"Late" Major in 1/17 William Affleck KING in 1881 Census

[Keith Sherwood]

…and have just discovered that William Affleck KING's father was a very young Captain (28 years old) of a British ship at the battle of Trafalgar in 1805.  His ship the "Achille" was in the thick of the action, and lost 13 men killed and 59 wounded;  bizarrely, I believe one of the French ships went by the same name.
Anyway, the KING family seem to have been in the thick of things when their country was fighting key battles, it seems, whether on the sea or the land.
Captain Richard KING later became a Rear-Admiral in the Navy…
Keith

[t.brewis]

William Affleck King was my great grandfather, his wife was Canadian. I can trace his ancestry back to Walter Cotton, the third richest man in London in about 1400. At the time he moved a large body of troops from St John's to the St Lawrence by sledge and thence to Montreal by train [Feb 1862] his cousin Mrs Robert E. Lee owned Arlington [before the Feds got it].

[t.brewis]

My great grandfather definitely took a full part in the Charge of the Light Brigade. His mother's account of the charge is held by the Cambridge Record Office.

[Regorian]

It's good to know that people know their family history. George Washington's half brother was a regular British army officer. George was refused a commission although he was highly thought of by General Braddock senior British officer in N. America. Perhaps George was a Methodist. Benjamin Franklyn was even more of an Anglophile. He possibly spent more of his life in England than in N. America. How we could have alienated two such people is beyond me.   

[Keith Sherwood]

This is becoming a thread full of unexpected surprises, with great landmarks picked out in our history, Regorian.  And T. Brewis, if you'd like to post one more reply on here I can PM you (Personal Message) and tell you who I'm giving the wonderful photograph of your gt-grandfather to as a small Christmas present; it came through the post from Austen, Texas a couple of days ago.  Giving it to another gt-grandchild, who wanted me to look into the family history
And once the Christmas, New Year break is over, I shall head up Castle Hill to the CCRO in Cambridge and request to see that report of the Charge of the Light Brigade.  I got my own information from something I simply googled up, and there's no reason why it's veracity should go unquestioned.  Will be exciting to read William Affleck's mother's account, on the other hand...
Keith

[t.brewis]

Warning to genealogists: Richard King jr was 34 at the battle of Trafalgar- all the naval histories are wrong! The Titchfield Parish Register reveals that he was admitted into the Church on the day his youngest sister was Christened [she would have been 28 in 1805]. His birth year [and presumably private baptism] were in 1771.
P.S. William Affleck King was related to Mrs George Washington's first husband.
P.P.S. There are King papers with the papers of the Cottons of Madingley at the Cambridge Record Office, William's grandfather was Commander in Chief of the Channel Fleet in 1812. His grandmother shares ancestry with both the Duchess of Cornwall and Princess Diana. Happy hunting!

[Keith Sherwood]

T.Brewis,
Thanks very much for putting the record(s) straight!  And I believe there's a carol service at the little  church at Landwade a few days after Christmas, which I might attend.  Several of the COTTON tombs are there, apparently…
Will PM you now,
Keith
P.S. May well have a busier time than I imagined at the CCRO in the New Year, too...

[t.brewis]

I am Tom Brewis. Must be almost 50 years since I knew my great aunt Gaye and her Eliot grandchildren! Give Jane my love!

[Keith Sherwood]

Tom,
I certainly shall!
Keith