Sergeant Robert Tinsley
Number: 9385/ 38618
Company: 46th (Belfast) Company, 13th Battalion, First Contingent/ 134th (Irish Horse) Company (Ulster), 29th Battalion, Third Contingent
ENLISTMENT
Date: 8 January 1900/ 7 January 1902
Place: Belfast/ Belfast
Age: 22 years (stated on first enlistment). Born 13 September 1877 at Ballyhenry, Belfast.
Trade or calling: Book-keeper
Place of birth: In the Parish of Carnmoney, in or near the Town of Belfast, in the County of Antrim
Address: Mossley, Belfast
Family: Single. Father Robert Tinsley, reeling-master in flax spinning mill, mother Mary Ann Tinsley (nee McCrudden), of Mossley, Belfast.
Previous military service: No
Description: Height 5' 7 1/2". Complexion fresh, eyes blue/ grey, hair brown/ black. Scar right knee.
Religion: Church of England
ACTIVE SERVICE
Date to South Africa: 3 March 1900/ 10 May 1902
Date home: 8 June 1901/ __
Service medal, clasps and other awards: Queen's South Africa Medal. Cape Colony, Orange Free State, 1901, 1902 clasps.
DISCHARGE
Date: 15 June 1901/ 3 September 1902
Place: Belfast/ Stellenbosch
Reason for discharge: The termination of his engagement/ At his own request
Intended place of residence: Mossley, Belfast/ Wynberg, Cape Colony
Conduct: Very good/ very good
Special qualifications: Good groom and horseman/ good clerk
Tinsley was among the 400 men captured by Boer forces at Lindley in May 1900. He was released on 30 August with the other members of the 13th Battalion when the British captured Nooitgedacht.
He was promoted to the rank of sergeant on 8 January 1902, the day after his enlistment in the 134th Company.
The Northern Whig, 6 February 1900
Image of Tinsley from the Belfast Evening Telegraph, 3 May 1900.
This page last updated 31 January 2025.