Willie's Story.
5272 Private W. Maude, 3rd Grenadier Guards, died of dysentery at Orange River Station, on 13th February 1900.
Willie Maude was born on 9th Dec 1867 at Longwood, Huddersfield, Yorkshire. He was the second son of George and Jane nee Kaye, and brother to Arthur, Clara and Allen. He grew up in Yorkshire but by 1891, the family was living on Crewe Road, Alsager, Cheshire. (His father had died on 13th May 1889 at Alsager)
On 18th April 1898, he married Mary Ann Mahala Weaver (1861 – 1942) in Kensington, London. She is named as his next of kin on his Soldiers’ Effects entry. His occupation was draper’s assistant but he shortly afterwards was working for the London and North Western Railway Company.
Willie and Mary’s son, George (1899 – 1985), was born on 15th August 1899, when they were living at 140, Underwood Lane, Monks Coppenhall, Cheshire.
Ten weeks later, on 25 Oct 1899, Willie was aboard the “Ghoorkha”, sailing to South Africa with his battalion via Gibraltar. The 3rd Grenadier Guards arrived at the Cape about 15 Nov 1899. Along with the 1st and 2nd Coldstreams and the 1st Scots Guards, they composed the 1st or Guards Brigade, under Major General Sir H E Colvile. On arrival they joined the Kimberley Relief Force under Lord Methuen, who with three brigades were on their way to raise the Boer siege of Kimberley. He was present at the Battle of Belmont (23 Nov 1899) and Graspan, just north of the Orange River, then the Battle of Modder River (28 Nov 1899) and then the Battle of Magersfontein (11 December). He died of dysentery at the Modder River military hospital, aged 32 years (not 29 as otherwhere stated). He was buried at Modder River. His remains were later reinterred in West End Cemetery, Kimberley.
Willie's widow Mary never remarried. She stayed in Cheshire for the next twenty years, living at Nelson Street, Monks Coppenhall, and then (in 1921) on Lawton Road, Alsager, as housekeeper to Willie's maternal uncle Allen Kaye. By September 1939, she and her son George had moved back to Maldon, Essex, where she died in May 1942.
Willie Maude was born on 9th Dec 1867 at Longwood, Huddersfield, Yorkshire. He was the second son of George and Jane nee Kaye, and brother to Arthur, Clara and Allen. He grew up in Yorkshire but by 1891, the family was living on Crewe Road, Alsager, Cheshire. (His father had died on 13th May 1889 at Alsager)
On 18th April 1898, he married Mary Ann Mahala Weaver (1861 – 1942) in Kensington, London. She is named as his next of kin on his Soldiers’ Effects entry. His occupation was draper’s assistant but he shortly afterwards was working for the London and North Western Railway Company.
Willie and Mary’s son, George (1899 – 1985), was born on 15th August 1899, when they were living at 140, Underwood Lane, Monks Coppenhall, Cheshire.
Ten weeks later, on 25 Oct 1899, Willie was aboard the “Ghoorkha”, sailing to South Africa with his battalion via Gibraltar. The 3rd Grenadier Guards arrived at the Cape about 15 Nov 1899. Along with the 1st and 2nd Coldstreams and the 1st Scots Guards, they composed the 1st or Guards Brigade, under Major General Sir H E Colvile. On arrival they joined the Kimberley Relief Force under Lord Methuen, who with three brigades were on their way to raise the Boer siege of Kimberley. He was present at the Battle of Belmont (23 Nov 1899) and Graspan, just north of the Orange River, then the Battle of Modder River (28 Nov 1899) and then the Battle of Magersfontein (11 December). He died of dysentery at the Modder River military hospital, aged 32 years (not 29 as otherwhere stated). He was buried at Modder River. His remains were later reinterred in West End Cemetery, Kimberley.
Willie's widow Mary never remarried. She stayed in Cheshire for the next twenty years, living at Nelson Street, Monks Coppenhall, and then (in 1921) on Lawton Road, Alsager, as housekeeper to Willie's maternal uncle Allen Kaye. By September 1939, she and her son George had moved back to Maldon, Essex, where she died in May 1942.
Compiled by S. Lewington 2025
Acknowledgements to “From Crewe to the Cape” by Mark Potts, Tony Marks and Howard Curran, and to war memorials online.org.uk for much of this information.
Acknowledgements to “From Crewe to the Cape” by Mark Potts, Tony Marks and Howard Curran, and to war memorials online.org.uk for much of this information.