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Draft:Angus Smith

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Angus Smith

NZC
Head and chest portrait of bearded man in uniform wearing medals
Smith, c. 1890
Born(1833-10-21)21 October 1833
Balmacaan, Inverness-shire, Scotland
Died3 April 1902(1902-04-03) (aged 68)
Ōpōtiki, New Zealand
Buried
Ōpōtiki Lawn Cemetery
AllegianceBritish Empire
RankCaptain
Unit
Battles / wars
AwardsNew Zealand Cross
Spouse(s)
Jessie MacDonald
​
​
(m. 1865; died 1875)​
Signature

Angus Smith NZC (21 October 1833 – 3 April 1902) was a soldier in the British Army who served as a private during the Crimean War. He later served in New Zealand where he received the New Zealand Cross for bravery.[1]

Early life and family

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Smith was originally from Balmacaan, in Glen Urquhart, Inverness-shire, Scotland.[2] He was born there on 21 October 1833, the son of Duncan Shaw Smith and Catherine Fraser, and baptised two weeks later, on 5 November.[3] His father had served as a sergeant with the East India Company.[4]

Crimean War

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During the Crimean War, Smith served as a private (regimental number 2903) in the 93rd (Highland) Regiment of Foot.[5] He was awarded the Crimea Medal with clasps for Alma,[6] Balaclava,[7] and Sevastopol.[8] During the third and final offensive of the Battle of the Great Redan on 8 September 1855, Smith was part of a group of volunteers under Lieutenant Fenwick that entered the Redan late that night but found it largely deserted by the Russians, shortly before an explosion in the Redan.[9] Later in 1855, Smith deserted the regiment.[5]

New Zealand

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By 1863, Smith was in Melbourne, Victoria, where he was working as a mason. On 25 August that year, he was one of the first of the 822 Victoria-based volunteers to enlist in the 1st Regiment of Waikato Militia, for service in the New Zealand Wars.[10] Smith sailed with the first contingent from Melbourne on 31 August on the Star of India, arriving in Auckland on 12 September, after a 12-day voyage.[11][12][13]

On 17 March 1865 at Tauranga, Smith married Jessie MacDonald, whose father had been the miller at the Mill of Torr in Glen Urquhart.[2]

Smith in 1893, mounted on his 36-year-old mare, Jessie

Death and legacy

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Smith died from blood poisoning at his home in Ōpōtiki on 3 April 1902,[14][15] and was buried in Ōpōtiki Cemetery.[16] His New Zealand Cross is held in the collection of National Museums Scotland, and is displayed at the National War Museum in Edinburgh Castle.[17]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "New Zealand decorative distinction". Wellington Independent. 9 November 1869. p. 2. Retrieved 6 November 2022 – via PapersPast.
  2. ^ a b "Marriages". Inverness Courier. 27 July 1865. p. 8.
  3. ^ 05/11/1833 Smith, Angus (O.P.R. births 107/0030 0071 Urquhart and Glenmoriston), National Records of Scotland.
  4. ^ 1851 Scotland census, Urquhart and Glenmoriston, enumeration district 5, Edinburgh: General Register Office for Scotland, p. 9.
  5. ^ a b "Medal, awarded to Cornet Angus Smith". National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Angus Smith in the UK, military campaign medal and award rolls, 1793–1949 (Alma clasp)". Ancestry.com Operations. 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Angus Smith in the UK, military campaign medal and award rolls, 1793–1949 (Balaclava clasp)". Ancestry.com Operations. 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  8. ^ "Angus Smith in the UK, military campaign medal and award rolls, 1793–1949 (Sevastopol clasp)". Ancestry.com Operations. 2010. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  9. ^ Burgoyne, Roderick Hamilton, ed. (1883). Historical Records of the 93rd Sutherland Highlanders. London: Richard Bentley and Son. pp. 134–135.
  10. ^ Barton, Leonard L. (1979). Australians in the Waikato War, 1863–1864. Sydney: Library of Australian History. pp. 52–53. ISBN 0-908120-27-3.
  11. ^ "Arrival of volunteers from Victoria". Daily Southern Cross. Vol. 19, no. 1922. 14 September 1863. p. 2. Retrieved 14 November 2022 – via PapersPast.
  12. ^ "Passengers per Star of India". Daily Southern Cross. Vol. 19, no. 1922. 14 September 1863. p. 2. Retrieved 14 November 2022 – via PapersPast.
  13. ^ "Departure of volunteers". The Argus. 1 September 1863. p. 5. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Deaths". The New Zealand Herald. Vol. 39, no. 11936. 10 April 1902. p. 1. Retrieved 6 November 2022 – via PapersPast.
  15. ^ "Untitled". Bush Advocate. Vol. 14, no. 16. 18 April 1902. p. 4. Retrieved 6 November 2022 – via PapersPast.
  16. ^ "Angus Smith". Opotiki cemeteries. Retrieved 6 November 2022.
  17. ^ "Medal". National Museums Scotland. Retrieved 6 November 2022.


Category:1833 births Category:1902 deaths Category:Military personnel from Inverness Category:British Army personnel of the Crimean War Category:Scottish emigrants to New Zealand Category:People of the New Zealand Wars Category:19th-century New Zealand military personnel Category:Recipients of the New Zealand Cross (1869) Category:People from Ōpōtiki


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