William George Kidd

William George Kidd

My uncle George Edwin “Ted” Kidd (GEK), in his retirement, took on the task of writing a history of the Kidd family centered around his father (my grandfather) William George Kidd. Subsequently, my cousin Phil Kidd produced a neatly typed version of this history and distributed it to the family at large. I am quite grateful for that service. If there is a family member on the Kidd side who doesn’t have a copy I am sure Phil can provide one. That family history is well done and carefully researched. I really don’t see how I can improve upon it in any way except possibly to post some visuals that were not included in the written account.

The extremely short version of William George Kidd’s short life is that of a British soldier who fought in the Boer War at the turn of the century, now well over a hundred years ago, and after the war, worked in the gold mines in South Africa. He fathered three children including my mother. The work in the mines was his undoing and, although it didn’t kill him in short order, it produced a lingering pulmonary infirmity that eventually did him in. On his dying bed he advised my grandmother to take the children and immigrate to the new world where he felt they would have a better chance to make something of themselves. I am certain he was right in that conclusion.

Tin box filled with chocolate sent by Queen Victoria to all the troops in the field at the turn of the century 1900

Tin box filled with chocolate sent by Queen Victoria to all the troops in the field at the turn of the century 1900.

WGK

WGK at Aldershot prior to 1898

GEK: "One picture of him . . . shows him kneeling in what was a group picture, equiped with a 'slouch' hat, an ammunition bandolier and a Lee- Metfort carbine."
British Army issue fork stamped WGK

British Army issue fork stamped WGK

Cerimonial Weapons (Zulu?): Souveniers of family life and times in South Africa

Cerimonial Weapons (Zulu?): Souveniers of family life and times in South Africa

William George Kidd family portrait

William George Kidd family portrait

My grandmother, Miriam Phoebe (Williams) Kidd, often related the story of how she met WGK. It seems she was serving hot-cross buns at her place of employment when he strolled by in uniform. On an impulse she picked up a bun and tossed it to him over an elevated railing, saying,

“Here soldier have a bun!”

She always concluded the story with,

“He caught the bun and then he caught me.”


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Friday, April 23rd, 2010 William George Kidd No Comments
 

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