Sykes, Fred (F)

According to familylore: Joseph Henry Orchard b. 1856 Southampton, England married Sarah Ellen Jeffrey. They ventured to South Africa in 1879 where they settled in Cape Town and Joseph worked for the Cape Times and later for Government Printers W.A. Richards and Son. They had the following children: Eliza Helen 1880, George Albert Victor 1882, Arthur Henry 1884, Joseph francis 1886, Bertie Cecil 1893, Gertrude Mary 1894 & Alma Margarite 1897. Joseph had been a member of a Harts Volunteer Regiment and on arrival at the Cape he transferred to the Duke of Edinburgh's Own Volunteer Rifles. He served in 1879 during the 'Kaffir War', 'Basuta Campaign' and other native campaigns (in which he received medals). As a marksman he won the D.E.O.V.R. Commanding Officers prize in 1884 and around 1889 had the honor of going to England as a member of the first Bisley Team to represent South Africa in England. The team did not win the King's medal, but they won individual medals. Serving as a Sergeant in the 'Anglo Boer War', Joseph died on 30 May 1900. he was killed at 'Faber Puts' a farm in Douglas in the Cape province about 70 miles south of Kimberly. His son George, who played the bugle, sounded the 'Last Post' at the burial. In the 1960's the bodies of the soldiers killed in the area were taken to Kimberly together with headstones and placed in a memorial site in the local cemetery. As mentioned, this is according to information passed through generations of my family: