parsonstown barracks

[cuckoo]

thanks mary that does help because i have found thomas williams at st botolphs in 1861 census,so that seems to indicate that this entry was him.and yes 88th reg is probably what im looking for. thanks

[Mary B]

Hi Cuckoo.

Some years back I was able to obtain all of the relative Army Service records
of my Great Grandfather from the Official Records Center in Kew.

You might want to contact the Records Center in Kew to see if  military
records are still housed and are available at this location.

Would add my great grandfather served in the 88th Connaught Rangers.

Mary-B

[cuckoo]

hi mary what year was your relation with them ? i really am keen to find out what happened to thomas williams .what he did in india,why he left ,etc,how he came to marry an irish irl in india

[Mary B]

Hi Cuckoo.

Unable to provide a specific period's of time that my relative served with
the referenced regiment as all of the hard copy data is in storage, but
possible  in the early mid 1800's.

But I would advise you that many of the married serving milita were allowed
to have their  wives and children accompany them to India.

Hence I am sure a high percentage of these military families originated in
Ireland, and their sons and daughters may well have been of an age to
marry during the years the 88th was posted in India.

Wow, a Colleen in the family, how lucky can you get.

Mary-B

[The Donald]

Here's a good link for Crimean War casualties.

http://www.britishmedals.us/files/crimvz.htm

I am researching my great grandfather John Walsh of the Connaught Rangers at the moment.

Also, this may assist...

http://homepage.eircom.net/~tipperaryfame/conrngrs.htm

[cuckoo]

thanks for replying, i am ordering a book on connaughts so any added information i find i will post, angela

[cuckoo]

hi everyone it seems i have been on wild goose chase for 3 years, after a distant cousin said that my ggrandfather was a connaught ranger, however it now has become apparent that he was with 1st northumberland 5th regiment, in 1868 birr, then on to india untill 1881 does anyone else have relatives that was there the same time, thanks

[corisande]

You will do better with your query if you put on the Armed Services Forum here.

I had not seen this thread before and I noticed it as you have resurrected an old thread. There is a certain amount of misinformation you have been given that would have been corrected on a specialist military forum.

Basically you want to get the history of that Northumberland Battalion at that time, and you need to go to the Armed Forces thread. You may also need to go to a more specialist still all military Forum

[Mick_Dolan86]

The 88th Foot was officially known after the 1881 Cardwell reforms as the Connaught Rangers. It's nickname was The Devil's Own.  The Cardwell reforms gave names to all the infantry regiments, gave those with only one battalion a second battalion and gave every regiment a fixed depotand recruiting area. Hence the move of the Leinster Regt to their depot in Birr. The Connaught Rangers home was in Boyle, Co. Roscommon (I think) where the Connaught Rangers Association is based today. They might be able to help with your enquiries.

http://www.connaughtrangersassoc.com/

or try these guys

http://www.connaughtrangers.com/

As to why Williams was in the Connaught Rangers, before getting a recruiting area in 1881, regiments just recruited wherever they happened to be based. There was also a practice of sending English RC recruits to Irish regiments.