Hi CU
2022 Private William Potts was discharged from the 25th Regiment at Preston on 4th April 1865 having served* 21 years and 19 days. He attended a Discharge Board on 23rd of March, at which it was stated that his character was Good, but that he had been entered in the Defaulter’s Book 42 times, and had attended seven courts martial!
Of his service he had served abroad 17 years: 10 yrs 8 mths in the East Indies (this included India itself); Gibraltar 4 yrs 4 mths; Malta 2 years and Canada 4 months.
He enlisted in Manchester on 17 April 1843, aged 19. He was a Cotton Twister, born in Buxton. On discharge his intended place of residence was Buxton. He was aged 40 years 11 months, 5ft 8ins; fresh complexion; grey eyes; dark brown hair, with no scars/tattoos. If my maths is correct, this is closer to 22 years service, so the difference will be what he lost in punishments.
If he had been 19 years and 1 month when he enlisted it would have said so, so my guess is that he was born between 18th of March and 5th of April 1824.
Kew have microfilmed the surviving papers for men discharged 1855 to 1883 including his. The bad news is that they seem to have culled it down to just his Discharge Papers. His Enlistment/Attestment papers would give the dates of his promotions, plus when he left one station for another, and details of any medals. I do not believe they were involved in any campaigns, but it would be nice to know if they awarded him a Long Service Good Conduct Medal – maybe not! Although he was earning 3d a day good conduct pay at times.
You can get the same information by searching the Muster and Pay Lists, but for 21-22 years you are talking about 80 registers – some were for six months, but most are for a quarter. I have looked at a few and will post this information later, plus details of the microfilm so you can order copies from the NA.
FH information such as wives and children was just not recorded in the 1860s.
* this is service towards a pension so he lost about 10-11 months worth of pension. For a lot of the time they were based in Manchester or Stockport, so he probably nipped home to see his mum.
Ken