Lord Warden - Chatham Barracks troops to India

[allanw1944]

My Great Grandmother, aged 20 sailed in the Lord Warden from Gravesend 12 Sept 1866 to Madras, India arriving February 1867, according to a death notice in The Singapore and Free Press & Mercantile Advertiser, 27 May 1919.  Searching the internet I found that "reinforcement troops to be held in readiness" from the Chatham Barracks and  "The Lord Warden will be inspected at Gravesend today by Major Gen Sir Robert Walpole" The list of troops, included wives and children.

 She then went to Penang on the Henrietta, and was married 3 months after, confirmed with their marriage certificate.
 
I would like to find a list of passengers for the Lord Warden that includes Mary Elizabeth Bacon.

Obtain something official from the Military on the Lord Warden voyage.
Another internet search says the boat was not commissioned until 1867.

Would appreciate any assistance.  Wendy

[KGarrad]

Welcome to RootsChat!

HMS Lord Warden was launched on 27th May 1865, and commissioned  in July 1867.
After completion of sea trials on 30th August, she joined the Channel Squadron for a few months before being posted to the Mediterranean.

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Lord_Warden_(1865)

I found this list of service details:
August 1867 – at Plymouth fitting; Captain William N Rolland
13 Sep – trials
28 Sep – sailed
30 Sep - 9 Oct – at Cork
Oct – exercises with Channel Squadron
Nov – detached for the Mediterranean
28 Dec – 5 Feb 1868 – at Malta
...Feb – 24 Mar - at Athens
28 Mar – 18 Apr - at Malta
28 Apr – 11 May - Beirut
12 - 23 May – Jaffa
24 – 29 May - Famagusta
30 May - 2 Jun – Rhodes
9 Jun – 2 July - Malta
19 - 27 Jul – Venice
2- 4 Aug - Pola
6 - ... Aug – Trieste
28 Aug – 1 Sep - Ragusa
7 - 9 Sep – Corfu
15 – 25 Sep - Augusta
26 Sep – 1 Oct – Malta
Oct - Naples
Nov /Dec– Malta

[MaxD]

The vessel that took the troops in 1866 is described in the newspapers as "the hired troop ship Lord Warden" so would seem to have been a merchant vessel, not the Royal Navy's HMS Lord Warden.

I haven't been able to find a ships log or similar (a merchant seamans record of 1881 refers to "previous ship Lord Warden").

If friend Seaweed is looking in, he is an absolute whizz at finding ships long since departed! 

Do you know which regiment the lady's relation was serving with?

MaxD

[KGarrad]

Running a Google search for "troopship Lord Warden" I came across a book entitled "The Blackwall Frigates".
On page 125, in the chapter on Ships Races:

Sir William Butler records another exciting troopship race in his autobiography:-
In February 1864, the Trafalgar and Lord Warden embarked the 69th Regiment  at Madras.
Trafalgar, with the right-wing on board, sailed on the 10th, the Lord Warden, with the left wing, 10 days later. Both ships were bound for Plymouth, calling st St. Helena. General Butler was on board the Lord Warden. This ship published th usual shipboard newspaper, which was called the Homeward Bound. From this journal we find that the first fortnight at sea the Lord Warden averaged 80 miles a day, on the second 124 miles and on the third 184 miles

See: http://www.rootschat.com/links/01klh/[

There's a picture here:
http://collections.slsa.sa.gov.au/resource/PRG+1373/2/50

[MaxD]

That would be the vessel.  She is mentioned as a troopship a number of times in the 1863-1869 period newspapers.

I think it unlikely, unless she was the child of an officer, that she would appear on any list of passengers even if any survive.  The regiment would be useful and may give an avenue to follow.

Presumably this is the lady that married William Ward in the Bengal Presidency in 1867? 

MaxD

[seaweed]

LORD WARDEN or more correctly THE LORD WARDEN (Lloyd's register list's her under that name, The Mercantile Navy List gives LORD (THE) WARDEN was built by Pile and company Sunderland in 1862. 1237 tons, 208.0 ft long X 36.7 X 22.7. Official number 45005. Owned from her launch until the early 1880's by R and H Green of Blackwall, London. Captained at the time in question by A Connest.
As far as I am aware there is no list of passengers in Maritime sources. As suggested by Max I think Regimental records may be the way to go.
Try searching the internet with the name THE LORD WARDEN
All I can offer is the vessels logbooks from 1863 until 1874. These should tell you important incidents to both passengers and crew such as births, deaths, marriages and serious injury or sickness.
They are stored in Newfoundland https://www.mun.ca/mha/holdings/viewcombinedcrews.php?Official_No=45005 I do not think it would be worth the time and cost to examine them.
 The year 1865 should be at NMM Greenwich who also have a painting of THE LORD WARDEN

[MaxD]

Seaweed- knew you would come up trumps!

Wendy - I note that her husband was a civilian so presumably she was the child of a soldier - hence the question about regiment.  Edited - see next post

However, there were a number of different regiments represented on the voyage that departed 12 Sep 1866.  The newspaper report of the departure talks about wives and children only in relation to 2nd and 3rd Battalions 60th Rifles. The officers are named (no Bacon among them).

MaxD

[MaxD]

It is possible that the connection is not the military at all.  I believe the husband was William Ward Assistant Manager of the Batu Kawan Estate at that time run by the Council of India.  The Lord Warden had been chartered by the Council of India and it may simply have been that the arrangement of her passage was done within that governmental organisation.  Best to await Wendy's further advice on what she knows of Mary E.

MaxD

PS  Sorry about the disjointedness of this, I find ideas come while taking a break to cut the grass!

[allanw1944]

Thank you so much. I was surprised to get such quick responses. As a beginner, I am finding it a bit difficult to know how to reply. I read the instructions but not much help to me , a dummy!
My Great Grandmother Mary Elizabeth Bacon did marry William Ward and I have seen the marriage entry in records held at St Georges Penang when I visited in 1997 and in the Diocese of West Malaysia office in Kuala Lumpur in 2016.  I also got their marriage certificate from the Ancestry India Records.

William Ward's father was also married (2nd marriage) in Penang to Elizabeth Campbell, (a widow, formerly Smith) on 22 May 1858 according to St Georges, Penang records. His father's name was Thomas. This extra information might help us to find other records I am looking for.
I will do further research on the information which has been provided to me via RootsChat, but I wanted to say thankyou as soon as I could.

Again, my Aussie thanks. Wendy