Leonard's Story.
Dr Leonard Bostock (1870 - 1960) served in the Royal Army Medical Corps during the Boer War in South Africa from 1899 - 1902. Later, he worked as a doctor with the South Africa Medical Corps, and was awarded the honorary rank of Major on both occasions. He died at the age of ninety, and is buried in Portugal. This is his story:
Leonard Bostock was born on 13th January 1870 into a farming family. He was the son of Benjamin Silvester Bostock (1837 - 1922) and Ellen Eaton (1835 - 1923) whose home was at Merefield House, Bradeley Road, Haslington, Cheshire.
His father was a farmer and butcher, who eventually became a well-known cheese producer.
His grandfather Thomas Bostock (1791 - 1876) also a farmer, had been born in Haslington, and had married Hannah Stonier in Barthomley in 1812. The family was very involved with the Congregational Church (now known as the United Reform Church) which has been in the village since 1810.
The 1871 census shows Leonard at Merefield House with his half-brother Spencer (son of Benjamin's first wife Emma), brother Herbert, and sister Marion. By 1881, the family included a sister, Lilian Eve, and younger brother Harold Silvester Bostock. His family all remained in the local area.
Leonard studied medicine at Owen's College in Manchester. While still a medical student, he married his first wife Kate (Kitty) Wood on 13th October 1893 at St Andrew's Church, Camberwell in Surrey.
After graduating, Leonard travelled to South Africa to practice as a surgeon, and his two daughters were born there, in Amersfoort, Mpumalanga: Marion Silvester Bostock (1899–1991) on 3rd December 1899, and Vera Joan Eaton Bostock (1901–1982) on 29th September 1901. The two girls returned to the UK on more than one occasion, and in 1911 were living at Winchcombe, 285 Nantwich Road, Crewe, with their uncle Spencer Bostock. In 1924, they once again travelled witn their father from South Africa to the UK. (Leonard's first wife Kate is not named on the passenger list.)
Leonard was enlisted into the RAMC during the Boer War (1899 - 1902), and was given the honorary rank of major. No information has been found on his exact role but he may have been part of a Field Hospital team. An account of his later career states that:
In 1903 he entered the service of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association and remained with that association until 1940. Shortly after the Anglo-Boer War, he was posted to Komatiepoort, Mpumalanga, where he was already serving as district surgeon in 1907. At some time before the end of 1914 he moved to Porto Amelia (now Pemba), on the north coast of Mozambique, but may have returned to Komatiepoort at some time. Later he was medical officer in the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association's Kazangula Camp in Zambia.
In 1905 Bostock published an article on "Malarial fever, its causes and prevention, with notes on the methods taken for its diminishment or eradication in Komatipoort" in the Lourenco Marques Guardian. The article was published also as a pamphlet in Lourenco Marques (now Maputo, Mozambique) in 1905 (16p). A second edition of the pamphlet was issued in 1912. In 1908 he obtained the Diploma in Tropical Medicine at the University of Cambridge. A few years later he published "Health and sickness in the tropics; a guide for travellers and residents in remote districts" (London, 1913, 94p).
Bostock also held the posts of British Vice-Consul, Porto Amelia Agent, medical officer for Portuguese Nyasaland, and railway medical officer in the Transvaal Government Service.
After divorcing his first wife, at the age of 58, he married 20-year-old Sheilagh Maureen Polson (1907–1986). He continued to pay regular visits back to the UK, but eventually moved to Lisbon in Portugal.
Leonard outlived all his siblings. His sister Lilian Eva (1874–1921) died aged 47. His half-brother Spencer Bostock (1861–1936) passed away on 7th Oct 1936 at Winchcombe, 285 Nantwich Rd., Crewe, Cheshire. Harold Silvester Bostock (1877–1938), Marion Bostock (1868–1945) and Herbert Bostock (1865–1947) are commemorated in the churchyard of the United Reform Church, in the Dingle, Haslington, as well as their parents.
Marion had still been living in Merefield House, her home for over 75 years, and the place where Leonard was born and grew up.
Merefield House in 2026
Leonard died on 16th April 1960, having lived through the reign of six British monarchs.
Researched by Shena Lewington (September 2026)
Leonard Bostock was born on 13th January 1870 into a farming family. He was the son of Benjamin Silvester Bostock (1837 - 1922) and Ellen Eaton (1835 - 1923) whose home was at Merefield House, Bradeley Road, Haslington, Cheshire.
His father was a farmer and butcher, who eventually became a well-known cheese producer.
His grandfather Thomas Bostock (1791 - 1876) also a farmer, had been born in Haslington, and had married Hannah Stonier in Barthomley in 1812. The family was very involved with the Congregational Church (now known as the United Reform Church) which has been in the village since 1810.
The 1871 census shows Leonard at Merefield House with his half-brother Spencer (son of Benjamin's first wife Emma), brother Herbert, and sister Marion. By 1881, the family included a sister, Lilian Eve, and younger brother Harold Silvester Bostock. His family all remained in the local area.
Leonard studied medicine at Owen's College in Manchester. While still a medical student, he married his first wife Kate (Kitty) Wood on 13th October 1893 at St Andrew's Church, Camberwell in Surrey.
After graduating, Leonard travelled to South Africa to practice as a surgeon, and his two daughters were born there, in Amersfoort, Mpumalanga: Marion Silvester Bostock (1899–1991) on 3rd December 1899, and Vera Joan Eaton Bostock (1901–1982) on 29th September 1901. The two girls returned to the UK on more than one occasion, and in 1911 were living at Winchcombe, 285 Nantwich Road, Crewe, with their uncle Spencer Bostock. In 1924, they once again travelled witn their father from South Africa to the UK. (Leonard's first wife Kate is not named on the passenger list.)
Leonard was enlisted into the RAMC during the Boer War (1899 - 1902), and was given the honorary rank of major. No information has been found on his exact role but he may have been part of a Field Hospital team. An account of his later career states that:
In 1903 he entered the service of the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association and remained with that association until 1940. Shortly after the Anglo-Boer War, he was posted to Komatiepoort, Mpumalanga, where he was already serving as district surgeon in 1907. At some time before the end of 1914 he moved to Porto Amelia (now Pemba), on the north coast of Mozambique, but may have returned to Komatiepoort at some time. Later he was medical officer in the Witwatersrand Native Labour Association's Kazangula Camp in Zambia.
In 1905 Bostock published an article on "Malarial fever, its causes and prevention, with notes on the methods taken for its diminishment or eradication in Komatipoort" in the Lourenco Marques Guardian. The article was published also as a pamphlet in Lourenco Marques (now Maputo, Mozambique) in 1905 (16p). A second edition of the pamphlet was issued in 1912. In 1908 he obtained the Diploma in Tropical Medicine at the University of Cambridge. A few years later he published "Health and sickness in the tropics; a guide for travellers and residents in remote districts" (London, 1913, 94p).
Bostock also held the posts of British Vice-Consul, Porto Amelia Agent, medical officer for Portuguese Nyasaland, and railway medical officer in the Transvaal Government Service.
After divorcing his first wife, at the age of 58, he married 20-year-old Sheilagh Maureen Polson (1907–1986). He continued to pay regular visits back to the UK, but eventually moved to Lisbon in Portugal.
Leonard outlived all his siblings. His sister Lilian Eva (1874–1921) died aged 47. His half-brother Spencer Bostock (1861–1936) passed away on 7th Oct 1936 at Winchcombe, 285 Nantwich Rd., Crewe, Cheshire. Harold Silvester Bostock (1877–1938), Marion Bostock (1868–1945) and Herbert Bostock (1865–1947) are commemorated in the churchyard of the United Reform Church, in the Dingle, Haslington, as well as their parents.
Marion had still been living in Merefield House, her home for over 75 years, and the place where Leonard was born and grew up.
Merefield House in 2026
Leonard died on 16th April 1960, having lived through the reign of six British monarchs.
Researched by Shena Lewington (September 2026)