Private John Mates
Number: 14201
Company: 47th (Duke of Cambridge's Own) Company, 13th Battalion, First Contingent
ENLISTMENT
Date: 10 February 1900
Place: London
Age: 24 years stated on enlistment. (Born 22 July 1875 at Cornagower, Dunganstown, County Wicklow.)
Trade or calling: Stableman/ groom
Place of birth: In the Parish of Dunganstown, in or near the Town of Dunganstown, in the County of Wicklow
Address: 4 Belgrave Mews, London
Family: Single. Father Edward Mates, labourer, c/o Mr Newton, Newton Park, County Wicklow, mother Letitia Mates (nee Dunn) (dec. 1883).
Previous military service: No
Description: Height 7' 7 1/2". Complexion fresh, eyes blue, hair light brown.
Religion: Church of England
ACTIVE SERVICE
Date to South Africa: 17 February 1900
Date home: 5 March 1901
Actions: Lindley, Dewetsdorp, Reddesburg
Service medal, clasps and other awards: Queen's South Africa Medal. Cape Colony, Orange Free State, Transvaal, Natal, 1901 clasps.
DISCHARGE
Date: 3 April 1901
Place: Shorncliffe
Reason for discharge: At his own request
Intended place of residence: c/o Mr Newton, Newton Park, County Wicklow
Conduct: No documents
Special qualifications: Groom
Mates was among the 400 men of the 13th Battalion captured by Boer forces at Lindley on 31 May 1900. Five days later he was one of 24 men too sick or injured to travel any further who were left in a temporary hospital at Reitz - he had suffered a gunshot wound to his arm. They were released on 7 July when the town was captured by the British.
At the time of the 1901 Census he was living at 8 Bond Street, Wicklow Town, with his father, step-mother, and four half-siblings, his occupation recorded as an unemployed groom. He later emigrated to Canada, where he worked as a farmer. On 28 April 1913 he married Johan Macdonald Mates in Pierson, Manitoba.
He served in World War 1 in the Canadian Expeditionary Force (No.292328), enlisting at Pierson on 7 April 1916. He served in France from 22 April 1917 to 15 February 1919 in the 1st Canadian Mounted Rifles and the Gas Service (Canadian Corps). His wife, who had gone to live with her mother at South Arcan, Muir of Ord, Ross-shire, Scotland, died in September 1916, leaving their two children in the care of her family.
He died on 19 November 1938 in New Westminster, Vancouver, British Columbia, and was buried in the Fraser Cemetery.
Cametery image sourced from the Find a Grave site.
This page last updated 26 August 2026.