Lance Corporal Robert James Spottiswoode, 7th Regiment, South African Infantry. He died of wounds in East Africa on 15th March 1916 aged 34. He had been born in Melrose to Robert and Mary Spottiswoode of Gattonside and is buried in Taveta Military Cemetery, Kenya. He was an engineer to trade and had emigrated to South Africa to work in the mines at Johannesburgh. He was wounded in the Battle of Laterna Nek ( in German East Africa ) whih was part of the ongoing general campaign between Britain and the German colonial forces under General Lerttow-Vorbek which took place mainly in East Africa and lasted until the Great War ended in November 1918. His Headstone is inscribed ” In Loving Memory Of Our Dearly Beloved Son Deeply Mourned”.
