63rd Regiment of Foot (1830, Tasmania) - Sgt MACKIE/MACKEY

[Megatill]

I am trying to find information regarding my 3G-Grandfather, Edward Mackey, who appears to have been a Sergeant in the 63rd Regiment of Foot, stationed in/at Macquarie Harbour, Tasmania, and/or Hobart Town, Tasmania c1831.

I have a record of birth of Edward's daughter Elizabeth, born 1831 and registered in the NSW BDM [V18311756 162A/1831, MACKEY, ELIZABETH, Father EDWARD, Mother MARY]. My supposition is that all records for Van Dieman's land would have been referred back to the 'headquarters' in Sydney.

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I have information from Ken Larbalestier via http://freepages.history.rootsweb.com/~garter1/63rdfoot.htm

63rd Regiment of Foot (The West Suffolk Regiment) 1827- 1835

In May of 1828 the 63rd Regiment of Foot was ordered to proceed to NSW, by detachments, as guards on board convict ships. The Headquarters of the Regiment arrived in Sydney on 18th February 1830 and after landing the convicts, sailed for Van Diemen's Land where the remainder of the Regiment was located, landing there on 22nd March. Major James Fairclough commanded the Regiment on arrival in NSW but Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Logan arrived in November 1830 and assumed command of the Regiment at Hobart Town.

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I would be interested in any information pertaining to Edward, or the Regiment's stay in Australia (both NSW and TAS stations), or any links to written references that might be available in Australia.

I have tried accessing the UK National Archives, but have not had much success, as I can not visit them in person. There doesn't seem to be a lot of information here in Australia about the 63rd Foot, which I find rather surprising, so I am guessing I have not yet hit the motherlode for that information here yet.

Apologies if this topic has already been raised, but I was unable to find any reference when I searched RootsChat.

Regards,
Megan in Australia

[themonsstar]

The Regt only did 4 years in NSW, here are the stations with Sergeants at them from the 25th March 1830:
1 HQs-19
2 Macquarie Harbour 3
3 Swan River 3
4 Regt Depot 6
5 Bothwell 2
6 Deep Gully 1
7 Pitt Water 1
8 Sydney 1
9 Ross Bridge 1
10 St Paul's Plains 1
11 Oatlands 1
12 Oyster Bay 1

Before the Regt moved to NSW in was in Portugal 1826-1828, 1829 -1833 NSW, 1834-1847 East Indies.

[Megatill]

Hi themonsstar!

Thank you for this information, but, if you would/could expand on what you have posted, please?

As an example - you have #1 as 'HQs-19', which I am assuming are the number of Sergeants (19 Sergeants) at the station in Sydney?

If that is so, is there any reference to any of the Sergeant's names?

Much obliged for your help!

Megan

[themonsstar]

No names sorry

[clancam37]

Hi Themonstar,
Read your message from 2006, quite some time ago.  You are very competent with army subjects.
I'm searching for a Catherine McDonnel born abt 1805 who may have been a daughter of a british soldier garrisoned in VDL (Tasmania) or a Maid of an officer's wife.
When Catherine married at St. David's Church Hobart in April 1823 she was "Free" and her husband a convict.  There were several British regiments at that time and quite possibly she was associated with the army in some way.  Don't know her parents, they weren't shown on her marriage certificate.
She named her children, William, John, Joseph Thomas, Anne and Sophia.
Have checked both early Tasmanian and Sydney birth records and nothing there.
Can you help in any way.
Kind regards
clancam37

The Regt only did 4 years in NSW, here are the stations with Sergeants at them from the 25th March 1830:
1 HQs-19
2 Macquarie Harbour 3
3 Swan River 3
4 Regt Depot 6
5 Bothwell 2
6 Deep Gully 1
7 Pitt Water 1
8 Sydney 1
9 Ross Bridge 1
10 St Paul's Plains 1
11 Oatlands 1
12 Oyster Bay 1

Before the Regt moved to NSW in was in Portugal 1826-1828, 1829 -1833 NSW, 1834-1847 East Indies.

[majm]

Clancam,

Themonsstar  was last online at RChat on Wednesday 19 December 2012.

There's several current threads re Catherine McDonnel, some are listed on your current thread:  http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=684542.0  (it is about McDonnell and 63rd Regiment)

Cheers,  JM

[majm]

I'm searching for a Catherine McDonnel born abt 1805 who may have been a daughter of a british soldier garrisoned in VDL (Tasmania) or a Maid of an officer's wife.
When Catherine married at St. David's Church Hobart in April 1823 she was "Free" and her husband a convict. 

VDL was administered as part of the penal colony of New South Wales in that era, and "Free" in that era has a number of meanings.  "Came Free" means the person was not transported under a sentence of a criminal court.  "Free" can be 'shorthand' for "Came Free" BUT it also can be "Free by Servitude" in other words, the person has completed the sentence of the court and is no longer a convict.  There is a further "Free" status,  they were "Born in the Colony".   So from that April 1823 marriage, have you sought out the original parish register, and looked at other "Free" entries and checked if those parties were actually "C.F" or "F.S" or "B.C" on the general musters that Governor Lachlan Macquarie ordered.    I am assuming you have checked those musters for your Catherine.       

As I understand it, Catherine married in 1823 in Hobart, VDL.   This is of course, several (perhaps as many as six) years BEFORE the 63rd Regiment seems to have been assigned to the Antipodes. 

Cheers,  JM

[lexiabain]

This is a message is primarily for 'Megan in Australia'.
Are you still searching for resources on the 63rd regiment's deployment to Tasmania? If so, are you near a State Library or the National Library (NLA)? If you can go there and have lots of time , the microfilms of the War Office (AJCP) are worth the effort and eye strain to trawl.
I have an interest in the 63rd regiment c1823-1834, when it was in Ireland/ England/ Portugal and then Tasmania. I too have looked at Macquarie Harbour, but transcribed information relevant to a Private Joseph McMahon - the sergeants are on another page and clearly marked as such. The filmed pages I refer to relate to (pay) musters, so you can most often read where the soldier was detached to.
There's also a book ['History of the Manchester Regiment', Wylly, HC (ed), London, Forster & Groom, 1923] in NLA which you could get through inter-library loan - I recommend it, if you're interested in the period before your sergeant got to Tasmania. The editor had little interest in the Tasmania deployment though.
There is also a lot of information about the Regiment's role in the so-called black or indigenous war of Oct 1830 - see also Trove* for that.
Did your sergeant get a pension (because of really long service or severe disability)? Try the Army pensioners' files online at (UK) National Archives. Good information there if your sergeant was entitled and the file itself has been filmed (I think you can pay for a copy or can access it on one of the subscription sites).
On another thread about the British Army, someone stated the first and last entries for a soldier in the regimental record are the best for genie-type information. The last worked for me (eg next of kin, birth place, enlistment date), but I can't access the first from Australia because it wasn't part of the AJCP filming.
Hope this helps
Lexia
* Trove is the NLA's fabulous and free historical Australian newspaper project.

[Megatill]

Thanks so much, lexiabain! I had heard of the AJCP films, but have been reluctant to pursue, mainly due to the legibility, but will take the plunge and start exploring.

What I do know about my Sergeant is that he died on the ship going home, and his 3 children were sent on to his place of enrollment. No pension, as far as Iknow.

I have read Wylly's book - it's huge and full of information.

I'm hoping to visit Kew in the next year and get that regimental info directly from the British archives.... that will be exciting!

Megan in Sydney