The photo was kindly provided by descendants of this soldier. Bryan Lacey of Johannesburg and his cousin Reverend Gary Lawrence of Cape Town asked for the uniform to be identified, and it matches the Cape Town Highlanders. They tell us that the man is named Alexander Lawrence, born in Cape Town in 1891. He died in East London SA in 1967.
The uniform has a couple of things that are puzzling. He is wearing a full plaid that wraps around his chest. The full plaid was worn by officers, sergeants and pipers. He is not an officer or sergeant as he is wearing a sporran only worn by the rank and file. Also he does not have a sergeant’s red sash on his right shoulder. And pipers had shoulder wings, as well as black leather belts. There are no photos or illustrations of the rank-and-file wearing the full plaid.
The other oddity is the waist-belt clasp which looks like a regimental badge but is different from all other images of the clasp which were a cheaper version of the officers’ gilt clasp. In every other respect the uniform conforms to the regulations. The plaid brooch is the silver pattern that replaced the cairngorm in 1902. The helmet matches those worn by the sergeants in the 1904 photo, and the chin-chain is more visible, being placed above the peak. I have dated it as c1913 as that would make him 22 years old, and after 1914, khaki was worn. He has no medals so this is not post-WW1.
