Michael Becher, Water Bailiff of Cork& Son Abel Becher died at Waterloo

[amontilado]

I am trying to put together as complete a tree of the Irish branch of the Bechers as I can (branching back into England and Australia)
One of my loose ends is
Michael Becher, Water Bailiff of Cork (city)
He married Catherine Harris in 1791.
Their eldest son Abel Harris Becher was killed at Waterloo in 1816. He was an ensign in the 92nd Foot Gordon Highlander regiment. [I don't know why an Irishman was in a scottish regiment?]
Catherine (Harris) Becher died at Duncan St Cork "after a long and tedious illness" in February 1827. I think Michael Becher her husband was already dead.
Does anybody recognise these Bechers? I would really like to know who his father was. They must have had at least one more son, as Abel was described as the eldest son.
[the information I have comes from Newspaper Items and a list of Wills]

Jenny

[neil1821]

Re Ensign Abel Becher, 92nd Highlanders

He was commissioned an ensign on 16 Sept 1813
He was killed at the battle of Quatre Bras on 16 June 1815 (2 days before the battle of Waterloo itself)

The fact he was in a Scottish regiment is not particularly significant. It wasn't the case for instance that you were Irish, so you automatically joined an Irish regiment. You could look at any regiment in the army at the time, English, Welsh, Scottish, or Irish regiment, and I guarantee you you'll find Irishmen in every single one!

Neil

[amontilado]

Thank-you for the reply. Sorry I put the wrong year down! I have since found the newspaper reference to the death of Abel's younger brother;

Dec 18, 1838 died Michael Westropp Becher, 1st W.I.R. son of Michael Becher whose eldest son Abel was killed at Waterloo in the 92nd Reg [looks like it was close enough to Waterloo to be called that...a bit odd to spend more time on the sibling that the man who just died...]

Is Ist W.I.R. a military abreviation?

[neil1821]

1st WIR could very well be a military abbreviation.

Straight away to me, it would mean 1st West India Regiment (West India as in the West Indies)

Does the newspaper reference say where he died? Or give a rank for him?
Here are the movements of the regiment:
http://www.regiments.org/deploy/westindies/inf/wir01.htm

Neil

[amontilado]

No, unfortunately that was it. I found it in the Casey index last week, and I still have about half the volumes to work through, so I hope to find some more details.

The West Indies is definitely a possibility though, many Bechers did go there. I will persue that, thank you.

[neil1821]

Since his elder brother was an officer, I'm guessing the chances are that he was an officer too. In which case, you may be able to trace his army career through published Army Lists.

If you want further help fron the military angle, I'd suggest posting on the Armed Forces board (where you'll normally find me). There are plenty of people on the board who may be able to help.

Neil