Lot Essay
Assistant Commissioner Lewis Wroughton was one of six members of the Basutoland Administration to receive the Queen's South Africa Medal.
It was a constant fear of the British that the Basutos would take the opportunity to launch an uprising as they had done in 1880-81. Consequently, the British Officials in Basutoland found themselves not only trying to assist (surreptitiously) the war effort and protecting Basutoland from invasion by the Boers, but also ensuring that a rebellion, which would sap British military strength and maybe act as a catalyst for other tribes in South Africa, did not take place.
General Hunter extolled their work in his Despatch of 4.8.1900 to Lord Roberts, following the surrender of Prinsloo in the Brandwater Basin:
'I desire to place upon record my sense of obligation to Sir Geoffrey Lagden, K.C.M.G., Commissioner of Basutoland, for the assistance he and the Magistrates of Basutoland have rendered to my force. Mr. Mooney, Resident in Basutoland across the Caledon river, abreast of my camp when General Prinsloo surrendered to me, kept me posted in all news which came to his knowledge. Sir Geoffrey Lagden and all Basutoland officials have worked zealously in every way to furnish me with intelligence, to forward me supplies and to prevent assistance being granted by the Basutos to the enemy' (War Office records refer).
The Earl of Rosslyn, travelling around South Africa as a War Correspondant following his release from captivity in Pretoria, was equally effusive in his praise:
'I imagine, from the innumberable telegrams, reports and despatches which are passing [from the Basutoland Administration to the Colonial Office and Army Headquarters], that there will be sufficient material to fill several Blue Books, and no doubt His Majesty's Government will some day have cause to record their thanks to Sir Geoffrey Lagden, who has now been sixteen years in Basutoland. He in time will, I know, be proud to recommend his lieutenants for a share of this honour, whose work, according to himself, has been not only incessant, but brave and conscientious. Unarmed, and accompanied only by the usual orderly, they have gone about their duties of defence and pacification with that tack and sangfroid which is so characteristic of the British race; and the natives have not been slow to recognise their fearlessness and imperturbability in time of danger' (Twice Captured refers).
It was a constant fear of the British that the Basutos would take the opportunity to launch an uprising as they had done in 1880-81. Consequently, the British Officials in Basutoland found themselves not only trying to assist (surreptitiously) the war effort and protecting Basutoland from invasion by the Boers, but also ensuring that a rebellion, which would sap British military strength and maybe act as a catalyst for other tribes in South Africa, did not take place.
General Hunter extolled their work in his Despatch of 4.8.1900 to Lord Roberts, following the surrender of Prinsloo in the Brandwater Basin:
'I desire to place upon record my sense of obligation to Sir Geoffrey Lagden, K.C.M.G., Commissioner of Basutoland, for the assistance he and the Magistrates of Basutoland have rendered to my force. Mr. Mooney, Resident in Basutoland across the Caledon river, abreast of my camp when General Prinsloo surrendered to me, kept me posted in all news which came to his knowledge. Sir Geoffrey Lagden and all Basutoland officials have worked zealously in every way to furnish me with intelligence, to forward me supplies and to prevent assistance being granted by the Basutos to the enemy' (War Office records refer).
The Earl of Rosslyn, travelling around South Africa as a War Correspondant following his release from captivity in Pretoria, was equally effusive in his praise:
'I imagine, from the innumberable telegrams, reports and despatches which are passing [from the Basutoland Administration to the Colonial Office and Army Headquarters], that there will be sufficient material to fill several Blue Books, and no doubt His Majesty's Government will some day have cause to record their thanks to Sir Geoffrey Lagden, who has now been sixteen years in Basutoland. He in time will, I know, be proud to recommend his lieutenants for a share of this honour, whose work, according to himself, has been not only incessant, but brave and conscientious. Unarmed, and accompanied only by the usual orderly, they have gone about their duties of defence and pacification with that tack and sangfroid which is so characteristic of the British race; and the natives have not been slow to recognise their fearlessness and imperturbability in time of danger' (Twice Captured refers).