Above: No. 1100 Bandsman/Lance Corporal Ernest Richard Wadham with two fellow bandsmen of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment in Cairo, Egypt. The photo dates from after December 1887 and before his promotion to corporal in September 1891. This photo was in Egypt, probably before he was transferred to India in January 1888. The reverse side of the photo bears the name "Effie" in a period ink inscription.
Ernest Richard Wadham was born in December 1863 at Feltham, Middlesex, England, and was one of five children of Alfred Wadham and Mary Anne Plummer. He attested as No. 1100 with the 1st Battalion, The Royal Fusiliers at Honslow on 14 November 1883. Before he enlisted in the regulars, he had spent some time in the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Fusiliers and was employed as a grocer’s assistant. A member of the Church of England, Wadham stood just under five and a half feet tall and weighed in at 130 pounds.
From the start, Wadham was a model soldier. Granted good conduct pay on 14 November 1885, he was appointed Bandsman two days later. Having enlisted under the terms of Short Service (6 years), he extended his service to twelve years while his battalion was at Aswan, Egypt, on 4 February 1887. Appointed lance corporal on 30 December 1887, he was granted his second good conduct pay on 14 November 1889.
Promoted to corporal on 12 September 1891, he re-engaged with the colours to complete 21 years at Quetta, British India, on 26 January 1893. Appointed lance sergeant precisely one year later, he was promoted to sergeant on 23 March 1895. Receiving his third good conduct pay on 14 November 1895, Wadham was posted to the staff of the 5th (Volunteer) Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers on 28 April 1898. He would remain with the 5th Battalion for the rest of his enlistment and serve in South Africa during the Anglo-Boer War with that unit.
Promoted Colour-Sergeant on 25 March 1902, he was paid his war service gratuity in August of the same year. On 11 July 1904, he was permitted to extend his term of service beyond 21 years. Wadham received a bonus when, on 5 November 1904, he was paid the handy sum of a bit over £40 in deferred pay. Colour Sergeant Ernest Richard Wadham took and discharge and retired with his pension on 31 March 1907 after completing 23 years, 138 days of service.
Wadham’s postings included:
Home: 14 November 1883 – 12 December 1884
Gibraltar: 13 December 1884 – 13 December 1885
Egypt: 14 December 1885 – 8 January 1888
India: 9 January 1888 – 1 May 1893
Home on Furlough: 2 May 1893 – 6 September 1893
India: 7 September 1893 – 27 April 1898
Home: 28 April 1898 – 3 June 1901
South Africa: 4 June 1901 – 26 July 1902
Home: 27 July 1902 – 31 March 1907
Wadham had seen a better part of the Empire during his overseas postings and was entitled to the Queen’s South Africa Medal with four clasps for his service during the Anglo-Boer War. He was also granted the Long Service & Good Conduct Medal on 9 December 1907. Many years later, he was also presented with the Meritorious Service Medal in 1928.
Ernest Wadham must have possessed more than a passing interest in linguistics since he was granted two proficiency certificates, each in the Hindustani, Persian and Pushto languages, while stationed in India. He also earned two less unusual certificates of qualification – one from the School of Musketry at Hythe (1899) and another from the Royal Small Arms Factory at Birmingham (1905). While I have seen qualification and education certificates issued for various skills and subjects ranging from cooking to musketry, Ernest Richard Wadham is the only soldier I have found so far who passed any courses in a foreign language, let alone three. Had he so desired, it would seem that his apparent linguistic skills would have allowed him to find gameful employment with the Indian Civil Service after his retirement from the army.
Ernest Wadham married Miss Orontes Elizabeth Ellis while on furlough to England on 17 July 1893 at St. Mark’s Church, Torquay, Devon. Miss Ellis’s somewhat unusual first name was taken from HM Troop Ship Orontes, on which she was born in 1866. The couple would have three children: Christine Louise, born at Karachi, British India on 4 June 1894, a son Alfred George Richard, born at Mhow, British India on 4 March 1897 and a second daughter Dorothy born about 1906 at Heston, Honslow, England.
After retiring from the army, Wadham worked as a bank messenger and clerk. He passed away from diabetes complications at Heston, Honslow, on 16 February 1940 at the age of 76.
Cabinet Photograph
M. Venieris - Photographer
Cairo, Egypt
c. 1887
Above: Bandsman Ernest Richard Wadham of the 1st Battalion, the Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment) taken someplace in Egypt c. 1887. The reverse side of the photo bears the inscription in Wadham's hand; "To Effie from Ernie". This photograph was found with the group photo shown above. Curiously, all three photographs of Wadhams shown here were taken in Egypt even though he was never posted there. It seems probable that they were taken while Wadham was passing through the Suez Canal between overseas postings.
Cabinet Photograph
Unknown Photographer
Egypt
c. 1887
Left: Taken in Cairo, Egypt Bandsman Ernest Richard Wadham appears in a carte de visite taken in the mid-1880s.
This photo is courtesy of Mr. John Hogbin on whose family tree it appears at ancestry.com.
Above: Ernest Richard Wadham's miniature medal group includes the Queen's South Africa Medal, the Long Service & Good Conduct Medal, and the Meritorious Service Medal. While Wadham's service papers state that he was entitled to the Queen's South Africa Medal with four clasps, they fail to mention which four. The medal roll for the Queen's South Africa Medal appears incomplete and only mentions Wadham's entitlement to the "South Africa - 1901" and "South Africa - 1902" clasps. This miniature medal group, which is still in the family's possession, confirms that the other two clasps not mentioned in his service papers are those for "Cape Colony" and "Orange Free State".
Photo courtesy of Mr. John Hogbin