Royal Horse Artillery

[Siouxzie]

Hi,
I started this topic and did unsuccessfully try to send my picture of my great grandad for regiment identification to a link I found here.  No joy.  Would any of the clever people watching this topic be able to tell me from this photo if regiment is R H A or any other information.

Regards
Suzanne

[caron]

Siouxzie. What a great picture.   I hope somebody can identify the uniform for you.  If you get an identification for the uniform, I have found a web site today that tells you what the military ranking meant. http://www.bigpedia.com/encyclopedia/Category:Military_ranks.  Hope this helps other people too.

Thank you Hackstaple for your great reply in response to my photos.
I am delighted to know what rank they held.  As I mention above I found the above web site which I used to try to help me work out what a Lance Corporal and a colour sergeant did.  I understand the Lance Corporal explanation, but am a bit confused by colour sergeant - was in charge of supplies?

I cant find information on a Battery Quartermaster Sergeant BQMS, can you explain what that position entailed?  Would you have any knowledge of where they might have fought in the late 1800s?



 I inherited a photo album full of small carte blanche pictures from my gt grandfather Frederick Challis  and only three pictures are named.  The rest must obviously be family, I now have to work out by date which ones they might be.  The military photos were in this album.  I have to work out who everybody might be.!

I have seven men in my tree of the right age, all brothers,who I have looked at to be the men in the photos.



One of the brothers who was my gt gt grandfather called Frederick Challis 1841 - 1919. He  was a cook on the old sailing ships and travelled the world with his wife as a stewardess (unheard of in the late 1800s!)

 He had a scripture book with some birthdays and death dates and two of his brothers are mentioned as follows:

Thomas Jabez Challis B 1840 Bermondsey. Died 8 March 1879 off St Helena aged 39. George Treat of Boston. 

William Henry Challis B 1847 Bermondsey. Died 10 March 1878. Rio De Janiero aged 31.

I assumed that as Frederick was on sailing ships, therefore these two entries meant that they also did the same. Perhaps these are deaths of a military nature!
These are the only brothers who would be a possible match.

Two  of the other brothers I have identified as being a clerks in the censuses, living with their own families so that rules them out,
one brother I cannot find any mention of. and one I found in the 1871 census on a firefighting vessel in Tynemouth described as a fireman. He died when he was 32 in Liverpool.

The problem is that the photos show people older than the age of the boys that I have deaths for - 39,32 and 31 years.  Should I be looking for the generation above them?  Their father was an accountant and I have followed his life through the censuses, so its not him.   The generation below Frederick Challis and his brothers would have been too young.


I am wondering whether it might be one of Joshuas brothers, they were born about 1819 -1831.  What do you think?

What a puzzle I am having to unravel. Any help is appreciated.

Regards
Caron

[Hackstaple]

It is necessary to understand how batteries of the RHS were used - in support of infantry units in battle, in siege. As such the RHA was involved in almost every military action. For example about 17 batteries of the RHA were employed in the Boer War. Only a devoted study could identify which batteries your ancestor served in, when and where. That would be an all-consuming hobby. If you employ a professional researcher at Kew he may find his service records for you. Of course, you could always go there several times yourself if it is within range.
I am sure there are many sites which detail British Army Ranks but non-commisssioned personnel are pretty simple. One stripe - Lance-Corporal. Two stripes Corporal. 3 stripes a Sergeant. 3 stripes and a crown - a Staff-Sergeant. Crown and laurel on sleeve - Warrant Officer Class II. After that is only the Regimental Sergeant-major - one per 1000 or so men.
The complication for the uninitiated is  that different regiments and corps have somewhat different words such as Lance-Bombardier. Find a site that deals with all of these if you really need to know.

[caron]

thanks for the explanation.  I think that my first problem is working out the names of the men so that I can check out their battalions. 

I am going to look at the generation above the brothers I have a note of to see if they were the right age

Many thanks for your help
Caron

[broakham]

Anyone needing historical information about the British army should try the Britregiments discussion group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/britregiments/
They are not really into genealogy but will certainly help you on your way with uniform identification and other military matters. The group is moderated, very helpful and extremely knowledgeable.
Highly recommended.

[caron]

thank you for the advice.

[caron]

I previously posted some photographs of men in military uniform that I inherited in a family album.  I had been unable to identify who these men were as there were no names on them.

I have recently found that a military man married into my famiily and I believe that one of the pictures may be him.

Would anyone be able to tell me whether the information I have on this person matches any of the uniforms.

The person I believe may be in the photo was William Munday born in Dartford about 1835.   In the 1861 census he was a bombadier aged 26 in Fordington Dorset.  He married in 1874 in Woolwich Kent and says he is a Bombadier.  In 1881 he is 46 and living in Camarthan Wales and he is a sgt in Royal Artillery.

It appears from the above that he was in the Royal Artilllery for over 20 years.
Perhaps someone may be able to confirm whether this information matches with any of the photos I previously posted.  Thank you

[km1971]

Hi Caron

The photographs do match what you have. The ones when he has the single chevron high on the arm are when he was a Bombardier. The lower chevrons are Good Conduct 'badges'. Sergeants did not have these as the 1d a pay extra per badge was incorporated into their daily rate.

The two photographs with Reply 14 are of him:

= Bombardier with single GC badge
= Bombardier with two GC badges

With reply 15:

= Corporal with 4 GC badges. The medal is probably the Long Service Good Conduct medal rather than a campaign medal.
= some kind of senior Sergeant

The qualification for GC badges changed. When he enlisted it was 2 years for one and then seven years for the second. In 1876 it changed to 2, 5, 12, 16 years. Service before the age of 18 did not count. Four badges before 1876 took 17 years

If you cannot find his record, could it be that he died while serving? They would have destroyed his records 20 years after his death if that happened. Then the best way to confirm his details would be to search for his LSGC medal issued about 1875.

Ken

[caron]

Thank you Ken for your reply.  It certainly looks like this may be William Munday, Do you think that both sets of photos are the same man? 
I do feel that the men in both pictures look different. Perhaps I have another person as well?

I believe that William Munday died in 1898 in Dartford Kent where he was born.  I have him in 1891 census aged 56 working as a town crier and bill distributor.

I havent looked for any war records yet.  It looks like I may now have finally solved who the picture is of, but have to convince myself it is the same man in the pictures!


Thanks for your help Ken
caron