On 12 November 1889 he married Isabel Robertson in the Ladysmith, Natal, All Saints Church. He was 24 years old and she was 26.[1]
Marriage Joseph James Cheere Emmett to Isabel Robertson
Children
There were two daughters born of this marriage:
Irene Annie Helen Cheere (Emmett) Robertson
Sheila Emmett
Anglo Boer War
In May 1884 he accompanied Lucas Meyer on an expedition to Zululand to install Dinuzulu in office and struck up a close friendship with the pretender to the Zulu throne. When the Second Anglo-Boer War broke out (11.10.1899) he accompanied Botha as field-cornet of ward no. 2 of the Vryheid Commando to the Natal front. He took part in several battles in Natal, including those at Dundee (20.10.1899), Modderspruit (30.10.1899), Lombardskop (30.10.1899), Willow Grange (23.11.1899), and Colenso (15.12.1899). During the battle at Colenso he and his men were the first to reach the ten British guns that had been left behind. He also assisted in capturing Col G. M. Bullock.
After the Boer forces had retreated from Natal, he operated in the Eastern Transvaal with the Vryheid Commando of which in due course he became commander. On occasion he fought in the company of Louis Botha, Christiaan Botha, and Lucas Meyer, and on 11-12.12.1900 he took part in the Boer attack on the British garrison at Vryheid. He was made Combat General in the same month and from then on operated mainly in his own district.
When Louis Botha renewed his incursion into Natal in September 1901, he was ordered to attack Fort Prospect with 400 men, and although his attack on 26 September was repulsed by the British forces he succeeded three days later in capturing a convoy of thirty British wagons near Melmoth. His war career ended with his capture on 13.3.1902 by Sir Bruce Hamilton in the Ngoti hills.
He was awarded the DTD (Dekoratie voor Trouwe Dienst) and received the Wound Ribbon (Lint voor Verwonding).
World War I
Peace having been concluded in 1902, he returned to his farm Goudhoek which had been devastated by the British on 28.8.1901. During the First World War (1914-18) Gen. Louis Botha sent him to France, where he was in command of a team of 10 000 Black labourers, and where he remained until the end of the war. During the general election of 1920 he won Vryheid for the South African Party, but lost it the next year to Adv. E. G. Jansen of the National Party.
Although he displayed great courage in the field, he was by nature reserved with, nevertheless, a wide circle of old war comrades as friends. He served the community ably as a member of the House of Assembly, sheep inspector, and Chairman of the Transvaal Land Board.
Eric Rosenthal's Southern African Dictionary of National Biography
"EMMET, General Joseph James Cheere (1866-1933). Soldier and Member of Parliament. Of Irish ancestry, he was a descendant of the patriot Robert Emmet. Born in Swellendam, he settled in Natal and became the friend of General Louis Botha, who married his sister, Annie. Emmet was farming in the Vryheid district, then part of the Transvaal, on the outbreak of the Boer war. As field cornet, he distinguished himself at Dundee and Lombard's Kop.
The Battle of Colenso in December 1900, brought him promotion to Combat General. One of his famous achievements was the capture of Colonel Bullock with a considerable force near Ladysmith. He was taken prisoner in March 1902. Returning to his farm, he was elected to the Natal Parliament and later to that of the Union. He died in Pretoria."
Death
Joseph was 67 years old when he passed away in the Pretoria Government Hospital on 18 August 1933.[2]
Death Notice of Joseph James Cheere Emmett
His ashes were transported from Pretoria to Vryheid, where his wife had been buried several years previously. They are buried in the Vryheid Main Cemetery.[3][4]
Sources
↑ South Africa, Natal Province, Civil Marriages, 1845-1955," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KDC2-V94 : 19 February 2021), Joseph James Cheera Emmett and Isabella Robertson, 12 Nov 1889; citing Ladysmith, Natal, South Africa; 00007; National Archives and Records Service of South Africa, Pretoria; 1,259,212
↑ South Africa, Pietermaritzburg Estate Files 1846-1950," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPHZ-95XY : 22 August 2019), Joseph James Cheere Emmett, 1933; citing Probate, Pietermaritzburg Archives (Formerly Natal State Archives), South Africa
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