A Deserter in the Vicarage

When the (Second) Boer War began in 1899, the troopships bound for Cape Town were quickly filled with newly enlisted soldiers. But, as the fighting continued on in to the new century, dissent at home increased. Broadly speaking, support for the war remained much greater in the Church of England than among non-conformists. Thus, "a bedroom in a country vicarage would seem to be the last place in the world in which to find an army deserter, yet that has just happened." 

The Rev. George Bolney Browne had been the vicar of St. Saviour, Aston, Stone, Staffs, since 1881. His commodious vicarage was nicely situated, just steps from the church beside the River Trent. 

One evening, in February 1901, a local policeman arrived with a warrant to search the vicarage, having heard "whispers" in the village that a soldier who'd deserted the Army was being harboured there. The Rev. Browne was "considerably surprised" to hear this. It couldn't be true, he insisted, but, of course, he permitted the constable to have a look about. The two men went room to room and, in the attic chamber of one of the maids, they found him "crouching under the bed." 

21-year old Private Elie Robert Lewis Colquhoun of the Royal Army Medical Corps had gone missing the previous July. Whilst on the run, he came to Aston where he met a young woman, who was the lady's maid to the vicar's wife. The servant - never identified - admitted she had hidden the man in her bedroom for six months, feeding him with leftovers and takings from the larder, doing his laundry, etc. He remained in her room every day; occasionally they would sneak out at night. It was, the newspapers reported, "an extraordinary tale of desertion and female devotion." But, it's hardly believable.

The Rev. Browne was an active churchman, involved in many good causes, including supporting the African missionaries. Still, he insisted that he had no idea Private Colquhoun had been creeping about his vicarage for six months. 

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As for the deserter, he was returned to his unit and sent out to South Africa, not returning until 1904. The Rev. Brown remained at St. Saviour's until he retired in 1922, having served the parish throughout the Great War to end all wars. 

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