Royal Marines and the Coast Guard c1800-1860 - William Fowler, 1st Lieut. RM

[SteveKNS]

My 4g grandfather, William Fowler, was a 1st lieutenant in the Royal Marines, his seniority dating from 1st Nov 1799. I don't have much information on him yet, but he was probably born about 1779 or earlier (he married in March 1800, and was of full age) and probably died about 1861 as he's not in Navy Lists after that year. He does appear in several earlier Navy Lists from 1814 onwards and he seems to have been put on General (or Reserved) Half-Pay from about 1815/16. None of the Navy List entries have any reference to a ship, so I'm not sure what his role would have been.

I also found an entry in the Coast Guard section of the Jan 1849 Navy List where he was said to be an Inspecting Lieutenant at West Cove, Tralee, Ireland, with a date of 28 Oct 1843. The year of service is given as 99 so I'm pretty sure I have the right man (the rank is also correct i.e. FLM=First Lieutenant of Marines).

I'm currently trawling through the Coast Guard records (ADM175) at the National Archives, but I was wondering whether anyone can provide insight into the relationship between the Marines and the Coast Guard, especially for officers in the Marines who were on the Reserved Half-Pay List.

I don't know where William was born (possibly in Ireland, according to family history notes passed down to me) but he lived in Kent for much of his life (he was living at Sandwich at the time of his marriage to Mary Ann Claringbold in 1800). One of his daughters, Eliza, married a French/Belgian innkeeper named Dekooninck at Dunkirk in 1840, so I was wondering whether his professional duties took him to Dunkirk at some point. Could William have been attached to the Kent Coast Guard as well? I believe William was a farmer in the Elham area of Kent, and there may be a connection with Kearsney Abbey, but I don't have any hard evidence for this yet (it's just mentioned in passing in a family letter).

In later life, William was apparently known as "Major Fowler" (I have a family letter that refers to him in this way), but I'm puzzled about this because I thought he would have needed to have had a rank of Captain to be awarded the rank of Major on retirement. Could "Major" be an affectation, or is it possible he was granted that rank when he retired? But that doesn't seem likely as he isn't in the lists of retired officers in the Navy Lists, so it looks as if he died whilst in the service - he would have been at least 82 years old in 1861.

Any insights or suggestions for further research would be much appreciated.

Thanks,

Steve

[Regorian]

Excise as in Customs and Excise records might be useful too. They often had to call on the military for armed support against smugglers.

[SteveKNS]

Thanks for that - will add it to the list.

I'm also working through a list of all the William Fowlers listed at the National Archives to see if I can find anything else - just found one likely entry so far, a court case of 1807, John Claringbold vs William Fowler (William's wife was a Claringbold); will probably see if I can get a printed copy (it's not on-line)

[crimea1854]

There was no formal link between the RM/RN and Coastguards, but officers who found themselves on half pay could seek employment with the Coastguard service. You have to understand that it was not until 1856 that the CG came under the control of the Admiralty, prior to this it was Customs.

I hope the following may speed up your research, it's a list of the references for the Coastguard records you need to consult, which starts in 1826 and ends in 1851. There is an earlier entry, but I was unable to read the name of the CG Station. So starting in 1826:

ADM 175/5 pdfs 276 and 272
ADM 175/6 pdf 344
ADM 175/16 pdf 296
ADM 175/18 pdfs 57, 89, 109 and 142
ADM 175/19 pdf 150

Martin

[km1971]

Hi Steve

I have the 1850 Army List, which then included Royal Marine officers. According to this he was commissioned as the RM version of a Cornet (probably Sub-Lt) on 11 May 1796, was promoted Lt on 1 Nov 1797 (as you have it) and was put on half-pay 1 July 1802.

They do not include details of Coast Guards. It was common for officers on half-pay to take up part-time appointments. You could try the London Gazette archives. They may have some information.

Also, they did surveys of RM officers in 1822 and 1831. Details are in ADM 6 - see details on this link - http://nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/looking-for-person/royalmarinesofficers.htm - which suggests they may give some biographical details.

I take it you have not found him in the 1841 or 1851 census, to confirm his age and place of birth?

Ken

[crimea1854]

Steve

I have now managed to track him down. He first entered the CG Service in 1821 while living in Canterbury with a posting as a Probationer Chief Officer to Mersey Quarters (ADM 175/1 pdf 171) - the name I was unable to read.

Martin

[SteveKNS]

I have now managed to track him down.

Thanks, Martin - that's very helpful indeed - and many thanks also for the previous info on the ADM175 records; that saved me a lot of time searching down blind alleys.

It's also interesting what you say about William being in Canterbury in 1821 as I believe he was living with his daughter (Mary Ann) and son-in-law (John Nutt - the Canterbury Town Clerk) at that time.

Since posting my original request, I've discovered that William inherited Kearsney Court from his mother-in-law, Mary Ann Claringbold nee Paine, in 1807 (she died in August 1806). The estate administration states "Kearsney Court" but I think it was probably "Kearsney Court Farm" as the Kearsney estate was owned by the Fector banking family at that time. His father-in-law, Thomas Bryant Claringbold, died in 1801 and owned a farm just outside Sandwich, I believe. I also spotted signs of litigation in the chancery court between 1808 and 1810, so it's possible William had to sell Kearsney Court (Farm) to pay off his mother-in-law's creditors - I've asked for a record copying estimate from National Archives as the details are not on-line. It's pure speculation, but maybe William was forced to enter the CG due to losses in the chancery cases - I'll post a further update if I find out any more on this.

Thanks again,

Steve

[SteveKNS]

I have the 1850 Army List, which then included Royal Marine officers. According to this he was commissioned as the RM version of a Cornet (probably Sub-Lt) on 11 May 1796, was promoted Lt on 1 Nov 1797 (as you have it) and was put on half-pay 1 July 1802.

Thanks Ken - that's a great find. I had his date of seniority from the Navy Lists as 1st Nov 1799, so could he have been promoted to 2nd Lieutenant on 1st Nov 1797?

I haven't found William, or his wife, in the census returns yet and I have a sneaking suspicion that they may have lived in Dunkirk for a while (their daughter Eliza moved there about 1840 - she married a local innkeeper in October 1840). William's wife, Mary Ann, is thought to have died in Ostend sometime before 1867. I may have found William's death record, but I'm awaiting a copy of the death certificate from the GRO - a William Fowler died in the Jan-Mar quarter of 1861 at Elham, Kent, so that seemed worth a gamble (the family is known to have lived in the area at some time - his eldest daughter, Mary Ann, married John Nutt in 1818 at Elham, for example).

I'll check the London Gazette and ADM6 records, as you suggest and will report back if I find anything.

Thanks again,

Steve

[Regorian]

Remember there was peace between 1802 and 1803. Probably why he was put on half pay. He may well have been active again 1803/04. Army Lists?

Added: Were there 1st and 2nd Lieutenants? I thought  the ranks were Lieutenant, Captain, Major etc, seniority being established by date of commission.