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General => Armed Forces => Topic started by: oldhippyone on Sunday 19 April 15 11:09 BST (UK)
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i have a william morrison marriage 17 mar 1781 at st cuthberts carlisle age 22 batchelor DRUMMER A IN 26TH REGIMENT , CAN ANY ONE TELL ME WHAT A DRUMMER WOULD DO AND WHAT IS THE 26TH REGIMENT and would he have traveld and if so where to would he have fought in anything in fact were could i get more info on him .. would it give me his place of birth and parents , when he left the regiment etc
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Sounds like he was part of the re-formation of the 26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot. They had been in the American colonies since 1767. In 1775 they were in Lower Canada with the 7th Royal Fusiliers, both regiments at very low strength. Basically, the 26th ran out of men and had to be reformed. The colours, King's and Regimental were drowned in the River St Lawrence to avoid capture by the American's. The history of the Regiment at this time was full of action and the Wikipedia entry is very detailed and very long.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/26th_%28Cameronian%29_Regiment_of_Foot.
It's well worth reading. Drummers, apart from being in the regimental band, transmitted orders on the battlefield and acted as medics. Often, drummers were orphans of dead soldiers.
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thank you thats very interesting .. is there anywhere i could get documents on him
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I can't but the experts will see your Thread soon and tell you what is available. Please do read the Wiki article if only for the period around 1780, it will set the scene for you.
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thanks i have read the link you gave me and its very interesting ... i want to learn more and find more ... im hoping some one can advise on if his records still survive and how i can get them as i dont know when he joined and left etc
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This is what a private of the 26th looked like in the period you are interested in. I will try and find an image of a drummer. He is battalion company (hat man) 8 of. Also Light Company with different headdress and grenadier company with different headdress.
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2687/4475519676_fdfebe618c.jpg.
I can't find one for 26th Regiment, but this one is of 10th Regiment that had yellow facings. They tended to reverse the colours for bandsmen.
http://www.vectis.co.uk/AuctionImages/114/707_l.jpg.
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thank you i have saved it
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His records does not appear to have been kept. Either he died in service or he did not receive a pension.
There are three musters in Kew covering the period 1766 to 1799. The latest covers 1798 to 99, so is likely to be detailed, but probably after his time.
The first two will almost certainly be on large parchment squares covering a company for six months at a time. In consequence the detail will be very limited. It will not include his place of birth. If you are lucky you will get where he enlisted. Or at least where Sergeants were out recruiting. You should discover when he left/died or was transferred.
They may have been completed a few months after the period covered and at a different location.
You may be better off asking the regimental museum if they have details of their movements. They stayed in England to 1783 when they sailed to Nova Scotia and Canada. If you can access a newspaper archive you may find more detailed movements. While the service companies were overseas they would have kept a Depot at home.
They were not involved in any fighting until Egypt in 1801
Ken
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i have just found on national archive the following
william morrison artillery born glasgow lanarkshire enlisted 1770 - 1846 age 17yr refrence wo 69/80c/2730
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i have just found on national archive the following
william morrison artillery born glasgow lanarkshire enlisted 1770 - 1846 age 17yr refrence wo 69/80c/2730
But surely, our man was born 1759. And infantry, not artillery.
There are several William Morrisons born c1759. Presumably he married Elizabeth Hudson 17Mch1781.
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if he was age 22 in 1881 making his birth 1759 and in 1771 age 17 then he was born 1753 a 6 yr differens yes you are correct ,, as for infantry and artillery i dont know ... yes he married elizabeth hudson