SAPPER
SEPTIMUS ROBINSON
Septimus Robinson was born on 9th
March 1875 at Arrad Foot near Ulverston, Lancashire, the sixth child (or
possibly seventh, given his name - an older sibling may have died before the
1881 census) of farmer William Robinson and his wife Agnes. By the time Septimus came to be in the
employ of the London & North Western Railway Company in Crewe, his family
were farming Plas Yw farm at Nannerch in Mold, Flintshire.
Septimus joined the Railway Volunteers
and deployed with them to South Africa, where he met his death at the age of 24
in the Orange Free State capital of Bloemfontein, a victim of the enteric
(typhoid) epidemic that swept through the British troops who had captured the
city. Septimus died on May 27th,
1900, and is buried at the President Brand Garden of Remembrance in
Bloemfontein.
There are two notable events following
Septimus' death that has led to his fate being chronicled with a great deal
more detail than that of his unfortunate comrades. The first was the erection of a memorial plaque in his honour at
the church in Nannerch, where young Septimus had been a member of the
choir. The brass tablet has a scrolled
edge and the crest of the Railway Volunteers, and the following inscription :
TO THE GLORY OF GOD
AND IN MEMORY OF
SEPTIMUS ROBINSON
RESERVIST, CREWE
RAILWAY ENGINEERS
OF PLAS Yw, NANNERCH
WHO DIED 27 MAY 1900
AT BLOEMFONTEIN, SOUTH
AFRICA, WHILE FAITHFULLY
SERVING HIS QUEEN AND
COUNTRY - AGED 24.
THIS MONUMENT IS
ERECTED BY HIS FRIENDS
AND NEIGHBOURS
(Note the use of the term 'reservist' rather
than 'volunteer' - this would indicate that Septimus was one of the 245 Special
Railway Reservists)
Secondly, a memorial service took place
to unveil and dedicate the tablet, at Nannerch church on 29 July, 1900, presided
by the Rev. Watkin Williams. This
was attended by twenty of Septimus' colleagues (they are described in the
Crewe Chronicle as 'Crewe Engineers', by
Eardley's Crewe Almanack as 'members of the Wheelers Cycling Club' - they are likely
to have been one and the same - but both accounts agreed that they arrived
by cycle!) who then visited the Robinson family residence to pay their condolences
to the deceased's mother. The party
then made an ascent of Moel Arthur and were subsequently invited to tea at
the home of Mr H. W. Buddicom, to view his collection of curios and objects
d'art, and a 'machinery' room.
Septimus' name also appears on the
memorial in Crewe's Queens Park, and the Railway Volunteers memorial originally
mounted in St Paul's church, now on display in the Municipal Buildings.
REFERENCES
:
Document
prepared by Harry Jones for the Crewe Historical Society, 2000.