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| Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts | |
|---|---|
| Name | Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts |
| Birth date | 8 January 1872 |
| Birth place | Eton College, Buckinghamshire |
| Death date | 17 December 1899 (aged 27) |
| Death place | Colesberg near Kimberley, South Africa |
| Allegiance | United Kingdom |
| Branch | British Army |
| Rank | Lieutenant |
| Unit | South Wales Borderers |
| Awards | Victoria Cross |
Frederick Hugh Sherston Roberts (8 January 1872 – 17 December 1899) was a British Army officer and recipient of the Victoria Cross during the Second Boer War. A son of Field Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts and Katherine Roberts, he served with the South Wales Borderers and was posthumously recognized for conspicuous gallantry at the Relief of Kimberley operations near Colesberg.
Roberts was born at Eton College and was the second son of Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, a prominent commander in the Crimean War, Indian Rebellion, and the Second Anglo-Afghan War, and Katherine]. His upbringing connected him to influential circles including members of the British aristocracy, officers who served in the Madras Presidency, veterans of the Siege of Lucknow, and families associated with Wellington College. Educated alongside cadets and relatives of figures like Wellington and peers of the Cardwell Reforms, he was part of a generation shaped by the legacies of the Crimean War and imperial campaigns.
Commissioned into the South Wales Borderers (formerly the 24th Regiment of Foot), Roberts served during a period that included the Mahdist War aftermath and the buildup to the Second Boer War. His service intersected with officers who had seen action at the Battle of Omdurman, veterans of the Indian Army, and contemporaries attached to units like the Royal Fusiliers, Grenadier Guards, and the Coldstream Guards. Roberts’s battalion trained on maneuvers influenced by tactics debated after the Cardwell Reforms and the Childers Reforms; he served alongside men who later appeared in records connected to the South African Light Horse and the Imperial Yeomanry. During deployments to South Africa he operated in areas contested by forces under commanders such as Paul Kruger, Louis Botha, and units influenced by the legacy of Lord Roberts’s campaigns.
On 17 December 1899 during operations near Colesberg in the Second Boer War, Lieutenant Roberts performed the deed for which he was awarded the Victoria Cross. In an action involving detachments from the South Wales Borderers, elements of the British Army engaged Boer forces under leaders like Koos de la Rey and supporters of the Transvaal command. Reports placed Roberts amid fighting that included rifle fire from positions reminiscent of tactics used at the Siege of Kimberley and during the Relief of Ladysmith. The citation highlighted conspicuous bravery similar to other VC actions of the period, paralleling deeds by contemporaries such as John McCrae and Henry James Raby.
Roberts was killed in action on 17 December 1899 near Colesberg during the continuing Colesberg operations. His death occurred in the same campaign that saw the involvement of senior commanders including Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts and staff from Army Council circles. His body and memory were cared for amid the logistics networks that involved personnel from units like the Royal Army Medical Corps and chaplains attached to regiments such as the South Wales Borderers. News of his death was reported in periodicals read by readers of the The Times and discussed in correspondence among families connected to the British peerage and imperial service.
Roberts’s Victoria Cross and service are commemorated in regimental histories of the South Wales Borderers and in memorials associated with the Second Boer War. His name appears on monuments alongside soldiers from engagements like the Relief of Kimberley and sites connected to the Imperial War Museum collections, and is remembered in lists maintained by institutions such as the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, the National Army Museum, and regional museums in Wales and England. Memorial plaques and rolls in churches frequented by families of the British aristocracy and military officers, as well as entries in compilations about recipients of the Victoria Cross, preserve his story. His familial connection to Field Marshal Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts has ensured continued attention in biographies about campaigns including the Second Anglo-Afghan War and the Second Boer War.
Category:British Army officers Category:Recipients of the Victoria Cross Category:South Wales Borderers officers Category:People killed in the Second Boer War