Cheshire Regiment but none have matching initials or battalions. 4417 G Starkey, 4th Cheshires is the nearest match. There are no service papers for this man.

5666 John Faukner served in the 2nd Cheshires but he was born in 1880 in Liverpool. Wrenbury is a lot closer to Stoke than it is Liverpool so this is unlikely to be him?

Some men did enlist under false names and they are very difficult to research.

Sorry not to be of any help
David