COMPLETED - 40th Regiment of Foot

[auntie mandy]

Please can anyone help me, I don't know where to start.

My Great Great Grandfather, Philip JUNG, was born in 1836 in Rothselburg, Germany.
He changed his name to YOUNG to sound more british.

Philip Young was a bandsman in the 40th Regiment of Foot. 
He served in India (where several of his children were born between 1867 and 1881).

I have found another child born in Cardiff, Wales in 1884.
He appears in the 1891 and 1901 census' living in Cardiff, Wales.

Does anyone know how I can find out about his army career and regiment, and when he was discharged from the army.

Any help or advice would be most welcome.

Thank you

[jorose]

It sounds like he was probably discharged between 1881 and 1884, when he returned to Wales. His discharge records should be at the National Archives somewhere in WO 97.

In addition to the discharge records, as you know his regiment you may be able to find him on muster rolls, pay lists and description books.

[auntie mandy]

Hi Jorose

I would like to say a big thank you for your help.

I visited the national archives last week and found his army records and the muster roll.

mandy

[liverpool annie]

Good for you Mandy ! 

Were you able to get a lot of extra information ?

Annie 

[auntie mandy]

Hi Annie

I was walking on air when I came out - I found a lot of things I didn't think I would find and found things which ask more questions !!!

He was 5 foot 6 and quarter inches tall, with dark brown hair, hazel eyes and a sallow complexion and spoke  in broken english.  He lied on his enlistment - he stated his place of birth was Chippin Norton, Oxfordshire, England, when he was infact born in Rothselburg, Germany.

His regiment was well travelled, England, Ireland, Canada, England,  South Africa, India, and then back again to England.  He then settled in Cardiff, Wales.  (which is where I still live).

He married Anne Marie Hoffield on the 10th May 1865 in Grahams Town, South Africa - when I had thought it was Germany or India.

Mandy

[RonanM]

hello,
i am researching my gt gt grandfather and a google search brought up your conversation re yours. i'm hoping you might be able to advise me more on how to go about getting more info. they must have served together as mine was also a bandsman in the 40th regiment of foot. we have a rough birthdate of 1848 but no place of birth or death details at all, although we do have the records of his children, most were born in india (incl. my gt grandmother) .
i see you visited kew and was wondering if you might give me a guide on cost/time etc of doing this .. i have been struggling to get info and seem to just be being passed on from office to office when attempting to call any military records office.
any guidance would be gratefully received
ronan

[km1971]

Hi Ronan

You need to look first for his service record on Findmypast. These were not online when Mandy was looking - hence the need to visist Kew.

If you do not have access you should at least post his name so another member can look for you.

Ken

[auntie mandy]

Hi Ronan

My visist was over two years ago now and I don't remember how much it cost as I went on an organised trip with work.
I did have to pay for an ID card and then for photocopies, if you look on the TNA site i'm sure they have the details on there.

I did a search on TNA site before I went to get the reference number of his service records which saved a lot of time.

There is an Army Regiment Musuem, here is the link
http://www.armymuseums.org.uk/museums/0000000083-Queen-s-Lancashire-Regiment-Museum.htm

What was your GG Grandfathers name.

Good luck with your search

Mandy

[RonanM]

thank you for the replies ..

there are some discrepancies in my evidence:

his name is Henry Miller in all but 1 document, a child's birth cert, when he appears as John Henry Miller (incidentally his first son's name and we know his father was John so could well have been John Henry too, maybe that is why he used Henry)

we have a rough birth year of about 1848 (possibly Carlisle), no death year but we do know that he is alive in 1884 when his youngest child is born in india (this is where he is down as John Henry Miller) and the next evidence we have is the 1891 census when his wife Rebecca and all the children appear back in Carlisle and she is a widow, so we have a window of 1884-1891 for his death. I was hoping his service record would shed some light.
we have lots of details of all his kid's births, exact dates and places (1 in carlisle 1871, 1 in dublin 1872 and 5 in india 1875, 76, 79, 81 & 84)

he is down as a private in the 40th regiment of foot but appears on his son Robert's marriage cert as "deceased, sgt. in the 40th regiment of foot, bandsman"
he then appears on his daughter Annie (my gt grandmother)'s marriage cert as "sgt in the border regiment"

so as you see on one hand we have a lot of info but on the other we have confusing discrepancies

an interesting point is that that there appears to be a prominent Henry Miller of the 40th regiment of foot at the end of the 1700/beginning of 1800's, obviously not him but does bring in the possibility of them being related, maybe a family tradition in that regiment? .. strange though, if it is true, that none of my gt gt grandfather's sons followed on .. they worked on the railway.. bad experience in india? maybe railway work was more attractive at that time?

i have had a search for him on findmypast as suggested with no luck, apart from a Henry Miller who died in Aden in 1890 (i think) .. the regiment is reported to have been there after india and around that time, so it could be him .. no more details for him though
any help would be very much appreciated
Ronan