Genealogy Chat

This is excellent BACKGROUND reading for the BATTALLION but is not actually telling you where your soldier is! The only way to find out EXACTLY where your soldier was is to go through the MUSTER Records at the National Archives. There are musters for each month of each year and it does take a lot of time to work through them. In my case parts of my soldier's battallion were in the East Indies but I did not find him in the East Indies bcause his part of the regiment was in Ireland!! He was named in each month as to exactly where in Ireland. If your soldier is not named on the muster then he is elsewhere, and he may even have changed regiments, as mine had done three times in all. Sadly there is NO quick way around the records. Janet

Isn't Sandra wonderful ! I don't know how to thanks her. Big hugs to you Sandra!! I wonder if I have any relatives born in Dum Dum !!?? LOL thanks again

Hi Karen I have just emailed you. But for those people who may find this info of some use to them, I will put on here too. I have just come back from Aldershot Library, they have an extensive range of military books (over 17,000) This is what I have found out about Karen's G-G-Granddad's regiment. Records of the Second Battalion XX Regiment The Second Battalion of the XX Regiment, was formed from the 3rd March, 1858. Establishment 1126 of all ranks. On the12th May 1858, the battalion, under the command of Major Cormick, were inspected at Clonmel, by Major-General Eden C. B. commanding the Cork division, who was pleased to express his high opinion of the general appearance of the men, and the cleanliness of the barrack rooms. On the 25th August 1858 the battalion under the command of Major Cormick, proceeded by rail from Clonmel to Waterford to be stationed. The battalion preceded by rail, from Waterford to Kilkenny and arriving at Tralee on the 24th September 1858. The battalion under the command of Lt-Colonel Radcliffe, preceded by rail to Curragh Camp, to the Royal Barracks, Dublin on the 1st November 1859 to be stationed. The battalion proceeded in two divisions by rail on 2nd May 1861, embarked at the North Wall on the same day to board the steamers “ Preussicher Adler” under the command of Lt-Colonel W P Radcliffe, and “Juverna” under the command of Major W.D.S Dickens for Bristol. Arriving at Aldershot on on the 3rd May 1861 there to be stationed. On the 12th June 1863, Lt-Colonel H. R Brown, was appointed to the command of the 2nd Battalion XX Regement. Vice Lt-Colonel W.P. Radcliffe retired on temporary half-pay. The battalion embarked at Portsmouth in three divisions, for service in Bengal, in the “St Lawrence” arriving in Calcutta on 11th November 1963. The “Confilct” arriving 29th October 1863, The “Blenheim” arriving in Calcutter on 19th November 1863. The battalion re-embarked for service in China on 20th & 21st November 1863 leaving a small detachment, with the women and children at Dum Dum (East Indies) Disembarked at Hong Kong on 9th December 1863. and was quarted at Kowloon. The right wing in huts, the left, under canvas.

Marion You are going to be into Boer War and 1WWar info for your years of interest and many ordinary soldiers records were burnt during 2 W War. Officers Records are fairly complete. Provided he came out of army before 1922 then Kew is the place to look, but if he "disappeared" or was after 1922 then these records are still with MOD in Glasgow and will only be released to next of kin on payment of £25. Don't forget to look for pension details as well as attestation details. Good hunting. Great place Kew, never enough time to do what you want to do !! Janet

Marion It all depends what year you are talking about re Kew and soldiers records. You can look up any records at Kew for approx 1700's to 1922 for soldiers/sailors records but pre 1875 approx they are not indexed so you will need a lot of patience. I suggest you download the leaflets on Army from TNA www.nationalarchives.com and this will answer most of the queries that you have. Post approx 1875 they are indexed and easier to find. Pre 1875 the Regiment is the most important piece of info that you will need as it will be like looking for a needle in a haystack if you do not have that info for the pre 1875 soldiers. Janet

Hello, Marion Have you looked at the medal cards on Documents Online? I don't know whether you can apply for the actual medals, but you can find out which ones he was eligible for - assuming the surname starts with T or earlier in the alphabet. If you go to the site you'll see how far they've got. Christine

Hi I went to Kew to look up info on my gt-uncle. I had his name and regiment and DoB. That was enough at Kew. Because the family name is unusual (CHRISTMAS), I also found the record of his younger brother, my grandfather, for which I hadn't been looking (but took the opportunity to see). Had I looked for my grandfather's on the basis of the regiment info I had, I shouldn't have found him because he saw active service with a different regiment earlier in the war and I hadn't known about that. It's best to have as much info as poss, but how much is essential will depend upon how common the surname is. What you will need to be aware of is that something like 60% of WW1 records were lost to a WW2 bombing raid. good hunting Christine

thanks Christine, I'll try those sites Karen

I looked up some Army bdm fiche records at the local Central Library but found nothing. The brothers Hugh and Thomas Farmer both married in Edinburgh after they'd left the Army. John (call him brother in law) left widow Barbara who Thomas then married. Know that John and Barbara had daughter Jane who was born c 1856 in Berwick on Tweed according to the census but can find no trace of birth. I'm hoping the "first" Muster record for each of the soldiers will show their date and place of birth and hopefully other snippets of information ie where they served etc etc.

Julie Try the Regimental Births and Baps now on line at 1837 on line. Can browse for free so you never know. My whole soldier history started with the Regimental Births and Baps, never have found the offspring if it had not been for that book. Janet

Well thanks to marriage/death certificates in Scotland (they don't seem to have been born) have found 2 brothers were pensioners from the 71st Regiment of Foot. Still can't find the brother in law - Anyway had a look in the free census for 1841 and there's husband's rellies older brother in the Regiment at Aberdeen age 15. Well considering they were from Edinburgh and that the brother in law's daughter born in Berwick upon Tweed these soldiers seem to have got about a bit. Crimea, India etc etc. Will have to go to Kew in next few weeks to try and find anything I can about these 3 - there might be more as the births weren't registered as far as I can see. Have been told to look at the Muster Lists and at least I know he was in the Regiment in 1841.

Aldershot is known as the "Home of the British Army" and I would think that most soldiers passed through Aldershot at some time in their Army career. They had their own, large, maternity hospital so all things are possible. Doubt if it helps but who knows? Good hunting Jack

Here are some sites which I've found useful (remove any asterisks): http://www.armymuseums.org.uk/ http://hometown.aol.*co.uk/KevinAsplin/home.html there are some other sites in my Bookmarks list, but they mainly relate to WW1 and later. Christine

Karen Good luck. You are a very quick learner. I have never had to type so fast!! Janet

thanks Janet, I'll try 1837. I just got a birth cert today for John Irwin's daughter, which has given me this headache of researching soldiers. It is an addictive hobby isn't it ! It's not much fun buying certs with Aussie dollars though. Thanks again Karen

Karen Regimental Baps and Births are now online at 1837 online and they are FREE TO BROWSE so you could take a look to see if you recognise any. That's the good news. The bad news is that you still have to pay however many dollars you have to pay from OZ to obtain the certificates. Still you might get some idea of where his offspring is. Sometimes the women went as well but not always. Women that went were known as CAMP FOLLOWERS and they make interesting reading. His offspring are more likely to be all over England and Ireland but anywhere in those areas so be prepared for having to look literally anywhere in the UK but try to use the census to help you. Janet

wow, and I thought they were in a space ship !! No wonder I can't find any family !! They could be dropping babies all over the world! That's if the wife followed..........did she? They had a baby in Aldershot, but did they go overseas or stay in England??????

Karen You are quicker than me!! Yes. My man went to the Crimea, India, Ireland, Mauritius and all over England to include Aldershot! Attestation is another word for "Joining Up" Papers and the short answer to your question is sadly they are not on line. You have to go to Kew personally to find them or you find a rellie in England to do the two days work at Kew that is required or you have a holiday over here or you find a researcher to do the work for you and that won't be cheap so you decide which is cheaper. Nobody said that Family History was a cheap hobby but it is very interesting! Janet

DOES THIS MEAN HE MIGHT HAVE GONE TO chINA?? 1858.03.26 2nd Battalion, 20th (The East Devonshire) Regiment of Foot re-formed in Ireland 1858 Ireland 1861 England 1863 India 1863 China: Hong Kong 1864 Japan served as field artillery 1866 Hong Kong 1867 Cape Colony 1870 Mauritius 1872 Ireland 1874 England 1879 Ireland Or do you think that is where they recruited?

Now I am going to sound even sillier. What are attestation papers and are they online???