Hello, I have just registered into this site so please bear with me as a first time user.
I am amazed at the information regarding the KOSB, especially info so expertly given by KM1971 ... many thanks.
My ggf Henry Burghart bc 1848 d.1912 was one of the longest serving in the KOSB clocking up a staggering 43 years and 221 days service. I have his enlistment and discharge papers from FindMyPast however I feel that there are page/s missing from his service record.
Henry (along with three younger siblings) were placed into a Workhouse in Marylebone after their father died and mother deserted the family and it was from here that he enlisted at Westminster into the 25th foot, 1st battalion, 18 Sept 1862. I think his service number was 906 however this was changed to 2434 when they became the KOSB. It shows Henry was 14 but was more like 13 and a half. He was sent to Gosport and started life in the Army as a 'Drummer Boy'. On his enlistment papers there was a question: " Did you receive a Notice, and did you understand its meaning?" His answer, Yes. Does that mean he was conscripted into the Army? Another question: " (words missing) ... what Bounty and Kit did you enlist?" Answer "a free Kit". Not sure what this means. Anyone have any clues?
His record shows he was Home Base 19 Sep 1862 to 11 Jan 1863, Malta 12 Jan 1863 to 27 Jun 1864, Canada 28 Jun 1864 - 20 Aug 1867 and Home Base 21 Aug 1867 to 27 Apr 1906. He was awarded in 1900 the Canadian Service Medal and when he left the Army in 1906, the silver medal for Good Conduct and Service. Unfortunately I don't know what happened to these medals; my grandfather had left home ten years prior to his father passing away, in 1912, so they may have been passed to his one son who was still residing in England at the time however it would seem that they have been lost down through the following generations.
I was under the impression that the 1/25th had a permanent base in Gosport but after reading KM1971 message of 15 Jul 2010 they sure moved around the countryside.
Henry was made a Corporal in 1872 and the following year moved to York. On 7 Mar 1874 he became a Sergeant and in 16 May 1876 he was re-engaged at York and married 5 months later to a Martha Cook. In May 1880 he was again promoted becoming a Quarter Master Sergeant. On his marriage certificate, 1876 and birth certificate in of my Grandfather in 1880, it shows Henry as being in the 6th Brigade. According to 'The martial annals of the city of York' by the Rev. Caine, the 1st and 2nd Batt. 25th Foot, 1st and 2nd Batt. 14th Foot (6th Brigade Depot) moved into the New Barracks at Fulford York in May 1880 and departed in July 1881 which matches Henry's army record.
The family lived onsite at the Berwick-on-Tweed Barrack quarters until at least 1901 when they are listed on that census living in a flat in Berwick township.
Sorry for my long winded story but I am also interested to know what pay a 'Boy Drummer', if anything, he would have received and also as a Corporal, etc. etc.,
Lastly there is a mystery regarding Henry's supposedly army box that a distant cousin has. On the outside on the front is printed 'Quarter Master', then underneath '2nd West York's Reg.'. The story goes that Henry's wife Martha gave it to her sister prior to the family moving to Berwick in 1881 however I can't see how it could have been his box as I am under the impression (though could be totally wrong) that the 2nd West York's didn't come into being until later in 1881
Look forward to hearing in due course from those interested (and have readed this far), your replies and hopefully I will have worked out how to get back into this site to see same.
Many thanks Bonnie
