1st Regiment Brabant’s Horse, A Squadron, Corporal No 76
2nd New South Wales Mounted Rifles, Sergeant No. 742
3rd New South Wales Imperial Bushmen, Squadron Sergeant Major
Thomas George Taylor, the eldest of the seven sons of Owen and Harriett Taylor of “Turalla”, was born at Bungendore on 16 February 1877.
Thomas left Australia on 5th May 1899 on the Australian and landed at Port Natal in South Africa.
On 12th October 1899 when the Boer War broke out and he joined Brabant’s Horse.
The Queanbeyan Age 24 February published the following extract of a letter to his parents from British Quarters, Brabant’s Horse on patrol.
20 January:
“Just a line to let you know I am in the land of the living yet. I have done a lot of patrolling about since I last wrote. I had a few escapes from death a few weeks ago. We were camped at a place called Dordreoht which had been taken by the Boers but has been re-taken by some of our men. We were a patrol of a few men. When out 8 miles they were attacked by Boers. I had been out to meet an armoured train, with two other men. When we returned they had just got wind about an attack, and off went, a lot of us, but soon had to return, as they turned a cannon on to us, and we had no cannon, and were down in the flat, while the Boers were up on the hill, behind rocks,
Several shells fell near us, but did not hit any of us. My horse fell on top of me, and whilst I was lying under him a shell burst just behind me, but did not hurt me. I got off scot free with the exception of a skinned face and a great crushing. We went out again next morning with the C.M.B. artillery, and took four cannons to release about 25 of our men who had been down in the gully all night, the Boers all round them-they had only one man killed. I do not think the war will last long, only about six months. I have had a few narrow squeaks, but I hope to come out all right. An amusing incident occurred during Colonel Pilcher’s march. They surprised 12 Boers at a homestead, who fled at great speed, leaving a fully prepared good dinner laid on the table –the Queenslanders soon demolished it”’.
When Brabant’s Horse was disbanded, he returned home and after a short holiday re-enlisted, with his brother Owen, and embarked as a Troop Sergeant with Colonel Lassetter’s 2nd New South Wales Mounted Rifles (2NSWMR).
By the time the 2NSWMR embarked at Cape Town for the return voyage to Australia on 4th May 1902 Thomas Taylor had transferred to the 3rd New South Wales Imperial Bushmen having been promoted to Lieutenant. This Regiment was strengthened by recruiting Australians in Cape Town, including a number of time-expired men who elected to remain in South Africa until peace was declared in June 1902. He returned home on the HMAT Suevic in September 1902.
Thomas Taylor received the Queen’s South Africa Medal with five Clasps and was also awarded a Queen’s Pipe for ‘general good work’. These latter awards were made by Queen Alexandria, the wife of King Edward VII, and awarded to Warrant Officers, Staff Sergeants and Sergeants in order of seniority or to selected soldiers for distinguished service in the field.
He married an English woman, Emma Jane Ramsden (known as Jenny) at Hampstead, England, on 7 February 1906. He was 29 and she was 46.
The AWM text support the attached photograph of Thomas Taylor states:Studio portrait of Lieutenant Thomas George Taylor. A farmer by trade, Taylor was living in South Africa when the Boer War broke out and he joined Brabant's Horse. When that regiment was disbanded, he returned home and after a short holiday re-enlisted, with his brother Owen, and embarked as a troop sergeant with Colonel Lassetter's Regiment. His family history has it that he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) during the Boer War however there is no record of this in the London Gazette, "Recipients of the DCM 1855-1909 (P E Abbott) or "Official Record of the Australian Military Contingents to the War in South Africa (Murray)". The latter however records him as being one of a small number of men of the NSW Imperial Bushmen, who, worthy of recognition, were presented with Queen Alexandra's Pipe. After the outbreak of the First World War, he was one of five brothers who served, and enlisted on 17 December 1915, in Queensland. He embarked from Sydney, NSW, on 18 May 1916 aboard HMAT Demosthenes with the 41st Battalion. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant on 6 September 1916 and promoted to lieutenant on 22 May 1917. He was wounded in action in France on 2 July 1917 and died from those wounds on 5 July 1917, aged 43, and is buried in the Trois Arbres Cemetery in Steenwerck, France. "
In November 1918 in St Philip’s Church of England Bungendore, at ‘…a most impressive and affecting ceremony…’ , two dedications were made including ‘…a magnificent brass cross, given by Mrs T.G. Taylor, to the memory of her husband Lieutenant T.G.Taylor..”. The Hymn Stand in St Philips is also dedicated to Thos Geo Taylor.
Thomas George Taylor is commemorated on the Bungendore Great War Roll of Honour.
Note: Some of the Taylors who presently in Bungendore are related to Thomas George Taylor.
See also: BUNGENDORE & DISTRICT WAR MEMORIAL SOUTH AFRICAN (BOER) WAR 1899-1902 ROLL OF HONOUR ISBN: 978-0-646-55612-3 Peter John Hugonnet 2011
