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In St. Swithun's, Retford Parish Church, Nottinghamshire. There were two problems I had in taking photos of the window and the tablet - where they are looks to have been converted to a Sunday School/children's area, and it was locked, so that I had to take my photos from outside through a small pane of glass.





Lieutenant A. C. Williams
Sergeant A. F. Tomlinson
Corporal G. Duckmanton
Lance Corporal G. W. Webb
Trooper F. Bell
Trooper R. W. Bond
Trooper T. H. Bowness
Trooper A. F. Clark
Trooper J. Hall
Trooper F. Kempster
Trooper F. Kirk
Trooper F. E. Lowless
Trooper E. J. Mackinder
Trooper H. Oglesby
Trooper G. Pepper







THE LATE LIEUT. WILLIAMS OF THE SHERWOOD RANGERS . - Lieut. Williams, killed in action with the Sherwood Rangers Company of the Imperial Yeomanry, was the son of Mr. Ashley G. Williams, for a number of years agent for the Duke of Newcastle. He was educated at Marlborough, and was 26 years of age. The young lieutenant was born at Sparken Hill, Worksop, and left with his parents when they went to reside at Portsea. Lieut. Williams was recently living at Newark, as a pupil with Messrs. Hole, and joined the Newark troop of the Sherwood Rangers as a private when the company for active service with the Imperial Yeomanry was formed. Colonel Viscount Galway gave Mr. Williams a commission, and from the moment he joined he was a great favourite with the yeomanry. He was an officer of good presence and fine physique, standing six feet in height.

The Lincoln, Rutland, and Stamford Mercury, Friday 13th April 1900

DEATH OF A VOLUNTEER . - The death in South Africa, from enteric fever, of lance-corporal Webb, of the Imperial Yeomanry, has caused a good deal of sympathy with his father and mother, Mr. and Mrs. Webb, of Melton Ross.

The Lincoln, Rutland, and Stamford Mercury, Friday 10th August 1900

Viscountess Galway, whose husband is colonel of the force, yesterday distributed, at Retford, war medals earned by the second active service contingent of the Sherwood Rangers (Imperial Yeomanry). At a dinner, at which over 80 returned Yeomen were subsequently entertained, Lord Galway suggested that a window should be placed in East Retford Church as a memorial of the members of the corps who died in South Africa.

Nottingham Evening Post, Thursday 22nd January 1903

Fantastic photographs and research, Berenice. You would not have known you have any issues.

Sergeant A. F. Tomlinson volunteered from Castlethorpe, Brigg, to serve with the Sherwood Rangers, and received his promotion to the rank of sergeant during the preliminary training under Lord Galway at Retford. He took a keen interest in the work of the regiment, and was one of the best-known and popular of the young farmers who rode across country with Lord Yarborough's hounds.

The Grantham Journal, Saturday 9th June1900
DEATH OF A SHERWOOD RANGER . - Intelligence has been received of the death from enteric fever at Kroonstad of 769, Lance-Corporal G. W. Webb. The deceased was attached to the 10th Company of the Imperial Yeomanry, raised at Retford, and formed one of the Sherwood Rangers' contingent that went out in January on the Winefredian. Corporal Webb was the son of Mr. J. Webb, of Melton Ross, Barnetby, Lincoln, a well-known gentleman farmer, and the deceased was a regular follower of Lord Yarborough's hounds.

The Grantham Journal, Saturday 11th August1900
DEATH OF CORPORAL GEORGE DUCKMANTON , SHERWOOD RANGERS . - The sad news of the death of Corporal Geo. Duckmanton, of the Gate Hotel, Langwith, eldest son of the late Mr. Samuel Duckmanton, was received from the War Office on Saturday night. The deceased went out with the Sherwood Rangers last January, and was attached to Lord Methuen's force. He had passed through between thirty and forty engagements, and had had some very narrow escapes, his horse having been shot under him during one engagement. He died on the 26th ult., at Kimberley from abscess on the liver. He leaves a wife and one child.

The Grantham Journal, Saturday 5th January 1901
DEATH OF AN OSBOURNBY MAN IN SOUTH AFRICA . - We regret to state that Trooper E. J. Mackinder, of the Sherwood Rangers Imperial Yeomanry, died from remittent fever at Lichtenburg, on May 6th. The deceased was a son of Mr. Draper Mackinder, of Osbournby Hall, and was well-known in the district. He left England with the second contingent a year last Good Friday, and one of his first engagements was Zand River, after which he joined the Company, and had been with them until falling sick. It is understood that Private Mackinder, who was a finely-built young man, enjoyed good health throughout the campaign, and his death is exceedingly sad, seeing that he expected to be returning home with the Company in a few weeks. Before going to the front, he held an appointment in some engineering works at Gainsborough. Much sympathy is expressed for the deceased's parents, who received a notification of their son's death from the War Office on Monday.

The Grantham Journal, Saturday 18th May 1901
The Sherwood Rangers went out in the steamship Winifredian on January 18, 1900, the full strength being 121 men and five officers. They lost killed in action Lieut. Arthur Williams; Sergeant A. F. Tomlinson, Castlethorpe, Brigg; Private G. A. Duckmanton, Pasture Hills Farm, Grantham; Private G. Pepper, of Wymondham, Oakham; and Private Adrian Clark, of Moorgate, Retford. Private G. W. Webb, of Melton Moss, Barnetby, Lincoln, and Private Bell, of Westfield House, Carr House, Lincoln, both died of fever in South Africa.

Sheffield Daily Telegraph, Tuesday 18th June 1901
In memory of No. 796 Shoeing-smith G. Pepper, of Sherwood Rangers I.Y., killed in action at Lichtenburg, South Africa, March 3rd, 1901.

The Grantham Journal, Saturday 8th March 1902
MEMORIAL TO SHERWOOD RANGERS . - On Wednesday week [24.12.1903], Viscountess Galway unveiled a memorial window in East Retford Parish Church to the members of the Sherwood Rangers Imperial Yeomanry who fell in South Africa. The hymn, "For all Thy Saints," was first sung, after which Viscount Galway stepped into the centre of the nave and addressed the congregation. He remarked that they in North Notts., and those on the Lincolnshire borders, who were equally associated wit them, had a right to feel proud of the first Company they sent out, all past marksmen, and which sailed on January 27th, 1900. They were the first Yeomanry engaged in the fight of Boshof, which cost Lieut. Williams his life. All through the war, the Sherwood Rangers did their duty like Englishmen, and maintained the credit of the Regiment. In unveiling the window that day they were not only recording the services of those who had gone, but they hoped it would be an example for future generations, at any rate, in the time of England's need, that Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Derbyshire men came and volunteered for the front. The anthem, "Blest are the Departed," was afterwards sung by the choir, followed by a short and appropriate sermon by the Chaplain of the Regiment, Sir Richard FitzHerbert. Viscountess Galway next unveiled the window, after which the hymn, "The Saints of God," was sung, followed by special prayers and the blessing. The trumpeters of the Regiment then marched to the steps of the choir and sounded the "Last Post." The service terminated with the singing of the National Anthem.

The stained-glass window is the work of Messrs. E. Kempe, and the cost is estimated at about £400. It is placed in the south transept, and contains figures, under canopies, on coloured backgrounds. In the upper tier are St. Michael, St. Alleyn, St. Oswald, St. Hugh, St. Charlemagne, and in the lower tier St. George, Edward the Confessor, St. Cuthbert, St. Martinus, and St. Edmund. In the tracery openings are the arms of the borough and the regimental arms, and on a shield below the window is the following inscription: - "To the glory of God and to the memory of those of the Sherwood Rangers Imperial Yeomanry who died for their Sovereign and country in South Africa, 1900-1902: - Lieutenant A. C. Williams, Sergeant A. F. Tomlinson, Lance-Corporal G. W. Webb, Trooper F. Bell, Trooper R. W. Bond, Trooper T. H. Bowness, Trooper A. F. Clark, Trooper J. Hall, Corporal G. Duckmanton, Trooper F. Kempster, Trooper F. Kirk, Trooper J. E. Lowless, Trooper E. J. Mackinder, Trooper H. Oglesby, Trooper G. Pepper - this window was dedicated by their friends.
Not once, or twice, in our fair island's story,
The path of duty was the way to glory."

The Grantham Journal, Saturday 2nd January 1904