Robert Smith, Ochiltree to Eastern Cape Province

By Elaine Corbett

Robert Smith  was a farmer’s son from Whitehill Farm, Ochiltree.

Follow this link to the farm post for Whitehill on our blog Ploughing Up Our Past.

Robert was my 2nd great grand-uncle, brother of my great, great grandfather, David Smith.

He was the third son of Robert Smith and Jane Guthrie born in 1835, and must have been recognised as being a bright lad and encouraged to pursue his studies. The remaining sons all stayed farming. 

The 1851 census finds him in Ochiltree village with, (we think) his great-aunt, Elizabeth Wallace so it is evident he was sent away from the distraction of his siblings to get on with his book learning.

In 1861 he was living in Aberdeenshire as a teacher, and in 1862 he married Margaret Anderson, in Binns Farm, Urquhart. Margaret’s family were interesting, as her father was a farmer and ship owner. Her uncle was a sea captain before he too bought into a shipping company and settled in Glasgow with his Danish wife.

The 1871 census sadly, shows that Robert had gained two sons, William and Robert, but Margaret had died from complications of childbirth. His occupation was now Bank Agent. 

In 1872 he married Mary Mather and they set up home together in Union Street, Aberdeen. They had four children before Mary died in 1888 from Tuberculosis. 

Despite his personal tragedies, Robert’s career seems to have been doing well, and by the 1891 census, he had decided to emigrate to King William’s Town, East Cape Province, South Africa and had become the manager of the Bank of South Africa there. The children were staying with family getting ready to join their father and begin their new life.

The younger boys David Guthrie Smith, and John Ogilvie Smith, and daughter Jessie MacLean Smith were staying with Mary’s sister in Glasgow, while Mather, the oldest of Mary’s children was with Uncle Hugh at Whitehill Farm. The sons from his first marriage seem to have left home and were building their own lives. Their names were Robert Smith, and William Anderson Smith.

Robert stayed in Scotland and qualified as a doctor, and found a medical practice in Assam, India, but unfortunately died there aged just 30.

William Anderson Smith was studying Arts in Aberdeen University, but no trace after that in UK records, until the very last clipping posted here.

There was also an adopted daughter called Elizabeth Anderson, but I can’t find any trace of her, or even who her mother and father might have been.

Of the remaining family, it seems they had an exciting life in South Africa.

The Smith family had not long been in South Africa before the Second Boer War began. Although a relatively short war, from 1899 to 1903  it was quite brutal. Much of it was conducted under guerilla tactics, sieges, and was the first war we saw mention of concentration camps. It was fought using cavalry swords, rifles and bayonets, and cannon. All three of Robert’s sons who were with him immediately signed up to fight.

Mather joined the 1st Battalion, Imperial Light Horse and his record shows he earned four clasps to his medal for seeing action at the relief of  Mafeking, the Transvaal clasp, the Relief of Ladysmith, and Tugela Heights.

He was wounded at Acton Homes 19th January 1900, where 40 Boers were captured, recovered from his wounds then returned to service. He was finally discharged from service 12th October 1900.

When he was staying with his Uncle, before going out to Eastern Cape, he had been studying engineering. When he married Nellie Sweeten, a Cumbrian girl from Penrith in 1911, he was described as being from the Worcester Gold Mining Company, Barberton, so it seems his engineering studies had come to fruition.

Cumberland and North Westmorland Herald 17th June 1911

Arthur Sweeten was publisher of a newspaper in Penrith, and one of his sons was out in South Africa, so perhaps Nellie met Mather in South Africa.

David Guthrie - known as just ‘Guthrie’ and named for his grandmother’s family was not so lucky. In the family papers there is a letter written by the chaplain and his commanding officer giving details of how he died. I am sure no parent would want to read such a sad demise. Guthrie was brave.

This text and photo from the website Billion Graves

535 Trooper David Guthrie Smith, 1st Battalion, Imperial Light Horse. The regiment was raised at Pietermaritzburg in Sep 1899, when war was certain, selecting 1200 men out of about 12,000 refugees from Johannesburg, mainly professional men and managers who were forced to leave by the Boers. The regiment fought well right from the start winning two VCs (Captain C H Mullins and Captain R Johnstone) in the first battles with Boer forces in Natal. They fought at Rietfontein on 24 Oct 1900 and Lombard's Kop on 30 Oct 1899 before retreating into Ladysmith and were there throughout the siege. Trooper Smith died of wounds in Intombi Hospital, Ladysmith. He was buried in the Intombi cemetery.

He had earned two clasps to his medal, one for Elandslaagte, and the other for the siege of Ladysmith.

He died 12th November 1899 in the early days of the war.

John Ogilvie Smith - known as ‘Ogilvie’ - or as his fellow troopers called him ‘Scottie’ joined the Cape Police Brigade and was outstanding at the relief of Dewetsdorp Garrison. Here is a newspaper cutting describing his act of valour. Note also that it mentions his Aunt Jemima Mather, Mary’s sister. She married Robert’s partner in his firm of solicitors, John Finlayson, who was Provost of Fraserburgh for 21 years.

The Fraserburgh Herald and Northern Counties Advertiser January 29 1901

But back again to Robert Smith the farmer’s boy from Ochiltree. Here is his Obituary in the Fraserburgh Herald and Northern Counties Advertiser of January 1906.

So there is his demise, and crucially, a note at the end there of one of his older sons William Anderson Smith.

Somewhere down the line in Mather and Nellie Sweeten’s line, the occupation went from mine engineering back to farming until the pressure of the land situation and political unrest drove the family to relocate to Moutere, on the northern coast of South Island, New Zealand, where they have started farming bees to make Manuka honey.