In the five years of writing articles for my website, I have come across a few of the remaining Pioneer memorial crosses, or Gregory crosses, in several remote sites in Zimbabwe, and having noticed their uniform appearance, wondered who put them on these lonely graves and why. This article explains the who and the why and attempts to establish the exact number that were originally placed around the country. Sadly, many memorial crosses with their brass tablets were sold for scrap in the economic chaos following 2000 and are lost forever; but an Excel spreadsheet is available that details the gravesite location and name of each memorial from the Loyal Women’s Guild (LWG) grave register.   

The photo shows the Pioneer memorial cross to W. Derrick Hoste who died on the 25/05/1893 of blackwater fever at Old Fort Hartley. Nine other BSAP and Natal Troopers are listed as being buried at the same cemetery, although only eight graves exist; their grave markers must have still existed in 1909-10 as his was the only memorial cross erected at this cemetery. [See the article on Derick Hoste on the website www.zimfieldguide.com under Mashonaland West]  

Origins in South Africa after the Second Boer War

The Guild of Loyal Women of South Africa (Daughters of the Empire) or GLW was founded to promote goodwill between Brutish and Afrikaners under the motto of “For King and Empire” with its headquarters in Cape Town.

The main task of the GLW organization in South Africa became that of identifying, marking and maintaining graves from the Second Boer War (11 Oct 1899 – 31 May 1902) in military graveyards. The GLW ensured that the relatives of dead soldiers were contacted, and that the graves were properly marked and recorded. When the GLW sent members to Britain to explain what they were doing to raise money, women who had the ear of the male British establishment formed the Victoria League to promote links between organisations within the British Empire.  

The GLW Graves Report of 1906 of the Cape Colony stated; “we ask you to remember that our cross is indestructible, made of wrought iron and beaten brass. Our object is to put a permanent marker on each grave. Any expert will tell you the great advantage our cross has over those of cheaper manufacture…we have made the sacrifice [of paying a higher price] in order that our children may say their work was well done…It is not enough that our generation should know that such a man lies in such a grave. We want the information handed down from generation to generation.”   

Formation of the Loyal Women’s Guild in Rhodesia

A Rhodesian branch with the re-arranged title of The Loyal Women’s Guild (LWG) was inaugurated in Salisbury on 3 March 1907 by Lady Milton. A prominent founder member was the author and conservationist, Dorothea Fairbridge (1862–1931) and a cousin of Kingsley Fairbridge (1885–1924); the Rhodesian poet and founder of the "Fairbridge Society." Branches were established in the main towns around the country under the direction of a central committee with the Administrator, Sir William Milton, as President.

The LWG’s work started with the employment of a district nurse, but their activities gradually expanded to include the distribution of food, money and clothes to the poor, the relief of unemployment by running an early labour exchange, the administration of charitable funds such as the Beit Railway Trust Maternity Grant and support of the Salisbury Hostel which had been founded in 1904 by the South African Colonization Society as a maternity home for the coloured community (persons of mixed race) By 1927 the LWG had taken over the management of the Salisbury Hostel and in the following year the Lady Chancellor Nursing and Maternity Home was opened with the LWG playing an active part in its management until these institutions were taken over by Government during WWII in 1940.

Gradually over the years the State assumed many of the social welfare activities that were previously run by the LWG as a voluntary organization, although social and educational activities grew as welfare activities diminished, but by 1953 the LWG had wound up its activities and their papers and records were presented to the National Archives  

The LWG Graves Committee comes up with the idea of Pioneer Crosses in Rhodesia

The concept of marking graves had originated in South Africa; but in 1908 a committee of the LWG was formed that was especially dedicated to the registration of Pioneer and early settlers’ graves.  

The LWG Graves Report of 1908-1909 stated: “The Guild in the Southern Colonies having brought to a successful conclusion the work of marking the graves of soldiers who fell in the late war, [the Second Boer War of 11 October 1899 – 31 May 1902] and it has been felt by the Rhodesian branches that what has been done so well by the older branches might be attempted here with regard to the graves of our own Pioneers and early settlers’.

It is true that our division of the Guild has only a small membership, but on the other hand we have only a few hundred graves to consider as against the many thousands marked by the other Colonies…owing to the unsettled nature of the country in the early days, many of our Pioneers and early settlers received burial in graves which are either unmarked, or were marked with wooden crosses which are now rotting away and it is certain that the last resting place of many of those who won our country for us will be lost forever unless the matter is attended to at once.

The definition of the term “Pioneer and Early Settler” included all those who came up with the Pioneer Column and all those who came subsequently and died in “our native wars” or whilst they lasted up to the end of 1897.”

The Committee received official approval from the British South Africa Company administration in a letter dated 31 July 1908: “My letter of 18^th of June was sent by direction of his honour the Administrator [Sir William Henry Milton KCMG, KCVO: 20 December 1901 – 1 November 1914] because it was known that the care of the graves of those who had fallen in War was one of the objects of the Guild in other Colonies, and it was felt that the members of the Rhodesian branch would take an interest in knowing what steps were taken to preserve similar memorials in this Territory.

His Honour now wishes me to thank you for your letter and to express on behalf of the government his appreciation of the Guild’s offer to assist in marking in a permanent manner the graves of Pioneers and other Europeans who lost their lives in the Wars of 1893 and 1896-97.

…There are a great many more small cemeteries in various parts of the country and I am endeavouring to get a complete list from the commandant of the British South Africa Police [BSAP] for your information.

I would suggest that at this fairly early date that Colonel Bodle [Commissioner of the BSAP: 1903 – 1909] and myself should wait upon your Committee with a view to discussing the best steps to ensure that as many graves as can be identified should be registered and marked in the manner suggested by you in your letter.

Once so marked I feel sure that there will be no difficulty in securing the co-operation of the Police in the country districts for their permanent maintenance.”

Significantly, this letter was written by Hugh Marshall Hole, appointed to the British South Africa Company (BSAC) in 1891 and in charge of administration by 1909; whose wife was to take on the role of first Honorary Secretary of the LWG Graves Committee.

Why the need for Pioneer memorial crosses?

As Rob Burrett points out in his article Rhodesian Field Force (Anglo-South African War) graves in Zimbabwe, with particular reference to Marondera in Heritage of Zimbabwe Publication No. 19, 2000 the initial recording of gravesites was often poorly documented. Both the military forces and the British South Africa company had limited administration, and staff in both organisations were regularly rotated to different localities, so the recording of the deceased details was often sketchy and inaccurate. Those with common surnames were often muddled and surnames and initials spelt incorrectly.

In addition, the exact position of graves was often unknown, the original wooden cross may have been burnt in bushfires or destroyed by ants. So even where Gregory iron markers have been placed on graves, their positioning by the local BSAP was often based on guesswork and they should all be treated as potentially mistaken; for example, see Burrett’s article above on Paradise Plot at Marondera. Sometimes too, there are Gregory iron foundry errors which were missed by the LWG, for example the memorial to Private Smith Vickers reads: FOR QUEEN & EMPIRE. SMITH VICKERS KRR 3.9.96. but should read 3.8.96. [[See the article on Fort Haynes on the website www.zimfieldguide.com under Manicaland]

Descriptions of the locations of graves outside official cemeteries was often vague. For example, on 23/11/1897 Percy Inskipp, the under-secretary of the BSAC sent a list of names of members of the BSAP killed in Mashonaland giving details of their burial places. The first three are:

Clearly from these descriptions after a few years nobody would be able to locate the site of their graves and this situation existed at many of the more remote gravesites.

In another letter BSAP Corporal W.S. King writes from Marandellas on 8/08/1912: “At Old Marandellas Cemetery, there are three graves with stone crosses. These are quite new, and the names and particulars are plain and decipherable. There are also 15 graves with iron crosses. Only one of these is decipherable, that is on the grave of Trooper Studdart; the remainder are undecipherable. I can find no trace of the names, dates, etc. on any of them…. on the crosses at Old Marandellas Cemetery the words were originally painted and owing to years of exposure to the atmosphere, etc. they are now obliterated.”

Taking up the challenge

Ethel Marshall Hole was the first Honorary Secretary of the Graves Fund and many of the initial letters were hand–written by her with the copies bound into a duplicate book. [National Archives GU 1/1] For example, on 26 February 1909 she wrote to Mr Beal appealing for a contribution saying: “As you probably know one of the objects of the Guild is to record and mark by suitable monument the last resting place of the early Pioneers and those who have laid down their lives in helping to build up Rhodesia. The remains of these men lie in lonely cemeteries scattered throughout the country and will soon be forgotten and all trace of them lost – unless they are marked now.”

On 3 March 1909, Ethel wrote to Hugh Marshall Hole, then Administrator of the BSA Company, stating that they would apply to the Railway Company to provide free carriage for their memorial crosses and requesting the assistance of the BSAP to: “consign the crosses to the Police Camp nearest to the place where they are to be erected. It will be of great assistance to the Guild if advantage cab be taken of any Govt. transport going out to such remote Camps, and if the crosses can be conveyed as occasion offers, free of charge.”

A rely from Marshall Hole dated 6 March 1909 said the BSAC: “will be pleased to co-operate with the Guild, by allowing the crosses to be consigned to police stations in districts remote from the Railway, and for them to be conveyed by Government transport, free of charge, as occasion offers.”

In June a reply letter from Mrs Holland, who had now succeeded Ethel Marshall Hole as the Honorary Secretary, said on behalf of the Guild: “please to convey to His Honour the Administrator their sincere thanks for kindly promising Government transport for Guild crosses after they leave the Railway” and informing him “that it has been decided to purchase in Cape Town indestructible crosses made of wrought iron with beaten brass tablets, the total cost per cross being 25/- [shillings] in Cape Town.” Further: “the weight of each cross being about 25lbs and the rate of transport being 11/6 per 100lbs, the carriage of 100 crosses would be about £15 to Bulawayo. The maker [Gregory iron foundry] has promised us a rebate of £7 10/- towards carriage of crosses if a consignment of 100 is ordered.”

The letter goes on to say that the Graves Committee in Cape Colony having completed their task “would rather not ask their Government for any concession on our crosses but have advised us to ask the Cape Government through our own.” The letter ends by asking: “if it would be possible for the Rhodesian Government to assist us by furthering to the Cape Colony Government our petition for a rebate of £7 10/- per 100 Guild crosses up to 300 crosses…from Capetown to Bulawayo.”    

In a reply on 25 June 1909 Marshall Hole said the BSA Company had written: “to the Cape Government requesting a rebate of £7 10/- per hundred Guild crosses from Cape Town to Bulawayo.”

In the same month Mrs Holland wrote to Mr Stevens of The Beira and Mashonaland and Rhodesia Railways saying the first importation of crosses from the Gregory Iron foundry was about to take place. “The carriage of these by rail of these crosses is rather a serious matter to us. The C.G.R. [Cape Government Railways] have granted to the Ladies Guild in Cape Colony free carriage over their lines of crosses and if a similar condition could be granted over the Rhodesian system to the Rhodesian branch of the Guild the advantage to the [Grave] Fund would be very great. Another letter dated 18 June 1909 to the Secretary of the Rhodesia Railways Ltd informed them that the Guild proposed to import 300 memorial crosses and hoped for a rail freight concession.” A further letter a day later gave the information that “the weight of the iron crosses…is approximately 25 lbs (not more) each.”

A reply from The Beira and Mashonaland and Rhodesia Railways in July said the “Board have agreed to the crosses for the graves of early Rhodesian Pioneers being carried free over the railways from Vryburg northwards” but that the Cape Government Railways had only agreed to reduce their freight rate from second to third class rate at owner’s risk.    

The Graves Registers that were established

There are two Graves Registers at the National Archive of Zimbabwe; the LWG Register is referenced as NAZ 1/4/1 and the Pioneer and Police Graves Register pre-1923 is referenced as NAZ S152.

Both Graves Registers have deceased names listed by locality (i.e. Gwanda, Filabusi, etc) and are compiled from lists drawn up by the BSAP who were instructed to carry out this task by the Administrator, Sir William Milton.

A register of all the graves of the Pioneers and early settlers both marked and unmarked was compiled by the Central Committee of the LWG from information supplied by the BSA Police and Native Commissioners, this became known as “Mrs Holland’s book” [NAZ 1/4/1] after the then Honorary Secretary. The list of unmarked graves was divided and sent to each district so that they could add any further graves they could discover. Each branch of the LWG was responsible for marking the graves in its district and the town / place listings in the Excel database uses the same information.  

The LWG Register (NAZ GU 1/4/1) was compiled before 1908 and lists by locality the names of those deceased with their date of death and details of the gravesite. The aim of the LGW was to ensure that the gravesites of all those who died in the early colonial period up to 1908 were marked.  Some graves already had iron markers or a marble memorial, and the LWG was concerned not with marking all graves, but with placing an iron memorial cross with a brass tablet which included the deceased individuals’ name and details where they were at risk of being lost or forgotten.

All graves marked with a red cross symbol in “Mrs Holland’s book” received an iron Pioneer memorial cross with a brass tablet which included the deceased individuals’ name and details.

Hugh Marshall-Hole reviewed the names in the LWG Grave Register and made additions and corrections on many pages. For example, Stanford is changed with a note stating: “Mr Hole says Arthur Standford.”

Another note signed MEH states: “The new cemetery was started in 1897. I do not understand how these men who died at such an early date came to be in the New Cemetery unless they were moved from the old Hospital?”

At Goromonzi at Warrendale Farm, BSAP Tprs White and Turner had existing iron crosses, but Tpr H.V. Standing did not have an iron cross as he committed suicide, so the LWG ordered and placed a Gregory iron marker for him. [See the article on Fort Harding on the website www.zimfieldguide.com under Mashonaland Central] John Fletcher, killed at the siege of Deary’s store at Abercorn (now Shamva) had only his name painted on claim plates on a nearby tree; a LWG cross was placed on his grave. [See the article on the website www.zimfieldguide.com under Mashonaland East] In some cases, especially the Salisbury Pioneer Cemetery, there were good iron crosses, but the tablets had become defaced, in which case the LWG ordered new brass tablets.

The Pioneer and Police Graves Register pre-1923 [NAZ S152] appears to have been written up by Lieutenant-Colonel and BSAP Commissioner (1903 – 1909) William “Billy” Bodle and in addition to the names included in NAZ S152 includes many other names [listed in black in my database] where I have combined the two sources.

It is clear the author of NAZ S152 personally visited the sites or had access to reports about the sites. For example, under Filabusi Monument the following notes are written: “The monument itself, 20 ft. high, 3 ft. square at base, in in good order. Very neglected surroundings and no fence. Wanted 4 posts with 4 lengths of iron chain 9 ft. long; grass and bush to be cleared away.”

Most of the Pioneer memorial crosses were for men, but a few women received memorial crosses. For example, Mrs O.L. Cowan who is buried in Sby New Cemetery Grave 51 and died on 23/05/1894.

The grave registers were an essential part of the process as the grave names previously had not been consolidated. At Salisbury a copy of the burial register kept by the Salisbury Sanitary Board prior to December 1897 was compiled by Mr Horsfield; then a typed list of graves in the old sections of the cemetery was supplied by the Town Clerk, Mr Wardens on 30/09/1909 which amended Mr Horsfield’s list, and finally Hugh Marshall Hole made other amendments on 28/02/1910. 

Final lists were produced of those who needed memorial crosses, or in some cases memorial plates only, but none of the names were in alphabetical order which makes an Excel spreadsheet more user-friendly. For example, under Salisbury are listed names for Abercorn, Mount Darwin, Goromonzi, Mrewa, Marandellas, Fort Enterprise and Sinoia.

In the main towns of Bulawayo, Fort Victoria, Gwelo, Marandellas and Salisbury most unmarked graves were identified, but at more remote locations such as Belingwe, Filabusi, Fort Rixon and Gwanda, no grave markers were identified although there were many possible candidates; possibly because they had no local LGW committee.

What was the cut-off date for erecting Pioneer memorial crosses on unmarked graves?

In Salisbury, as the photo below illustrates, of the 26 pioneers and early settlers listed by the municipality of Salisbury as requiring memorial crosses, only 5 are included with a clear cut-off of 1900; but many other exceptions were made, and Pioneer memorial crosses were placed on graves up to 1909 although the clear majority (89%) were placed on graves from 1891 – 1901.

Overall, the policy of deciding when to place memorial crosses on unmarked graves appears to have been rather inconsistent with post-1900 graves elsewhere being marked.

Pioneer memorial crosses

The LWG memorial crosses were similar to those used in the Cape Colony, being cast in batches at the Gregory iron foundry in Cape Town of wrought iron with an extra-long shank so the cross could be firmly planted in the earth; each had a name tablet of beaten brass with the letters carved by hand and were ordered in batches of one hundred which reduced the cost to 25/- per cross.

The LWG Graves Report of 1908-1909 concluded that “owing to the remote position of many of these graves and the lack of transport it would indeed be a difficult task for Rhodesian women to see that these crosses were actually erected. However, this great difficulty has been met by the Rhodesian Government who decided last year as the result of a report from Col. Bodle on the bad condition of graves in some distant cemeteries which he had visited while on patrol, that the Police and Native Commissioners should be responsible for such graves and cemeteries. This was not at the suggestion of the LWG; but it made the way easy for us to consider marking these graves.” 

As far as next of kin were concerned, the Report considered that for “those whose graves need marking, but so many years having passed, it is likely that those relatives who have not as yet enquired about the graves, or offered to mark them, will not be likely to do so now.”

It was not proposed that any graves should be disturbed or moved from their existing positions.

Raising Funds

Appeal letters contained in the LWG letters register [NAZ GU 1/2] are addressed to the Marquess of Winchester, Dr Jameson, Dr Sauer, the Rt. Hon. The Lord Grey, Mr Fairbridge, Mr Grimmer and many other well-known citizens. Donations were received from the BSAP Football Club, Salisbury Hebrew Congregation, The Salvation Army and there were dozens of individual donations.

Distributing and erecting the Pioneer memorial crosses

The exercise did not always run smoothly. For instance, in August 1911 the Officer Commanding D Troop in Umtali wrote to the Ordinance Officer at Salisbury saying: “To inform you I have received a quantity of iron crosses for graves. Please let me know what I am to do with them.” The Ordinance Officer replied that he had no list of names, that the boxes were marked for Umtali and were never unpacked. The memo was then sent to Mrs Groves, then the Honorary Secretary of the LWG. She replied with a list of names giving the names of memorial crosses ordered for Umtali, Old Umtali Mission, Melsetter, Rusape and Inyanga.   

Mrs Groves' list does illustrate the inconsistency in allocating Pioneer memorial crosses. For instance at Old Mutare Mission, or Premier Estate as it is referred to in the memo, only ten graves were allocated memorial crosses despite notes to the list stating that there are no dates and: “all were known to be old hands and are in a very ruinous condition with decaying wooden crosses.”

However there are sixty-one graves, including two suicides buried outside the western wall of the Old Mutare Mission cemetery and all were interred between 1892 and 1897 when Umtali moved to the present site of Mutare when it was decided that to detour the railway line would be too costly and the whole town was moved. So all of the graves at Old Mutare Mission were old enough to qualify as Pioneers and early Settlers, yet few received memorial crosses despite their poor condition. 

Dedication of the Pioneer memorial crosses

Sir William H. Milton, the Administrator of Southern Rhodesia, suggested a service be held at the Salisbury cemetery on Sunday 26 March 1911 on the eighth anniversary of Rhodes’ death to dedicate the memorial crosses erected on the graves of Pioneers, Police and early settlers and to mark the completion of this work by the LWG.

Grave data from the Excel spreadsheet

The graph below illustrates how the number of deaths peaked at 685 in 1896-7 with the Matabele and Mashona Rebellions, or Umvukela, or First Chimurenga.

Similarly, the number of Pioneer memorial crosses peaked at 135 (51%) for 1896 – 7 of the total of 265 placed on unmarked graves.

Bulawayo had fewer Pioneer memorial crosses (6%) with the majority of Pioneer memorial crosses placed on unmarked graves at Salisbury (48%) and Gwelo (17%) Grave memorials at Bulawayo and Gwelo appear to have been maintained in better condition than at Salisbury Pioneer cemetery.

This may be because as the Town Clerk, Mr Wardens explained in a letter dated 21/06/1909: “The Municipal Council was not formed until 1897 and we have a complete register of burials from that date onwards; but unfortunately, the same cannot be said of the earlier records.”

Photo showing Pioneer memorial crosses torn up and discarded at the Old Mutare cemetery following the chaos of the 2000 land invasions in Zimbabwe. The photo was taken by Jonty Winch during his research on Monty Bowden who died at Old Mutare on 19/02/1892. [See the article on the Pioneer cemetery at Old Mutare on the website www.zimfieldguide.com under Manicaland]

Mazowe Cemetery

Rob Burrett kindly sent me the information below from The Pioneer and Early Settlers Society and the photos of the Mazowe cemetery after a visit he made with Jono Waters in July 2020. He did add that the grass was so thick that it was not possible to actually verify all the graves, but he hopes this will be possible in winter. The Cemetery itself includes ten graves, the name and details of one of the deceased is unknown. Of the nine remaining deceased the earliest grave commemorates Trooper A.G.S. Snelling, a BSAP trooper who died on 17 December 1910 and has been commemorated with a Pioneer memorial Cross; J. Benson has a headstone. The remaining seven graves probably had wooden crosses which have been destroyed by ants or veld fires and have been replaced with metal crosses with the names and dates of the deceased on the cross-piece and were generously erected in 1996 by Dave Gray and two colleagues from the BSAP Mashonaland Branch.  

There are at least five other Mazowe burials of men who pre-deceased Snelling listed and appear to have been buried elsewhere and they are listed below.

We are not absolutely sure that the locations of the deceased and the metal graves are absolutely correct as no cemetery plan has been identified to date, but hopefully more information will come to light.

Excel spreadsheet of Names

As background for this article, all the details from the two graves registers at the National Archives of Zimbabwe; the LWG Register referenced NAZ 1/4/1 and the Pioneer and Police Graves Register referenced NAZ S152, were entered onto an Excel spreadsheet with over twelve hundred names which can be sorted in various ways. A separate list includes all the details of the Pioneer memorial crosses that were distributed by the LWG and is shown below. There are also copies of the BSAP and British South Africa Company plans of early cemeteries with keys to the names on the graves.

Anyone who would like a copy of these records for their own research can email me on: mikertuck1@gmail.com 

Acknowledgements

Burrett, R.S. 2000 Rhodesia Field Force (Anglo-South African War) Graves in Zimbabwe, with particular reference to Marondera. Heritage of Zimbabwe No 19, P.22-45

Burrett, R.S. 2009 Plumer’s Men: The Rhodesia Regiment and the Northwest Frontier during the Second South African War, 1899-1900. Just Done Productions Publishing, Durban

NAZ GU1/4/1 Loyal Women’s Guild Rhodesia Central Committee Graves Register

NAZ S152 Pioneer and Police Graves Register pre-1923