TOPIC:

searching for information on my maternal grandfather i found his unknown, to me, brother: trooper r c cay 4222 2nd brabant's horse 1900. there is a big gap in records in england between his birth and his enlistment/attestation in the cape colony as it then was. his younger brother david was also in the cape it seems at about or shortly after that time. mcgregor museum has estate records of r c cay but these do not inform on the interim years except to confirm his parentage. any one out there have any sources i have yet to explore?

Hi There,

It seems that you are in Cape Town.

There are Estate Papers and Death Notices to both David and Robert Clarke Cay in the Cape Town Archives situated in Roeland Street. Perhaps you could ask the reading room staff to pull the files for you and see what info these hold. Below are the references for these documents.

DEPOT KAB
SOURCE MOK
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 1/1/1250
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 110/55
PART 1
DESCRIPTION CAY, ROBERT CLARKE. ESTATE PAPERS.
STARTING 19550000
ENDING 19550000


DEPOT KAB
SOURCE MOOC
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 6/9/18178
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 2621/51
PART 1
DESCRIPTION CAY, DAVID. ESTATE PAPERS.
STARTING 19510000
ENDING 19510000

Hope this is of some help.

Regards
Adrian

Here is another very interesting entry which might answer all your questions. It can be found in the Free State Archives and pertains to Robert Clarke as a lunatic patient in hospital two years before he passed away in 1955.

Perhaps it is the same man !!

Ref is:

DEPOT VAB
SOURCE HG
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 7/5/1/109
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 150/1953
PART 1
DESCRIPTION ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. LUNATIC. PATIENT. ROBERT CLARKE CAY.
STARTING 19530000
ENDING 19530000
REMARKS KIMBERLEY

Adrian

Cay also served in Marshal's Horse for a few weeks as 752 Trooper, from the 4th of April to the 31st of May 1902.

thank you very much, now that the rain has gone i'll get on my bike and make a visual check at the archives. have not cracked the online system yet, cheers anthony