Source Information
Ancestry.com. Canada, South African War Land Grants, 1908-1910 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2014.Original data:
Department of Veterans Affairs. Soldiers of the South African War, Land Grant Applications. Record Group 38 (vols. 117-136). Library and Archives Canada, Ottawa, Ontario.
About Canada, South African War Land Grants, 1908-1910
During the South African War (or Boer War) of 1899–1902, for the first time, Canada sent troops to fight in a war overseas. About 7,300 Canadian troops and 12 nurses served in South Africa. Veterans of the war were became eligible for 320 acres of Dominion Land (or a payment of $160 in scrip) under the 1908 Volunteer Bounty Act. This database contains applications for these bounty land grants. Applications typically include the following details:
- name
- gender
- service start date, location
- residence
- death date
- place of death
- age at death
- birth date
- birth place
- regiment
The applications are two pages long, so be sure to page forward to see the entire record.