Daniel Rossiter Rudduck - Crimea, India, China

[kevs005]

Searching for any information regarding the military career of Daniel Rossiter Rudduck.

According to his obituary "he had an eventful military career, having fought in many of the historical battles of the Empire".  However, I have been unable to find any hard evidence of it!

His obituary in 1915 (when he died in New Zealand, aged 79) states:

"He joined the Monmouthshire militia when 18 years of age, later enlisting in the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers, joining the regiment at the Crimea in 1855.  Upon arrival he learnt that his brother had been mortally wounded in the Battle of Alma.  He then took part in the siege of Sebastopol.  On the Regiment's return to England, he exchanged into the 99th Lanarkshires, proceeding to India.  After seeing much active service in that country, the Regiment went to China where he took part in the capture of Pekin in 1860.  His Regiment also did garrison duty at Malta and Gibraltar and he was always proud of having taken part in reviews before the late Queen Victoria at Aldershot and Curragh-Kildare in Ireland."

I would be very grateful to hear from anybody who can substantiate any of this!

[neil1821]

Nothing immediately to tell you, but a question...........
Do you know where he was born?

I'll explain why in good time, I promise 

[kevs005]

He was born in Mells, Somerset about 1835.

[neil1821]

He was born in Mells, Somerset about 1835.

I'm very pleased your answer was something along those lines. 
I have found something in the medal roll for China 1860, but perhaps not what you were expecting. Your independent knowledge of Mells, Somerset makes the match more curious still.

First off the bad news.......... there was no soldier whatsoever called Rudduck or Rossiter on the rolls. 
So then I started thinking about possible spelling variations (eg Roddick and the like) and had a quick scan through the R's.

A soldier called Daniel Raines caught my eye. This is what I have:

368 Private Daniel Raines, 99th Regiment, awarded the China medal with clasp for Pekin 1860.
born Wells, Somerset
enlisted 25/11/1854 aged 18
ex 23rd Regiment
To England 26/06/1861
Discharged 21/01/1862
Papers in WO97/1676

Now apart from the surname, the infomation seems to fit like a glove.
Perhaps your Daniel enlisted under an alias? Or he changed his name in later life for some reason?
Wells/Mells is easily explained as a transcription error somewhere along the line.

[kevs005]

Hi Neil,

Many thanks for your reply and investigations.    Very interesting!   

As you say, apart from the surname everything else fits perfectly.

The discharge date also matches the information I have as I know that after obtaining his discharge he emigrated in 1861/1862; first to Australia and then on to New Zealand where he continued his military career, serving as a Sergeant in the 3rd Waikato Regiment in the wars against the Maories.

It does seem therefore that he may have enlisted under an alias for some reason.  Maybe he ran away from home at 18 to enlist and only reverted to his real name when in New Zealand?

I guess the next step would be to try and trace Daniel Raines back through the 99th to the 23rd to see where he enlisted?

It would also be interesting to see if there are any other Raines in the Crimea casualty list - I have never been able to trace his brother (George or William) who was supposedly mortally wounded in the Battle of Alma.

Kevin.

[neil1821]

Pleasure Kev!

There's a couple of ways to go from here.

- "papers in WO97/1676" means that Daniel Raines' service papers survive at the National Archives, Kew. Obtaining those papers would be one logical move, and hopefully there would be further details in there to confirm what we're thinking.

- the other thing is to follow the Crimea angle. First thing I should say is that the original Crimea rolls are extremely difficult to read, so very easy to miss things.

But I have found a Private George Raines, 23rd Regt who died on 29 Jun 1855 (if I read it right). Died, not killed, which implies disease (typhus, cholera, dysentery) rather than enemy action, and hence he doesn't appear on the casualty lists (which are battle casualties only).

[kevs005]

Hi Neil,

More interesting information!  George Raines could be a match for his elder brother.

I still have no idea why they may have chosen the name Raines as an alias.

Can I ask what you are using as your source for the Crimea information?

Thanks.

Kevin.

[neil1821]

Can I ask what you are using as your source for the Crimea information?

The original medal rolls, which are available at the National Archives of course, but also scanned on CD-ROM if you're into medal rolls and willing to pay.

Can't see Daniel yet, but like I say it's difficult to read.
The RWF museum may also look for you for a small fee.
http://www.rwfmuseum.org.uk/en_re.html

[kevs005]

I have recently found a court record for Daniel and his brother William showing that they were convicted of stealing 2 pairs of shoes in London in April 1853 and sentenced to 2 months imprisonment.

Is it likely that they were enlisted into the militia/army directly from prison?  Would their criminal records have given them cause to enlist under an alias?