Wandering Star

[Ryohei56]

Hi. I'm researching the history of one of my ancestors, one Robert Stewart/Stuart. Robert was born in the tiny village of Ceres in Fife (Scotland) in 1789. Somehow, he found his way into the British Army - the 14th Light Dragoons, to be exact - in 1804, and remained with the regiment until 1818. During this period he managed to get married in Dorset in 1807, after which he had at least three children, born in Weymouth, Bristol and somewhere else (the mysterious Hannah has no birth entry that I've been able to find).

On discharge from the Army on medical grounds, Robert seems to have picked up a pension via the Royal Kilmainham Hospital, and he next appears back in Ceres along with his two sons. Of wife Harriet and daughter Hannah there is no trace - maybe he murdered them and fled north to escape justice? Probably not, but the two ladies have so far eluded my attempts to find them. I'm not ruling out alien abduction..........

Joking aside - I do have a fair bit of factual and documented information, but the framework is a little bit threadbare. I am at a loss to understand how a humble tailor from Fife ended up in the Army hundreds of miles south of his home village, manages to become a Chelsea Outpensioner (or should that be a Kilmainham Outpensioner?), and then ends up travelling all the way back home to Ceres with his two sons in tow. I'm hoping that someone with rather more knowledge than I have of recruitment and discharge around this period will be able to throw some light on what might have happened to Robert..

Thanks in advance

Alan Stewart

[MaxD]

The 14th Light Dragoons were reduced in number in 1802 following the peace of Amiens which brought a temporary halt to the French Revolutionary Wars (that was normal that the army shrank and increased in size as commitments changed).  However, the peace only lasted a year and in 1804 the regiment was much increased.  Again as was normal, regiments cast far and wide for recruits and it may be that the Light Dragoons ventured to Scotland snaring your man on the way.  History here:
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.278791

He received a pension because he hadn't served a full term and although I can't read it exactly it looks like "reduction of Lt Colonels' affection" which is given the terminology of the time probably meant that they didn't want him any more.  This was I suggest a consequence again of the reduction of the regiment in 1807 and 1808. (I didn't note any reference to medical grounds although the second page of his record keeps seizing up on me grrrr).

Deleted - see next two posts.

The regiment was in Ireland when he left it and thus rather than Chelsea, he became a Kilmainham pensioner (both places administered pensions).

MaxD

[Ryohei56]

Thanks Max. I guess the recruiters must indeed have wandered far and wide, or (more likely) got lost.......

Getting the pension for a premature departure seems to fit. I believe that the discharge reason is actually "Reduction & pulmonal affection", which I'm given to understand usually means T.B., so I suppose if he contracted that, it would be enough to get him punted. It also makes sense that if the regiment happened to be in Ireland, then he'd be on the Kilmainham books.

I assume, from the text on his discharge papers, that he was given funds to get "home" wherever that was. The thing is, He married in 1807 while he was still serving, and one of his sons (my ancestor David) was not born until 1821, 3 years after his discharge. David was born in Bristol, and I think was the youngest of the three kids I know about. So......it would appear that after discharge he returned to England, not Scotland, and was still there in 1821. At some point between then and the 1851 census, he seems to have parted company with his wife and daughter, and by 1851 he and the two sons were in Ceres. Despite diligent searching, I have to date failed to find any record whatsoever of his missus and daughter between 1821 and 1851. My current theory is that his wife died at some point, and his daughter married an Englishman. When Robert proposed returning to his birthplace, I imagine he convinced his sons to tag along, but his daughter did not wish to accompany them. So far, this is but an attempt to speculate, however it seems to have some merit. All I need to do now is find proof!

Thanks again for your comments.

Alan Stewart

p.s. I noticed that you made mention of his records. I managed to find only his discharge paper, which is a single sheet with some handwritten comments on the reverse - have you unearthed something else, by any chance?

[MaxD]

You are absolutely right about the wording, my first interpretation was rubbish!  I shall modify my post for the record.


His discharge paper is indeed a two sided paper, I used "second page" to refer to the back side of the sheet.


Best of luck with the post army searches!

MaxD