John Andrew Wollfreys

John Andrew Wollfreys was born in Salisbury on 14.06.1823 and qualified as a M.D. at St. Andrews in 1859. He entered the Army as an Assistant Surgeon in the 71st Foot in 1847, transferring to the Royal Canadian Rifle Regiment in 1850 and the 10th Foot in 1852. He was appointed Staff Surgeon 2nd Class in 1855 and Staff Surgeon Major in 1867. Woolfreys served in the second phase of the Ashantee War of 1973-74 as Principal Medical Officer, for which he received special promotion to Deputy Surgeon General in April 1874. He again served as Principal Medical Officer at the Cape in the Galeka and Gaika Rebellions 1877-78, and again in Natal during the Sekukuni and Zulu Wars 1878-79. For his services in the Zulu War he was awarded the C.B. in 1879, in the following year he was awarded the C.M.G. In 1880 he was promoted to Surgeon General, then in 1899 he was appointed Honorary Physician to Queen Victoria, then to King Edward VII in 1902 and George V in 1911. He was created Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1902. Sir John Woolfreys died at Wells, Somerset on 12th January 1912.

See:Pictorial catalogue of AZW graves