8cm (3.2in) x 6cm (2.5in)
Silver. Cigarette case of rectangular convex form, the sprung hinged lid inscribed ‘Brabant's Horse / Tylden Camp / South Africa / Xmas Day 1899 / Tent Pegging / 1st Prize / Won By / Regimental Sergeant Major Kempthorne / Awarded By / General Brabant’. Gilt interior. Maker’s mark of Henry Matthews. Hallmarked 1898.
Brigadier-General Sir Edward Yewd Brabant (1839-1914) was colonial settler with veteran of the 9th Xhosa War and the First Matabele War. In November 1899 he raised Brabant’s Horse in the Queenstown-Dordrecht district - a corps of two regiments that later formed part of the Colonial Division. It was made up of South African irregulars, Australian, British and Canadian volunteers. In early 1900 2nd Brabant’s Horse was heavily engaged in the clearing of north-east Cape Colony and in operations against superior forces under Christiaan de Wet. Brabant was knighted in 1901 and in 1902 commanded the Cape contingent in London for the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. He served as Commandant-General of the Cape Colonial Forces (1903–1904).
Regimental Sergeant Major John Borlase Kempthorne (1858-1935) was formerly the Riding Master (and Hon. Lieutenant) of the 12th (Prince of Wales’ Royal) Lancers, having been appointed from the 4th Hussars in 1896. In 1898 he was named by publican as the defendant in a small claims dispute over the hire of a dog cart when he was a Sergeant-Major on establishment of the 12th Lancers at Canterbury. In 2nd Brabant's Horse, he served under Lieutenant-Colonel HM Grenfell of the 1st Life Guards. It appears Kempthorne was born in Liskeard, Cornwall and was the son of Captain George Kempthorne, Indian Navy. As such he belonged to a distinguished naval family originating in the Channel Islands. The nominal roll of 2nd Brabant’s Horse indicates Kempthorne subsequently served with the Commander-in-Chief’s Body Guard as a Squadron Sergeant Major. He died in Brighton in 1935 leaving an estate worth £16.