MY ELUSIVE RELATIVES
Kris Wheatley's Family Quest

In 1990 I began researching the family history. To begin with the only two pieces of information I knew for certain about my great grandfather was that his name was Wood, and that he was at Rorke's Drift, I didn't even have a Christian name for him. In the years that followed, little bits of information were discovered and the jig saw slowly began to come together. Each document that came to light seemed to present more questions than it answered, consequently teasing me on to dig deeper. Then in 2001 I joined the 1879 Group and made contact with the group's archivist, Graham Mason. At this point the research "took off" in a big way.

Graham was able to supply me with details about my ancestor that I had been unable to find, offer advice on the best methods of finding elusive pieces of information and generally giving support when the pickings were lean and I thought I would never find what I wanted. One of the more important pieces of information Graham sent me in 2001, was the plot and section numbers of the cemetery that my great grandfather, Caleb Wood, and his lifelong friend (another Rorke's Drift man) Robert Tongue, were buried in.

In October 2003, the Nottingham Evening Post ran a two-page article about Caleb and Robert which had mentioned the fact that both men lay in unmarked graves. As I don't live in Nottinghamshire, I knew nothing about it until a friend contacted me with the news, it seemed the newspaper was appealing for any descendants of either man to get in touch. I rang the newspaper and told them who I was, I was immediately put in touch with the writer of the article, Mr David Fox. He wanted to know exactly where the men were buried. It transpired that within days of the article being printed the Co-op Funeral Service in Nottingham had stepped forward and offered to install a headstone, suitably inscribed and free of charge on each grave.

I gave the details that Graham had so kindly provided me with three years previously, and the necessary family permission for this work to be done, as did the Tongue family with whom I had been in touch. When all the work was completed, a small family gathering was planned for a service of rededication which was scheduled for July. However, when news of the event reached the Anglo Zulu War community, such was the interest that the event grew rapidly in size. On Sunday the 18th July 2004 the rededication took place in Ruddington, it was attended by The 1879 Group in period uniforms and with replica colours, The Band of the Prince of Wales Division, Representatives from The Royal Regiment of Wales, descendants of about 15 of the other Rorke's Drift men and approximately 500 members of the public.

Following the service I thought things would return to the "quiet norm of further research", in fact it was anything but quiet. One of the calls I received was from a gentleman called John Davies. He asked first if I was aware that my ancestor had given a talk on Rorke's Drift in 1913, and that this talk had been advertised on posters, of which he had a copy. Secondly, he said, later in that same year, Caleb gave an account of his actions in the Kaffir war and at Rorke's Drift. Would I, he asked, like copies? Though I could hardly contain myself on hearing this question, I did my best to remain cool and not come across like a jibbering idiot in my excitement. I replied that I would love to receive copies.

Later that week I went over to Ruddington to place flowers on the graves of Robert and Caleb and paid a visit to friends before leaving. At the home of one of those friends I was given a carrier bag with the instructions "take these home, do whatever it is you do with them (scan and copy) and then let me have them back". From Ruddington we made our way to Derby to see my daughter, I gave no more thought to the contents of the bag until I got home later in the day.

When I opened the bag, I was speechless: it contained the photographic history of the Tongue family for no less than 140 years. I also contained photographs of Caleb Wood and his family. The owner of the photographs had been prompted to seek them out after the rededication service and had found them all in a tin in the garden shed where they had been for the last 60 years.

One of the photo's was of Caleb Wood in an "unidentified" uniform which looked distinctly naval, but when I looked at the cap badge, that appeared to be the same shape as the very early auxiliary fire service badges. I e-mailed a copy of that photograph to the fire station and asked if they could help. In the meantime, I also sent a copy to John Davies. Within a week John had identified the uniform as belonging to The Church Army Silver Band, and sent me a picture of the entire band.

I had completely forgotten about the fire service until about two weeks later when an e-mail arrived with attachments. The station historian had gone through the archives to match the face on the picture I had sent to any they may have, and they had several. The attachments contained photographs of Caleb Wood in Fire Service uniform and taken over a period of some 15 to 20 years. It seems that by mistaking the cap badge as being that of the early fire service I had accidentally discovered yet another part of Caleb's life.

The next photo out of the bag showed Caleb in yet another different uniform and the hunt was on again for an identification. Luckily it had a name embroidered on the collar, so it was a much easier task. It was in fact the uniform of a commissionaire. The search led me to a lady in Nottingham whose great grandfather had employed Caleb in 1915. She knew the history of her family's business but had no idea that the employees had uniforms and was greatly exited that I had a photograph of one. A mutually beneficial swap was arranged, I sent her a copy of the uniform picture for her family scrapbook, and she sent me a picture of Caleb's place of employment for mine. We were both happy that gaps in our respective histories had been filled and new information uncovered.

The anxiously awaited poster and Caleb's account of the action finally arrived, and they were everything that John Davies had promised they would be. At last I knew exactly which part of the wall Caleb and Robert had defended and who was with them at the time. In places, Caleb's account was serious and sombre, and in other places almost comical, with jokes about "the recruiting sergeant" but overall it paints a picture of two innocent, God fearing, village youths, who joined the army, perhaps in search of adventure. Six years later they left the army as seasoned veterans, having witnessed and survived what could only be described as their worst nightmares. The memories of that night obviously did not diminish with the passing years, but neither did they appear to leave any 'post traumatic' disorders in either man. Above all, both men retained a fierce love of Regiment for the rest of their lives.

At the time of the rededication I was able to track Caleb's life only from 1858 to 1901; as a result of all the new information and searches generated by the new leads that have emerged since July, I can now track Caleb from the day of his birth in 1858 to the day he died in 1935. At this point I think I might be forgiven for thinking it was over, and that I had completed my mission. As I was about to find out though, this was not the case. I received a call from a gentleman in Ruddington who remembered Caleb being invited to the local school to give a talk to the children about his life in the army and the events at Rorke's Drift.

Jack, my contact, who was about 11 years old at the time, recalls that on the day of Caleb's funeral the children were taken out of school and lined along the pavement to watch the funeral cortege pass. "It was" he said "a full military funeral. The coffin was draped in a flag, there was a bugler who sounded the last post and a firing party fired a graveside salute, all provided by the Sherwood Foresters with representatives of Caleb's own Regiment present."

Now, I thought, it is definitely finished. But again, the answer was no. Though I do of course know who Caleb married, his wife is something of a lady "shrouded in mystery". From the facts that I had, it seemed apparent that there had either been an adoption in the 1850s or there was a monumental blunder on Caleb's marriage certificate in the 1880s. Of the two options I considered the latter to be the more likely. But my great grandmother had for many years led me a very "merry dance" whilst trying to uncover her details. Every time I think, "that's it, I've got her" off she goes again on a different path.

With this in mind, I wrote to the authorities sending copies of every bit of documentation I had on my great grandmother. One lady who saw that letter and accompanying documentation was so intrigued that she made it her personal quest to get to the bottom of the mystery, obviously someone who took pride in all of her files being in the correct order. Within a week she contacted me to let me know that there was indeed a mistake on Caleb's marriage certificate, and she had found the correct documentation for his wife. Emily had been found and could now take her rightful place at the side of Caleb in the history of my family.

Copies of all of my research on the lives of Caleb and Robert have now been placed at the disposal of the Ruddington History Society and the Ruddington Museum who are joining forces to produce a book about the vastly different lives of the two men. The book should hopefully be in print sometime this year and will be available from the Ruddington Museum and profits used to support the museum.

Definition of a family genealogist:
Someone who is continually chasing their own tale.

Kris Wheatley
Member: The 1879 Group

This article is published by the kind permission of the author and by the Editor of "Assegai", newsletter of The 1879 Group.