In my last blog post I tentatively identified some York & Lancaster Regiment recruits who had appeared in a photograph published in the Navy & Army Gazette in April 1899. That article had been generated as a result of the death of Scots Guards recruit, and I wondered whether it would be possible to find out more about him.
The North Wales Times published the article that I have included on this post, on the 24th March 1899 and it was this report, and others like it which subsequently resulted in the 'riposte' in the Navy & Army Gazette.
The closest I get to identifying the unfortunate soldier is 2585 James Murray who died of bronchitis on Thursday 16th March 1899, according to his entry in the Scots Guards enlistment registers. His date of death is about right, and the register entry shows that he enlisted at Liverpool on the 18th January 1899 aged 20. Originally from Drogheda, James Murray was a fireman by trade. I shall be interested to look at his service record - to be published on Findmypast later this year - to see if his height on enlistment is confirmed as 5 feet, 7 and three quarter inches.
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