1816 birth in Ireland -child's father in British Army

[aghadowey]

Yes, the GRO records you've been able to locate (from 1837) are for military personnel and families. Ireland was part of the U.K. but civil registration came into effect later here.

[shanew147]

there are two other possible sources of BMDs for military personnel and their immediate family, but I dont know the details on accessing these :

# Regimental indexes 1761-1924 – BMDs of soldiers and their families. These include UK regimental births from 1761 and overseas from 1790. The marriages are not indexed, so you must know the regiment.

# Army chaplains’ indexes 1761-1880 – some may be the same as from the regimental records. (These are for baptisms and burials, rather than births and deaths). 


Shane

[Guidingspirit]

Thank you. Yes I meant to say 1837 and not 1937. As Charlotte is researching a family with a military background I thought that the information would be as helpful to her as it has been to me.
I never meant to cause any offense and am sure that the Irish civil BMD's are reliable but it has been the difference between military and civil records that I have found confusing, I admit I have a lot to learn.  Regards, Jean.

[km1971]

Surviving army service records for men discharged before the end of 1854 are on microfilm in Kew, and have been indexed by the Friends of the NA. You enter the name in the NA Cataloque - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/search.asp?j=1

It is entries in WO97 or WO121 you are looking for. There is Jonas' record - http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/catalogue/displaycataloguedetails.asp?CATID=-3997312&CATLN=7&Highlight=%2CJONAS%2CHARGREAVES&accessmethod=0

The NA used to charge 40p a page plus postage, but now you have to go to Kew to print it off yourself or use a researcher. If a man's record has not survived you can, as Jean says, use the muster books in Kew, if you know the regiment.

Papers for men discharged 1914 to 1920 are included in the WW1 records on Ancestry. Only 20% survived German bombing in WW2. The remainder - for men discharged 1855 to 1913 - are being put online by Findmypast. 'By 2011' is what they are quoting, but they are about five months behind with the scanning.

Ken

[charlotteCH]

Thank you all for your help and Ken for that URL.

I have Jonas' [82nd Foot]Attestation Papers from Kew and know quite a bit about him.

It is Jonas'  son,  Charles Jonas Hargreaves whose baptism date I'm seeking- I believe the 82nd were stationed at Ft Charles Kinsale when he was born.  I don't know Charles birth date and have hoped that the baptism records would throw some light on this.

Does anyone know if  any of the Chaplains' Returns are online on any of the subscription sites   please? An**stry, FindMyPast et al?  Perhaps that is one way to try to find this baptism record.

Thank you again,
charlotte

[km1971]

The information I have only says they were in Dover and Ireland between January 1816 and January 1819 when they left for 13 years in Mauritius. To find when he was in Kinsale (or in fact anywhere between those dates) you will have to go to Kew and look at the muster books in WO12. These tell you where each man was on the first of each month. It is then a question of looking at the church records of the places he passed.

The army year ran 26th March to 25th March then. It took them another ten years to adopt Gregorian months. The 2nd Battalion was disbanded on Christmas Day 1815. After which they would have had one extra large battalion, which would have been gradually reduced.

FindMyPast have the regimental BMDs. I had a link to a free site once, but I cannot find it. There is also WO156 in Kew - UK and overseas garrisons: Registers of Baptisms, Confirmations, Deaths/Burials, and Marriage – which start in 1808.

Ken

[km1971]

Update about Findmypast

Findmypast put surviving army records for men discharged 1883 to 1900 online yesterday. They are quoting by April next year for the rest of the pre WW1 papers.

Ken