Private William Wilkinson
Number: 9574
Company: 54th (Belfast) Company, 13th Battalion, First Contingent
ENLISTMENT
Date: 19 January 1900
Place: Belfast
Age: 20 years stated on enlistment. (Birth date uncertain. He may have been the John Joseph Wilkinson born on 23 November 1879 at Derryloran, Cookstown.)
Trade or calling: Clerk
Place of birth: In the Parish of Cookstown, in or near the Town of Cookstown, in the County of Tyrone
Address: Drumcoo, Dungannon
Family: Single. Mother Dorcus Bridget Wilkinson (nee Deeny or Deane), of Drumcoo, Dungannon, County Tyrone. Father John Wilkinson, labourer (dec. 1897).
Previous military service: No
Description: Height 5' 6". Complexion fresh, eyes brown/ hazel, hair brown/ black. Scar left leg/ Two marks left elbow; scar left scalp; Bird [tattoo] lfet forearm.
Religion: Church of England
ACTIVE SERVICE
Date to South Africa: 3 March 1900
Date home: 8 June 1901
Service medal, clasps and other awards: Queen's South Africa Medal; King's South Africa Medal. Cape Colony, Orange Free State, 1901, 1902 clasps.
DISCHARGE
Date: 15 June 1901
Place: Belfast
Reason for discharge: The completion of his service
Intended place of residence: __
Conduct: Very good
Special qualifications: __
On 20 February 1900 The Northern Whig reported that:
On Monday afternoon a large crowd assembled at Dungannon Railway Station to bid farewell to Troopers Charles Newell, Jas. Hamilton, and Tom White, of the B Company Imperial Yeomanry. Each of the three was presented with a pair of field glasses in a case, and as the train left for Belfast hearty cheers were given for Her Majesty, Lord Roberts, and the volunteers, followed by the singing of "Soldiers of the Queen." Trooper William Wilkinson, who left by an earlier train, was presented with a handsome dressing-case, and Trooper Jack Stevenson, who is suffering from influenza, received a case of pipes at his residence, Northland Row.
Wilkinson was among the 400 men of the 13th Battalion captured by Boer forces at Lindley on 31 May 1900. He was released on 30 August with most of the other members of the battalion when the British captured Nooitgedacht.
He later served as Corporal No.9574 in the 115th (Sharpshooters) Company, 25th Battalion, Imperial Yeomanry, having enlisted at Belfast on 19 September 1901 and embarked for South Africa on 19 October.
He died of pneumonia at No.20 General Hospital, Elandsfontein, Transvaal, on 7 July 1902, and was buried in the Germiston (Primrose) Cemetery. He is commemorated (incorrectly as W. Williams) on a Memorial in the Cemetery.
Image sourced from the eGGSA Graves in South Africa site.
This page last updated 30 May 2026.