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Thanks Ken,

In this case the WO97 records don't include his discharge certificate, or anything about where the pension was paid.

The link you gave indicates that the Length of Service Pensions 1823-1920 in WO 117 may be worth a look. I'll check them out next time I'm in Kew.

Unfortunately that won't be for another year - but what's a year when we've waited over 116 years already! 

Anyway, in the meantime I can chase up other leads on his civilian whereabouts between 1887 and 1893!

Thanks again Ken 
Pete

Hi Ann,

Shane's original link is my Corbetts:

http://www.census.nationalarchives.ie/pages/1911/Cork/Mitchelstown/Ballykearney/439527/

I was keeping my fingers crossed that your John was here too. It's a pity he's not, but it's great that you've managed to find the right John Corbett anyway!

Regarding a possible link - A search for Corbetts in the National Archives of Ireland website's 1911 Census shows 266 in the whole of Co.Cork, 32 in the Mitchelstown DED, and only 9 (all of whom are your Corbetts) in the Kilphelan DED.

- Ballykearney's about half-way between Mitchelstown and Flemingstown.
- Your GGF Patrick's 42 and my GGF Michael's 50.
- Both families are RC.

So it's definitely possible (but by no means certain) that Patrick and Michael were brothers.
I know (from Michael and Bridget's marriage record) that my GGF's father was also called Michael.
So if you find Patrick and Ellen's marriage record... ?

From my experience online records for Mitchelstown are few and far between. Unless anybody has other ideas, I'd suggest the IFHF's Cork (NorthEast) site, run by the Mallow Heritage Centre:

http://corknortheast.brsgenealogy.com/index.php

Unfortunately it's pay-per-view (although with a bit of patience the free search can yield interesting leads). Check the "Sources" link on that page first so you know what records you're searching!

Cheers,
Pete

When a soldier returned from active service (in this case with 1Bn KOB in India, late 1880s) and was transfered to the "First Class Army Reserve", where would I expect to find records of his time in the reserve? I'd assumed it would be in the depot companies related to the battalions he'd served in, but that drew a blank.

A bit more detail about the soldier in question: In WO97/2378 Soldiers Papers, Brown D-F, I found records for my great grandfather, Pte 3203 Edmond Brown. From them I know that he signed up in Tipperary in Feb 1881 and served a couple of years with 2nd Bn KOB in Fermoy.
In Jan 1883 he was transferred to 1st Bn KOB in India on HMS Crocodile.
In India he was stationed at Ambala, Dagshai, and Meerut (matching the 1 Bn KOB stations from Harts Army Lists).
He returned home on HMS Euphrates in Mar 1887 and was transferred to the first class army reserve.
He was discharged on termination of his 12 years service in Feb 1893.

I found supporting records for his Fermoy and India service in the following...
- WO16/1590 Pay Lists 2 Bn KOB 1882-4
- WO16/2819 Muster Rolls 1 Bn KOSB 1Apr86-31Dec88
...but drew a blank in the various WO16 1/2 Bn KOB Muster Rolls/Pay Lists for his 1887-1893 reserve service. I also know (from the Harts Army Lists of the late 1880s) that a new 3rd Bn (Militia Reserve) 25th Regt KOB was raised about this time - but I thought that Militia Reserve and First Class Army Reserve were different things?

Any suggestions on which records I should consult for his reserve service, (or indeed of sources I may have overlooked) would be greatly appreciated.

Pete