Bessie Burchmore[1]
1846 - 1927 (81 years)-
Name Bessie Burchmore Birth 7 Mar 1846 Markyate,,,Hertfordshire,England 
[2, 3] Christening 5 Apr 1846 [4] Gender Female Death 1 Jul 1927 Pietermaritzburg,Natal,South Africa [3, 5] Burial Commercial Road cemetery (Grave No. 669 Map 4 B 39),Pietermaritzburg, 
Grave William and Bessie Bamber
_TYPE: PHOTOGrave William and Bessie Bamber
_TYPE: PHOTOPerson ID I45 My Genealogy Last Modified 28 Dec 2020
Father Thomas Burchmore, b. 26 Apr 1818, Flamstead,,,Hertfordshire,England d. 20 Aug 1890, Ladysmith,Natal,South Africa., (Age 72 years) Mother Mary Walton, b. 1813 d. 16 Sep 1889, Ladysmith,Natal,South Africa., (Age 76 years) Marriage 23 May 1841 Caddington,Bedfordshire,England., [6, 7] - Thomas Burchmore and Mary Walton are recorded as marrying at the Parish Church in the parish of Caddington, Bedfordshire, on May 23, 1841.
Family ID F17 Group Sheet | Family Chart
Family William Bamber, b. 2 Aug 1844, Wilmot Square,Bethnal Green,Middlesex,England., d. 27 Jun 1927, Greys Hospital,Pietermaritzburg, (Age 82 years) Marriage 6 Jul 1867 St Peter's Cathedral,Pietermaritzburg, [8, 9, 10] - Married by the Rev James Green Dean of Pietermaritzburg
Children 1. Louisa Bamber, b. 12 Nov 1868, Pietermaritzburg,South Africa d. 19 Feb 1944 (Age 75 years)2. Gertrude Mary Bamber, b. 10 Aug 1870, Zwartkop Valley,Pietermaritzburg,Natal,South Africa d. 29 Apr 1939, Kokstad,East Griqualand,Cape,South Africa., (Age 68 years)3. Bessie Helen Bamber, b. 6 Nov 1872, Zwartkop Valley,Pietermaritzburg,Natal,South Africa d. 29 Jan 1956 (Age 83 years)4. Gilbert Bamber, b. 28 Jun 1874, Ladysmith,Natal,South Africa., d. 4 Jun 1890, Ladysmith,Natal,South Africa., (Age 15 years)5. Richard Henry Bamber, b. 2 Mar 1877, Zwartkop Valley,Pietermaritzburg,Natal,South Africa d. 12 Mar 1877, Zwartkop Valley,Pietermaritzburg,Natal,South Africa (Age 0 years)6. Cyril William Bamber, b. 22 Nov 1883, Ashenden,New Hanover,kwaZulu-Natal,South Africa d. 1 Jul 1953, Pietermaritzburg,kwaZulu-Natal,South Africa (Age 69 years)7. John Walton (Jack) Bamber, b. 16 Oct 1886, Ladysmith,Natal,South Africa., d. 1 Jul 1916, ,Somme,France., (Age 29 years)8. Norah Tindal Bamber, b. 4 Feb 1889, Ladysmith,Natal,South Africa., d. 16 Mar 1970, Durban,Kwazulu-Natal,South Africa., (Age 81 years)Family ID F13 Group Sheet | Family Chart Last Modified 28 Dec 2020
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Photos 87190496.jpg
_TYPE: PHOTO
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Notes - She was in the neutral Intombi Camp during the Boer War at the siege of Ladysmith. According to Mary Taylor "«i»There they helped nurse the wounded and the dysentery and malaria stricken soldiers, and civilians, during the siege of the town«/i»" According to the web site http://www.pcansr.net/index.htm she was a member of the Natal Volunteer Medical Corps. According to a letter she wrote to her sister in law Alice in England, she did not nurse but rather volunteered at the hospital together with her sons Cyril and Jack. He husband William was sick with fever as was her daughter Norah. Later she herself came down with fever.
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(Author not given)
The Daily News (Durban) - Monday April 30, 1973
LADYSMITH SIEGE DIARY RECALLS - A BITTER LESSON FOR WEE JACK BAMBER
Paging through the Diary of the Siege of Ladysmith (Part 4) again, I came upon the story of the little fellow who used to help his mum nurse the wounded soldiers. There wasn't much he could do for many of them but he did a lot to buck up the soldiers' spirits just being around.
The story is told in one of the hitherto unpublished letters in the Diary, which is the work of the Ladysmith Historical Society.
It is a letter dated June 1900, from a Mrs Bamber to her sister in England, after the siege had been lifted.
Mrs Bamber wanted to help out at the Volunteer Hospital. «i»I knew the matron. She had nursed Jack (one of her two young boys) when he had peritonitis so I went over and asked if I could help. SHe was glad to see me and said how pleased she would be. I did no nursing, only in extremem cases. I used to go in and fan the poor boys after an operation and I used to go round and have a little chat an hour each day. «/i»Mrs Bamber here goes into details of the more pitiable cases. Then she continues about her sons Cyril and Jack, who helped out as orderlies. «i»Cyril and Jack went with me and were orderlies, and altho' they are mine I must say they did their duty and the sick were so fond of them. One of the 1 L.H. used to often call for the wee laddie and Jack was there at once and would fan him and talk as long as he liked. Poor fellow he did not live long and he did try to get well. He was to have been married when our Volunteers were called out. And then another took to him. He was our
I never went to our tent without saying Goodnight to him. He was such a dear youth and used to say "Oh, those dear boys of yours". He died suddenly, but had sent to the Archdeacon for a present for them, so they both have the Prayer Books with his name in. Jack never cared to go any more. He said all he liked died, so he used to stay with his father and help in other ways.
«/i»[Note: "her sister in England" was actually her sister in law, Alice Maud Bamber, youngest sister of William Bamber, who was unmarried and lived with her eldest (also unmarried) sister Louisa in Lewisham, in London. «i» «/i»
- She was in the neutral Intombi Camp during the Boer War at the siege of Ladysmith. According to Mary Taylor "«i»There they helped nurse the wounded and the dysentery and malaria stricken soldiers, and civilians, during the siege of the town«/i»" According to the web site http://www.pcansr.net/index.htm she was a member of the Natal Volunteer Medical Corps. According to a letter she wrote to her sister in law Alice in England, she did not nurse but rather volunteered at the hospital together with her sons Cyril and Jack. He husband William was sick with fever as was her daughter Norah. Later she herself came down with fever.
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Sources - [S53] Mary Taylor, The Burchmores in Victorian Natal, (Unpublished manuscript).
- [S1357] Bamber Family Bible, (Bamber Family Bible in possession of John Bamber, great grandson of William Bamber), given as Market St Bedford but London Gazette in 1846 gives her fathers address as Markyate Street (old name for the town of Markyate) (Reliability: 3).
- [S14] Shelagh O'Byrne Spencer, British Settlers in Natal 1824-1857 Volume 3 Bond-Byrne, (University of Natal Press, Pietermaritzburg 1985 ISBN 0 86980 430 8), Page 87-88 (Reliability: 3).
- [S1364] England Births and Christenings, 1538-1975, (familysearch.org), April 1846, Bessie Burchmore (Reliability: 3).
- [S244] Death Notice Bessie Burchmore, (Held in Natal Archives MSCE12515-1927).
- [S205] England, Select Marriages, 1538–1973, (Ancestry.com.), 1841 Marriage Thomas Burchmore and Mary Walton (Reliability: 3).
- [S12] Marriage Record Thomas Burchmore and Mary Walton, (Caddington, 1841).
- [S11] Marriage Record William and Bessie Bamber.
- [S1357] Bamber Family Bible, (Bamber Family Bible in possession of John Bamber, great grandson of William Bamber).
- [S5] South Africa, Natal Province, Civil Marriages, 1845-1955, William Bamber and Bessie Burchmore, 06 Jul 1867 (Reliability: 3).
- [S53] Mary Taylor, The Burchmores in Victorian Natal, (Unpublished manuscript).
