Son of the late Henry George and Georgiana Topham (nee Farrands); husband of Olive Topham (nee Steel-Howard), of 87, Buiten St., Sunnyside, Pretoria. Born Calais, France. Served Boer War from 1899 till 1902 as Second Lieutenant in the 2nd Bn. Royal Irish Fusiliers. He participated in several battles. Then, he decided to stay in South Africa. He was sub-inspector of roads and bridges, in the Public Works Department, based for a while in Rustenburg, promoted inspector in Transvaal. His boss was Alfred Desormaux Holmwood who was Chief inspector of roads and bridges for Transvaal from 1903. Around 1925, A. D. Holmwood has been appointed Superintendent of Roads and Works. A. A. Topham married to Olive. They had four girls before 1917. He joined the 1 SA Road Corps, served as Lieutenant in East Africa.
LG Sup 31 January 1919 pg. 1511