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South African 'Boer' War 1900

tin
A tin sent to the soldiers by Queen Victoria for
New Year 1900 - contained chocolate - with the message:
'I wish you a happy New Year'

An unidentified newsclip 1899?

[The battle ground is known by a dozen names, but the Boer farmers in the vicinity told me the name of the kopjes on which the Boers were entrenched were called Megisfontein.] 

The Queen's (Chocolate and The Queen's Warrant)

News comes to hand of the arrival at Capetown of the first consignment of the Queen's chocolate for the troops. In this connection it is interesting to note that, as a mark of her Majesty's recognition of the promptitude shown in the execution and dispatch of the order, the name of Rowntree and Co. Ltd., has been entered on the list of her Majesty's warrant holders. Messrs. Rowntree's share in the Royal order was 40,000 tins, the whole of which was shipped to South Africa free of charge by the Union Steamship Company.

Note: For the morale of her army and navy, Queen Victoria decided she would send chocolate, a luxury, to each of them. Cadbury, had a Royal Warrant (granted in 1854) but Richard and George Cadbury as Quakers, were pacifists and did not agree with the war. They invited fellow Quakers, Joseph Storrs Fry and Joseph Rowntree to form a temporary partnership. The chocolate inside the boxes carried the Cadbury name. Designed by Fry, in two different sizes, 40,000 tins were made. One was 15 x 9cm (6 x 3½ inches) and had a gold-coloured rim around the lid and contained two layers of chocolate. A less deep tin, 16 x 8cms (6¼ x 3¼ inches) had a blue rim on the lid, and one layer of chocolate.



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