John Reese - Minden

[VelkyAl]

My 3x great grandfather was John Reese, who from what I have been able to piece together came to mainland Britain from Jersey in around 1880, with his wife Eliza, and the first three of their children, including my 2x great grandfather George John Reece.

According to various trees I have seen, John came originally from Minden in Prussia, born in 1830 (or 1833) to  Wilhelm Friedrich Christian Reese and Caroline Charlotte Steineke.

At some point John left Minden to join the British military, he is listed in Jersey as a military pensioner, and I think he may have joined the British German Legion to fight in Crimea.

What is unexplained to me at the moment is John's birth name. In English he went by the name John William Reese, so Johann Wilhelm would seem logical, but I can't find anything about such a person in Minden.

If anyone can help that would be fantastic.