Ancestor Details

Ancestor's Name: Oliver Arthur Holding

Ancestor's date of birth: 26/01/1875

Ancestor's date of death: 01/06/1910

Cause of Death: Malaria Fever. First contracted in South Africa during Boer War, and died from a different strain in Northern Territory in Australia.

Service and Life Before the Boer War: Farmer and miner. He was born in Mount Gambier South Australia, to a farming family. He worked with his brother as a farmer for a number of years, at Katanning West Australia.

Service Number: 47

Colony or State of enlistment: WA, Place of Enlistment: Katanning

Unit: 4^th West Australia Mounted Infantry

Rank attained in Boer War: PTE, Date Effective: 08/05/1900

Highest Rank attained (if served after war): No evidence of post Boer War service

Murray Page: 416

Contingent: Fourth Western Australian

Ship: Manhattan, Date of Sailing: 08/05/1900

Memorial details: Buried in the Northern Territory.

Awards/Decorations/Commendations: Queen's South Africa Medal with Cape Colony, Transvaal and South Africa 1901 clasps.

Personal Characteristics: Oliver Arthur Holding was a country person.

Reasons to go and fight: Not known

Details of service in war: June 1900 - June 1901 as part of 4^th Imperial Bushmen Regt in Cape Colony including skirmish at Stinkhoutboom (24 July 1900) and in northern Transvaal including battle of Rhenosterkop (29 November 1900), great De Wet hunt, and advance on Pietersburg and into east Transvaal.

Service and life after the Boer War: Returned to Albany West Australia on board the 'Britannic' on the 14 August 1901. After the Boer War he worked at Daly River Smelter in the Northern Territory. Then he joined a company called D. McDonalds camp, at Pine Creek as a stockman to transfer stock to the south. it was on this trip that he died from Malaria which he had first contracted during his time in South Africa.

Descendant Details

Name of Descendant: Kelvin Richard Edlington, Mount Gambier SA
Relationship to Ancestor: He was my Grandmothers brother

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