Charles Thomas Biddulph was the fifth and youngest surviving son of Francis Edward Biddulph and his wife Annabella. He was born on the 7th of June 1869 in Bangalore, India, and baptised on the 1st of July 1869 in Holy Trinity Garrison Church, Bangalore.
He never married.
Early in his career he joined the Colonial Office, and served as Superintendent of Police in The Gambia. He was later forced to return to England due to ill-health.
In February 1900 he decided to accompany the 3rd Battalion Leinster Regiment to South Africa. He may not have been fully recovered from the effects of his ill health in the Gambia, as only a few weeks later he died of enteric fever at Queenstown, South Africa, on April 26th, 1900. Typhoid fever (enteric fever) is an infection caused by the bacteria Salmonella typhi (S typhi) or contaminated food.
He was buried with full military honours. His gravestone carries the following inscription.
Sacred to the Memory of Capt. Charles Biddulph 3rd Bn. Leinster Regt., second son of Colonel Biddulph formerly commanding H.M. 9th Regiment of Foot who died of Enteric Fever at the Frontier Hospital, Queenstown on the 26. of April 1900.
In the midst of life we are in death.
This Memorial is erected by his brother officers H. C. officers and men as a mark of esteem.
There is a memorial obelisk in Birr, County Offaly, which bears, among others, Capt. Charles Biddulph’s name. It is located in the military cemetery near the ruined barracks at Crinkill.
This Monument was erected by the Officers warrant Officers Non-Commissioned Officers and Men of the 3rd Batt., Leinster Regiment in Memory of their Comrades who were killed in action and died of disease in South Africa during embodiment between 18 January 1900 and the 26th May 1902.[1]
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