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My great uncle, Arthur Parmenter, born 1884, attested for six years to 3rd Essex on 29 August 1899, and was given regimental number 6097.  He stated on his papers that he belonged to the 2nd ?Coln Battalion Essex, although I have not been able to find any more on that.  The only other papers in the service records are the Description sheet and the Statement of Services which reads "40 days drill on enlistment."  After that, it says something like "RA 16 10/99"  I assume that meant he transferred to the Royal Artillery on 16th October - would that be right?

On the 1901 Census, he is a driver in the 92nd Battery of the Royal Field Artillery in Aldershot but I can't find any further information about his service with the RFA. Is there any other place that might hold records of soldiers who transferred?   

I am now trying to put the jigsaw together.  Driver Parmenter (and Driver Bodill) were mentioned in dispatches for conspicuous gallantry in attempting to rescue the guns of their battery at Colenso on 15 December 1899.  The Second Boer War had broken out on 11 October 1899, so it is logical that Arthur was sent there but I can't prove that it was him who was mentioned.  The Medal Roll for A Parmenter 76136 shows he was a Driver and was invalided back to England on 17 January 1900, but it states he was in the 14th Battalion RFA.  I am not at all clued up on Battalions and Batteries so have no idea if they were at all linked.  Can someone help with that?

When Arthur died in 1946, his obituary stated that he had served in the RFA and was amongst those on duty at Queen Victoria’s funeral on 2nd February 1901 so he clearly had not returned to South Africa.  By 1911, he was back in his native town working in the local foundry but I can find nothing to suggest he was recalled during WW1.  If he had been invalided out of the Boer War, he may have not been fit enough.  There is a medal card for A Parmenter 29311, Essex regiment but he was killed.  There are no others in Essex or RA. 

If any one could advise me, I would be grateful.

I am trying to find the baptism and parents' names for Benjamin Boothroyd, surgeon of Hanley, Staffs.  All Census records show his birth place as Donington (I think it is Holland, not Bain, because he was an apprentice to a doctor in Spalding) and his year of birth somewhere between 1808 and 1811.  In 1841 he had an elderly Ann Boothroyd living with him, who could possibly have been his mother - but that is a guess.
He states in his Will that he had a sister called Elizabeth.  The Census records I found for her show a year of birth around 1806.
He bequeathed money to various young members of his family, saying they were nieces and nephews.  These were children of Joseph Catto Boothroyd, who must, then have been his brother.  However, I can find he seems too old to be Benjamin's brother, and he would have been quite old when he married in 1823.  The marriage record does not show whether he was a widower, but if anyone has access to Banns for Donington or Timberland, it might show.

I am therefore wondering if there were two Joseph Catto Boothroyds, and that the older one, born in 1769, was the father of Benjamin, Joseph jnr and Elizabeth. 

I have looked on Lincs to the Past but could not find anything for any of these people in Donington. Does anyone have any clues? 

There are several spellings for Boothroyd on census records, so Buttroyd, Butheroyd, or Bootheroyd are all possibilities.

Many thanks

I am trying to get past a brick wall for Maria Redhead, born about 1833 in Hull.  In 1851 and 1861 I found someone of that name, living with her mother Eliza or Elizabeth in Gainsborough.  On Maria's marriage certificate she states her father was George Redhead.  I found a marriage for George Redhead to Elizabeth Ann England in Hull on 13 December 1838 so sent for the certificate which shows she was a widow.  If this was her, then possibly Maria is the daughter of George by his first marriage (although she could have been George's daughter and they married later.)  George was a mariner, as was his father, Thomas.  George was nowhere to be found on census records for 1841 or 1851 but, as a mariner, could have been anywhere.  Would anyone be able to look up for me-
.  Baptism around 1830-35 for Maria Redhead which might show the parents' names
.  A marriage record for George and the mother, if that shows someone other than Elizabeth was the mother
.  Elizabeth's father's surname on the original marriage entry on 13 December 1838 for George's marriage to Elizabeth

I am sorry if this a a big ask, but anything you can do for me would be a bonus

Thank you
 

I would like to know what happens with Navy deserters, how long they are "wanted" by the Navy, and whether there is any way of getting details of their departure, and whether they were ever captured.

One of my relatives deserted his British ship in Australia in the early 1950s.  He wrote one letter to his family shortly after to explain that, as a deserter, he was a wanted man, but he had a job, and was getting married. Nothing more was heard and his father spent the rest of his life trying to find his son, with no luck.

While I believe that he never wanted to be "found", otherwise he would have been in touch, it is a story I have lived with all my life.  Now I am researching our family history and would like to get more details of what happened to this man.  I found an Australian newspaper cutting online about a group of sailors who had not rejoined the ship when it left, but no-one is named in the report.  I joined the website for the "old sailors" of his ship, and posted to see if anyone remembered him, but my posts were removed.  I tried posting on a couple of genealogy forums, but the posts were also removed and I assumed it was because I had named him and, as he is over 80 years old, there is a chance that he could still be alive.