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Good afternoon everyone.  I’m wondering if someone could help me find a birth or death date ?  If I have it, Ancestry should be able to help me find descendants.  I’ve started a tree for this former Waterloo soldier, (no relation) but I need a date before any information can be extracted from Ancestry or the British Newspaper Archives.

A few years back, the ‘Waterloo Uncovered’ archaeologists discovered a finger bone at the Hougoumont farm.  Nothing unusual in that, despite bones being an extremely rare find following so many deaths.  However, I am researching a certain private called Joseph Lester who served in the 2nd Battalion 3rd Regiment of Foot Guards.  On his demob papers, the Surgeon Major wrote, as usual, ‘worn out,’ but he also added that Joseph had lost a middle finger of his right hand.  Unfortunately, he wrote that the cause of this injury was due to a prior battle.  I would like the opportunity to check that out by finding a descendant, then ask for a DNA test. 
Yes…, a very remote possibility, but you never know !

   Birth abt1789 • St. Nicholas, Newcastle, Northumberland, England.
   1806 description - Height 5-feet, 11 and 1/8 inches. 'Sandy' hair, grey eyes, fair complexion.
   Enlistment - 18 April 1807
   On his Statement of Service, the officer wrote that he was seventeen years of age.
   Demob 5 April 1827 • London, England.  Sergeant…, following 21-years, 12 days.  Conduct very good.
   1827 Chelsea Pensioner Outpatient, aged 38.

Working on the assumption that an Ancestry member has him in their tree, that relation could have him down as being a former soldier. 
This man was one of the Guardsmen who assisted with a shoulder during the second breach of the Northgate…, and Wellington knew his name.

Thanks in advance…, Iain. 

Good morning everyone…

A quick question from someone who is a fanatic for detail. (lol)  By looking at a signature, is it possible to tell if the owner is right or left-handed ?

The first was Matthew Clay’s signature and the second was Robert Gann’s cross. (1815) 

Robert was Matthew’s Old Soldier at Hougoumont, Waterloo.  Both were firing from one of the chateau windows, and I’d like to know who was on what side of the window. 
Taking into consideration that left and right-handed soldiers held their muskets differently, this tells us what each man was looking at.  A minor detail, but important in relation to my paragraph.   

Thanks in advance…, Iain. 

Can someone please tell me what Private Joseph Lester’s trade was ?  Lol…, I’m sure when someone tells me, I’ll say “yes…, of course it is.” (as usual)

This is his demob papers…
Thirty-seven years of age, 5 feet 11 and a half inches, ‘sandy’ hair, grey eyes and a fair complexion…, and by trade or occupation a ??.
DATE: 5th of April 1827.

Thanks in advance.
Kind Regards…, Iain. 

Good evening All…

Over the past 10-years, I’ve been doing a lot of research in relation to my regiment The Scots Guards at Waterloo, and for the time being, one such Belgian local is bothering me. 
Just in the off-chance, (as RootsChat has helped me enormously over the past few years) I’m wondering if someone may be able to provide some advice.  Of course…, I must obviously provide you all with a mini-mini-history lesson.

Wellington’s right flank held a farm called Hougoumont.  The farm had 4 orchards, meaning that its product was cider.  Most of the other farms in the region like the Mont-Saint-Jean brewery specialized with beer of all sorts, to become the world’s N°1 beer exporter.
The farm had a farmer called Antoine Dumonceau, and its gardener was a bloke called Guillaume Van Cutsem.  And it’s this gardener that interests me.  In the meantime, I started a brief Ancestry tree for him…  https://www.ancestry.co.uk/family-tree/tree/183501865/family?cfpid=332390978756

My problem is that there are two Guillaume Van Cutsems…, one who was born at Plancenoit, (where the Prussian leader Blücher arrived at the very last moment) and the other lived at Braine-L’Alleud, being the closest town to the farm.   
Perhaps I should explain that concerning French/Dutch/Flemish names, there’s a difference between ‘Van’ and ‘van.’  As many of you already know, a capital ‘V’ is used for a commoner, while a small ‘v’ usually refers to nobility. (many Belgians ignore this ‘V’ and opt for a pretentious ‘v’…, however, when you trace back a few generations, their 2xGr Grandad had a ‘V’) 
Because of it, and because he was a gardener, I chose Van Cutsem from Plancenoit.
(as a note of interest, Victor Hugo maintained that ‘Van’ Cutsem and his daughter were in the farm on the morning of the battle, while the Guards teased her with hard-tack biscuits)

However, here’s my problem.
Last month, I visited a friend who is the owner of the Mont-Saint-Jean brewery, Anthony Martin. (lol…, another note of interest, and probably the most important…, he produces my favourite beer ‘Gordons,’ plus the Battle of Waterloo beer)  During our conversation, Anthony commented that his company was mulling over the possibility of manufacturing cider…, and if all goes to plan, he may also include Calvados. 
Suddenly, on the other side of his enormous bureau, surrounded by dozens of open-air office-staff, I thought…  “WOW, could Hougoumont have produced Calvados”?  In the meantime, Guillaume van Cutsem (small ‘v’) was a distiller.

Of course, I couldn’t keep it to myself, and I mentioned it to him.  In turn, he advised me to contact the Customs and Excise.
In the meantime, I know a couple of people in the Braine-L’Alleud Town Hall, and one lady in particular is called Véronique Denis, an expert with the region’s history.  However, before I contact her, I was wondering if anyone could provide some advice ?

Any advice, would be very much appreciated.
Kind Regards…, Iain. 

Good morning All…  Just a quick question…

I’m unable to find a death date for a soldier who participated at Waterloo.  I have his FindMyPast release papers plus the Ancestry page relating to pension and his hospital illness. (it's also mentioned in the National Archives)
However, try as I may, I am unable to find an 'Ancestry' page that mentions when the last payment was made.  Which would obviously lead me to assume that he died the same year. 

Does such a page exist ?
Thanks in advance…, Iain.