Hi there all Armed Forces Rootschatters,
Okay, I admit I'm desperate! I really need the assistance of as many of you as possible to help me get through the brick walls I'm too small to scale (only 5'2" you know
). I have three people who served in India before 1900 and would like to find out some more information about them to either fill in holes or validate what I've been handed down through family.
1. Joseph Smith
Said to have been born in September 1792 (don't know where) and died supposedly on 5 October 1838 (don't know where). Was purported to have been a Drum Major but I don't know if that was in the English Army or the East India one (or any other one come to think of it). Married to a woman named Sarah they had about three children that I can find:
Sophia Smith - born 27 May 1824 and christened on 20 September 1824 at Dum Dum, India (as per the IGI)
Jacob Smith
Caroline Smith
Would there be any records in the India Room that might tell me more about this family and their origins, dates of birth/death, etc?
2. George Prague or Leach
This guy is the biggest nuisance to latch onto!!! Known to our family by those names some fantastic RC's have made the possible connection that his surname may have been Prigg instead of Prague. However this hasn't made him any easier to find! Family records have him born on 22 September 1808 (most likely in Cambridgeshire) and dying on either 22 or 26 July 1859 (which makes me think of the Indian Mutiny as a possibility). Anyway he married Sophia Smith (of above) on 19 April 1853 at Fort William (most likely), Calcutta (as per the IGI) and they had five kids that all went by the name of Leach:
Mary Ann Julia Leach
Eva Georgiana Leach
Baby Boy Leach (stillborn)
Arthur George Leach
Georgiana Pragne Leach (as per IGI spelling)
George's wife, Sophia didn't remarry after George's death and so there may be a record of a pension being paid to her. She stayed in India and was noted to be living at No 6, Old Conductors Barracks, Hastings, Calcutta, East India in October 1899. It is believed that she died around 1902 in India. Got no idea where she is buried but Calcutta seems most likely
Would really like to have a lookup done to see if there are any tangible birth/death records for George and Sophia and if it has where both were born and died/buried. The last three of their children all supposedly died in India as young children.
3. George Albert Jackson
Have more information about him. Born 26 August 1841 in London, England. Family records note him to have landed in India on 20 December 1860 on the 'Malabar'. He was a sergeant in the Public Works Department at the time of his marriage to Mary Ann Julia Leach (of above) on 18 October 1871 at St Peters Church, Calcutta, India (as per the IGI). Their first child Mary Ann Sophia Georgina Jackson was born on 7 Jan 1872 at Calcutta and christened on 16 December 1872 in Dinapore. At some point between Mary's birth and the birth of their first son George on 1 March 1874, big George and Mary left India and went back to England as wee George was born in London.
As I have plenty of info on George Jackson and his family I would really love to know about George's service in India where it was most likely that he was trained as a surveyor because he finished his apprenticeship in London in 1874.
My apologies for being so totally long-winded but I'm (as I said) desperate to know what I can find out from army records that could tell me more about these missing people. Joseph Smith and George Leach in particular!!!
Thank you so much to everyone who reads this and can help in any way - British Library or any other source.
Cheers
Bunny
