James Bashforth, British Army

[lucymags]

Can anyone find some further info relating to this entry, please?

Bashforth    James    —    —    1851    British Army, Worldwide Index 1851

[jomcd967]

Hi lucymags,

1851 British Army Worldwide Index
James Bashworth, Gunner & Driver, Royal Artillery: 7th Battalion - 3rd Company, Grahamstown & Cape of Good Hope, South Africa.
NA reference: WO 10/2076

No soldier number, dob, or pob given.

Is there a specific James Bashworth that you are looking for?

Jo 

[lucymags]

Is there a specific James Bashworth that you are looking for?

Jo 

Hi Jo

That's fabulous, thanks very much! I'm pretty sure this is the same James I have been working on, although your entry says BashWorth - however this is/was a common mistranscription.

He is son of Thomas (knife maker) and Elizabeth Bashforth, whose family I have managed to track in Sheffield back to the previous generation (with a lot of helpful info from Sheffield Indexers), and had 6 sibligs.

I was wondering what caused James to turn up in Cape Town to marry Martha (born Clark/e) by 1854, so upon spotting that record thought that this must be the missing link. A pity that there's not more about his military record there, but I may be able to find something over time. And someone else had already created the tree of his descendants, so I am just filling in the narrative. 

Edit: I have just had a look on Anc**try (which I have just joined on their special offer for 6 months) and see him (less info though) and quite a few other Bashforths there in the military, some of whom may have been his siblings or sons. I will dig further through these.

[jomcd967]

Hi lucymags,

The 1851 I posted is Bashforth, not Bashworth (blame autocorrect!)

Also found....
Name:   James Bashforth
Military Date:   1853
Military Place:   South Africa
Rank or Designation:   Gunner/Driver
Regiment or Unit:   Royal Artillery
Collection:   1853 South African War Medal Recipients

Jo 

[lucymags]

Thanks again, Jo - that's great. 

[lucymags]

I just thought to look in the National Archives, and had a lucky find!
http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C12748706
Gives his number and dates of enlistment and discharge.
So now I know why he ended up at the Cape - he probably met his wife and fell in lurve (he got married in March of the year following his discharge). 

[jomcd967]

Well done lucymags, a good happy ending